The Walking Dead Season Five, Episode Eleven “The Distance”

Daryl: “How long you people been following us?”

Aaron: “Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail, long enough to see that despite the lack of food and water you never turned on each other. You’re survivors- and you’re people. That is the most important resource in the world…”

The pre-credits scene of episode eleven of The Walking Dead‘s season five, “The Distance”, picks up where the previous episode left off. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) bring the stranger (Ross Marquand) back to the barn at gunpoint. Removing his weapons, they introduce him as Aaron and explain he is alone. Aaron tells Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the others that he is part of a survivors’ community surrounded by reinforced steel walls that provide protection from intruders and “roamers” (his word for walkers), and he believes they would make valuable additions to his community, of which he shows pictures. Rick, suspicious of Aaron, knocks him unconscious,

Post-credits, Aaron is tied to a wooden column. They search his pack and find a flare gun, suggesting he is not alone. Rick orders the others to watch out for raiders. As Aaron wakes up, he is pressed by Rick and reveals that he came with another who is hiding some distance from the group. He provides directions to two waiting vehicles, intended to take the survivors to his community. Rick decides to verify Aaron’s claim. He sends Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie, Michonne (Danai Gurira), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Rosita (Christian Serratos) to see if the vehicles are indeed there. The others take up lookout positions around the barn, in case Aaron is lying and planning an attack. Later, Glenn and his group find a car and an RV stocked with canned food as a goodwill gesture, leading them to believe that Aaron is telling the truth.

Back at the barn, Judith begins crying for food and Rick prepares an impromptu meal, mashed acorns. Aaron reveals that he brought applesauce for the baby. Rick, suspicious of poisoning, orders Aaron to taste it first. Aaron balks, claiming his gesture is virtuous and he simply never liked applesauce. Rick, however, insists and the stranger tastes a small amount, grimacing. Satisfied, Rick feeds his daughter.

The others soon return to the barn with the vehicles and explain their findings, and the survivors agree to inspect the new community. Aaron explains that it is late and that he will take them to the community the next morning, but refuses to reveal the location of the camp in order to protect the members. He says they’ll take Highway 16, and provide further directions as they travel. Rick decides against it and declares they will travel via Highway 23 that same night, but Aaron protests, explaining that road isn’t safe. Rick insists and the others follow suit. Michonne questions Rick’s intentions as to whether he really wants to join the new community. Rick explains that he will decide when he is outside the walls.

 

The survivors splits up, with Rick, Aaron and some others leading in the first car, while the rest follow in the RV. Oddly, Rick discovers listening devices in the car, leading him to believe that Aaron’s people have been spying on the survivors for some time and that they are aware of the survivors’ plans. The trip goes awry. As Aaron warned, Highway 23 is filled with walkers. They surround the car, separating them from the trailing RV. When a flare is spotted into the night sky, Aaron becomes distressed, exits the car and runs off into the woods. The others trail him, and Glenn saves Aaron from walkers, who are approaching in the darkness in frightening waves. Together, the two rescue Rick and Michonne. They link up with the RV group, who have rescued Aaron’s homosexual boyfriend, Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson), who was injured lightly.

After everyone is safe and accounted for, a wave of good will begins to appear between the two factions. Aaron reveals the community’ location as Alexandria, Virginia, and the group begins the journey in the morning. During a roadside break, Rick slips off to the side and hides a gun inside an old, discarded blender by an abandoned house. Later in the RV, Aaron explains to Noah (Tyler James Williams) that their community has a good surgeon who might be able to fix his injured leg. Pulling up to the community massive walls, Rick hears the sound of children playing. Convinced that Aaron is telling the truth, his face lights up with relief. He takes Judith and with the others, heads to the gates…

Finally, Walking Deadheads are treated to a nice, tight slice of storytelling. “The Distance” moved briskly indeed and its strength was contained in its dialogue, which was generally convincing and thankfully lacked that dreary cliché-ridden sludge of the previous episodes. Even the touchy-feely scene  at the end between Michonne and Rick couldn’t even drag the episode down too much. On the other side, the action – limited to one murky night scene in the middle – was hard to follow and offered nothing new. But the episode made up for it with some subtle touches: The survivors’ foraging is revealed via mashed acorns (I’m curious how that tastes) and finally the survivors are shown cleaning their weapons (a must out in the field). Also, for the first time, Rick is actually shown barking some semblance of security protocols. Ross Marquand, playing Aaron, is an experienced and well-regarded actor, impressionist, and voiceover artist (his credits even include Phineas and Ferb, gotta love that one) and is doing an excellent job as the newcomer Aaron. He is so convincing that I actually believe that Marquand hates applesauce, and expected him to spit it in Andrew Lincoln’s face… Although we haven’t yet seen the inside of this new community (we’re all waiting with baited breath), it looks like a new era for the survivors. It has food, quality people, and impenetrable walls. But if I were them, I wouldn’t put my guard down just yet. We’ve heard all this before…

Evan Rothfeld