This episode showed why The Walking Dead is the Best show on Sunday night.
We open the episode with Enid’s back story. She is acting as lookout in a SUV. She warns her parents that they need to leave but they refuse. The next scene is Enid shivering in the same truck, covered in blood while a walker is eating the intestines of one of her parents. A few scenes later, it becomes obvious that Enid has been surviving on her own for a longtime. What is the most peculiar is throughout several times on her journey, she stops to write JSS. Let’s not forget another sign of crazy, she snaps the head of a turtle off and eat raw before making the same 3 letters out of the turtle’s bones. We end her journey as she approaches Alexandria. She can hear the cheery voices inside and for a moment turns away. It seems that she was almost too far gone as well.
The next scene, Carol and other women from Alexandria discuss recipes post apocalypse. One of the women starts complaining about not having a noodle maker. Carol offers to teacher how to make noodles from scratch if she stops smoking in the house because they have too many things out there trying to kill them. I am not buying this. How many skills does Carol have? I know she was a stay at home mom but did she ever go to the grocery store? In a modern world who has time for that. I digress, in the next shot we see Carol walking home where she sees Sam sitting on her porch. She coldly tells him to get over his father’s death before dismissing him.
On to Jesse who crying a pair of scissors before calling her eldest son Ron for his haircut. Ron tells her he doesn’t want one but she insists. Ron tells her that her wanting to cut her hair is bullshit and while Jesse seems bothered by his outburst she brushes it aside and says they need to talk. I can’t lie and say that if my child would have done that, I would be as calm as Jesse. I would have snatched that little bugger up so fast and forced him to talk to me. What happened to respecting your mother? Anyway, she asks if Ron blames her for Pete’s death but he doesn’t answer. She then asks him to raise his left arm above his head but he can’t because Pete broke it. Jesse says that Pete was dangerous and Ron fires back that Rick is dangerous. He asks if Rick is her friend and she says yes.
Deanna and Maggie are somewhere by the town wall. Maggie gives Deanna a cucumber seed packet and stated she found more in a nursery a few miles out and she intends to plant them inside Alexandria. Seems that Maggie is turning into Hershel Jr. Maggie then explains that they need to finish the expansion because that was what Reg wanted and that was what Deanna wanted too. She then hands Deanna the shovel who accepts it.
Next we see Eugene and Tara raiding the cabinet for aspirin because Tara got too dizzy. Denise overhears Eugene complaining that the biggest building on the premise is being used as a church instead of an ammunition locker. Denise introduces herself as the new doctor of Alexandria. Eugene asks if she really is a doctor and Denise throws the question back at him. She then reveals she is a psychiatrist but study to be a surgeon before going into psychology. She is upfront about not being a qualified doctor but accepts she is all the town has for now.
Carl is going on a stroll through town with Judith (that child is looking more and more like Shane everyday) when he sees Enid and Ron in the distance, talking amongst themselves. Father Gabriel calls his name from behind. He then asks if Carl heard what he said about the group before admitting that he now realized that he wasn’t talking about the group at all but himself. He the requests that Carl teaches himself defense because he is ready to hear what he has to say. Carl agree and strolls off; not before making eye contact with Enid who is hugging Ron.
The next scene we see homemaker Carol cooking something once again. She stares out of the kitchen window and smiles when she sees her neighbor smoking outside. That smile didn’t last too long though. A burling man came out of nowhere with a machete and sliced the woman before stabbing her in the head. At that moment, Carol became the seasoned vet and got ready for action. Carl comes downstairs locked and loaded. Carol says he needs to stay back and protect Judith.
Maggie and Deanna are still planting seeds when they start hearing noises of distress. She calls to Richard sitting on top of the fence but it was too late. A Molotov cocktail burns him to a crisp as he comes falling to the ground. Maggie guides Deanna to safety.
Meanwhile, Jesse is trying to leave her youngest son alone in the house while she searches for her oldest. This is the stupidest thing I ever heard and what happens next is the reason why. She hears noises of a break in and decides to hide in the closet with Sam instead. This is what she should have done in the first place. I get wanting to go out and save your child but when he is old enough to make it back home, you stay with the one that can’t fend for himself. At least she is not as bad as she who must not be named.
We cut back to Carl alone in the house when he hears signs of someone trying to get. Turns out it was just Enid. He then asks the all-important question. Why didn’t you knock? Enid answers that she didn’t want them to get the keys. I don’t know why she has the keys but I will just roll with it. She tries to say goodbye but Carl tells her she isn’t going anywhere and to help him protect Judith. He then demands that she never tell him goodbye and she agrees.
Back to Carol. She witnesses more murder and mayhem by the wolves. She tries to save one of her baking buddies but it was too late. A wolf sliced her stomach open. Carol gives her friend a mercy killing for shedding some tears but I couldn’t tell for sure. Either way, you could tell that Carol was shook by what just occurred. It seems that she was finally accepting a life without this type of turmoil.
Next we see Deanna’s surviving son in the guard post attempting to shoot at the intruders but missing terribly. He hears a truck in the distance and caps the driver. Now when know what happened with the loud ass horn last episode. If it were Sasha up there, none of this would have happened.
