TWD Season 5 Finale: Conquer

We've reached the 90 minute finale for Season 5 of The Walking Dead and things have gotten to a breaking point in Alexandria. Our heroes have lost Bob, Beth, Tyreese and Noah in a very short amount of time in their world, and their new home is currently being jeopardized by "W" Walkers, lazy security, an abusive husband, and crazy ass Rick Grimes. Can the gang hold on to hope for success in this community? Here's where we are with "Conquer."

Worn Out Places, Worn Out Faces

The episode opens with Morgan asleep in the back seat of a broken down car. He looks up to see a rabbit's foot hanging from the rear view mirror, smiles, then builds a fire outside to start breakfast. Just another morning I guess. Morgan looks healthy, happy (all things considered), and in total control of his life these days. Of course I spoke too soon. A man with a gun approaches him. He's got a sunken in dirty face and a "W" on his forehead, making him the first living person we've seen with that mark. He tells Morgan, "You know, the first settlers here put bounties on wolves' heads, brought the natives into it, made them hunt them. Didn't take them too long to kill them all. They're back now." This makes zero sense to me and I'm not sure that Morgan completely understands either. But I will say I'm intrigued. 

The Wolves dude makes small talk about how he misses movies and then informs Morgan that he wants everything Morgan has...he also mentions that Morgan won't be alive much longer. Morgan says that he'll give up all of his supplies but cannot be taken away from the area. Another guy jumps out from the bushes but Morgan has a nifty walking stick that he uses to beat the shit out of these assholes. He puts them in the back of the car he slept in, honks the horn, takes the rabbits foot and leaves the two thieves in the car. 

Bright And Early For The Daily Races

Daryl and Aaron continue their quest to find more people to bring home to Alexandria. They are on the trail of what they think is a nearby group when Daryl asks about the people Deanna has sent away in the past. Aaron says it was early on in their community life and it was a group of three: two men and one woman. They were driven far from Alexandria, given a day's worth of food, and left to fend for themselves without weapons. 

Daryl sees a guy in a red poncho walking nearby. Red Riding Hood alert! They follow him but somehow lose him in the woods. How do you lose a guy in a red poncho? I thought Daryl had crazy good tracking skills. Anyway, they come upon what looks like a canned goods warehouse and decide it's better to at least go home with food at this point. Unfortunately the food trucks only have Walkers in them (it's a trap!) and Daryl has to do some Indiana Jones shit with a chain to get them to safety...kinda. They end up in a car in the parking lot but the Walkers surround them completely. Inside the car Aaron finds a note that says "Trap. Bad people coming. Don't stay." Looks like that last part was written in blood.

Daryl and Aaron don't have many options at this point. Daryl pulls out a cigarette and says he's going to get out of the car and draw the Walkers away after he finishes his smoke. He tells Aaron to run for the fence when he distracts them. Daryl, I love you, but there are SO many Walkers. I'm not even sure how you'll open your door without getting eaten. Aaron must feel the same way because he tells Daryl they are going to go together. Before they can embark on this suicide mission, Morgan is there! He's got his badass walking stick and he saves the day! Aaron tells Morgan about their community but Morgan says he's already on his way somewhere. He pulls out the map that Abraham had left behind for Rick when the groups parted ways back the the church...the one that says "Sorry I was an asshole. Come to Washington. The new world's gonna need Rick Grimes."

The Wolves are revealed as the group who set the trap, and they eventually return to find all of the Walkers roaming the warehouse area. They have red poncho guy in their possession and they slit his throat...so there will be one less Alexandria recruit for Aaron and Daryl if they return to look for him. 

Hide My Head, I Want To Drown My Sorrow

Rick wakes up from Michonne's awesome blow to the head and finds himself bandaged up and receiving the look of death from his fellow constable (though I'm assuming he's fired). Michonne tells Rick they moved Pete to another house and asks why Rick kept his gun from her. Carol walks in right on time and asks Rick if he stole the gun from the armory, telling him it was a stupid thing to do. Nice, Carol. CYA. Rick plays along but he's bummed to learn that Deanna is holding a meeting that night to discuss kicking him out of the community. Carol says Rick needs to tell them what they want to hear, but Rick is still in defensive mode and talks about threatening to kill Deanna, Reg, and Spencer if they try to throw him out. 

Maggie approaches Deanna to defend Rick, and Reg is in Maggie's corner which is a nice change of

pace for these Alexandria idiots. She reports back to Glenn, who seems very worried about how the meeting will go. Carol, doing the 180 that she's gotten so good at, visits Rick again by herself and says what happened with Pete was ultimately a good thing. She then hands him another gun. Rick says he doesn't want to lie anymore and Carol give us the first great lines of the episode: "You said you don't want to take this place...and you don't want to lie? Oh sunshine, you don't get both." Ha!  

"No cookies for you."

Pete, meanwhile, is sitting all by his lonesome in a different house with the curtains closed. Carol shows up with yet another casserole and Pete tells her to leave right away. She pulls out a knife and says she could kill him, and who would believe she did it for any other reason besides him attacking her? "Come at me. No? Yeah? No." So awesome. Carol then says, "You're a small, weak nothing. Play your cards right...maybe you don't have to die. I want my dish back clean when you're done." She leaves, he wastes a perfectly good meal by dropping the casserole, and he cries "this isn't my house!"

Pete's actual house is in disarray as Jessie is managing the broken window and most likely her broken heart. Rick shows up to not really apologize because he thinks he did what was best, and she doesn't freak out the way I thought the might. She says people shouldn't see them talking right now but tells him he was right. Pete sees this from his window. Soooo the farthest they could separate him from his wife was putting him within eyesight of the porch? Good grief. 

