A lot has changed inside walls of Alexandria since Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group arrived, and it feels like the beginning of every episode is finding different ways to remind us of that. In this episode in particular, we play out two mornings in which the sun is shining, birds are chirping, and people like Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) are patrolling the streets with large guns. Morgan (Lennie James) does his morning meditation and exercise, but he also spends time building a real prison cell. It’s complete with cinder blocks, secure windows, and a door. Is this his way of making up for what happened last time? Possibly, but he tells Rick it’s so that they have an opportunity to make a choice next time. Hmm.
As for the relationships inside Alexandria, things are going strong between Carol (Melissa McBride) and Tobin (Jason Douglas), who share a sweet kiss on the front porch before going their separate ways for the day. It should be noted that Carol is carefully holding the rosary beads she took in the safe house, as her moral compass runs a little dry. We quickly learn there’s another new relationship going down inside the walls, too, and it’s between a seemingly reluctant Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Spencer (Austin Nichols).
When the day finally continues on, Daryl (Norman Reedus) is cleaning up his bike when a Tobin-less Carol approaches to chat. They share a cigarette on the front porch (who does Daryl live with, anyway?), and Daryl tells Carol he should have killed the couple in the burnt forest that took his bike in the first place. Still struggling with whether or not killing people should be okay, Carol gets upset by his statement and quietly gets up to leave. Daryl stops her and asks her what happened to her inside the safe house, but Carol seems baffled by the question. “To us? They didn’t do anything.” She walks away as Daryl watches, clearly concerned about his friend and her current state of mind. Something’s up with Carol, and it’s not unlike Daryl to be the only one to notice.
We get to see one more morning, and each one starts off with Olivia (Ann Mahoney) opening the garage pantry and taking inventory. It’s fully stocked, which seems to serve as a daily reminder of what Rick, Carol, and everyone else had to do to get it that way.
For a brief moment we’re taken back to Rosita, who is being followed through the streets by a completely enamored Spencer. He’s trying to convince her to have dinner with him, to let him cook for her, but she couldn’t be less interested. They stop on Denise’s (Merritt Wever) porch and Spencer asks her what they are doing, but Rosita refuses to answer the question. Instead, she reluctantly agrees to dinner, and leaves you wondering if she actually likes the kid or if she’s just using him to get over Abraham.
Once Spencer leaves Rosita tells Denise where her weapons lesson will be, but the doctor has a better idea. She remembers seeing an apothecary on her way out of D.C. that she claims isn’t far from Alexandria. Rosita brings the idea to Daryl who is into going, but not with Denise. She’s desperate to help and continuously pleads her case and makes a good point: she can identify the drugs in the store if there are any left. Soon enough they are on the road, all three squished into the front seat of a rusty old pickup truck.
When a tree blocks their path, Daryl opts to go through the woods while Rosita decides to take the tracks. Alone. Denise is smart enough to follow Daryl, but isn’t paying attention when Rosita goes in the opposite direction. This… feels… bad. Very bad.
Eugene & Abraham Go On Their Own Run
Elsewhere in the surrounding areas are Eugene and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), off on a supply run together, believe it or not. Eugene has really stepped up his game since the night the walkers took over, and needless to say it’s about dang time. Abraham calls him out on the changes he’s made, including rocking his mullet as a ponytail now, but Eugene has a great response: he’s adapting. Of course he doesn’t say it that simply, he’s got all sorts of scientific explanations for it that Abraham likely doesn’t understand either, but when Eugene says he’s a survivor, it seems to hit home. They’ve all adapted, and now he has, too. Or at least he’s trying to.
When they finally get where they are going we learn that Abraham has no idea where they are. This was all Eugene’s idea, and he quickly reveals that they can use the space they are in to manufacture bullets. Once Abraham realizes he’s right and that it’s possible to do so in bulk in whatever little factory they are in, he praises Eugene for his brilliance. But, things take a turn when a walker with what appears to be melted metal covering his skull appears. Eugene calls dibs but his machete won’t go through the solid metal, so he slams the walker up against something solid and tries to grab a weapon to kill it with. When the walker gets a little too close to trimming his beard, Abraham steps in and takes the walker out, to which Eugene is incredibly upset. Abraham is quick to remind Eugene that his skill set is inside his head, the same smarts he used to find this bullet factory, and not-so-much in the killing dead variety.
For whatever reason, Eugene’s ego has amassed in size, and instead of taking Abraham’s word for it he shuts him out completely. He tells Abraham, his only real friend in the apocalypse, that he doesn’t need his help anymore Abraham is stunned by this, but instead of arguing he leaves Eugene all alone in the warehouse and tells him to find his own way home. Uh oh.
The good news? Rosita made it to the apothecary on the tracks all alone, and is happy to meet up with Daryl and Denise when they arrive. Once inside the apothecary and it’s pharmacy we see that it’s a literal jackpot. The shelves are stoked with little white bottles, because no one else thought to check a place like that. Way to go, Denise!
Denise Finds Out What It’s Really Like Outside The Walls
As Rosita and Daryl pack everything into their bags they hear a banging noise coming from the back. Rosita says it’s just one, and Daryl says it sounds like it’s stuck, so they leave it be. Denise, however, is bothered by the noise and sneaks into the back when neither or her companions are looking. Once inside she passes a small playpen, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s going to find a walker version of the toddler she saw in the pictures on the counter inside the store. If so, she’s not ready for that, and things could get ugly very, very quickly.
