The Walking Dead episode 506: ‘Consumed’ or Daryl and Carol in peril

Season 5 episode 6 of The Walking Dead tied a lot of different events and themes together and kicked some butt with Carol and Daryl.

Episode 506 of The Walking Dead was also yet another episode largely free of Rick. While Andrew Lincoln always brought so much to the show, it’s often interesting to see things veer off into the lives of different characters (with the previous episode examining Abraham Ford and Eugene Porter, and another focused overwhelmingly on Beth Greene). “Consumed” is also unique because, although there are definite action sequences, they still don’t dominate the overall story. In fact, some scenes emphasize how the characters get the nerve up to be bold.

For example, the episode begins with Carol’s reaction to The Governor’s attack on the prison. In the scene, she shows no excitement, making it seem like she’s merely acting instinctively. Of course, this goes well with her decision to kill Karen and David by fire, in an attempt to spread a deadly flu strain.

It’s not like Carol has lost all human feeling, but she’s definitely more in touch with her primal side, or any philosophy she believes will help her and her group survive.

Back to Atlanta

Carol and Daryl follow the white cross-logo car into Atlanta, which is probably better than Carol’s idea of running it off the road. They find the strange police base there, then end up staying the night at a women’s shelter. While they talk a little about Carol’s past, the scene is perhaps more interesting for what they don’t communicate.

Throughout the episode, the two seem rather guarded around each other, as if to avoid seeming too vulnerable. The Walking Dead has often revealed both Carol and Daryl to be fairly sensitive characters, but they must retain some degree of detachment as part of their survival strategy and ethic. They don’t wish to look tough purely for ego reasons but to help avoid being further damaged. It is rather identifiable to anyone familiar with abuse, and very well conveyed by Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus.

When they encounter Noah, it at first doesn’t seem too profound. He’s just a nuisance trying to steal their weapons. However, if you think about it, both characters are (hypothetically) still lucky that Noah wasn’t written as a straight-up murderer, poised to upset fans by offing them both in one fell swoop. Instead, Noah ultimately leads them to recognize that Beth is still alive and in need of rescue. There’s also a point where Carol almost shoots Noah, but Daryl talks her out of it to reel her in. It’s also consistent with previous Walking Dead moments. Daryl is the more conventionally moralistic of the two, acting similarly when Merle was out of line. In fact, he may be more grounded in principles than Rick, although he considers Rick more of a sound leader than himself.

The precipice

As stated, this episode does include some walker action. The biggest moment, of course, is when our two heroes are trapped in a van dangling over the edge of an overpass. Surrounded by walkers, the two decide to risk possible death by freeing the vehicle to actually fall free! This could obviously have symbolic value as a “leap of faith,” as few people would know they’d survive such a fall. At the same time, it could just be seen as a cool scene.

What are your thoughts on this classic episode of The Walking Dead? Let us know in the comments!