Episode 3: Monsters
Oh lordy, I love this title. We’ve all heard the show’s tagline, “Fear the living, fight the dead” these past seasons. I feel like we are going to be pushing and exploring that theme. Fissures are forming. Can the group of super friends stay together? Or will they be driven apart?
Good King Ezekiel kicks things off with a fancy speech. That beautiful man. It’s brief and full of Dungeons and Dragons-like prose. He and Carol’s team are a well-oiled machine for the whole episode until they get ambushed. It looks like we will lose some members of the Kingdom today, but we won’t find out who and how many tonight. I just noticed Ezekiel added a nifty red feather to his dread’s at some point.
We all know the man with a gun in Rick’s face. We met him a LONG time ago, when Shane was still alive (remember Shane?!?)! He was lost until the Savior’s gave him purpose. We hear him doing the old, “we’re not so different, Rick, you and I…” speech until Daryl sneaks up and gives him a bolt to the head. Rick points out they knew him, and our resident biker seems indifferent. Probably not the reaction Rick was hoping for. After lots and lots of guns firing, (we win, yay!) it looks like Rick and Daryl will be heading out, when some geeky kid from the Saviors shoots at them. The nerve. Anyway, Rick gives his word that if the guy comes out and gives them info about where the heavy artillery was moved to, they’ll give him a car and he can leave. He obliges, and Daryl AGAIN shoots to kill. Rick, AGAIN seems taken aback. Clearly he and Daryl need to have a chat because they’re not on the same page right now.
Speaking of, Jesus/Tara/Morgan’s group are marching on to Hilltop with the POW’s roped together. Jesus points out to the naysayers that they all kill, but to kill those who surrender would be execution. Which is tacky and wrong. The party comes under attack from walkers and one section of the chain gang runs off. Their leader is that one really nasty chap with the long hair. Anyway, we get to see some great gory zombie stuff. Including an especially gruesome head bite. Morgan takes off after the escapees and shoots one! Jesus interferes, saving the prisoners. Badass Morgan has met his match in Jesus who is apparently Steven Segal in disguise. Reality hits and Morgan knows he’s cracking. He knows he cannot stay here and stay sane, so he appears to…leave. Oh, do you hear that sound?? That is my heart BREAKING. My precious Morgan is leaving me. Again. I hate it when he does this. Come back soon, please.
ANNNNND on the topic of heart break, we have Aaron and Eric. Eric’s gunshot proves fatal, and the couple share a good-bye moment beneath a tree. As if this beautiful scene was not terrible enough, it gets worse. Aaron leaves to fight (at Eric’s insistence) and when he comes back for his man, he sees newly formed Eric-zombie shambling off. There wouldn’t have been time to save him, but talk about insult to injury. Aaron loses it, and so do we all. When he’s composed, he offers to take baby Gracie back to Hilltop. He and Eric were supposed to return there, and he needs purpose. Aaron, you are a beautiful soul that we do not deserve. I am officially not happy about Eric passing. I don’t like yet another queer character dying off. BUT splitting up couple’s with death is a common theme on the show. It’s happened before and will happen again regardless of sexual orientation. Why do we fans love this torture??
Disgraced Gregory shows up at Hilltop. He begs and pleads with Maggie and she lets him back in after she yells a lot. She knows she can’t trust him, and will probably kill him eventually, but for now she chooses mercy. Jesus and the gang show up with the POW’s. Maggie isn’t pleased to see them, much to Jesus’s dismay (I assume). Yet, what can she do? Keeping these people alive is the righteous thing to do.
These cracks are slowly but surely forming and splintering our friends apart...Let’s close on an image of the Slimy Walker from the other night that I loved.
