Episode 14: Still Gotta Mean Something
We could also subtitle this episode, “how bad will Rick f*ck things up tonight?”
Remember how Jadis kidnapped Negan? Yup, she’s got him back at the trash lair. He’s trussed up like a roasted chicken while pleading to her that he’s not her enemy. He’s right, but she doesn’t want to listen. She’s planning this elaborate scheme involving a flare, some guns, roasting Lucille on a pyre, and not to mention she’s got this weird contraption of sorts. It’s a walker welded onto a flat cart. Like, one of those big, flat carts for shopping at warehouse stores. It doesn’t take long for Negan to get the upper hand and they’re in a stand-off situation. In all that confusion a few episodes ago, Negan did get Lucille back! But now Jadis is threatening to burn it/her, and he’s threatening to do the same to her precious photos of her now dead commune family. They bond in their shared heartache and Negan spills that Lucille was, of course, his wife’s name. He swears to her that he will settle the score for what Simon did to her people. Last but not least, Jadis’s detailed yet mysterious plan somehow involved using the flare to signal a helicopter. Yes, THE HELICOPTER we’ve seen glimpses of over time now. Will we finally meet the wielders of said helicopter in the season finale? Jadis also wears flannel shirts now and has a tidy little apartment in the midst of her dumpster domain.
Rick won’t read Michonne’s letter from Carl when offered. It seems he hasn’t even been able to read his own. He’s also still hoarding Negan’s letter. More on this later.
King Ezekiel calls out Carol for being a big scaredy-cat since she won’t go looking for little Henry. He’s still MIA after letting this prisoners escape. She decides instead to go out with Morgan while he hunts those same POW’s down to kill them. Carol doesn’t actually care about killing those people, she’s just worried about Morgan because he’s still not doing so great. He’s still hallucinating and acting squirrely. They split up when she wants to follow a path that points to Henry being alive and in one direction, and Morgan wants to keep tracking The Saviors going in another. Carol was saved by him once, and she wants to return the favor. My poor Morgan cannot let this whole vengeance thing go though.
Morgan runs into Rick! Rick is also seeking a bloody revenge. They get captured by the runaway Saviors, led by Jared. Jared is that long-haired crazy one who ACTUALLY killed Henry’s brother a while back. Rick swears his word that if they help him and Morgan go free, they can join Hill Top. Jared isn’t buying it, but the others do. They let them loose to help fight a herd of walkers who burst in. Rick and Morgan turn on their new “allies” and kill them. Rick, this is not in the Carl code of ethics! You’re doing it all wrong, man! Morgan slowly feeds Jared to some walkers. He also makes his big “reveal”. That truth being the knowledge none of us die because in the end, we all turn into the walking dead ourselves. Rick presses him as to why Morgan saved him alllllll the way back at the start of the series. Morgan begrudgingly answers that he did it, “because my son was there.”
Carol finds Henry! She took that leap of faith to search for him and finds the boy about to be eaten by dead people. Once back home, she lets Ezekiel see her vulnerable side. She talks about her daughter, and finding herself based on the family she’s built. It’s all actually very sweet. Rick and Morgan make it back to base too. Morgan doesn’t get the hero’s welcome from Henry he was hoping for when he tells him he killed Jared. Morgan then literally goes away to cry alone. My heart breaks.
Rick FINALLY reads his letter from Carl! Tara seems to be okay! She and Daryl make up. She’s convinced Dwight had no choice but to shoot her (just to injure, not kill) and used a non-tainted arrow on purpose. Daryl is now teaming up with Rosita to kill Eugene, so let’s see how that one is going to play out. Negan is driving home when he finds someone on the side of the road and gives them a lift. Who is this mysterious individual?? When Negan arrives at The Sanctuary, he asks the guard to keep his return a secret. In his own words, “Daddy’s home.” Yikes.
