The One When Michonne is Quietly Awesome (Try)

What an episode for Michonne.

She starts out wondering if she’s made a mistake letting her guard down, considering what happened to Noah. While she and Rosita are looking for a grief-crazed Sasha, Rosita encourages Michonne by telling her she can remain vigilant while belonging to the ASZ community. In a typical moment of TWD non-subtlety, the next scene is a heated battle between the three women and several dozen walkers. Michonne flashes back to earlier battles as she watches Sasha. The flashbacks emphasize both the ferocity of Michonne’s fighting and her artistry with the katana. She takes out her gun — the preferred weapon for ASZ constables — and takes out a stream of walkers using headshots. The message is clear: she can still keep her edge, no matter what she does or how she does it. She can make the ASZ work. (Thanks to Lanie-Love for pointing out the emphasis the show put on Michonne’s shooting abilities.)

Michonne shows immense compassion for Sasha when the latter claims things worked out for Michonne. Despite Michonne’s enormous losses and the outrageousness of that statement, she doesn’t say anything. She knows Sasha needs to lash out — it’s part of the mourning process they’ve all gone through. It made me wonder how many people even know that Michonne lost her son. Danai Gurira deserves an Emmy nomination for that moment alone — her face is so evocative and heartbreaking.

Michonne ends the episode by knocking out a bloody, pistol-waving, ranting, Shane-channeling Rick. It’s one of the great moments of the show thus far. I don’t think she wants to, and I don’t think she has turned on him, but she knows that people will die if Rick continues with his public breakdown. It’s interesting to note that Michonne is able to penetrate Rick’s defenses and take him down, considering how jumpy and hypervigilant he is. Someone else who tried to do that might have ended up dead.

Rick and Michonne have rapidly moved in opposite directions since arriving at the ASZ. He’s spiraling out of control, while she’s just getting stronger and kinder. I don’t know what to make of Rick’s behavior, really, but at least the writers have been true to Michonne’s development. She’s come a long way as a character in 5B, and hopefully we’ll see much, much more of her in the season finale.

#TWD meta #Michonne meta #Michonne #twd spoilers