*Spoilers ahead*
The cast of The Walking Dead has gotten so huge over the past five seasons that it’s become increasingly hard for the writers to keep tabs on all of the group at one time and with the addition of the Alexandrians things have only gotten harder. That’s really the biggest issue of this week’s episode as the show attempts to service as many of it’s cast as it can with only slight success. We get little character moments from Abraham, Michonne, and Noah but the majority of time this week is focused on Rick, Carol, Daryl, and Sasha as they continue to navigate life in Alexandria.
Sasha continues to struggle with the deaths of the two closest people in her life, Tyresse and Bob, and has been taking out her grief on framed family photos found in the houses. Her fragile mental state isn’t helped by everyone around her insisting that things return to “normal,” she can’t be bothered to try with all that she’s been through. I enjoyed the show giving us a greater look into Sasha’s mind and I’m curious to see what game Deanna is playing with her.
Elsewhere, Carol, along with Rick and Daryl, make plans to take back some of the guns that were confiscated from them. Carol’s the one who does most of the work here. She gathers the intel and breaks into the storehouse. The initial scene in the woods with the trio is fun if only for Rick’s thinly veiled disgust at how weak the Alexandrians are. However, Carol steals the show later when she is caught stealing guns by a little boy and scares him into secrecy by threatening that one day he’ll wake up “outside the walls” and he’ll scream but the only thing that will hear him are “the monsters.” It’s genuinely shocking to see how far Carol has come and she still manages to not be the worst of the group.
Rick is slowly coming to like the idea of Alexandria but that doesn’t stop him from possibly heading to some very dark places. Where once Rick was a true man of law and order he’s now content to make moves on married women and consider killing their husbands. It’s an interesting road to take and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out. It’s clear that Rick is torn between being the man he once was, a man he can probably never be again, and continuing down the path he is on now.
Then, we come to Daryl. Daryl has the most interesting plot this week as he and Aaron go out hunting and try to capture a horse, named Buttons, that has been roaming around the area for awhile. They fail and the zombies get their hold on the poor thing. The main purpose of all this, besides further fleshing out Aaron, is to get Daryl out of his shell. The man has always been a bit shy and when he goes hunting, and later is invited to eat, with Aaron he gets a chance to bond with someone, which was the last thing he seemed to want. Aaron has a knack for understanding people though, he believes Daryl does too, it’s why he offers him the job of beign his new partner in finding others to join their group. Daryl accepts almost instantly.
Eventually, the trio all meet up later and Carol is the only one who still seems fully on board with taking the guns. Rick reluctantly accepts and Daryl flat out refuses, it’s interesting to see roles change and I’m hoping we get to see more of that with some of the other characters moving forward.
The Walking Dead has managed to remain tense these last few episodes, despite there being no outright threat, by suggesting that the biggest threat to the group isn’t the people of Alexandria but the group itself.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- Abraham and Rosita showed up a bit this week and Abraham gets a fun little scene with Michonne but I demand much more of them! Eugene too!
- Noah has a weird little moment with Glenn and Maggie where they say that the group is a big family. It feels cheesy and isn’t remotely earned but I guess it’s better than nothing.
- Michonne gets the most of the “bit” parts this week but her struggles with hanging up (literally!) the sword feel like they should be expanded on a bit.
- If not for the previews of next week’s episode I would have completely forgotten that Gabriel was still with the group.
- If might be a bit of a reach but Rick kissing Jessie really made it clear to me that he’s starting to become more and more like his old pal, Shane.
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