When she finally discovers the walker, it’s an adult, but it’s been dead so long it’s like an emaciated skeleton. On it’s leg is a cast, and on the wall above it is the word “hush” written in red (possibly blood) over and over again. As Denise’s flashlight trails the wall it discovers a sink full of blood red water, and she spots a tiny little sneaker sticking out from the top — aka the baby. She runs out of the backroom so quickly she slams into a glass display that shatters, and then goes outside to wait for Rosita and Daryl to finish. They tried to tell her she wasn’t ready to see the world, but she didn’t want to listen. Now she knows.
On the walk back the three of them take the tracks, but Denise gets distracted by a few cars that have piled up just off the path they are taking. Without saying a word to Daryl and Rosita, again, she steps off the tracks to check the car and finds that there is a small cooler in the passenger seat. But, there’s also a feisty walker in the driver’s seat. Denise calls to Daryl and Rosita about the cooler but they tell her it’s not worth the trouble. Does she listen? Of course not.
When the walker overpowers Denise she struggles for a bit, but she finally manages to take control of the situation. Just as she’s about to kill it Daryl and Rosita arrive, but she stops them and demands they let her do it. Once the walker is down she stands up, pukes, and then checks the cooler. The only thing in it is a six-pack of soda, including the orange one she’s been trying to find for Tara.
Rosita and Daryl start to give her hell about what she just did and how she could have gotten herself killed, but she doesn’t care. She reminds them that they put their lives in danger every minute of every day, and she tells them how important they are to her. For Daryl, he’s brave and reminds her of her twin brother who is long gone, and for Rosita, she’s brave and strong and Denise hopes to be just like her one day. But, in the middle of her very touching rant, an arrow flies right through her eye socket from the back of heard. What?!
Dwight Returns With A Vendetta
Daryl catches her body before she falls to the ground, then gently lays her down all while grabbing his gun. Both he and Rosita aim in the direction it came, but then out comes a hoard of guys — possibly Saviors — and they are all armed. Every single one of them. The surround Daryl and Rosita, and that’s when they reveal they have Eugene, who looks like he’s been beaten to shreds. The guy holding Eugene by the back of the neck? The very same guy who Daryl saved in the burnt forest, who later stole his bike. He’s also using Daryl’s crossbow, which he just used to kill Denise. Wow.
Dwight (Austin Amelio) tells Rosita and Daryl that their only option is to let the group into Alexandria, let them take whatever and whoever they want, or all three of them will die right then and there. He also reveals that he wasn’t aiming for Denise, which means he was aiming for Daryl, but that he hasn’t quite got the hang of the crossbow just yet. Out of the corner of his eye Eugene spots Abraham hiding out behind a few barrels, and he interrupts the conversation to demand that Dwight and his group take him out first instead. Of course it’s a ploy, and once they go looking for Abraham, the group have just enough momentum to take back control of the situation.
Eugene uses his teeth to bite into Dwight’s crotch, and it’s so harsh that it leaves the grown man with the burnt face screaming for his life. Abraham is able to take out two of Dwight’s group with his gun, and Daryl uses his knife to slash a neck or two before him and Rosita take cover behind the cars. There’s a shootout until Eugene finally releases Dwight’s crotch, and the desperate man demands his group fall back. Once the group makes a run for it into the woods Daryl tries to go after him, but Rosita stops him. Not only is Denise dead, but Eugene’s been shot in the lower abdomen, and they no longer have a doctor.
Unfortunately, they are forced to leave Denise’s body on the tracks so that they can rush Eugene back to Alexandria.
Carol Leaves Everyone Behind… Again
Once they are home safe we learn almost instantly from Rosita that the bullet just grazed him, and that the antibiotics Denise led them to will ultimately save his life. Eugene wakes up a moment later to tell Abraham he wasn’t trying to get him killed but that he was looking for a moment, which we all knew, and even Abraham knew. With a push from Eugene, of course, Abraham apologizes for questioning his survival skills. “You know how to bite a dick, Eugene. I mean that with the utmost of respect,” Abraham tells his friend, which reminds me how to laugh even though I’m still sobbing over Denise.
Now that Eugene is okay, Abraham finds himself standing in front of Sasha’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) house. She comes outside to ask if he’s alright, but he doesn’t want to talk about that. Instead he tells her that they could have thirty years together in Alexandria and it still wouldn’t be enough time. Sasha tears up, and after a moment she asks him to come inside. It’s still unclear if Rosita knows about them, but she’s definitely going to find out soon.
Next we see Carol helping Daryl bury Denise in Alexandria’s graveyard. She tells him that he was right, he should have killed those people in the burnt forest when he had the chance, but he doesn’t say a word.
The last voice we hear as the episode comes to an end is Carol’s. She’s written a letter that says she didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but that there are too many threats looming over Alexandria. Once one is gone another will appear, and because of that she says she needs to go, just like Rick told her to so long ago. We see Tobin reading the letter inside his home, and we see Morgan staring at Carol’s empty porch swing, but she’s gone.
Tell us, HollywoodLifers — Do YOU think Carol is really gone for good? Do YOU think all of this chaos is leading up to a major, major death? Comment below with your thoughts.