The Walking Dead: Forget (5:13) SPOILERS

Where to begin? Carol threatens a little boy, Rick walks around with an big red A on his hand, and Buttons... don't even get me started on Buttons, but the big foreshadowing moment... Could Daryl's end be near? Say it ain't so!!!

But first, let's talk about the overall theme of the episode. Like last week, I believe the episode is an extended metaphor regarding the title: "Forget". Could it easily mean that Rick would like to forget Lori?

Umm... Yes, yes he can. Wait, has anyone seen Carl? I'm pretty sure Rick's got his eye on someone new. Even though there was much speculation that it would be Michonne or even Sasha, I think there's a new sheriff in town, and he likes some Jessie:

While it's completely wrong because she's married with kids, and you don't want Rick to be a home wrecker. It's the post-apocolypse for Heaven's sake! So:

Let's get down to the real stuff now. First, let's talk about the extended metaphor. It works in two different ways: first, some people are able to forget what it's like on the outside for a moment; second, some people (eh hem... Sasha) can't seem to forget it at all. The episode opens with Sasha still unable to sleep at night, and she sees stock photos of families that are happy. Oh no, she can't have any of that:

She is dealing with some serious post traumatic stress disorder. I can't really blame her. Her boyfriend was bitten by a walker and then bitten by the hipster cannibal Gareth (oh, more on him later). Then, her brother bleeds out in the van because Rick cut his arm off to stop him from turning!  So, she sees these happy families in the frames, and as she says later in the episode, "that is not real." While she may seem crazy, I think her actions are completely justified, and when a desperate housewife is worried that she might make you the wrong meal?! She deserves to get yelled at!

It seems that most of the crew are trying to forget what it was like out in the world before Alexandria.

Even Abraham who has his fare share of beer, tries to cheer up Michonne who is having a difficult time hanging up the sword (quite literally). The sword is a symbol of her independence (This is not the only symbolic weapon of this episode). She has survived in this zombie apocalypse on her own using two pet walkers, she took on the Governor, and defies every gender role. Ever.  She has become Rick's go to when there's a walker. The few episodes before Alexandria, we saw it start to take her toll. It's like, fine, I'll save your hides once again.

However, Michonne, needs to take a break from being the assassin, and she does her best to forget about the outside. Her once trusty sword is retired:

This is all well and good, but what about the A? What do the symbols tell us with that? We know that symbols can have multiple layers; it's the beauty of a double entendre. On one hand, the A simply stands for Alexandria. Sam tells Rick that he's finally one of us. Aww that's sweet; obviously Rick listened. He went all in on that one. We know the creators of The Walking Dead; there's more to it than just that. Initially, I thought about The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne was forced to wear a scarlet A because of an affair. Of course there are some similarities here: Rick kisses Jessie on the cheek and gives her the smolder:

But, does that really deserve a scarlet A? Is he an adulterer? I don't think so. I think the A has a much more symbolic meaning behind it. If you recall, we have seen the A a few other times in this season. The last episode of Season four and the first episode of Season five, we saw the boxcar they were being held captive marked with a large A.

After they escape, they meet Father Gabriel, and at one point, we see that the church is also marked with an A.

Initially, I thought it was a way for the Hunters to mark the church, almost make it symbolic that they were going to kill them in the boxcar, and now they were going to kill them in the church. But now, we have seen the letter A all through this last episode.

 Using my Venn Diagram skills I tried to put all of the As together and figure out what they meant. What did they all have in common? The Scarlet Letter got the wheels turning. Lust. Back to the bible ladies and gentlemen: the Seven Cardinal Sins. Rick didn't exactly have an affair with Jessie, he simply wanted to. Or, in other words, he lusted for her. If we look at the other As, they all fall into a category of the Seven Deadly Sins. At first, we are not sure if Jessie falls for Rick or not, but when she sees Rick, she shows him her A. Basically, Jessie's calling out to him, "I'm right there with you, Rick." Pete her husband also has an A on him as well. But, he seems like such a nice guy, or did we forget that he was a toolbag when we saw him sitting on the porch the group's first night in Alexandria. Also, in the episode, Jessie wasn't too happy with Pete getting a refill on his drink. I'm going to say that Pete probably has a drinking problem. He fits right into the sin of Gluttony.  Rick also exhibits two other sins in this episode. First, Envy:

After Jessie flashes her A (yes, I'm giggling too), Rick gets a little jealous of Pete. Even Wrath pops his head out when Rick puts his hand on the pistol. Rick, you know better than that:

But seriously, look at the comparison:

Both have a very similar look in there eyes. Things didn't end to well for Shane, but I think Rick's head will clear. Or maybe, Jessie will just choose him over Pete.

What about the boxcar? Some may say that the most, "villainous practitioners of this sin [gluttony] are typically cannibals." I'm pretty sure they are gluttons. Do you recall Gareth talking to Bob. I mean he was eating Bob's leg in front of him! That was some pretty evil stuff.

We don't really know if the Hunters painted the A on Father Gabriel's church. However, we do know why he was left alone in the church for so long. His patrons begged him to open his doors because there was a herd of walkers approaching. Father Gabriel sat inside his church and did nothing to help them. This, my friends, is the definition of Sloth. I'm not sure if we are going to see the letter A come up more in this season, but there are quite a few sins left.

Before we get to the big one, I just want to dispute any rumors that these W walkers are members of the whisperers in the comic. SPOILERS FROM COMIC SCROLL TO NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ. At one point in the episode, Daryl calls Aaron out of the woods. Aaron is surprised that Daryl can tell the difference between a walker and a person just by their sound. So, when Carol, Rick, and Daryl are talking outside of the abandoned house, a W walker happens upon them. One, Daryl could tell the difference (as pointed out by Aaron), but when Carol shoots the walker, it doesn't have a human like reaction when shot.

 I think the Wolves (look at last week's post) are marking these walkers for a reason. Maybe, like Spencer, they want to tag the walkers they kill so people will know it was them. This one happened to get away.

Now, here it is. The big foreshadowing clue that comes from the symbols of the show. I don't want to say it. I really don't. I think we are looking at the end of Mr. Dixon.

Why would the show do this to us? He may be the most beloved character on the show: he's a complete badass, he knows how to survive, and if he wanted to be, he could be the true leader of the group. Even Aaron sees it:

Aaron mentions twice the Daryl knows the difference between good and bad people; he even goes so far as to say that Rick doesn't. Yes, we know Rick is the protagonist, and every conspiracy theorist's dream is to have this whole damn show a dream by Rick. (That's already been shot down by Kirkman). That doesn't mean that that have to kill him, no, it doesn't. But, the symbols definitely lean towards it. When Aaron and Daryl go after Buttons, Daryl says, "The longer he is out there, the more they become what they are." The horse is becoming wild and retreating back to it's natural state of mistrust. Couldn't this be said of Daryl too? He never had much of a home life and has been on his own for a lot longer than the outbreak of the dead rising. Ok, this doesn't mean anything, right?

As Daryl and Aaron follow Buttons, he is cornered off, and the walkers finally get him.

When Daryl and Aaron lament Button's death, Aaron says, "He always ran." Daryl responds with, "You were trying to help him." Oh no. Again, this is the same with Daryl. He's always been on the run, always. Aaron just needs to leave Daryl alone; stop helping him! Yes, I am yelling at a fictional character that I am typing about. But still, It's Daryl. Maybe they are just talking about a horse, and I'm looking into this way to deep. But then theres's this:

Here's the crazy foreshadowing symbol. Look at the image. Look at it closely. You clearly see the fence that ended up trapping Buttons; it comes to a sharp V. Also, look at the dead grass just inside the point of the fence, and look at the trail that Arron and Daryl or walking on. It's an arrow! What is Daryl's symbol throughout this show? His crossbow. So, Buttons is cornered and gets attacked by walkers in the middle of an arrow. Symbols don't often lie. It crushes me to say this, and I really hope that I'm wrong, but I think the symbols show us that Daryl Dixon's days are numbered on The Walking Dead.

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