Last episode ended with the chickenhawk braggart of the group turning out to be a trained killer, then throwing a bunch of innocent people off a roof. This episode starts with that, but also has a zombie filled militia compound heist. The Commonwealth is almost entirely mask off. And it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes that what they promise isn’t real.
**Spoiler Alert** for all the fun things that are and aren’t real.
1. Reunited and it Feels Slightly Less Than Good
The episode opens minutes after the last one, with a pile of bodies clearly thrown off the roof by Carlson, who’s still looking for the missing guns. Jason Butler Harner’s still enjoying his role as the sociopathic former CIA assassin ordering his troops to murder everyone who doesn’t give them an answer he doesn’t like. But we also get the reunion of Maggie and Negan. Not to mention Ian’s crew who aren’t super thrilled with another armed militia showing up at their doorstep. That doorstep being the incredibly claustrophobic apartment building the strangely religious paramilitary force is holed up in. Oh yeah, and Hornsby’s in immediate radio contact with the Commonwealth forces. So the episode starts with a bit of tension. But while this seems like it could be a bottle episode, we soon discover it’s actually two bottle episodes in one!
2. Heist!
To borrow a reference from another prestige franchise property, Sebastian Milton is kind of a grown up Joffery. He’s just an absolute trashbag of a character with zero redeeming value. Oftentimes it’s hard to tell if you’re engaged with him as a character on the writing’s own terms, or if it’s what the pro-wrestling world refers to X-Pac Heat. But in another parallel to Joffery, the problem isn’t the performer. Like Harner, Teo Rapp-Olsson is clearly having a blast with the role. While the performance can feel a little cartoonish, it’s hard to really make a character seem grounded when the writing has him bragging about his heart rate lowering when zombies are near. Might as well revel it in.
But after Daryl scoffs at his claims, him and Rosita specifically tasked with a mission directly from the boss’s son: Break into a rich survivalist’s panic room and steal the money he had left in there. Apparently his mother’s cut him off from the family line of credit, so he has to supplement his funds somehow. And after a few threats to a few kids, because Sebastian is the actual worst, Daryl and Rosita agree.
Somewhere in the midst of that, Daryl and Carol discuss meeting for lunch. This is important.
3. Family Matters
So… we get a lot of family drama in a relatively short amount of time. It starts with little Hershel ending up in the same building as his mother. And immediately being captured by Commonwealth forces. And then immediately being saved by Negan. BUT THEN Hershel realizes that Negan was the bad guy who killed his dad and straight up pulls a gun on the former barbed-wire bat wielder. But Negan manages to talk him down, because the sound would draw zombies that may hurt innocent people. All of that may be a lot and bit heavy handed, but I do like how Negan manages to talk the boy down. Not to mention the scene later where he tells the boy to come find him when he grows up, so they can settle things. Negan’s arc and redemption is aided greatly by Jeffery Dean Morgan’s performance, although such a change of heart could be necessitated by the character having a child on the way.
Oh that’s right! Negan has been with Ian’s crew for a bit it seems. Not only has he married Annie, the most prominent character in the apartment building here, but they have a child on the way too! And judging from the fact she’s only a few months along, things moved a little quickly. Annie and Maggie do have a bit of a heart-to-heart where Annie explains that she knows what he’s done, and that she’s had to do (and had done to her) similar. The show plays in the gray often, but it kind of needs to if it wants to make a Negan face turn work. And while Annie comes across as one of the good guys now, Ian didn’t seem like the most genteel of characters. So the balancing act works so far.
Continued below4. Thirty to Forty
Obviously Daryl and Carol’s mission goes wrong. But what they don’t expect to find is someone inside the panic room. A woman named April was one of a small group sent in for the same reason, mostly to work off a debt of some kind. She was the last survivor, and has been trapped inside for “so long.” After a few alarms and a rescue, the compound is flooded by walkers. But the day is saved by Carol, who grabbed Mercer because Daryl missed their lunch date. Which is absolutely perfect and one of my favorite character moments in an episode with several.
Another one follows shortly. Because after April doesn’t survive the return, Mercer finally takes his first step into the light side, taking out Sebastian’s bodyguards and bagmen.Then immediately telling Daryl and Rosita to take the money back, because there’s nothing else they can do right now. The show hasn’t always been consistent with Mercer, mostly because they still need the Commonwealth to have their top henchmen. But this episode was a step towards smoothing the character out, at least with everything they’ve built so far. Either way, Sebastian doesn’t seem too broken up about his bodyguards dying. But at least I feel better know the show’s likely building up towards the cathartic release after–
5. It’s All Connected
–Carlson gets shot, falls off a roof, and survives only to get eaten by zombies. Which this show wants to get rid of a villain, boy will it. Hornsby, who apparently keeps his office somewhere it’s just night all the time, tries to reach out to his handpicked agent, but instead gets a visit from Carol. And Carol just happens to mention Pamela Milton’s son has been sending armies after this hidden cash. Hornsby plays it off, revealing that while he did know about the raids, it was just the price to pay for society. After all, society falls apart unless everyone plays their part. Carol plays along with this.
But there’s still the issue of the guns. Well, it turns out they do exist after all. And (reset your timelines) they were picked up by none other than the heavily foreshadowed Leah two weeks ago. This revelation ties together a tightly structured pair of episodes that, while dipping into the corny, were both solid entrees. Although the Commonwealth as a concept is a but corny, so I can’t really fault it too much. Still, playing off their borderline absurdism has given the main cast time to shine and their roles room to grow. If they can maintain it’s structural integrity, the season should finish quite well.
