Maggie and Daryl Pick Sides on ‘The Walking Dead’ (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
Don’t Be a Braindead Walker
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It looks like Marvel superheroes aren’t the only characters who face off against each other, “Civil War” style; this week’s episode implies a big battle might be coming sooner rather than later on The Walking Dead.
After questioning Rick’s decisions for (presumably) the entire time jump, Maggie and Daryl have decided to take matters into their own hands. The majority of the episode, though, focuses on the turmoil caused at camp when a mysterious assailant continues taking down a bunch of Saviors. And, unsurprisingly, Anne’s (probably?) up to no good.
Lost and Found
A horde of walkers stumbles through an area decorated with old, rusted street signs. They’re feeding on a man in a gray shirt: a very dead, very unlucky Justin. He eventually reanimates and joins the undead, starting to stumble through the forest.
Back at Alexandria, things are almost too happy. Rick starts his day by kissing Michonne and checking on Judith, putting his hand over Carl’s handprint, picking a ripe, red tomato and placing it by what appears to be his son’s grave. He then goes back to Michonne, who’s losing sleep over the community charter. Rick expresses his belief in her by um, taking her mind off her work. He implies that he wants to add another member to the already-adorable Grimes clan, and she’s enthusiastic about the idea.
Maggie and a man who looks disturbingly like Glenn take a horse-drawn wagon down to the bridge. They’re stopped on the road by a group of Saviors who say they’re looking for Justin. One of the men makes Maggie reveal what cargo she’s carrying, and when he finds them hauling tomatoes, he takes one out of the cart and eats it. Maggie asks him what his name is, so she can write him down for the fruit he stole, but he’s not feeling too cooperative. Thankfully, one of his comrades is, and she gives Maggie his name — Jedd — and promises the Saviors will make good on their promise to give Hilltop ethanol as soon as they can. Glenn’s doppelgänger expresses his discontent that they’re working with the Saviors, and Maggie says they’re “giving it a chance.” They run into a few walkers, and likely Justin.
Family Time
Everything’s still happy at Alexandria. Judith has a cough, so Rick and Michonne take her to see Siddiq. Afterward, they spend the day doing all kinds of happy-family stuff: laying out in the sun together, playing hide-and-seek, having “swordfights” with sticks. They read to Judith on the steps to their house, and it’s there they realize something’s wrong. One of the Alexandrians tells Rick and Michonne that someone found Justin dead, and it didn’t look like an accident.
Things are as chaotic at the bridge camp as they are peaceful at Alexandria. Fists are flying, and the Saviors are enraged not only by Justin’s death, but by their inability to defend themselves because Rick won’t let them have guns. Aiden tries to keep the peace, but his efforts are for naught; the Saviors no longer see him as one of their own. They demand guns so that they can protect themselves, but Daryl refuses. The Saviors accuse him and Anne/Jadis, and a fight seems ready to break out until Rick shows up. Aiden volunteers to talk to Rick, to make sure everyone feels safe.
Rick asks Father Gabriel if he knows where Anne was the night Justin died; Father Gabriel lies and says he was with her all night. He then talks to Aiden, who tries to negotiate for some guns for the Saviors, but Rick doesn’t think it’s a good idea to arm them before they’ve figured out what happened to Justin — if they can’t, he says he’ll think about giving them a few guns. Maggie’s not happy about the idea, but Rick says her deal made the Saviors the majority of the workforce.
Another One Bites The Dust?
Meanwhile, Jadis is acting pretty shady. Father Gabriel goes to talk to her, but she largely brushes him off, and seems pretty rattled. Something’s fishy with the former garbage-dweller.
Daryl and Rick have yet another tense conversation. Rick asks Daryl if he killed Justin. Daryl insists he didn’t. Rick tells Daryl the future belongs to everyone, Saviors included. Daryl asks Rick why the Saviors should have that future when Glenn, Abraham and Sasha didn’t. Rick asks Daryl to try going along with the larger plan and working to keep everyone unified, and brings up the time he “didn’t kill the guy who left [his] brother on a rooftop to die.”
Maggie and Cyndie search the woods for clues as to what could’ve happened to the Saviors as part of a five-team mission. They stumble upon an old house Oceanside used to live in, and the clanking of the metal roof is drawing more and more walkers. Maggie goes to take down the walkers and tells Cyndie to get the loose piece of the roof, but the girl ends up falling through a loose floorboard and needing Maggie to rescue her. This sets free a small horde of walkers inside the home, and Maggie and Cyndie barely manage to make it out. Rick and Rosita get there right after the battle, and Rosita says “grid five” — the fifth team — should’ve been there earlier.
Unfortunately, “grid five” was out of commission. One of the Oceanside women on that team was knocked out after she and Arat, one of the Savior women, decided the section was clear. They don’t know where Arat is now, but it seems likely whoever’s been killing Saviors has her.
An ‘A’ Or A “B”
Rick and his group regroup at the camp and make plans to find Arat. They pair up and head out, and Rick says they’ll stay out until they find her. Rick and Carol go together, and Carol says if they don’t find Arat they’ll have a fight on their hands. Rick says he won’t let it come to that, and shares a pretty dark secret; every morning when he wakes up, he considers killing Negan and the rest of the Saviors. He’s never followed through on it, though, because he wants to honor those they lost in the war and before it. Every life, he says, counts now.
Daryl and Maggie also have a heart-to-heart, though theirs is a little less hopeful. They discuss their reservations about Rick’s plan, and both say they aren’t sure if they’re good with the direction things are heading or if they’re just “playing nice for Rick.” Maggie admits what Rick is doing is right for the future, but every time she looks at Hershel, she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. They stumble across a walker and Maggie takes it down, but based on the weapon stuck in its back, he suddenly knows who took Arat.
Night falls, and Anne goes back to her junkyard. She opens a safe and turns on a radio, and communicates with a mysterious man who asks her if she has “An ‘A’ or a ‘B.’” Anne asks him if she took the Saviors, and he says, “no pickups, but the deal still stands.” He asks her his first question again, and when she refuses, he insists that she has been compensated. He tells her she needs to bring them an ‘A’ the next day, and it’s then that Father Gabriel has the truly terrible idea of making his presence known. He wants to know who she was talking to, but instead of telling him, Anne tells him about a community they could join together. She says that if he trusts her and helps her with part of the deal, they could have a great life. Gabe insists that he has to tell Rick what happened, going against her wishes, and Anne wastes no time in knocking him out. “And all this time, I thought you were a ‘B,’” she says. What?!?
Time To See Negan
Rick and Carol continue searching through the dark forest. Carol finds what she believes to be Jedd’s walker, but he’s very much alive: another Savior tackles Rick, and Jedd holds a knife to Carol’s throat. He demands Rick’s gun, but Rick tells him that if he goes through with his plan, everything they’ve worked for will end. Carol, ever the sly survivor, still has a knife. When Rick stalls, she stabs Jedd (non-fatally) and Rick orders the other Savior to his knees. Rick tells Jedd that they’ll fix him up at camp, and when Jedd asks why they didn’t kill him, Carol snarls, “Because every life counts.”
Maggie and Daryl find the group who’s been taking the Saviors — it’s the Oceanside group, including Cyndie and the woman who was in the “grid five” pairing earlier in the episode. They have Arat on her knees, begging for her life. Cyndie explains that the Oceansiders used to live in the houses and the area behind the street signs, but the Saviors and Simon took everything from them.
Maggie, Cyndie says, by killing Gregory, showed the Oceansiders that Rick’s way isn’t the only way. Cyndie recalls how Arat killed her 11-year-old brother after making her beg for his life. After hearing Arat told Cyndie “no exceptions” as an excuse for taking her brother’s life, Maggie and Daryl both leave the Savior to her fate and the Oceansiders take care of her.
With no Arat to return to the bridge Saviors, Rick sends them packing, presumably back to the Sanctuary. Maggie and Daryl walk and talk, and Maggie says Cyndie showed her the way.
“We gave Rick’s way a chance,” Maggie says. “It’s time to see Negan.”
Stray Observations
- If this whole thing with Daryl and Maggie somehow leads to Rick’s death… that might just be the gutsiest move this show has ever made. But if it does, Daryl and Maggie would never forgive themselves.
- Speaking of Rick’s impending departure, the scenes with him and Michonne and Judith seem tragic instead of heartwarming. I can’t help but wonder if Michonne is pregnant, and there’ll be a new Grimes child soon. Though nothing can fully soften the blow of Rick leaving, that might at least make his departure a little easier to cope with.
- WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ANNE. That whole sequence in her former lair was terrifying.
The Walking Dead, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC
