The Walking Dead - "Clear" Review: Morgan's Back!

Despite the spoilers and rumors, I was still surprised to see Morgan return and in this fashion. I guess people really can change dramatically in a single year. As indicated in the last episode, Rick, Carl and Michonne head out to Rick’s old neighborhood to get ammo and weapons. They come across a survivor desperate for rescue but they ignore him for their own safety. At the end of the episode, they take his bag, and he’s presumably dead.

The place is heavily trapped for any incoming walkers, and after capture they are burned. The trio come across a hostile Morgan but they shoot him, leaving him unconscious. The group finds what it needs, but Rick has them stay in order to make sure Morgan’s OK and to see if he can come back with them.

Michonne and Carl head off to retrieve a photograph and crib for Judith. They succeed, but Michonne grabs an odd looking cat sculpture. I suppose that was included to develop her personality, since it wasn’t really portrayed earlier. Meanwhile, Morgan wakes up and attacks Rick. He manages to stab him, until he convinces Morgan that they know each other. Morgan then described what happened after Rick left. Duane was bitten by Jenny (Morgan’s wife) and turned. He was forced to shoot both, and that was the turning point for him.

Rick apologizes for not contacting Morgan as frequently as he said, saying he had to move out of range for his group’s survival. He then goes into his experiences during the past year. Morgan tells him that he needs to stay to “clear”, apparently meaning that he needs to clear the neighborhood. He laments that he is “weak”, the only kind of people that survive. Michonne and Carl meet up with Rick and leave, and the last we see of Morgan in the episode is of him capturing two walkers.

This episode only had one storyline unlike the last few, and not much happened. It served to give us a break from the intense action so far this season and it gave us closure on what happened to Morgan. It was entertaining, amusing and heartmelting at times, and overall it was a great episode.

SPOILER BELOW
Lennie James, who plays Morgan, is credited to appear in the season finale “Welcome to the Tombs”.