I Find It Hard To Take

Not sure if I've mentioned how angry Gabriel makes me. At least not today? He's no longer donning his priest garb and he asks to be let out of the gates for a quick walk. Spencer asks if he wants to take a gun with him and Gabriel replies "The word of God is the only protection I need." Gabriel whistles as he approaches a Walker. Is he trying to die? Oh pleeeeease tell me he's trying to die. He walks forward with his arms out and says "I'm ready." Yes! Oh my god! I'm clapping and yelling from my couch! Ultimately though Gabriel kills the Walker. The zombie has a noose around his neck that Gabriel uses to decapitate him. Then, of course, Gabriel cries. Color me pisssssssed. Gabriel walks back through the gates and Spencer is eager to get to Deanna's meeting. He asks Garbiel to close the gate behind him and of course the gate doesn't close all the way. Jackass. 

When Gabriel returns to his church Sasha is waiting for him. She's still on her downward spiral and she's looking for some help. Gabriel says he can't help her because she doesn't deserve to be here. "Bob was mutilated, consumed, destroyed because of your sins. Your brother felt like he was apart from it and a was a part of it. He deserved to be here. You don't!" Ummm again, YOU LET THE PEOPLE OF YOUR CHURCH GET MASSACRED! Sasha attacks him and I think for sure this is it for Gabriel. Nope. Maggie arrives and talks Sasha out of killing him. The three of them then sit and pray together.  Maggie, I want everything to work out too, but this guy has been a liability since day one. 

Speaking of people who suck, Glenn is tracking Nicholas in the woods...or at least he thinks he is. Nicholas shoots him in the way only Nicholas can. He leaves a minor wound on Glenn's shoulder because again, he sucks at everything he does. They end up in a game of cat and mouse throughout the day and then have an encore of the Pete/Rick fight from last week. Glenn could kill him. Almost everyone else in the Grimes group would kill him. But Glenn spares Nicholas again because he's just not that far over the edge. Yet. He and Nicholas help each other back to the gate and here's hoping Nicholas is done being a douchebag.

Sit And Listen, Sit And Listen

Tara is on the mend. Abraham visits her and Eugene is sleeping by her bedside. Awwww. Smokin Hot Rosita deliberately wakes Eugene up so he and Abraham have to hash out whatever issues they have left. Eugene thanks Abraham for all he's done and sincerely apologizes for his lie. Abraham apologizes for almost killing Eugene, and it looks like these two are going to be able to move forward as bros. 

Rick and Michonne also have a score to settle. He's sitting in his room looking thoughtful when Michonne arrives to see if he's ready to go to the meeting. He comes clean about the guns and the plan he, Carol and Daryl made in case things didn't work out in the community. Michonne says they don't need guns and she doesn't need her sword. She tells Rick they can find a way. "And if we don't, I'm still with you." I love her so much. She heads out to the meeting and leaves Rick to go back to all of his thinking. He looks out the window and sees the open gate (because Gabriel sucks). Rick finds a trail of blood and knows he has to go hunting. Sure enough, there are Walkers making their way through the streets and he takes care of them. 

It's A Very, Very Mad World

Rick is missing from the meeting and Deanna doesn't care. She starts the meeting anyway. Michonne, Carol, Abraham and Maggie speak on Rick's behalf. While the ladies are very heartfelt, Abraham delivers the next awesome lines of the night. "There is a vast ocean of shit that you people don't know shit about. Rick knows every fine grain of said shit and then some." Deanna then shares the nonsense Gabriel told her and Jessie speaks up. Yes! She points out that Gabriel isn't there but Deanna immediately reminds everyone that Rick isn't there either. Wellllll, just as the next person starts to speak, Rick arrives covered in guts and carrying a Walker body. 

Rick tells everyone there wasn't a guard at the gate and the gate was open. Spencer pipes in "I asked Gabriel to close it." Dude! Gabriel sucks! Deanna yells at her son to go to the gate and Rick says the dead and the living are always going to find a way in. He promises to show the people in the community how to protect themselves, but they have to agree to change their ways. "Luck runs out."

Pete stumbles into the meeting then yelling "you're not one of us!" and Reg tries to hold him back. Pete has Michonne's sword though and he's waving it around recklessly. He slits Reg's throat and Abraham pins Pete to the ground. Deanna sobs and holds her dying husband. She looks up at Rick and says "Rick, do it." Rick does without hesitation....just as Morgan, Daryl and Aaron walk in. 

The episode ends with Michonne considering placing her sword back on the mount over the fireplace, but she wears it instead. Yup, you're going to have to cling to your old self a little more than you thought you would. Elsewhere the Wolves are resetting their trap and looking through Aaron's backpack. Could they be the two guys Deanna exiled? They see the pictures Aaron keeps of Alexandria and as the camera pans out, the Walker red poncho guy slinks past a sign that says "Wolves Not Far." Nope, they sure aren't.

Whew. That's quite an end to one hell of a season. We had a lot of close calls in this episode but no major deaths. I do feel a little bad about Reg. Not sure whose going to take notes now, but Pete had to kill recklessly for Deanna to understand that she's not protecting her community the way she thought she was. With Morgan in the picture now, Glenn and Maggie succeeding in their "one love" mission, and the people of Alexandria most likely ready to get behind Rick and his promises, I'm glad there's still hope for this group and their ability to expand their family. They'll need to band together while they can...because something terrible is on it's way. Having not read the comics, I'm not 100% sure what to expect with the Wolves, but anyone who carves Ws into the heads of the living and then kills them is not anyone who could be reasoned with in my mind. Really though, this was a great season with what looks like a great story on the horizon. We have quite a wait to find out what happens next, but in the meantime we'll have Fear The Walking Dead kicking off this summer. I will be recapping that as well and hoping it's an awesome way to spend TWD break. Til then.

