When do you over throw a Government? Since Rick Grimes and his group have arrived they have seen all aspects of how the Commonwealth operates. While all in his group acknowledge the problems the Commonwealth has, they disagree on how those issues should be resolved. Rick has taken the position of not wanting to go to war against them, but rather attempts to improve their community and his own in the process. Dwight, along with Yumiko and Magna, have expressed their concerns about the Commonwealth and how it needs to be freed. This has created a divide in Rick’s group on what is best for them and the people of the Commonwealth going forward.
The Good:
Clearly Rick’s group and Governor Pamela Milton are having a different response to the uprising that ocurred. For Pamela, she recognizes that her power is being challenged in her community as the people are not satisfied with a class system in place. With this looming over her she introduces the solution to increase her soldiers to monitor the streets. She justifies this action by making it clear, publicly, that this is to regain the trust of her citizens by increasing protection for them. In reality, she is increasing her soldiers on the street as a means to watch her citizens closer and to prevent an uprising like this from occurring again. With this action taken she has effectively kept her community safe by turning it into a police state that suppresses any threat to her power. In response, Dwight realizes that the people in this community are not happy with their leadership and he wants to liberate this community from their leaders. Despite Rick shooting down his idea to do so, when the Commonwealth’s soldiers are deployed, Dwight begins to make a scene. In the commotion, he states the truth as to what is occurring in this community, which forces the soldiers to tell him calm down and subdue him. People from the community begin to show support for Dwight, which forces him to surrender as he was testing people to see if they are in agreement with him about the divide in the Commonwealth. Upon surrendering Dwight is brought to the jail where Rick explains why he tried to stop his plan. Rick, when talking to Dwight, explains that this community has problems, but they have accomplished a lot of good in creating a safe place for people to live and survive in this world. Furthermore, Rick makes it clear that if the four communities were to go to war against the Commonwealth that they might lose as the Commonwealth has weapons and a trained Army. If they were to lose against the Commonwealth the four communities might lose everything that they built over the last several years. With this in mind Rick doesn’t want to oppose the Commonwealth, but rather improve it to make small changes as a means to avoid a war between communities. Yumiko and Magna also express their concerns to each other about the Commonwealth. They both agree that it would be better to be caught in a war between the two communities then to live out on the open road again. This captures the importance’s of living in some form of civilization.
The Bad:
The comic does give a glimpse into what Carl has been doing since Rick has been in the Commonwealth. While it does show Carl becoming an adult as he is in a romantic and sexual relationship with Lydia, it does feel out of place within the comic. This component has no impact currently on the events that will play out within the Commonwealth and how Dwight, Rick, Michonne, Pamela, Mercer, Yumiko, and Magna will react to what appears to be a violent conflict that will occur. Carl’s relationship seems out of place inserted in the comic at this time.
The Verdict:
The comic is continuing to lay down tracks leading to a big arc where the people of the Commonwealth address the grieves they have with their leaders. Throughout the issue we gain insight into Dwight, Rick, Magna, Yumiko, and Pamela’s views on why they are making the decisions they are making. With their insights revealed we gain a greater understanding of everyone’s position and what their next move will be if a violent conflict does break out.
