From the Fear Army
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FTWD S06E05 Robb Black Wakes Up Early Sunday Morning to Watch FTWD on Premier to Answer Your Questions

When does the episode take place?
The episode takes place approximately one week after Dwight and Sherry's reunion.

Who are the masked people?
The masked people are a group of individuals who have either run away from Ginny's communities or people who were rejected by Ginny and were going to be killed.

Is Sherry a part of the group?
Sherry ran across the group at some point during her travels and claims that they helped save her. She is now working with them to take down Ginny.

Do they manage to take down Ginny?
Not this episode, but they do manage to capture the MRAP.

Any signs of Rufus or Skidmark?
No, but we do meet a new dog that is part wolf. Dwight releases it at the end so it is unknown whether or not we will see it again.

Do Dwight and Sherry stay together?
No. While Dwight has come to terms with his own demons from his time with The Saviors, Sherry is still grappling with her's. This causes them to part ways for now.

Robb Black's Review
After last week's slow burn, whodunit, we are back with another fast paced, action packed episode centered around Dwight and Sherry's relationship. The episode is full of intra and inter personal as well as intra and inter group conflict that is probably some of the best writing we have witnessed in this show since season 3. Dwight and Sherry are re-united only for Dwight to discover Sherry is part of a group of Ginny-survivors whose sole mission is to take out Ginny at all costs. Thanks to Al's knowledge of how the MRAP works, the group is able to capture the MRAP and start making plans to use it to take out Ginny. However, during the mission to capture the MRAP, Morgan crosses path with the group. He explains to them his plan about building up the hidden lake location and getting the members of his group out of Ginny's communities before striking. He is concerned that if the Masked Riders take out Ginny and miss, Ginny might punish the people inside her communities.

Dwight has to choose a side and he chooses to stay with Sherry and her group as they take down Ginny. He is going to take it on himself to be the one to take out Ginny so Sherry doesn't have to. However, Sherry doesn't want Dwight to bear that burden. After Dwight exposes Morgan's and Al's attempt to sabotage the Masked Riders' attempted ambush of Ginny, Sherry imprisons Dwight as well to keep him away from the mission and protect him from having to become the person he was. When the time comes to ambush Ginny, they discover Ginny isn't actually in the group that was dispatched to the ambush location. Sherry is waiting in the MRAP to open fire and is faced with a decision. Do they attack now even though Ginny isn't there, or do they wait? While in prison, Dwight finally admits that the smart play is to wait to take out Ginny. He was just too focused about staying with Sherry to see that. So he escapes from prison and confronts Sherry in the MRAP. He persuades her to not go through with it. Sherry hesitates and the Rangers eventually leave the fake rendezvous site Dwight called in to set up the ambush. Sherry confronts Dwight afterwards in private. She still bears a lot of guilt for not being able to take out Negan when she had so many chances. Sherry is trying to make up for that now by taking out Ginny. But Dwight, more or less, represents her conscience. He has been able to wrestle his Savior demons but Sherry hasn't. If Dwight stays with Sherry he risks becoming that Savior person again, or he will undermine Sherry's resolve. Sherry wants him to leave and Dwight decides to part ways with Sherry. He and Al lead Morgan to the group of survivors from the office building and take them to the lake hideout.

This episode is easily the best writing of the post-Erickson era. My pithy review doesn't do justice to the emotional conflict between Dwight and Sherry and them trying to reconcile with one another over their time with The Saviors. After seeing Sherry in Walking Dead as someone trapped by Negan, it was wonderful to see how strong a leader she has become with the Masked Riders. Dwight has finally gotten past the black/white thinking espoused by Morgan and has come to accept that there are shades of gray and that sometimes you have to go to the dark side occasionally to get things done. In fact, Dwight is the one who finally stands up to Morgan about Morgan's "doing right" approach that ultimately landed them in this situation with Ginny. Morgan accepts that he had gone too far and states that he is also a changed man now, willing to do what he has to do to save his people.

The episode was directed by Michael E. Satrazemis who normally directs premiers and finales. That probably explains why this episode is so good. The action flows, the dialogue is genuine, and the tension between Dwight and Sherry is palpable. Austin Amelio and Christine Evangelista are phenomenal in this episode. The opening scene with them lying in bed will make the Sherry/Dwight fans simply swoon. The scene where they come clean about their time with The Saviors is heart wrenching. The MRAP capture is reminiscent of those old cowboy stagecoach heists. And, as always, the set and costume design is spot on. I can start to see why the reviewers who have seen the early screeners say that season 5 was necessary to set up season 6. In my opinion Season 5 will always be a tire fire but if the price for season 6 was to navigate that tire fire, I think the price might have been worth it. I give this episode a 9/10.


The truth is out there