TWD Season 5 Episode 15: Try

Sad to say...but I feel like we've already reached the beginning of the end for Alexandria. I've agonized all week, wondering how the Grimes group will deal with yet another loss and how Deanna will react to Aiden's death. What story would Nicholas come up with? Would she take Gabriel's "warning" more seriously now? Would the other people in the community also become wary of their new neighbors? All of these answers came in tonight's episode. Here's where we are with "Try:"

Tried So Hard To Be Like You

The episode opens with Deanna, Reg, and Spencer sitting in their dark living room and listening to one of Aiden's burned CDs, which features "Somewhat Damaged," by Nine Inch Nails. The song lyrics are perfect tonight. There's a knock on the door and Deanna finds a casserole with a "we are truly sorry for your loss" note attached. Carol has been cooking up a storm. Deanna leaves the casserole on the doorstep but picks up the note and takes it inside. She burns it. Why? Because (as we see in Nicholas' interview tape) that jackass blames Glenn for Aiden's death and claims that Glenn wanted to kill him too. "These people have to go. They are NOT like us." 

Meanwhile, Glenn is explaining what happened on the deadly run to Rick. As heartbroken as Glenn is to have lost Noah, he seems equally as scared that their stay in Alexandria will be ruined by this. He tells Rick they have to make this work, but Rick is still in the "us vs. them" frame of mind. He's concerned because "they" don't know what they're doing, but Glenn maintains "we are them."

Glenn then confronts Nicholas and tells him the people he lost on previous runs is on him. "Noah? That's on you too. People like you are supposed to be dead. You don't go outside those walls anymore. That's how you'll survive."  Nicholas is offended and accuses Glenn of threatening him. On the contrary though. Glenn tells him, "I'm saving you."

Made The Choice To Go Away

Poor Daryl has no idea what kind of downward spiral is happening with his loved ones back in Alexandria. He and Aaron are off on their recruiting mission and they encounter a bunch of bodies cut in half, similar to the ones from Noah's neighborhood. They also find a naked (totally dead) woman wired to a tree....just like the way Carol described to Sam when she was issuing the cookie ultimatum. When Daryl lifts the woman's head, there is a "W" carved in it. 

Not everything is Alexandria is doom and gloom though. Carl is still in the habit of climbing over the walls to follow Enid and she finally tells him she knows what he's doing. Seems Enid just likes being able to run around in the forest outside of the walls and is also having a hard time adjusting to "normalcy." Enid still carries around her mother's knife and does not want to forget her previous life the same way the Grimes group doesn't want to let go of theirs. I'm very interested to know where she came from and I'm hoping we get a back story for her. As they chat, the two hear Walkers coming and hide in a hollow tree trunk, very close to one another. Enid looks at Carl and says "It's their world - we're just living in it." For a second, I think they're going to kiss, but then they don't. Totally ruined my plan to sing "Carl and Enid sitting in a tree..."

Drink The Fountain Of Decay

Sasha, by the way, has totally lost it. I think she's pretty much living in the watch tower these days. Even when Abraham goes to keep watch, Sasha does not return home. She goes on a hunt. Michonne and Smokin Hot Rosita are concerned and go off to look for her. They find Sasha slyly walking through the forest, shooting Walkers left and right. "I'm sick of playing defense," she says. As a huge herd of Walkers approaches them, Michonne realizes how much she's been missing her sword and her warrior moves. She happily makes do with the gun she has instead. Rosita jumps in with her knife and it's like old times again. Michonne and Rosita may feel a bit more like themselves when the Walkers are disposed of, but Sasha is still pissed and emotional. "You can't help me. Nobody... Noah? I told him that he would make it." She walks away in tears.  

Flew Too High And Burnt The Wing

Sam sneaks off to Carol's house and they have a conversation about Pete off screen that Carol later relays to Rick. Sam told Carol that his mom put a bolt on the inside of his closet, and sometimes she tells him to lock himself in. He'll often hear shouting, crying, and things breaking. Then one night, recently, the noises suddenly stopped....and when Sam came out of his room, he found his mother on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. Rick goes into crazy stalker mode and walks slowly near Pete and Jessie's house, gun in hand. Pete approaches him like they're best buds and Rick scowls and tells him to keep walking. Subtle, Rick. Very subtle. 

The next morning Rick and Deanna chat near the fresh graves and he tells her there's a problem with Pete. Uh oh. Tread carefully, Rick. Deanna is actually already aware of the problem but had hoped it had gotten better, because that's how Deanna leads, by assuming the problems will just fix themselves. She tells Rick that Pete's a surgeon and important to the community. Ummm, dude is drunk most of the time. I would probably take my chances rather than let him cut me open. Anyway, Rick tells Deanna they should separate Pete from his family and if he doesn't agree, Rick will kill him. This is really bad timing, Rick. This is not what Deanna wants to hear right now. "We don't kill people. That kind of thinking doesn't belong in here." Rick doesn't seem to realize he's in the process of digging his own grave by pushing the discussion. 

Rick approaches Jessie in her garage and he wastes no time telling her he knows that Pete hurts her. He says it has to stop and Jessie explains that Pete used to be like this before the apocalypse but then he got help. She says she can fix it and Rick calls bullshit. Jessie's getting frustrated now and tells Rick that his involvement is only going to make things worse. 

"Why do you care? Why is this so important to you? Rick, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to help"

"I don't know that.... I'm married, okay? I can take care of myself." 

And with that, she goes into her house and closes the garage door. Rick goes around the house and enters through the front door (he's really not taking "no" for an answer today). He reveals that Sam asked for a gun to protect her. He tells Jessie that it's the same in Alexandria as it is "out there." You don't just get to live....if you don't fight, you die. He stands very close to her and this is getting intense. Rick tells Jessie he can keep her and her boys safe. All she has to do is say yes. The wheels are turning in Jessie's head. "Would you do this for someone else? Would you do this for anyone?" Rick says "no," then she says "yes." Hot damn! Of course, this is perfect timing for Pete to walk in. He asks Rick to leave. Jessie grows some balls and tells Pete to leave instead. Pete and Rick have words and then Pete goes after Rick and a fight breaks out. The next time we see Pete, he's been thrown through the living room window.  

Lost My Faith In Everything 

Everyone runs toward the fight in the street. It's quite a spectacle. Jessie tries to break up the fight and Pete hits her. Carl tries to break up the fight and Rick hits him. The two men are evenly matched, and I think Rick has lost his freaking mind. His act of chivalry has turned into a scary, violent, bloody mess. Rick gets Pete in a choke hold and only lets go when Deanna arrives and starts screaming at him. "Damn it Rick, I said stop!" Then Rick pulls his gun. "Or what, you gonna kick me out?" Oh good lord. He's TOTALLY pulling a Shane!

"You want this place to stay standing? Then your way of doing things is done. Starting right now, we have to live in the real world. We have to control who lives here." At this moment, Deanna is all set to control who lives there. Rick doesn't shut the eff up though. He keeps going until Michonne knocks his ass out and takes his gun. Yup, it's time to start taking sides.

The episode ends there and I'm so disappointed in Rick. Does he realize he's sabotaging the home the rest of his family wants and needs? Is he so hell bent on solving a problem or killing a villain that he's going to become dangerous to everyone else? Also...where the hell is Maggie? I'm under the impression that the rest of the group doesn't know what she heard Gabriel tell Deanna. Given Aiden's death and Nicholas' dickery, this is kind of important information for her to share. 

We only have one episode left and it will be a 90 minute finale. Will Deanna throw Rick out of Alexandria? Will the rest of the Grimes group stage an intervention and tell Rick to get his shit together? Is Jessie done with him now that she's seen what he's capable of (granted, she hasn't seen anything yet)? Will Daryl and Aaron return to Alexandria in time to help curb this disaster? And I think the big question is...because we've lost Tyreese and Noah in this half of the season alone, will we be spared a major death in the season finale?  Sigh. Just one week to go until we take what is always a very long summer break. 

TWD Season 5 Episode 14: Spend

So, we know something's been coming right? We know we're getting close to the end of the season and shit is going to hit the fan. Tonight's episode, however, still completely caught me off guard. All of the violence we may have been missing these past couple of weeks was given to us (and then some) in this episode. Let's just get to it and go over what went down during "Spend."

Just Another Day

We're now at a point where Alexandria is becoming "the norm" for the Grimes gang. Daryl takes off on his fancy new motorcycle to do some recruiting with Aaron close behind. Noah asks Reg to teach him about architecture and how to maintain the walls around the community.  He's in this for the long haul and wants to do his part to keep the place safe. Reg loves this idea and gives Noah a notebook. He tells Noah that he writes everything down and encourages him to do the same. "There's going to be a lot to remember. This is the beginning of this place."

Sheriff Rick is making the rounds and notices Jessie cleaning up a mess in her garage. She had been building some sort of metal owl with her sons and someone completely destroyed it. Rick won't take this lying down!...unless Jessie lies down with him. He decides to launch an investigation because he really has nothing else to do. 

Pete visits Rick at home and sort of stumbles in with a beer for him and a beer for Rick. Pete says the owl thing is not a big deal and quickly jumps to talking about Rick losing his wife. Smooth. Pete then tells Rick, "We've lost things. Other things we're just fighting like hell to hold on to." So the marriage is an unhappy one? Fantastic. He looks at Rick and says "Let's be friends, man" and stumbles on out of there. 

Abraham Is Awesome

Abraham goes to work at a construction site and he isn't out there long before a group of Walkers approaches. You'd think that people who are continually out in the open building things would have a better strategy to handle this situation. When Francine falls near the Walkers, the construction boss essentially says to leave her. Well, Abraham goes running toward her with his gun blazing and ax swinging. He smiles and takes out Walkers like he's swatting flies. Welcome back dude. We've missed you. 

When the Walkers are slayed Abraham confronts the group leader about leaving people behind. The guy says they have a system and looks to Francine to back him up. She punches him instead and she's now one of my new favorite people. Some other workers talk about calling it a day, but Abraham takes over and says they are going to finish their work. The next time we see the boss man, he's sitting with Deanna and recommending that Abraham become his replacement. 

Deanna listens to the construction boss' story and reluctantly agrees to Abraham's promotion. She notes that yet another person from Rick's group is now in a leadership position. Well aren't you the one making these appointments? You made two people you barely knew the law enforcement of the community, lady! Maggie, still working hard to be effective as Deanna's right hand, tells Deanna that she's making the right choices. "We know what we're doing. That's why you wanted us here. You wanted a future. You need us for that."