Aaron and Rosita leave the hospital to help everyone. Eugene’s cowardice reappears and he opts to stay in the safety of the makeshift clinic. Speaking of cowards, Deanna’s son goes to the truck making the noise and sees a walker inside. He hesitates to kill it but Morgan comes up and kills the walker for him. He tells Morgan what’s going on and Morgan says they need to get in. Morgan being the keen observer he is could tell that Spencer was too afraid to go in. He tells the coward to hide before rushing inside.
Morgan comes across a guy with an axe but Carol, disguised as a wolf, comes out the cut and stabs the man in the abdomen. Morgan tells her that she didn’t have to do that but Carol tells him that she did. She notes that they do not have guns and need to get to the armory. Morgan notes that Carol doesn’t like killing. She ignores him and tells him to help her get to the armory.
Deanna and Maggie are running when Spencer calls out to them. Deanna tells Maggie it’s best that she stays behind; outside the walls. Maggie tells spencer to protect his mother before she goes back into the community.
Carl saves ass wipe Ron from being murdered and invites him to come into the house for protection. Ron looks at Enid behind Carl and says no before running home to his family.
At this point, Jesse still hasn’t taken action against the intruder. Instead she continues to hide in the closet. She finally emerges when she hears Ron calling out for her. When she gets to the kitchen, she tells Ron to stay outside. A wolf woman hears her and started a tussle that resulted in Jesse’s head being banged against the wall and her gun thrown across the floor. While the woman’s back is turned, Jess grabs her scissors and begins to stab the woman to death. Ron walks in and looks visibly shaken.
Morgan and make it to the armory but when Morgan sees the Father in danger he goes to help him. Carol secures the armory and shows Tiffany how to use a gun. She tells the woman to point the gun at the door and if someone comes in, keeping shooting until they are down. Carol grabs a couple of weapons before leaving again.
Morgan ties up the man the man who attacked Father Gabriel and just when the captive was about to reveal someone information, Carol shoots him in the head. She hands Morgan and the Father guns before running off again. Both men tell each other they are no good with guns.
Morgan travels to the front gate and tells the pack of wolves to leave because his group has guns. The wolves can hear the gunfire in a distance and take off running but one of them stop to pick up a gun on the way out. Morgan starts to chase after them but decides to close the gate instead.
Carol picks up a pack of cigarettes off the dead woman she encouraged to quit. She sits on the porch twirling it in her hands as a variety of emotions move across her face. It is obvious that she is having a difficult time processing everything that has happened so far.
We then see Aaron doing cleanup on the street by making sure all the dead stays dead. He comes across a man with the backpack he left behind in the wolf trap he and Darryl were caught in. He realizes they found Alexandria because of the pictures in the backpack that he uses to convince people to come back with him. He breaks down on the sidewalk in tears.
Spencer asks Rosita how they continue leaving in a world like this. She tells him by having something worth dying for like this group and community.
Meanwhile Enid disappears but leaves Carl with a note to just survive somehow. Now we know what JSS stands for.
He comes across a place where the door is wide open and is accosted by the wolf that captured him in Season 5. The wolf tells him that he should have killed him and Morgan says sorry. It’s not made clear that Morgan killed him as the next scene is Morgan walking outside but I assume he did. He passes Carol while surveying the different homes. They don’t speak as the episode ends.
My Thoughts:
Holy crap. This show was amazing. I can honestly say the Wolves entrance caught me off guard I was not expecting it. This episode went from 0 to a 100 real quick. The amount of character development and the action packed scenes were great. The writers found the perfect balance. This was the type of episode I hoped the premiere would be but I believe the slow build the premiere created made this episode better.
I hope the writers don’t make Morgan another magical Negro. I am really sick of all the black men in the show acting like Jiminy Cricket for Rick and the crew. Hopefully Morgan’s scene with the wolf guy means that he isn’t above putting someone down once they prove they need to be. I would hate to see him go because his moral code is too far right when he should be center. Now I am curious how him letting the small pack of wolves go will bite him in the butt. It seems this show is a glutton for punishing characters who respect life. I mean look at Dale, Hershel, Tyrese and Sasha’s boyfriend. All dead.
We didn’t get to see Michonne and the rest of the crew that went out to guide the heard. I was looking forward to seeing Michonne going to town on the Wolves with her trusty Katana. It makes me wonder how Morgan managed to get away since he was with Rick in the last episode when the horn went off.
I know I am supposed to care about Jesse and Ron but I don’t. I hate teen angst and I hate weeping parents. I know that have experienced a loss in a family but what happened to showing some maturity? What happened to thinking logically when trying to keep both of your children safe? What happened to not being an ass wipe when someone saves your life? Ron needs a serious reality check.
I also don’t care about Enid leaving. She didn’t have a purpose in my opinion. Maybe later she will appear useful. I do admire that she is a survivor but I can’t figure out how she drives the story forward.
I really can’t wait for next week. This episode was perfect.
Final Score: 10/10
