This week’s episode, “Here’s Not Here” was all about Morgan. Essentially, the episode took us from what happened after the events of Season 3’s “Clear,” which was all about Morgan and Rick, to where we are now. I would like to tell you that it was an interesting episode packed with stellar moments, but in truth, I am not even sure why they made this of all episodes, 90-minutes, when it could have easily been told in a more efficient and certainly a faster method.
Now, I’m not complaining about the episode because I want to know the fates of Rick or Glenn, something most people are taking issue with. My problem is that the episode itself was boring. Over the course of The Walking Dead, we haven’t seen singular character episodes very often and when we have, they were few and far between and usually about the most important characters on the show.
Morgan was crazy for a good part of the episode, suffering from severe PTSD. During this part of the episode he spent his time killing both walkers and humans. Eventually, he comes across a cabin, which we learn is owned by Eastman (John Carroll Lynch) and his goat, Tabitha. Despite the fact that Eastman has to lock Morgan up, for both of their safety, Morgan eventually came around, and sees Eastman as a friend.
We got to know Eastman more than we needed to because as soon as Morgan was seemingly getting better, he got Eastman bit. Tabitha ends up toast before Eastman finally dies, but the sad thing is, some people were more upset about losing the goat. I can’t say I blame them. While the story about how he starved his wife and children’s killer to death was interesting, it just felt like a story that was told because it could take up a few minutes. In the end, it’s not anything that was necessary to know.
The episode spends a good deal of time about how Eastman, a psychologist, pulls Morgan back to the land of the living. Part of the way he does this is by teaching him Aikido. Eastman claims that is what helped him to live as long as he had with the outlook on life that he had. When Morgan is back on his own, he has a new outlook on life and goes off in search of others like Eastman wanted to do.
When we finally hit present day, we see that Morgan took his friends mantra about not killing anything because “all life is precious” to heart. He has one of the Wolves tied up and locked up in a house in Alexandria. The guy tells Morgan that if he gets lose and Morgan hasn’t killed him, that he will kill everyone in Alexandria, because that’s what they do. Morgan leaves him locked up. It’s just his little secret that will undoubtedly become another problem for the residents of Alexandria.
Next week, the preview shows Maggie planning to go out, most likely to try and find Glenn. We also learn of more trouble in Alexandria and see Jessie stepping up and proclaiming that sometimes the life they are living is kill or be killed.
While “Here’s Not Here” was definitely a slow and painful episode to watch, next week looks like it will be right on track. So, at least there’s that for good news.
