#Like he sold his soul to get off new Galveston but part of him still feels guilty for leaving y'know

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📻 annnnnd Mulligan

Rowan! you lucky duck!! This is THEE Mulligan song (to me) given that he grew up in a mining colony and his number one talent is digging himself into (metaphorical) holes and also that he's terrible at relationships in general plus, just, this whole verse

Well I ought to be working for the railroads Sweat pouring off my back Hauling away a heavy load It's a far cry from heaven down a cold steel track And I can't take her with me She's better off without Yeah I ought to be working for the railroads Lord knows I'm good at leaving town

Given that he is a space long-haul trucker and therefore very good at leaving town, and that he fully believes all of his lovers (& children) are better off without him in their life <3

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FTWD 6x14: Mother - Analysis

Okay, how did everyone like the episode? It wasn't one of those hold grails of TD symbolism episodes, but it was still enjoyable to watch.

 ***As always, spoilers for 6x14 abound below. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

We start out with Teddy in his cell. There are a lot of interesting Easter eggs in this scene. The fact that we see the inside of his cell at all kind of reminded me of best sale in 4x01. I'm not saying there are tons of parallels in the situation, but we didn't see inside the cells of very many people in detail while they were living at the prison. Beth's was one of the most detailed. 

We also see toilet paper (Toilet Paper theme) and we see Teddy writing in journals. Again, it's just a parallel to Beth writing in her journal in 4x01 when Daryl comes to see her.

We see Teddy escape from jail when the apocalypse hits. Then we switch to a school where he is holding Alicia captive. Once again, there are some interesting Easter eggs here. The fact that it's a school at all is important. We saw a school in Coda and around father Gabriel. It's the place where the Termites would camp and eat Bob's leg. We also see a school bus later in the episode.

These are just symbols we’ve seen a lot throughout the series, and they are usually are entangled with Beth symbolism. I noticed there was an American flag on the wall (above left). Not uncommon for school, but it's just reminded me of the American Revolutionary War theme. There is also a random, green tree picture behind Riley at one point (above right).

In the morning, Teddy and Riley come to see Alicia. He says they found a new home after she burned down The Holding. Riley wants to kill her, but Teddy won't let him.

There was also a death row mention here. The last time we heard about death row was in 4a when Glenn mentioned it. It's where they sent the patients who were sick with the virus. So, there's a link between death row, the A theme (because it was cell block A) and people who are sick with a fever and especially need water.

In this scene, we see a red and yellow gas can 

and a black and white truck. 

The school bus brings new recruits, including Dakota. We then learned that she didn't get there coincidentally. She's been looking for Alicia to help her. Teddy immediately likes Dakota when he hears she killed her mother. It will make sense why at the end of the episode. He brings Dakota with them.

He takes Alicia and Dakota out toward the stadium Madison died in. They don’t actually go there, but instead go to a cemetery where they pull the corpse of the woman out of a mausoleum. Again, just some interesting symbols sprinkled around in this part. There's the fact that there in the cemetery at all. And remember that in Dale's speech from S1, he talks about mausoleum of time. He defines time as “a mausoleum of all hope and desire.”

The corpse in the coffin is wearing a deep purple dress. Teddy says it's his mother, but they later revealed this to be a lie. But he tells Alicia near the end that morning glories grew on his mother's grave. Morning glories are also purple.

While in the car, I thought it interesting that Teddy calls Dakota “Sioux.” He says it's because Sioux Falls is favorite place in the Dakotas. Either way, this is a Native American reference and goes along with that theme.

 At this part, he also says, “There are no coincidences. The universe sends us signs. And it’s up to us to interpret them.” Sounds like a spin on, “The signs are all there. You just gotta know how to read them.”

They drive over some nails in the road which were purposely placed, and get flat tires. Then a man named Cole shows up. It's been a long time since I watched seasons 1-3 of Fear, so I couldn't remember exactly who Cole was. But it explains that he and a few others with him used to live in the stadium with the group before Madison died. He seems to be a friend to Alicia and to want to help them. He says he can take them to an auto parts store to look for new tires for the truck.

On the way, Dakota and Teddy talk. They’re instant buddies because they both have the same warped way of thinking. They don’t mind killing people and have no remorse.

When they get to the auto shop, Cole reveals himself as an enemy, and he and his group take Alicia, Teddy and Dakota hostage. Most of Cole’s group just want to take the truck and leave, but he's determined to find out where Teddy's community is so that they can live there and make use of the supplies.

I noticed that at one point, Doug says, "there's got to be a map." We don't actually see a map as Teddy says there isn't one, but anytime a map is mentioned, I always go back to the map Daryl used in 10x18.

Cole tries to get Teddy to talk by threatening the corpse of his mother, but it doesn't work. This is where Teddy reveals that it's not truly his mother. He was trying to make a point to Alicia about how everyone her mother helped was dead and that's why the world needed to die. But meeting Cole, who had clearly sold his soul at some point, just drove home his argument.

Cole puts the three of them on their knees in a lineup, Negan-style, and tries to kill them. But Alicia jumps in a fight ensues as more walkers show up. Eventually everyone is killed and Alicia shoots Cole.

We do get a really interesting symbol here. Alicia puts her arm through the stomach of a blond, female walker, holding a gun with the hand that’s protruding from the walker. And the walker is wearing bright yellow. It’s definitely a Beth walker. And to me, this shows that the “weapon” that will take down this end-of-days plan is Beth.

Then we get perhaps the most blatant parable of the episode. Teddy says to Alicia, "You let go of your past. You aren’t afraid to change." Could there be more Beth centric lines? But the thing is, even though he says the lines, they're not about him. They’re about Alicia. Keep that in mind and I’ll come back to it.

We also find out that Teddy's real mother thought he was disturbed and tried to have him committed. He killed her and buried her in the backyard. Model citizen, right?

He also finally tells Alicia that the key will launch a missile from the submarine in Galveston, which will destroy everything on the outside.

She tries to execute Teddy, but Dakota, who has found a friend in him, defends him. Alicia raises Strand on the walkie and tells him about the submarine before Riley shows up and Teddy's people take her hostage again.

They go to the Franklin Hotel which is apparently their new home. There are several, "Uncle Sam mentions in Teddy's dialogue. Uncle Sam is just a slang term for the USA, so I think this is probably part of the American Revolutionary war theme.

Ultimately, Teddy imprisons Alicia in the basement. The idea here is that he's going to set off the nukes. After he destroys everything, he wants her to rebuild the world.

It was at this part that I understood that Alicia is definitely a Beth proxy here. This actually reaches back to a few episodes ago when she first burned The Holding down. The embalming room was very reminiscent of Grady. Mostly it's because it had medical machines and supplies in it. But it also looked and felt very reminiscent of a room at Grady.

So, Alicia is kind of in a Grady situation with a questionable leader (Dawn, for Beth). And now she's been imprisoned by them with the idea that at some point, she’ll help rebuild the world. 

Sounds like it could be a loose description of Beth's arc. In this part, Teddy says Alicia will be the hope of people in the world needs to be rebuilt.

He even says, "good luck." (Luck Theory).

And given what he said to her earlier about how she left her past behind and was willing to change, clearly Alicia = Beth.

So, that was my main take away from this episode. Alicia's arc is a parallel to Beth’s and we have enough dialogue and parallels to prove it. Meanwhile, they finally admitted to the nuclear thing and we’re heading toward the season finale in just a couple of episodes. It will be a super exciting to see what happens.

What did everyone else think of the episode?