The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 2 “JSS” opening sequence establishes Enid, who so eloquently reminds Carl in Season 5, Episode 15 that the world belongs to walkers, everyone else is just living in it, as a survivor. It isn’t too long into the episode, though, when Carol takes on the Wolf pack.
[SPOILERS]
Viewers learn Enid survived a zombie attack and watched walkers devour her parents. After that, she wanders, stunned, feeds on a turtle and along the way writes JSS, Just Survive Somehow, on multiple surfaces before she stumbles on the safe zone. This motto drives the rest of Episode 2.
Cut to Carol telling the late Pete’s son that he needs to get over the death of his father. Her true colors are beginning to show, so stay clear of the flowers.
Is the juxtaposition of scenes featuring Enid and Carol meant to show they are kindred spirits? Do they share something inherent to survival?
“JSS” takes place during the same time as the Season 6 premiere. We see what’s happening in the Alexandria safe zone while Rick and his crew are out wrangling a zombie herd. The safe zone is lucky Carol didn’t join Rick’s crew.
While Grimes is away, The Wolves will play. The episode escalates quickly as the violent Wolves infiltrate the safe gates and slaughter anyone in their path. Carl proves he isn’t the sniveling little boy of seasons past. He, too, is a survivor. He gets Enid to help him defend Judith and vows the intruders will pay with their lives.
Carol springs into stealth mode just as the Wolves crash a tractor trailer into the gates. She disguises herself as a Wolf, complete with bloody W. She saves Morgan (who wants to talk down a Wolf) and makes haste to the armory. Carol is a true survivor and knows better than to negotiate with terrorists. Carol, above all other characters, shows you have to be a chameleon to survive.
Carl is already armed and ready, so he is able to gun down at least one Wolf and save Ron. But is Ron thankful? Nope! He’s too busy pouting that his girlfriend, Enid, is keeping company with Carl while their town is under siege. Time for Ron to grow up.
Ron gets another rude awakening when he walks in on his mother relentlessly plunging scissors into a Wolf’s chest. Looks like not everyone one in safe zone is a helpless lamb. Is Jessie more like Carol than she realized? Does her son, Ron, have what it takes to survive this violent world?
Meanwhile, much to Morgan’s dismay- Carol continues on her shoot first, ask questions never campaign. Morgan, surrounded by Wolves, again chooses diplomacy. He warns them that “his people” have guns and the Wolves will die if they continue the attack. The Wolves retreat after clarifying that they did not choose this life– this on the heels of the “You’re not supposed to be here,” comment lend the Wolves a cult vibe.
Are The Wolves waxing philosophical, or were they forced by a malicious dictator, the likes of The Governor, to become a murderous band of marauders? Will Morgan’s act of mercy leave the safe zone vulnerable to another attack?
Morgan showed one Wolf mercy in the past and that came back to haunt him. When the rest of the pack leaves, the Wolf he saved in the past attacks Morgan. Morgan has no choice now. How will this killing change Morgan?
When the smoke clears, Carol, rattled and alone, sits on the steps. She spots an A on the banister and begins to rub the bloody W from her head. When Rick and his group first arrive, Pete’s son stamps Rick’s hand with an A and tells him, “You’re one of us now.” Is Carol afraid that deep down, she’s a Wolf in sheep’s clothing?
The episode leaves viewers with a number of other questions. Will Morgan’s disgust with Carol’s tactics put Carol in danger? Will it cause more friction between Morgan and Rick?
Noticeably absent from the attack is Rick, Glenn, Michonne, Abraham, Daryl, and Sasha. Thankfully, the zombie herd did not compound the group’s assault, but will Rick’s team successfully wrangle the herd, or is a walker attack the next wave of violence for the Alexandrians?
And what of the walkers that are likely in the truck that the Wolves crashed into Alexandria’s gates? In Season 5, the Wolves were collecting walkers and placing them in trucks, so it doesn’t look good for the Alexandrians.
The episode concludes with a note to Carl from Enid. It instructs him to just survive, somehow. Will we see Enid again? Is she right to flee? Is the safe zone too big to defend? Is it better to take your chances out in the open with nothing to lose?
You can leave your insight and predictions in the comment section.
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