Gabriel Sucks (Again)

Anyone been missing him? I certainly haven't. We see Gabriel at the beginning of the episode walking around in what I assume is his new chapel in the form of a garage. He has his collar back and he's doing his scrunchy face, tormented crying thing while ripping out pages of a bible, so all I want to do is punch him. 

Gabriel arrives at Deanna's house with his crying face and tells her "Satan disguises himself as the angel of light. I'm afraid that false light is here inside these walls." He goes on to say that it was a mistake letting in Rick and the rest of the group. Gabriel says "They're not good people. They've done unspeakable things." Deanna replies that in order to survive the way they did, they had to do terrible things. She tells Gabriel that Rick already confessed these things to her. Gabriel says the group can't be trusted and they are dangerous. "They will destroy everything you have here. They don't deserve paradise." Deanna thanks him for the information and sends him on his way....but Maggie is nearby and has heard everything.   

Seriously? Some of the unspeakable things Rick and his group did helped to save Gabriel's ass on a number of occasions. His church might still be a safe place if he hand't gone off on his own and caused Michonne and Carl to take the barricades down to get him back in. Oh, and there's that little matter of him LOCKING HIS PARISH OUT OF THE CHURCH WHEN THEY WERE BEING SLAUGHTERED. I'm starting to hate him even more than I hated The Governor, 

C is for Cookie

Carol finds Sam hiding out in her house and ushers him to the front door quickly. Sam's here to collect - he didn't say anything about the guns and now he wants his cookies. Fair is fair, Carol. He's bored though. His house has no power and someone smashed his owl statue, so Sam is hoping Carol will teach him to make cookies. Carol thinks about it for a second then agrees...if Sam steals the chocolate from the pantry. Nice! Carol is teaching him to lie AND steal! 

Sam returns with the items and Carol lays down the law, telling him this is the only time this is happening, he's only getting half of the cookies, and he's never coming back. Sam doesn't seem to startled by this, but then again, the last time he saw Carol she threatened to have him eaten alive by monsters...so "you only get half the cookies and I won't help you make any more" is kind of lame in comparison. 

Anyway, he starts chatting her up, asking her if she likes cooking and if she's always been good at baking. Carol's gives him short, quick answers and is clearly not interested in befriending this little guy. I guess her last experience trying to mentor Lizzie and Mika pretty much sealed the deal on her willingness to open up to a child again. "I was good at it. It distracted me. It made me forget when I was sad." Sam says that when he gets sad he breaks stuff. Carol asks him what kind of stuff and if he broke his owl statue. When he doesn't answer she asks "Why are you here?" He replies "Why did you steal the guns?" Carol says sometimes people need to protect themselves and Sam asks if he can have one of the guns. He says it's not for him...but cries and leaves when Carol asks who the gun would be for. 

"Okay, maybe I won't **** you up after all."

Because Carol had spent so many years as a battered wife, she instantly understands the situation. She follows Sam home but Pete answers the door. Carol says she just want's to make sure he's okay. "Why wouldn't he be okay?" Carol asks to see Jessie, but Pete says "It's not a good time" and slams the door in her face. Carol reports back to Rick and tells him Pete is a wife beater and might also be abusing Sam. "Rick, I know how this is gonna go with Pete. There's only one way it can. You're gonna have to kill him."

Worst Run Ever

Aiden and his douchebag sidekick, Nicholas are getting ready to go on a run. Seems there are some power source issues (God forbid) and Aiden puts a group together to go remedy the situation. Glenn, Tara, and Noah are tasked with helping Eugene do his science-y shit to get the power grid back to 100%. Deanna and Reg say goodbye to their very confident son while Glenn assures them the mission will be successful. Off they go in a van blasting very loud music. 

When they reach their destination Glenn wants to survey the area, look for Walkers, and look for exits. Aiden and Nick make dickish comments and don't really help. Eugene, meanwhile, reminds Tara that he is not combat ready. Really? I'm sure the constant "I'm going to pee my pants at the sight of a Walker" look he has totally slipped her mind. She pretty much tells him to suck it up and start pulling his weight. Eugene argues that he has already paid his dues by getting the group to DC (kinda). Tara says the group got him there but he's totally right when he says they never would have thought to make that trek without Eugene's "mission." I do love this guy...but I was hoping he'd see Jessie at least for a trim. I also need Jessie to have more screen time. 

Glenn and Noah see a horde of Walkers near the front of the building, so they enter through a side door. Glenn leads the way which makes me very happy. Everything starts out well (doesn't it always?) but then they spot a whole bunch of Walkers behind a locked fence. They are pushing against that cage like it could break at any moment. Everyone's a little shaken up now but Tara and Eugene are able to get the supplies they need to fix the power grid. Time to go. A Walker, wearing camouflage with some armor and a helmet approaches Aiden. He panics and starts shooting the Walker everywhere but the head. Did I mention what the Walker was wearing? Because he also has a GRENADE on his chest. Glenn tells Aiden to stop but Aiden shoots the grenade and shit blows up. The cage holding the Walkers is now open and Aiden has been impaled against a wall with lots of sharp things. He seriously could have been one of Elsa's "wheel of fortune" victims on American Horror Story. Nicholas shouts that Aiden is dead and Eugene realizes Tara has one hell of a head wound and she's completely knocked out. Way to go Aiden. 

Glenn and company prepare to transport Tara to safety...and then they realize Aiden is still alive. I'll be Nicholas knew that already. Eugene tells the guys to save Aiden because Tara would agree if she was conscious. He promises to keep her safe while Noah, Nicholas and Glenn try to get Aiden off the wall (literally). The problem is...Aiden is reallllly stuck on that wall. After two attempts to free him, Nicholas looks at Aiden and says "We left them, we both did. That's who we are. I'm sorry." Then he runs away. Asshole. So now we know why Aiden loses people on his team so often. He and Nicholas just leave others the second things get dicey. Given what happened with Abraham earlier, I'm guessing this is a trend in Alexandria. Anyway, the Walkers are closing in and Aiden pushes Glenn away from him. We then see Aiden lose his guts as the Walkers eat him. I mean, he loses his guts for a while. That's some gruesome stuff right there. 

Glenn and Noah follow Nicholas to an exit that happens to be a revolving glass door. Nicholas tries to push in one direction and Glenn and Noah are right behind him. Unfortunately there are Walkers on either side of the door so Glenn and Noah are at a standstill with Nicholas as the glass is the only thing keeping them alive. 

Suddenly Eugene drives up in the van, blasting music and yelling "come and get me" to the Walkers. Seems Eugene ended up throwing Tara over his shoulder and shooting his way out of the building. My hero! The Walkers outside turn to follow the van and Glenn comes up with a plan to break one portion of the glass to allow all 3 of them to escape the doors safely. Instead of following this plan though, Nicholas takes care of Nicholas and pushes through his side of the door....leaving Noah exposed on the opposite side. Now I know why we saw Aiden die the way he did. It was a very tiny preview of what happens to poor Noah. He gets pulled away by the Walkers and thrown up against the glass. We see his terrified face as he's torn to pieces, and then we even see his face ripped off. Glenn sits on the ground and cries while he watches this happen. That has to be terrible....sitting on the other end of the glass knowing there's nothing you can do.

Nicholas runs to the van and when Eugene gets out and asks about Glenn and Noah, Nicholas knocks him to the ground and hops into the driver's seat. Will someone PLEASE kill this asshole?!?! Glenn is still alive (yay!) and beats the shit out of Nicholas before asking Eugene to help him get Nicholas in the back of the van. As they drive back to Alexandria, Eugene sees Noah's notebook. The only thing he had written so far was "This is the beginning."

I'm definitely going to have nightmares about Noah. That was horrific to watch and I'm actually kind of angry about his death. I wasn't really a fan of his character, but at the same time, I'm bitter now that Beth and Tyreese died trying to help him only for him to have his face torn to shreds a few weeks later. But I guess in the grand scheme of things it's better that Glenn goes back to Alexandria without one of his own people. It would be way too suspicious if somehow Aiden was the only one not to make it back, and with Gabriel "warning" Deanna, the group is going to struggle for her trust once she realizes her son is dead. Have I mentioned I hate Gabriel? 

I'm interested to see how Rick handles the situation with Pete. He's already super protective of Jessie (in a very stalker way) and Pete definitely knows Rick is hot for his wife. Also, people don't just end up dead inside the walls of the community and it's hard to tell if Jessie is at the "I would leave him if there wasn't a zombie apocalypse happening" point yet. This could get extremely messy and based on the previews for next week, paradise is over. 

TWD Season 5 Episode 13: Forget

Welcome to week two of life in Alexandria. The Grimes group is still having adjustment issues, but they are also working to maintain their killer instinct and not let their neighbors weaken them. It's a tough balance. While they remain suspicious of Deanna, they are starting to settle in to the roles they've been assigned. Here's where we are with "Forget:"

Mistreated, Misplaced, Misunderstood

If you were wondering how Sasha is coping with the losses she's suffered recently, there's a clear answer: the episode opens with her taking framed pictures from the house and using them for target practice. These photos are all of happy families and she takes them out as if she's exacting revenge. She shoots, the glass shatters, and she looks around. She does it again. And again. When all of the frames have been destroyed, Sasha walks over to the tree stump the pictures were perched on. She sits, sighs, and says "come and get me" to no one.  

Rick, Carol and Daryl meet outside of the walls to discuss stealing some guns from the armory to stash in the event Alexandria isn't the home they hope it will be. Carol, in her amazing flowered sweater, has access to that area and plans to leave the window latch open so they can sneak in later. A Walker approaches near the end of their conversation. Carol takes him out and notices a "W" carved on the Walker's forehead. The dismembered torso zombies in Noah's neighborhood had similar markings...but no one seems bothered by this. 

Daryl continues roaming through the woods and senses someone is following him. He finds Aaron, who asks to help Daryl hunt. They try wrangle "Buttons," a horse whose been milling about the gates for a while, but a bunch of Walkers thwart their attempt to bring Buttons back home with them. No really, the horse with the adorable name that was about to become Daryl's new pet became zombie food immediately. Bummer. Aaron looks devastated but continues to try to bond with Daryl, telling him that he's not as much of an outsider as he may think he is. Aaron and his boyfriend Eric still feel shunned at times. Aaron suggests Daryl try to let the community get to know him. "I ain't got nothin' to prove." 

Get This Party Started

Michonne is donning her constable uniform today and I get a laugh out of watching her react to her new look in the mirror. She holds her sword while looking at her outfit and realizes the contrast of her recent role vs her new one. Deanna tells Rick and Michonne that people will respect their authority simply because Deanna tells them to. Deanna envisions a growing community that will someday have a government, a full police force, and so on. She wants Maggie to help her with this vision and Maggie is totally committed to having Alexandria be the salvation they've been looking for. Sasha approaches and wants to be a lookout in the clock tower (which, by the way, never has a lookout). Deanna says she'll consider it....if Sasha comes to the big welcome party Deanna is throwing for the group. Oh this should be good. 

Carol volunteers to make cookies for the party (love it). She discusses recipes with Olivia, who manages the rations in the pantry as well as the gun inventory in the armory. She's a woman of many talents. When a couple of guys come to check out some guns for the day, Carol pretends to know very little about guns. One dude introduces himself as Tobin and offers to teach Carol to shoot anytime. She's able to switch the latch on the window before heading out to pick up the remainder of the baking ingredients. 

The party is very low key when our heroes begin to arrive. Abraham and Smokin' Hot Rosita feel out of place right away. Rosita notes that beer is being served, which takes Abraham from "I don't know about this" to "I'm gonna try." Ha! Rick meets Deanna's husband Reg...and then meets Pete, Jessie's husband. I needed Jessie to not have a husband. This totally throws a wrench in the "Rick needs a girlfriend" story I was hoping for sooner rather than later. Jessie's youngest son Sam is walking around with a stamp for everyone's hand. The stamp is a big, red "A" like the one that was on the train car at Terminus. Rick doesn't seemed startled by the resemblance though. He's totally flirting with Jessie. While they are chatting she tells him that Alexandria is a good place to be....and even though the apocalypse took so much from them, they've gained a little something back with the people that have been brought into their lives. When Jessie hands Judith back over to Rick later, he kisses the side of her head and I squeal with joy. Inappropriate for a welcome party that her husband is at? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely not. 

Who Knew?

Carol sneaks away to go snag some guns at the armory. Sam follows her though, hoping she was going to make more cookies, and she's caught in the act. Carol keeps her housewife smile on and tells Sam she'll happily make a batch of cookies just for him, but he has to keep this encounter a secret. Sam explains that he has to tell his mom because he tells his mom everything. Uh oh. We say goodbye to baker Carol and welcome back the baddest bitch on television:

"You can never anyone, especially your mom. Because if you do, one morning you'll wake up and you won't be in your bed. You'll be outside the walls far, far away....tied to a tree. And you'll scream because you'll be so afraid, but no one will come to help because no one will hear you. But something will hear you. The monsters will come and you won't be able to run away when they come for you. And they will tear you apart and eat you up all while you're still alive, while you can still feel it. And afterwards, no one will ever know what happened to you.....  Or, you can promise not to ever tell anyone what you saw here and then nothing will happen, and you'll get cookies. Lots of cookies." 

"I will **** you up."

Holy shit. I had to re-watch that scene several times because it's just so awesome. I wish I could say that I came up with this, but the Twitter universe had "Look at the flour Sam" trending all night. Brilliant. 

Sasha does show up at the party and she meets Deanna's other son, Spencer. He's only slightly less of a douchebag than his brother is and she walks away from him quickly. Sasha looks like she could break at any moment...and then she does. One of the women offers to cook her favorite meal for her. Sasha says she doesn't know what her favorite meal is, and the woman responds with "I'm worried I'm going to cook something you hate." Sasha flips out "THAT'S WHAT YOU WORRY ABOUT?!?!" This is the last party scene of the night. 

You Gotta Get Up And Try

Daryl lingers outside of Deanna's house but chooses not to go in. When he walk's by Aaron's house on his way home, Aaron invites Daryl in for dinner, complimenting his efforts to "try." After some spaghetti and wine, Aaron leads Daryl to his garage where he is working to restore a motorcycle. He wants Daryl become a recruiter for the community because he knows good people from bad people, and he has the survival skills needed to travel outside of Alexandria to find new additions. Daryl is trying to hide his excitement about the bike and says "I got nothin' else to do. Thanks. I'll get you some rabbits." Awesome. 

Carol meets with Rick and Daryl to hand out the guns she took. Daryl, surprisingly, says he doesn't know that they need them. The look on Carol's face is priceless given all she went through to get the guns. Daryl is serious though. "You wanted me to try, right? I'm good." Rick thinks about it for a second, then takes a gun with him. The episode ends with Michonne hanging up her sword. Literally. She mounts it over the fireplace and it makes me very sad. As much as I want this place to work out for them, the way Michonne wields that weapon is one of my favorite things about the show.

We've got to be on the brink of something now, right? We got a "W" when the episode started and an "A" half way through. The "R" has to be just around the corner. Will we see this community crumble before the season ends? Is Sasha guaranteed to do something completely reckless at this point? And how many times did Sam wet the bed that evening from the nightmares Carol undoubtedly gave him? I mean, that scene was even better than "we brought dinner." Just sayin. 

TWD Season 5 Episode 12: Remember

Last week we were on the road to Alexandria as the Grimes group put their trust in Aaron and followed him to his home. Rick had his reservations about leading his loved ones into another Terminus or Woodbury, but the thought of a safe place where he could raise his family ultimately helped him get to the gates of Alexandria. Can this community really be trusted? Here's what we found out in "Remember:"

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

The gates open and the gang is ushered into Aaron's neighborhood. The guy who lets them in immediately demands their weapons though, but Aaron suggests they have a chance to talk to "Deanna" first. My brain instantly imagines Deanna as The Oracle in The Matrix. Not sure why. 

Rick meets with her first and she's seems fairly normal....except for wanting to film their discussion. She reveals that she was a congresswoman in Ohio before the apocalypse. Deanna and her family had been trying to make their way home from DC when the crisis hit and they were directed to this community by the army. Her husband was a genius in the architecture world and came up with the plans for the protective walls and gates, which they were able to put up pretty quickly. Sooo...the majority of the people in the community have not had to live outside of the community. "We need people who have lived out there," Deanna says. Rick tells her she shouldn't let people in...that the people out there are desperate for survival and would only come to the community wanting to take from them. He tells Deanna that he's killed many people so his family could live and so he could live for them. Deanna admits some flaws as well. She exiled 3 men who were not the right fit for the community, and she feels like she gave them the death sentence in doing so. Enough with all that though - Deanna believes Rick and his group can help everyone in the community survive and she tells him it's time for him to decide on whether they will stay. 

The group turns over their guns with the understanding that they can be checked out any time they travel beyond the wall (winter is coming?). They are given two houses to share and Aaron says everyone will leave them alone for a while so they can get settled. He's conveniently four houses down the street. Rick and Carl enter their new home and it's lovely - fully furnished, completely clean, and has running water. Rick finally shaves off his beard and I totally forgot what his face looked like underneath all that hair. 

There's a knock at the door (so much for people leaving them alone to get settled), and a woman named Jessie who works in the pantry shows up with toiletries and such. Hellooooo Young Moira from American Horror Story. I've missed you so. Jessie is also a stylist and offers to cut Rick's hair....after he answers the door shirtless....which I had to pause. He's back to looking like Season 1 Rick! The two make small talk as he gets his hair did. Jessie has two boys of her own and offers to introduce Carl to them. She's also adorable, and I need her to be a confirmed love interest for Rick as soon as possible.

Home Sweet...Something

The interviews with Deanna continue. Daryl meets with her next and he's walking around holding onto the possum he killed just before they walked through the gates. "We brought dinner." Ha! Carol totally downplays her role in the group and acts like a happy housewife who misses her husband and is lucky to have people around that can protect her. She calls herself a "people person" and lands herself a job cooking for the senior citizens. Man, she became a spy quickly. Michonne and Glenn both seem desperate in their video chat, and Carl is cautious as he holds onto his baby sister. They all decide to sleep in one house for the first night, all in the living room as one big group. No one is comfortable with losing their weapons and then being split up all on the first day. 

"You look ridiculous."

Turns out the community has a school...in a garage...but it's still a school. The other kids in the neighborhood have video games and pool tables and poor Carl is just overwhelmed. He's worried that the people in the community are weak and their group will become weak by being around them. The person who seems to have the toughest time with this new home, though, is Daryl. Dude hasn't showered yet and refuses to explore the neighborhood and meet the people who live nearby. He sits on the porch skinning the possum and messing around with this animal traps and crossbow. Carol threatens to hose him down and he tells her she looks ridiculous in her cardigan and khakis. Fantastic.

Carl kinda/sorta/not really makes friends with Enid, a girl his age who is new to the community as well. She has a knack for climbing the wall and exploring the woods on her own (damn it, Enid!), so Carl totally digs her. He climbs the wall too and finds Rick wandering around the perimeter, They take out a handful of Walkers together. Nice to see they are keeping their skills up. 

Who Put Him In Charge?

Glenn, Noah and Tara meet meet up with Nicholas (the guy who opened the gates for them) and Aiden, Deanna's son. Aiden is a dick. He's going to "allow" them to audition to go out on a run with him. He was in ROTC, so clearly he knows everything there is to know about finding supplies in a zombie apocalypse. Where is Abraham and when is Abraham going to beat this guy's ass? Aiden and Nicholas are also dangerous in that they captured a Walker who killed their friends recently, and they keep him chained up. Even when the Walker escapes, they want to catch it, not kill it. WOW. The Walker in question almost kills Tara and when Glenn takes a knife to the Walker's head, Aiden flips his shit. He brings the three "newbies" back inside the gates and tells them they aren't ready for runs. Glenn says he has it backwards and that's why he lost his friends to that Walker. Aiden goes into extreme douchebag mode and starts pushing Glenn. Deanna shows up to bring the peace but before she can, Aiden takes a swing at Glenn, Daryl comes running down the road and tackles Nicholas, and Glenn drops Aiden like a sack of potatoes. Rick and Carl get back and break up the fight and Deanna tells her son that Rick's group is permanent and they are to be treated as equals. She assigns Rick and Michonne as constables for the community. She then thanks Glenn for knocking Aiden on his ass. I want to like her, but I'm still unsure about her. This kind of seems like a big show...a setup to make Rick and company feel like they have the upper hand...

That night, Rick is dressed like Sheriff Rick and Daryl isn't pleased. He still has not cleaned himself up at all. Carol asks if they're definitely staying and Rick thinks it's time for the group to sleep in their own houses and beds. Carol echos what Carl said about becoming weak but Rick doesn't think the group has it in them to be weak. He says if the people of the community can't make it, "then we'll just take this place."

The episode ends there and I am LOVING this story line. I feel like Alexandria is a combination of the other "safe places" the gang has been to. Aiden put his people in danger and spent valuable time trying to keep a Walker captive kind of like Hershel did on the farm. The community leader is well-spoken and has a kind face like the Governor did when we were first introduced to Woodbury. The "we're transparent and everyone contributes" creepiness is reminiscent of Terminus (before we learned the contributions were items like limbs for bbq). But even though the group had their own beds in the prison...the running water, toiletries, food, clean clothes, etc. of Alexandria are true bonuses. How long will the happiness last? And is a Grimes takeover in the works before the end of the season? I can't wait to find out!