What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Maggie says they’re about three miles out, but Negan says Daryl told them to go home. Maggie says, Daryl knows she would never turn back, and Negan asks, with what army? He asks Gabriel to back him up, but Gabriel says his family is starving. Negan says, at least admit they’re walking to their deaths for a sack of beans, and Maggie says Negan has always been more interested in himself than helping the people back home. Go; she doesn’t need him. He says, they both know that’s not true. He wants her to make him a promise in front of the goddam priest that if he sticks around – if he does this for her – he won’t have to keep looking over his shoulder. She says they’ll never be even, and he says, then she’s down a soldier she desperately needs. It’s her call. She says he’d take a promise from her? and he says, yeah, who wouldn’t? Assuming she’s a woman of her word. He’s always been a man of his. He holds out his hand, and she barely shakes it, Gabriel tells them, listen, and they hear the traditional garbled noises of zombies headed their way. One comes closer, and Maggie stabs it in the head. She says, it was Elijah’s sister’s best friend; she was just a kid. They have to get them; all of them. More zombies come toward them.    

Stephanie and Eugene fight with some zombies in an empty building, and Eugene says Stephanie is doing great. She says she’s doing okay, not great. It’s not like riding a bicycle. He says it’s the cerebellum protecting her from unpleasant memories. He has to ask. She’s known Lance a long time… She says, pretty long, and he asks if Lance is capable of taking care of their transgressions. In other words, will their labor truly lead to their freedom? She tells Eugene, if Lance says it will, then it will. He has his own way doing things, but Eugene can trust him. He’ll see.

Ezekiel and Princess work together in another building. Ezekiel insists he’s fine, but Princess doesn’t think so. She tells him that they’ve got to get the space back, and need to clear the bodies. He starts dragging them out, but he’s having a hard time, and she asks if he’s okay. He says he’s fine, and she apologizes for snapping. He says, it’s cool, and starts coughing. She asks what she can do, and he says, it’s dusty. He’s sure that’s it. Eugene and Stephanie join them, and ask if they need help. Princess asks Stephanie, how much longer? and Stephane says she guesses a couple more. Princess says, Ezekiel isn’t going to make a few more days, but Ezekiel assures her that he’s fine. She says he needs to see a doctor, but he says he’s not leaving her to work alone. She tells him not to be stupid; they have real hospitals and sh*t here. She asks if Stephanie can make it happen, and Stephanie said she’ll talk to Lance right now. Eugene says they’re most obliged, but Ezekiel wonders if they’ll incur another debt. Princess says she’s not afraid of hard work, and a couple of guards come by with a young couple who look like Preppies from the 80s. The boy says they’re way too close to where the masses are working. The smell is revolting. Eugene says, who the hell was that?

A man tells Yumiko that the recruiters were impressed with her, and she says she thought they’d found her difficult. He says he expected someone with her pedigree to have high standards. She’ll have no trouble finding a position there. She says she’s happy to work for them, but she’s not staying there permanently, and wants to make that clear. He says, after meeting Ms. Milton, she might reconsider, but she says she’d rather see her friends. Can someone take her to where they’re working? He says, they broke the law, and Lance arranged for them to be released with a fine. They’re clearing the buildings. She says, of what? and he says, the dead. She says, they’ve been assigned to clear the buildings for days, weeks, months? And she’s expected to provide legal services for… He says, Ms. Milton and her cabinet, and she says she’d like to speak with Ms. Milton right away. He says, that would be difficult. Lance’s expectations of the timing were different. She asks if Lance is his supervisor? And he says, no. She says, then she’d like to speak to her right away.

We see a zombie tied to a tree, and Gabriel prays over a grave (we assume Elijah’s sister’s best friend). Maggie says if Elijah’s sister is out there, they’ll find her, and every last one of these murderers. Elijah says, but the one… is his. Maggie tells Gabriel, there are scouts everywhere. If he gets a chance to kill one of them, do it. If they’re alone, he has the advantage. Gabriel says, if he gets a chance to kill one, he will. He leaves, and Nathan asks if Maggie is ready. She says she’s not cutting up anyone she knows, and Negan says they just need two. He kept his mask for practical, sentimental reasons. She says, it’s not fun, and he says, not with that attitude. She tells him, let’s get this over with, and they walk, leaving the tree zombie snapping at the air.

