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‘The Walking Dead’ season 6 episode 3 review: Best episode in TWD history

An emotional gut-punch yields the best episode in “The Walking Dead” history.

Review: 4 out of 4 stars

8 p.m. Sunday, AMC

Too often, “The Walking Dead” can be hollow and predictable. The survivors will squabble. The zombies will eat a character making his first appearance in the series. The stars survive. In “Thank You,” the train jumped the rails, leading to an epic, emotional freefall. This is the best episode the show has ever produced.

We must begin with the death of Glenn. He began the series as a sprightly sidekick who was the go-to survivor to make supply runs. He was once even lowered into a well and used as straight-up zombie bait. But through his relationship with his wife Maggie, Glenn grew into a powerful and protective figure. Skip back to the series premiere and you’ll hardly recognize him. In six seasons, we’ve seen Glenn grow from a boy into a man. Now, he’s gone.

Ultimately, Glenn died because he put his faith in a fellow survivor who wasn’t up to the challenge of the apocalypse. Cornered by the oncoming zombie herd, Glenn and Nicholas plan to set a fire to distract the walkers. Glenn considers going alone, but ultimately brings Nicholas. As the threat draws near, Nicholas encounters the reanimated corpse of a teenage team member he once left behind. Fear and panic steadily overtake Nicholas until he and Glenn find themselves trapped on top of a dumpster while hundreds of zombies close in. Nicholas says, “Thank you,” then shoots himself in the head. Glenn falls off the dumpster into the waiting arms of the undead army.

Glenn’s story is echoed by another survivor. As the episode begins, the group that was herding the quarry zombie mob is running back to Alexandria to get to the bottom of that car horn that was blowing. Zombies in the woods manage to pick off some Alexandrians, though a few survive. A new character named David is bitten on the back. He’s well enough to continue on, but he accepts his fate. “I know what it means,” he says. It’s the first time we’ve seen a brand new character smart enough to know what’s coming while remaining calm enough to try to help his friends while he still can.

The episode slows down long enough to share David’s story. He was lost and alone until Aaron found him and brought him to Alexandria. David married another survivor named Betsy. “If I could make it back,” David says, “I’d want to say goodbye. Tell her, finding her in all this, that was everything.” If that doesn’t get you right in the feels, nothing will.

As the group is surrounded in the town, David goes so far as to write a goodbye note for Betsy. He hands it to Michonne. She writes a note on her arm and shows it back to him. It reads, “You’re getting home.” When the walkers close in, the group makes a break for it. David is eaten, robbing us of that emotional closure. Neither Glenn nor David will get to say goodbye to their wives.

Throughout the episode, Rick is a man possessed. He runs alone to grab the RV. Once inside, he’s attacked by scavengers. He fends off two with his pistol inside the RV and by firing an automatic rifle through the wall at the others outside. As the episode ends, Rick can’t get the RV to start. Zombies are closing in. He’s afraid and alone and the engine won’t turn over.

This episode was expertly directed by Michael Slovis. Several times, the camera lingers on shots that reveal greater story depth. After Rick kills his attackers, he scours their pockets to find a jar of baby food. Was this a father like him? Before Glenn’s death, he pulls out Herschel’s pocket watch, a reminder of his gentle father-in-law and his promise to protect Maggie.

As David is eaten, we see the goodbye note he wrote to his wife as zombies casually step on it. Michonne tells Heath that he can’t understand what the survivors have been through. “Have you ever been covered in so much blood that you didn’t know if it was yours or walkers’ or your friends’?” Late in the episode, Heath catches a g limpse of his reflection in water. He’s covered in blood. Michonne also tries rubbing off the note she wrote on her arm, either out of sadness or disgust or surrender. This is a depth of filmmaking the series has often lacked until now.

Slovis also punctuates the action of the episode with several aerial shots from directly overhead. It’s frequently referred to as “God’s Eye View.” In this masterpiece of an episode, God appears to be looking down and shrugging his shoulders. The apocalypse is out of His hands.

Ben Bowman is a RedEye special contributor.