The Walking Dead: Us

I think I've finally settled down from the emotional hour we spent in "The Grove" during the previous episode of The Walking Dead. I seriously lost sleep after that one. We know now that Carol, Tyreese and baby Judith are heading to Terminus, but "Us" circles back to several of the other scattered characters as they strive toward various reunions. Here's where we are when the episode ends...

Rick, Michonne and Carl

In an uber serious tone, Rick tells the other members of his trio that they are getting close to Terminus. When he turns to look at them, Michonne and Carl are doing a tightrope act on the train tracks and I love it. Hell, Rick even smiles. This scene still isn't as good as the "Bam! Crazy Cheese" moment Michonne and Carl shared earlier in the season (I find myself just saying that out of the blue sometimes), but after last week I definitely appreciate the giggle I get here. We do not see this group again for the rest of the episode. 

Daryl and The Douchebags

Poor Daryl. He wakes before the jackasses he's living with these days and goes off on a hunt.  As Daryl prepares to kill a rabbit for breakfast, Douchbag #1 sneaks up from behind and fires his own bow, hitting the rabbit first. He flips out when Daryl takes the rabbit and talks a LOT of shit. Daryl grabs his knife, but Joe (who is apparently the leader) steps in. He explains the rules of the group to Daryl, saying if someone "claims' something, it's theirs. Soooo, by that asinine train of thought, the rabbit is supposed to belong to Douchebag #1. Joe cuts the rabbit in half though because Daryl is only a first time offender of the most ridiculous rules ever.  

As the group departs on the train track, Joe and Daryl chat about the unfriendly douchebags in their company. Joe insists that the guys don't necessarily have to like each other to survive together and then talks more about the rules. Joe tells Daryl that breaking the rules incites a beating...the severity of the beating depends on the offense and everyone's moods that day. Unreal. These rules include the "claimed" violation as well as lying. Yup. There's nothing worse than a lying douchebag. Joe says some more "blah, blah blah" about sticking together before Joe calls the group to a halt at what looks like a warehouse. He says they will stay the night there. As the group walks in, Daryl looks and Joe and says quite seriously "I aint no 'us.'" Joe says unless he's leaving, he's part of the "us." (Subtle use of the episode title alert!). 

When the guys arrive inside the warehouse, all of the trucks and cars are "claimed" immediately as beds...so Daryl lays down on the floor. Douchebag #1 says his half of the rabbit is gone and dumps it out of Daryl's bag. Joe says he saw Douchebag #1 put the rabbit in there, and death by beating commences. The next morning, the group sees a sign for Terminus and decides they would never be welcome there. Joe tells Daryl that their destination isn't a place, it's a person....the person who strangled one of the other douchebags in a house they were staying in. Uh oh. They're looking for Rick, and they are hot on his trail.  

Glenn, Tara, Eugene, Abraham and Smokin' Hot Rosita

This band of misfits begins the episode on the train tracks with Eugene telling Tara his theories on dinosaurs, home made batteries, and video games. I kind of love him. He seems to have no idea that Tara spends the majority of her time checking out Smokin' Hot Rosita because dude is making any and all attempts to impress Tara with his knowledge. His jabbering stops abruptly when the group comes upon another sign for Terminus....with Maggie's message to Glenn to come find her there. Glenn takes off as if he was auditioning for a part in Chariots of Fire.

Abraham stops the group at a tower for some rest but Glenn has no plans to delay a reunion with Maggie. As they argue near the tower, a Walker essentially commits suicide by falling almost exactly where the group is standing. Tara gets pushed to the ground and hurts her knee. I immediately roll my eyes. She's just so unbelievably useless. The next debate is whether Tara can walk or not...she says yes...Smokin' Hot Rosita says Tara should rest....and I'm surprised that Tara chooses travel over the potential to "accidentally" spoon Rosita.  

The group presses on, approaching a scary looking tunnel that has another Maggie message. Glenn doesn't want to go around the tunnel and Abraham isn't risking any lives for the sake of getting to Maggie faster. He gives Glenn and laaaaame Tara some canned goods and a flashlight and the troupe parts ways. As they say their goodbyes, Eugene lets Tara know that she is "seriously hot." Tara responds: "Yeah, I like girls." Eugene says he is well aware of that, but we all know that's not true. Laughing moment number 2 for the episode though, so I'll take it. 

Glenn and limping Tara start to make their way through through what looks like a tunnel of doom, and Tara recounts the events of the prison takeover attempt. They arrive at a collapsed portion with a bunch of Walkers trapped under rocks like a some sort of Halloween attraction. One by one Glenn and Tara check the Walkers to make sure Maggie isn't a zombie, then they stab the heads in order to make their way to the other side of the rubble....where of course there are tons of Walkers roaming about freely. Why wouldn't there be? You know what else was bound to happen? Tara getting her leg stuck in the rocks as they try to escape. Idiot! Leave her! Glenn is too awesome though...he starts shooting the shit out of the Walkers before a group with guns comes to the rescue. It's MAGGGGGGIE! Best. Reunion. Ever. 

Turns out Abraham, Eugene and Smokin Hot Rosita found themselves a minivan which took them to the other side of the tunnel. They happened to join forces with Maggie, Sasha and Bob at that point to save the day, and they arrived not a moment too soon. Glenn introduces lame ass Tara to Maggie as someone he met on the road rather than someone contributing to the murder of her father. Good call. After some discussions about heading straight to Washington, Eugene says they might be able to recruit some extra fighters at Terminus and perhaps some better vehicles as well. The prison group wants to go to Terminus anyway to see if their loved ones are there, so everyone decides to head that way in the morning. Glenn and Maggie are able to share some snuggling time and she burns the Polaroid picture Glenn had been keeping of her. She tells him he will never need a picture of her again. WHAT!?! Don't do that! Now I'm scared Maggie will die in the finale. Damn it. 

The episode ends with the group reaching Terminus. As they enter the gates they come upon gardens, a welcoming woman named Mary, and a bbq. This has to be a farce, right? What group of people welcomes everyone into their peaceful community during an apocalypse? Are we about to meet a new version of The Governor? And what are they cooking? Is it a Beth bbq? Perhaps the Terminus folks recruit outsiders because they have a special cooking sauce meant just for people. We only have one more episode to find out, and here's hoping the rest of the gang makes it to Terminus by then....either for a happy reunion or a frantic rescue.