Two soldiers return to the Commonwealth, and tell Pope, they’ve done three sweeps, but there’s no sign anywhere. Pope asks if they checked along the train tracks and the underpass. Come on. There are dozens of those a-holes out there, and their brothers are dead. They’re not ashamed? Leah says, they were following her recommendations. She told them where the team went, and where to go next. If he wants to scream at somebody, scream at her. Daryl watches, and Pope asks if she’s trying to be noble. Get them to like her? Try keeping them alive. She asks if yelling is going to help do that, and Pope tells her, take your boy out there, and find those goddam idiots. She tells Daryl, come on; we have orders. She leaves, and he follows her. Ever notice how no one goes, hang on, I have to go to the bathroom first? Like they would in real life?

Daryl and Leah walk, and he asks if she’s all right. She says she’s fine. He says he’s sure the guys are grateful, and she asks how he knows. He says, he’d be. She says she may have been stupid. Daryl has a good place. If he spends time with these people, she’s sure they have their side. Does he have something to say about it? He says he’s just surprised, and she asks, why? He says, they won. They have walls and food; why keep hunting? She says, they need to make sure they don’t come back. He says he doesn’t understand, and she says, it was easy for him on his own. He only had to worry about himself. They have a whole community to protect. They have structure and a leader, who got them this far. What happened back there isn’t normal. He says he’s met guys like that before, and she says, Pope has puzzles to solve; he’s riled up. How can their people be so hard to find? Daryl asks if Pope is just going to kill everybody, and go back to being a good guy, and she says Pope is like a father to her. He’s made her strong. He believed in her when no one else would, and it made her strong. Daryl says she doesn’t need anyone make her strong.

Maggie walks, wearing the mask, while Elijah watches, and Negan gives her instructions on how to walk. He unties the zombie, who walks up to her and keeps going. Maggie trips, and gasps. The zombie does an about-face, and she tries to get the mask off. It comes toward her, but Elijah gets it back to the tree. She says she hates this sh*t, but Negan says it’s not going to fit perfectly; it’s someone else’s face. This might actually work. If he can do it, she can do it. They’ll fix it, and try again. She did good.

Gabriel watches from the woods, as a guy in an old-fashioned cloak approaches a cemetery at the edge of the forest. He kneels for a moment, takes out a dagger, and gets back up. He  seems to sense Gabriel, and says, help me, father. You who guided me during the darkest of times. I treasure our conversation and the guidance you’ve given me. Is there anything I should know? He listens, and says, thank you, father. Gabriel has his sword ready, but the guy leaves.

Yumiko and Tomi walk into the terminal. She asks how long of a break he has, and he says, just long enough to show her his dorm room. She says she doesn’t understand why he wouldn’t want the life that comes with being a doctor there, and he says he doesn’t want to go back to how it was before. She liked that type of life; he didn’t. Everything moved too fast, and people burned themselves out working until they died or wanted to. He asks her to sit, and says, no one can know he was a doctor. Promise him. She asks what he means, and he tells her, trust him. He likes things the way they are. This place makes sense. She says, okay, fine and tells him that she has a meeting with Pamela Milton later. Is there anything she should know? He says it’s nice for her. Someone like him would never meet her. She asks, why not? and he says, they have to know their place. Some stormtroopers come out of nowhere and grab him, taking him away. He says he did nothing wrong, and Yumiko says she’s his lawyer. He’s entitled to his rights. We hear, the Commonwealth way, over the loudspeaker.

