Paul Brian McCoy" />
Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      Paul Brian McCoy
      January 17, 2022
      Fiction, PDI Press, PDI Press Writers
    Recent
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      John E. Meredith
      January 17, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

      John E. Meredith
      January 16, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

      John E. Meredith
      January 15, 2022
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • X (2022)

      Paul Brian McCoy
      April 22, 2022
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • X (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 22, 2022
    • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 15, 2022
    • The Adam Project (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      March 16, 2022
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      The Final Girl
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • X (2022)
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
  • The Adam Project (2022)
  • The Batman (2022)
  • Entropy (2022)
  • Killer Sofa (2019)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Reviews

The Walking Dead 5.14 “Spend”

Paul Brian McCoy
March 20, 2015
Reviews, TV, Zombies 101

We are creeping toward the end of The Walking Dead Season Five and the tensions are beginning to ramp up, characters are finding their callings, and others are dying in brutally gruesome ways. Storywise, this episode follows three main narrative threads and touches briefly on a couple more – all of which serve to drive home the fact that our heroes are naturally attuned to leading the poor saps of Alexandria.

But as we should have come to expect by now, once these characters find something to live for, something to give them hope for the future, bad things are on the way. The two examples of this are Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Noah (Tyler James Williams). Abraham struggles early in the episode to find some sort of peace, and while out on the work crew (gathering metal to help reinforce and expand the wall) reawakens his sense of responsibility and steps into a role of leadership after the foreman nearly abandons another worker to encroaching walkers. The look of exhilaration on Abraham’s face as he confronts death and beats the living hell out of it is both disturbing and inspiring. It’s hard to tell if he’s determined to win or just doesn’t care if he loses.

WD-514-abe

Regardless, he saves lives and inspires enough confidence in others to motivate the work crew to destroy the walkers and continue with their work instead of running in fear and calling it a day. He’s so inspirational, in fact, that the foreman immediately runs back to town and lets Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) know he’s turning over his position to Abraham.

Which, I would guess, means Abe isn’t much longer for this world.

Anyway, it’s a strange moment that characterizes the odd passivity of the Alexandrians and makes me wonder just what’s going on here. I can’t really imagine a way that these people could have survived this long, unless it’s just due to the luck of the cowardly. Running away to fight (or not) another day seems to be ingrained into the DNA of these people – and may be why they need to keep recruiting new people.

Or maybe they’ve got a secret we’re yet to be privy to.

WD-514-rick

After having already installed Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) as law officers, Daryl (Norman Reedus) as recruiter, Glenn (Steven Yeun) as supply run leader, and now Abraham as wall foreman, Deanna can’t help but be concerned about both how it looks to the citizenry and how it undermines her own power. And with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) shadowing her every move, learning the day to day of how Alexandria functions, she has to feel like the community is slipping away.

Noah’s desire to learn from her husband how to become an architect is maybe the least intrusive attempt by the group to insert themselves into the everyday functioning of the community. The desire to learn and help Alexandria grow is a noble one, and he may have been the only member of the group to engage Alexandria from a place of honest hope for the future.

And we all know what that means.

Poor Noah.

WD-514-noah-01

Losing him not only means that we’ve lost another innocent soul, but also that we’ve lost another black man in a show that has a history of not treating its minorities well. If there’s a bright spot to focus on it’s that for the last couple of seasons the races of characters is arguably not what is putting them on the chopping block (as it did during the first three seasons). Instead of being virtually nameless (or walking clichés), relegated to the backgrounds with little dialogue and even less character development, and then killed quickly and with little fanfare, the writers and actors are doing a great job making the people we lose three-dimensional characters that we feel for and mourn.

If there is a complaint to be made about Noah’s death, it’s that his death was mainly decided on (behind the scenes) because of how it would affect Glenn.

As Steven Yeun said himself on The Talking Dead following this episode, this was the first time anybody’s been lost on Glenn’s watch. Being trapped in the revolving door and forced to watch as the walkers literally ripped Noah’s face from his skull – in what may be the goriest death we’ve seen in five seasons – is going to have to have an emotional and psychological impact.

WD-514-glenn

That it comes so quickly on the heels of the equally gory death of Deanna’s son Aiden (Daniel Bonjour), and the revelation that he and Nicholas (Michael Traynor) were responsible for the deaths of their previous crew after panicking and leaving them behind (there’s that cowards DNA again), should only drive home the fact that the sooner our gang takes over Alexandria the better. Given Glenn’s recent shift into a more aggressive stance, I don’t think there will be any hesitation on his part.

Now we just have to see how Deanna handles news of her son’s death; especially in light of the warning she gets from Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) at the end of the episode. Gilliam delivered that speech with just the right amount of insanity to make his anxieties seem real, but to also undermine his authority.

The third storyline in “Spend” follows Rick’s first big case – the Case of the Broken Owl Statue – and runs parallel with Carol’s (Melissa McBride) Cooking Lessons with Sam (Major Dodson). Rick’s half of this thread is pretty simple and centers mainly on some macho posturing which serves to more clearly establish that Jessie’s (Alexandra Breckenridge) husband, Pete (Corey Brill) is a problem. Meanwhile Carol and Sam bond a little over petty crime and cookie baking, which leads to an understanding about the stolen guns.

Carol’s right. Sometimes you’ve got to be able to defend yourself, and in the immortal words of Eazy-E, “with a gat it don’t matter if he’s smaller or bigger.” Sam makes it as plain as possible without actually stating it, that his dad is beating his mom and maybe him too. Which means that Carol’s endgame is clear.

WD-514-carol

Pete needs to die.

And she tells Rick as much.

Which raises an interesting question about just what law is Rick there to enforce? I almost just typed that surely the powers that be in Alexandria wouldn’t be so naïve to assume that the only thing they would ever need a law officer for would be for breaking up fights and minor trespasses – but this is Alexandria we’re talking about so…

We don’t really know for sure, but we can pretty much assume that Alexandra doesn’t have a jail or any sort of legal system. So does that leave Rick open to interpret his responsibilities as the maintaining of order in the community rather than enforcing any sort of pre-Apocalypse law? And if so, where does that authority end?

Without a set of laws to buttress his position and actions, what Deanna has essentially done is set lose a gun-wielding authority figure on the community with the hope that his moral integrity will remain dominant over his own sense of authority and desire for power. Rick’s emphasis on protecting his family, and his definition of family as everyone in his group (in his introductory video interview), made this a safe gamble on Deanna’s part, but when that possibly means killing a wife/child-abuser as an example for what will and won’t be tolerated, some feathers are going to get ruffled.

WD-514-carol-01

But maybe that’s Deanna’s endgame after all.

Maybe she sees that cowardly DNA in Alexandria and realizes that something drastic needs to be done to purge it and allow the community to stand against whatever threats may lie outside the walls. I’m curious to find out if she knows about specific threats or if this is just the beginning of the next stage in Alexandria’s evolution.

(Visited 40 times, 1 visits today)
The Walking Dead 5.14 “Spend”
Paul's Rating
4.0Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Paul Brian McCoyWalking Deadzombies

12 Monkeys 1.09 “Tomorrow”
The Musketeers 2.09 “The Accused”

About The Author

monsterid
Paul Brian McCoy
Co-Founder / Editor-in-Chief / Dreamweaver

Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK). He also kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK) and PDI Press with Marvel at the Movies: 1977-1998 (US & UK), Marvel at the Movies: Marvel Studios (US & UK), and Spoiler Warning: Hannibal Season 1 - An Unauthorized Critical Guide (US & UK). Paul is also unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films and sci-fi television. He can be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

Daily Top Ten

  • Page to Screen: The Boys Season OnePage to Screen: The Boys Season One by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The Blacklist 1.06 "Gina Zanetakos"The Blacklist 1.06 “Gina Zanetakos” by Natalie Amato
  • Lost in Translation 373: Neuromancer, the Radio DramaLost in Translation 373: Neuromancer, the Radio Drama by Scott Delahunt
  • Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy”Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
  • POPCORN CINEMA 23: THEY CALLED HER ONE EYE (aka, THRILLER: A Cruel Picture)POPCORN CINEMA 23: THEY CALLED HER ONE EYE (aka,… by John E. Meredith
  • The Amazing Bulk (2012)The Amazing Bulk (2012) by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
  • Interview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders!Interview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders! by Jason Sacks
  • EZMM Day 7.1: Night of the Living Dead (1990)EZMM Day 7.1: Night of the Living Dead (1990) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Advance Review: Russian Yeti – The Killer LivesAdvance Review: Russian Yeti – The Killer Lives by Paul Brian McCoy
  • 12 Monkeys 2.11 “Resurrection”12 Monkeys 2.11 “Resurrection” by Thom V. Young
400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

Weekly Top Ten

  • Page to Screen: The Boys Season OnePage to Screen: The Boys Season One by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy”Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
  • Advance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-rayAdvance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-ray by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006) by Corin Totin
  • Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) by Alex Wolfe
  • Superman II (1980)Superman II (1980) by John Clark
  • Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Adventure Time 6.20 “Jake the Brick”Adventure Time 6.20 “Jake the Brick” by Dave Hearn
400x400 UA Affiliate Banner

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Latest Reviews

  • X (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 22, 2022
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 15, 2022
  • The Adam Project (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    March 16, 2022

psychodrivein

Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Unboxing Kotobukiya's Dawn Moreno (Snake Eyes II) & Mighty Jaxx's Off Werk Snake Eyes Vinyl!

Greg takes a quick look at two new releases in the world of GI Joe statues and collectibles!
---
Watch Greg at the link in our profile!

#GIJoe #AnythingJoes @AnythingJoesPod #DawnMorano #SnakeEyes2 #SnakeEyes #Kotobukiya #MightyJaxx #OffWerk
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 414: I Love You, Colonel Sanders! (2019)

The game has a heart, and that heart is Colonel Sanders.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#ColonelSanders #KFC #LostInTranslation #ILoveYouColonelSanders
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 413: Cloak & Dagger (2018)

Cloak & Dagger is a coming-of-age story with superheroes, a teen drama with superheroes, and works as such.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #MarvelComics #MarvelTelevision #CloakAndDagger #AubreyJoseph #OliviaHolt
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Popcorn Cinema Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Popcorn Cinema 48: THE MULTIVERSE IS MADNESS

POPCORN raises his hands, putting them together in front of his face. He then pushes his face slowly through them as if he's giving birth to himself. 
---
Read more of John's reviews at the link in our profile!

#DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce #SamRaimi #Daniels #BenedictCumberbatch #MichelleYeoh #ElizabethOlsen #JamesHong #JamieLeeCurtis #KeHuyQuan #StephanieHsu
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E37 - G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

It's the start of one of the most iconic Joe stories in it's entire history, and it includes the return of two pivotal characters from the past! Join Greg and Jaren as they venture into Rio Lindo to root out Cobra's next devious plot!
---
Watch Greg and Jaren at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes @anythingjoespod #GIJoe #MarvelComics #SnakeEyes
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was first published in 1990 and was a comedy about Revelations and Armageddon.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #GoodOmens #NeilGaiman #TerryPratchett #BBC #MarkHeap #PeterSerafinowicz #JimNorton #AdamThomasWright #JosieLawrence #Charlotterichie #ColinMorgan #CliveRussell #JuliaDeakin #BBCRadio
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E36 - Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

Greg & Jaren recount their experience meeting Larry Hama at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022. Plus, the latest news, recent acquisitions, and listener mail!
---
Listen to Greg and Jaren's podcast at the link in our profile!

@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Mezco #LarryHama
Today at https://psychodrivein.com X (2022) Ti W Today at https://psychodrivein.com

X (2022)

Ti West is a director I haven’t fully enjoyed, though I would say X is his most accomplished film to date for me. 
---
Read more of Nate's review at the link in our profile!

#X #TiWest #MiaGoth #Slasher
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 411: The Secret of Marvel's Success

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been dominating the box office since the release of Iron Man.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Marvel #MarvelStudios #MarvelCinematicUniverse #MCU #IronMan #Avengers #MoonKnight #WandaVision #Hawkeye #RobertDowneyJr
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Latest Columns

  • Anything Joes: S01E38 – Greg And Joel’s Favorite Modern Figures, Part 1

    Greg Engle
    June 24, 2022
  • Lost in Translation 415: Remaking Gilligan’s Island

    Scott Delahunt
    June 24, 2022
  • Anything Joes: Unboxing Kotobukiya’s Dawn Moreno (Snake Eyes II) & Mighty Jaxx’s Off Werk Snake Eyes Vinyl!

    Greg Engle
    June 15, 2022

TWITTER

My Tweets

Look Who's Talking

Oliver Ghingold
Oliver Ghingold - 2/18/2022
Muppet Madness: You’re the Director
Do you still have these tapes? I've been looking everywhere for them! I loved the Interactive Vision...
white swan
white swan - 12/22/2021
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
I enjoyed the article though I would never call brutality gorgeous.
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 10/26/2021
13 Days of Halloween Day 12: Halloween Kills (2021)
Very disappointing, it's true. And very mean-spirited murders of nobodies. And I don't even see how...
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

Large_rectangle_336X280
All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: