Who would have ever thought that after the atrocious 5th season of this show, one of the worst debacles I've witnessed in the last decade of television, that they would make such a strong recovery in Season 6? While the S6 premiere was actually very good (bordering on great) and Eps 2 and 3 were OK (bordering on good), this episode THE KEY may actually go down as a Top 10 episode of the entire show and I didn't believe that was remotely possible after the last couple of seasons that started the Morgan era of Fear. Now, in actuality, the first half of Season 4 was decent, but the second half of S4 and the entirety of Season 5 is some of the worst TV I've seen in years. Drab cinematography, dull new characters, bad writing, and even worse acting. As criticized as the first 2 seasons of Fear were, the 4th and 5th seasons made the them look like a masterpiece by comparison.
But as bad as Seasons 4 and 5 were, one of the saving graces was the character John Dorie, who by default was the best new character introduced in the Morgan era of Fear. While all other new characters were interchangeable, Dorie was actually quirky, charming, funny, and original. But unfortunately he was part of some atrocious writing and even he suffered in the process. I would even admit at times his cowboy schtick would get on my nerves. But this episode is the crowning achievement for this great character as Garrett Dillahunt delivers one of the show's best performances worthy of award consideration.
The Key focuses on John relishing his new role as the Sheriff of this mysterious community run by the show's current villain, the cowgirl enforcer Ginny (excellently played by Colby Minifie). But Dorie has a dilemma as his friend Janis (superbly played by Holly Curran), who joined the group late in Season 5, is accused of murdering a community resident by feeding him to walkers. So John tries to solve the murder to save Janis' from Ginny's wrath. There's also strong appearances by Strand (series regular Colman Domingo) and Rabbi Jacob (Season 5 newcomer peter Jacobson) as Dorie has some powerful scenes with them as well.
The writing and dialogue in this episode brought me back to the phenomenal Season 3, which is universally praised by fans and critics as the best of the series. I'm also very partial to Season 1 as well, which I thought introduced a tight and well realized story in only a handful of episodes. Season 6 so far is definitely living up to those two seasons. Still a way to go and even if the rest of the season falters, I can always come back to this brilliant episode to be reminded of the great writing this show is capable of. A surprising gem of an episode.
But as bad as Seasons 4 and 5 were, one of the saving graces was the character John Dorie, who by default was the best new character introduced in the Morgan era of Fear. While all other new characters were interchangeable, Dorie was actually quirky, charming, funny, and original. But unfortunately he was part of some atrocious writing and even he suffered in the process. I would even admit at times his cowboy schtick would get on my nerves. But this episode is the crowning achievement for this great character as Garrett Dillahunt delivers one of the show's best performances worthy of award consideration.
The Key focuses on John relishing his new role as the Sheriff of this mysterious community run by the show's current villain, the cowgirl enforcer Ginny (excellently played by Colby Minifie). But Dorie has a dilemma as his friend Janis (superbly played by Holly Curran), who joined the group late in Season 5, is accused of murdering a community resident by feeding him to walkers. So John tries to solve the murder to save Janis' from Ginny's wrath. There's also strong appearances by Strand (series regular Colman Domingo) and Rabbi Jacob (Season 5 newcomer peter Jacobson) as Dorie has some powerful scenes with them as well.
The writing and dialogue in this episode brought me back to the phenomenal Season 3, which is universally praised by fans and critics as the best of the series. I'm also very partial to Season 1 as well, which I thought introduced a tight and well realized story in only a handful of episodes. Season 6 so far is definitely living up to those two seasons. Still a way to go and even if the rest of the season falters, I can always come back to this brilliant episode to be reminded of the great writing this show is capable of. A surprising gem of an episode.