Maggie walks with a few zombies in the woods, as Negan watches. He says he told her that she’d get it right. Congrats and you’re welcome. She takes her mask off Elijah says, he’s changed, but Maggie says, they can’t believe that. He’s helpful, or would be if there’s something in it for him. Elijah says, so her promise? and she says she hopes she can keep it.

Yumiko tells Lance that she needs to talk to him. Where the hell is her brother? He says her brother is fine, and she says, that wasn’t her question. He says she has an appointment with Pamela Milton, even after he told her that he was taking care of things. He needs some time, and she says, for what? He says, it works like this. Her people need help. Her friends broke the law and she wants them free. Those are big asks, and he can deliver, but there needs to be something in it for him. She asks, what? and he says, a friend in a high place. Someday, he might need a favor and she might be favorably inclined. So what does she say to sitting tight a few more hours? She says, a few more hours, and he says, excellent. Lance continues smiling the way he does all the time, and she doesn’t like it.

Leah and Daryl walk. and he points to a cabin. She says, the patrol has been through; they’ve checked miles of trails. It should be cold. He says, it looks like someone’s been through here. They move closer to the house, and Daryl notices something. He says, come out with your hands up, and a guy steps out from behind a bush. He says, don’t shoot; his family needs him. Daryl tells him, stand over there, and Leah says, there are soldiers looking for people like him. How did he avoid them? He says, they don’t know what he’s been through. His wife is hurt, and he can’t care for her and look for food. Let him go. Daryl tells him to show them, or he’ll shoot the guy in front of his family later. The guy says, okay. Please don’t hurt them. Leah radios Pope, saying, they found a man in the woods… She’s not sure if he’s part of their target. He’s taking them to his people, and she’s not sure how Pope wants to engage… He tells her to kill them, and she says, copy that.

With a small bunch of zombies corralled in the woods. Negan and Maggie have something to eat. He says he feels for her in all this. She might think it’s bullsh*t, but it’s true. She says, how’s that? and he says, he’s not a robot. It sucks to see your friends as walkers, and that should be enough, but they’re about to do some crazy sh*t. She’s going to break into the community she built, and lost. He gets it. She says she and Negan lost their communities in different ways, but he asks if she thinks he doesn’t understand the losing side of a massacre. She says, there were no children or families at the Sanctuary, and he asks, where’d Aaron get his crazy from? Does she think he doesn’t know about that? She says, he can debate battle plans if he wants, and he tells her, all he’s saying is that he remembers his home was invaded, and people were killed. The men who were killed had friends, girlfriends, and people who felt a loss that he couldn’t heal. He had to explain why their leader failed to protect them. She says the people he killed had families, and he did it in front of their families, and he says he did, but the world is different now. There are fewer people to fight for, and fewer people to fight with. Hell, there are fewer things to fight over. She asks if he’s saying he’d do things differently if he could do them over, and he nods. He says, yeah. If he had it to do over, he’d have killed every single one of them. She asks why would he say that, and he says, it’s the truth. They’ve got to do what they can to protect their people. That’s why they’re here. That’s why they’re doing this. She asks why he’d say that to her? and he says they had a good day, her and him, and the only way this works is if they’re honest.

Eugene, Princess, and Stephanie pile up bodies, and Princess asks where they bring the dead. Stephanie doesn’t know exactly where, but says, somewhere far from the water supply. Ezekiel comes bouncing back with Lance, and tells Princess, much gratitude. They did the work, and he brought lollypops. He passes them out, and Princess asks if he doesn’t want one. He says he’s had several, and she asks how it was. He says he’s good as new. They gave him antibiotics, painkillers, and IV fluids. I’m thinking he’s had more than that, and wonder what’s in those lollypops. He thanks Lance, who says he was happy to do it. He’s just glad everyone’s okay. Do they feel up to a new assignment? Ezekiel says, bring it on, and Lance tells Eugene and Stephanie to clear out the north fence line; Stephanie can show Eugene where it is. He asks Ezekiel and Princess to come with him, and they follow him.  

Gabriel comes back, and tells Maggie, good news; they’re still there. Maggie asks if he ran into any of them, but he says, no.

