'The Walking Dead' Recap 'Coda': A Flat Circle

The Walking Dead’s Fall season came to a close last night with the all-too-appropriately named “Coda”. But while the title supposedly marks the end of themes and storylines introduced in the first half of the season, it begs the question as to what those themes really were. While there were certainly some very well done moments by the end of the episode it also calls into question why these episodes even exist and, perhaps more importantly, if that very question applies to the show as a whole.

“Coda” saw the conclusion of the Beth and Slabtown saga. Following last week’s setup of capturing a few of Slabtown’s police force and Officer Bob’s escape, “Coda” could have gone anywhere. But Officer Bob is taken care of quite easily as Rick runs him down with a police car and then shoots him in the head all before the credits roll. While that action does show a more violent Rick, or at least a Rick who seems to have learned from his past mistakes, the fact he continues to go along with Daryl’s desires of a prisoner swap seemed a tad curious. It is true that Officer Bob didn’t tip anyone off as to their plan or even their whereabouts but Officer Bob’s escape was just another instance of the unreliability of human action. Not only was Officer Bob the original cop to mention to Rick that Dawn would be willing to swap – which clearly should have been brought into question after his attempted escape – but if all the cops of Slabtown were as fickle as Officer Bob seemed to be, who knows how the exchange would go down.

Meanwhile, back in Slabtown the relationship between Dawn and Beth continued to bud as Beth tried to figure out what Slabtown really was all about. Being revealed was how Dawn came to power – she killed her former police captain because he apparently got too soft and she was the only one willing to do it – as well as Dawn supposedly only caring about her officers who help people. Beth ends up helping to defend Dawn from an officer who attacks Dawn because he has overheard that Dawn has taken some liberties with saving Beth that, apparently, the other officers do not get to take. By the end of the episode Beth has come to some sort of understanding as to what Dawn actually is once Dawn requires Noah to be part of the prisoner exchange, though Beth’s understanding is somewhat ambiguous.

The original rules of Slabtown, which were vague to begin with, seem to no longer apply by “Coda”. At best it seems as though Dawn feels as though Slabtown only works if there is a symbiotic relationship between the alpha officers and the beta orderlies. At worst she feels the orderlies are like shaved rabbits in winter, forcing them to cling to her ankles for protection and warmth. Slabtown may be the literal representation of the old adage about how giving up freedom for security actually gives you neither. Whatever Dawn’s actual feelings were it was clear that Beth’s belief that the officers were being used for the dirty work would not be shaken.

This leads to the climactic prisoner exchange scene, one of the few truly tense moments in a show when someone is close to dying every episode. Complete with canted angle shots and a standoff nearing those of the Wild West, the exchange seems to go off without a hitch until Dawn requires Noah to be swapped as well. Rick doesn’t feel this is fair but Noah goes along with it so that Beth can be safe, which also supposedly proves Dawn’s point that all the escaped orderlies willingly come back. This is when Beth let’s Dawn know she knows what Slabtown is all about, and stabs Dawn in the neck only for Dawn to reflexively shoot Beth through the head, which causes Daryl shoot Dawn through the head. Despite the slow motion it all happened very quickly but, just as quickly, was not escalated as one of the former captors said it was just between Dawn and Beth. Rick then says anyone who wants to go with Rick can but, seemingly proving Dawn’s point about the orderlies again, only Noah goes with them.

The escaped Gabriel returns back to the church, with a horde of zombies following him, just in time for Michonne and Carl to give the zombies the old okie doke and lock them in the church as they escape the same way Gabriel had previously. So goes the fortified church, though not before Michonne wields some katana badassery and some nice irony with a shot of zombies underneath an arch with a bible verse written across it about being granted eternal life when eating the flesh of Jesus . Luckily Abraham and Glenn return to the church in the nick of time to pick Michonne, Carl, and Gabriel up to head off to Atlanta.

And so with Beth’s death and Abraham and company’s return the midseason finale brings about one huge question: What was the point? After the fairly quick dispatching of Gareth and his band of lovable cannibals the season became about two things, saving Beth – as evidenced by Beth’s lone episode as well as the Daryl and Carol retrieval mission – and Abraham and company setting off to Washington D.C. to save the world, which was debunked when Eugene finally told the truth. But Beth is dead and Abraham and company are back with Rick and his crew. So why did The Walking Dead feel the need to go through the motions if neither were going to happen?

Perhaps, that’s the entire point of the show though: The futility of post-apocalyptic life. Despite escaping cannibals and deciding for a more peaceful prisoner swap instead of Rick’s violent, covert approach Beth still died. Even though Rick and the crew did the honorable/”heroic” thing, Beth died. Will this somehow affect Rick further into becoming more violent and less understanding or will is everything the way it is and that’s how it is? The same with Abraham and his crew. While it makes sense for them to return to the church it is disappointing that they did. Why not forge on to Washington D.C. anyway, maybe not to save the world but because there may be some semblance of society remaining? Not only that but now that the groups are back together there’s really no hope of differing storylines. At this point it seems as though they all will go wherever they go together. So much for the great TWD schism.

Though TWD could use the post-episode scene to offer another varying storyline as Morgan returned. He stumbled across the church and found the map Abraham gave to Rick telling Rick to meet in Washington D.C. A couple of the best episodes of the show have involved Morgan as an important character, so it is exciting to see his return. Whether he takes on a major role or not remains to be seen but, as stated above, he could offer a respite from the possible monotony of Rick’s group and Abraham’s group reuniting.