Last episode, we were given a glimpse into the future of Alexandria, with Daryl decked out in Commonwealth body armor. We’re left with the image of the apparent turncoat Daryl coming up against Maggie. But those scenes were a time skip, showing us events six months into the future with limited context. There’s still all of this season to get through before the answers become apparent. And while there’s still a time skip at the beginning of this episode, it’s only thirty days into the show’s new status quo. Meaning there’s bare minimum one-hundred and fifty more until things go south.
**Spoiler Alert** for the next six months.
1.Carnival!
This episode opens with a straight up haunted house trip and I kind of love it. This brings together two of aspects of the current season I’ve loved the most: the atmospheric interiors and the camp Americana of The Commonwealth. Thirty days after the end of last episode, and our heroes have made themselves at home. As they enjoy the carnival, we get glimpses into their lives. It seems that everyone has become integrated into the community. Judith has a new friend named Mei, who buys her vintage Motörhead records. The adults all have jobs in the community. And we get a tiny glimpse into the celebrity status of the Commonwealth figureheads when a child wins a costume contest for her homemade Mercer costume. It’s also our first glimpse of Governor Pamela Mitchell, the seeming upstanding leader of this thriving community. This block party is an efficient way to set up the rest of the season, or at least this particular chunk.
2. Carol has Concerns
During the festival, Carol asks Ezekiel how he’s feeling. He says he’s doing fine. No change according to the doctors apparently. That’s not necessarily the case. After a bit of breaking and entering, Carol digs through the medical records and has a chat with Yumiko’s brother. Turns out Ezekiel’s not doing so great, and desperately needs surgery. Surgery he’s 147th in line for. But the citizens of the Commonwealth aren’t told what their place in line is. And Carol has the skills to possibly call in a few favors. Melissa McBride has been one of the breakout stars of the series, and it’s always a treat seeing her do crimes with her folksy veneer. Especially when she’s attempting to bribe Commonwealth spokesman Lance Hornsby with outside city-limits wine, who very much recognizes what she’s attempting, but plays along for now.
3. Boot Camp… Literally
Rosita murders a zombie with his own leg. I would just like to state that right up front. Rosita and Daryl are drafted into the town guard under the command of Mercer. The pumpkin armored commando sends them to clear walkers (sorry, “rotters”) out of a pair of abandoned buildings to test their zombie killing efficiency, and see how well they work with the other recruits. When they succeed, their next task is apparently babysitting Sebastian Mitchell, the governor’s spoiled rotten son, as he gets a special private training session. Sebastian isn’t necessarily less obnoxious, but he seems better integrated into the world this time around. Maybe it’s just because he isn’t having a picnic in the middle of a zombie attack this time around.
We do get some character work with Mercer as he’s trying to convince Daryl to be a team player, giving him an underlying ideology to his character. The two sides of this character, the governor’s dragon and the loyal soldier doing what he thinks is right, could be a little better smoothed out. Michael James Shaw is a talented actor and can pull it off. But the show may need to decide whether or not Mercer is a full on villain. But we’re still early in the season.
4. Masquerade Ball
What we got a glimpse of in the opening sequence is blown to almost comical proportions by the end of the episode. The leadership of the Commonwealth wear their finest couture to the lavish ballroom, and are greeted by paparazzi as they approach. Also, Mercer and Princess go in together. They’re totally a thing now. The ballroom scenes are about as far into the Commonwealth side of the story as you could get. It almost stops feeling like an episode of The Walking Dead. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Having that clear break helps illustrate how advanced they are from the rest of the world. It shows how the cast we’ve mostly followed through fields and abandoned buildings could be tempted by an incredibly obvious trap. And it’s all the more jarring when the cracks start to show.
5. “I Just Wanted to Talk to Her”
A former trooper turned cocktail waiter Tyler Davis declares the entire celebration bullshit, eventually pulling a knife on one of the governor’s assistants. Mercer orders the troops to follow him. Which Daryl does. All the way back to the haunted fun house from the first scene of the show (still love that there’s a straight up haunted house). We learn about Tyler. He served with the local guard, but screwed up protocol with a prisoner. This got him beat up and exiled. He swears he only wanted to talk with the governor, but knows it would never work. Daryl takes him in. Even lets Sebastian take the credit. Carol notices a few envelopes get passed out to guests. Rosita investigates how he got in. The episode ends with another time skip to three days later. When Daryl is trying on his brand new Commonwealth armor. This episode moved a lot of pieces into place for the rest of the season. But we shall see if Daryl does in fact become a true believer before season’s end.