The young entitled couple who’d passed by, are now making out in a lean-to by the edge of the forest. Eugene and Stephanie arrive just as a bunch of zombies come out of the woods. Eugene whacks zombies like never before, and Stephanie holds her own. Eugene says, teamwork, and he and Stephanie high-five. The boy asks what the hell that was about. Eugene and Stephanie disrupted their date. Eugene says he and Stephanie saved their lives, and the boy says they have private security for that. Stephanie says, let’s go, and the boy says, that’s the best idea they’ve had yet. Eugene says, there’s no reason to rude, hoss, and the boy says he’s not used to talking to plebians. Eugene says, someone used their dictionary. He and Stephanie have earned either gratitude or an apology. The boy asks who the hell they think they are, and Eugene tells him, hold his horses. The boy asks who Eugene thinks he’s talking to, and Eugene says, a tiny little man. While this is going on, a zombie has come out of the woods, and is almost on top of the girl. Stephanie whacks it down, and the blood spurts onto the girl, who squeals. The boy tells Stephanie, stupid bitch, look what you did to my girlfriend, and Eugene punches him in the face. Stephanie says, what did you do? and Eugene says, he was being an a-hole. Stephanie says she’s so sorry. They’ve been working without a break. Eugene didn’t mean to… Lance and Mercer appear, and Lance asks, what happened? The boy says, these lunatics attacked them. And where was Mercer? He had rotters up his ass, and this dumb sh*t rolled up and attacked them. Eugene says, that’s not the way it went, and Lance asks if it’s not true Eugene hit the boy? Eugene says he did, and Lance asks what he was thinking? Doesn’t Eugene know who this is? Let me just interject here. This obviously wasn’t in the employee citizen handbook, so what the hell? Isn’t that Lance’s fault?

Yumiko goes to Ms. Milton’s office, and the receptionist thanks her for being on time; Ms. Milton is fastidious about her schedule. She asks if Yumiko would like something to drink, but Yumiko says she’s all right. The receptionist asks her to have a seat, and Yumiko looks at a coffee table book about Italy. The receptionist says Yumiko is part of the new group who came in. Are they settling in okay? Yumiko says, yeah, but she hasn’t seen her friends in a few days. The receptionist says she’s sorry to hear that. Is everyone okay? The phone rings, and she says, of course. She’ll do it now. Yumiko asks if everything is okay, and the receptionist says, Ms. Milton will have to reschedule. Someone attacked her son.

Eugene sits in a cell, and Lance comes in. He says Eugene was supposed to save and protect the governor’s son. If he’d done that, he’d have been a hero. He could have asked for anything. Eugene and his friends want out, but now the price is higher. He needs the name of Eugene’s town and how to get there. Eugene says he’s been on his own, and Lance says, then welcome. This is home. He and his friends can keep killing walkers, and his people – whoever they are – can figure things out on their own. Eugene says, if he were to disclose the coordinates, what guarantee can Lance provide that his community will be safe? Lance says, look around him. Think of how they’ve been treated, all the chances they’ve gotten. Eugene says, that’s not a direct reply to his query, and Lance says, it’s up to him. Lance starts to leave, and Eugene says, wait. I say, dammit.

Maggie practices walking in the field with a small group of zombies, along with Negan. She and Negan split off, and go over to a building. They take the boards off a door, and open it. Zombies stream outside, and I wonder who was saving them up in there. Everyone wanders around a parking lot.

A storm begins, and the guy leads Daryl and Leah to a house. He moves some vent hoses aside in the basement, and reveals an entryway. He goes in, and a wounded woman sits on the floor with a little boy. He says he told them the truth. Please don’t hurt them. Leah tells him to take his son and run. Don’t come back. The woman tells the boy to go ahead with his father, and don’t be afraid. The guy cries and says he loves her. She says she loves him too. No one cares since we don’t know them. They leave, and the woman says they’re the answer to her prayers. He was never going to leave while she was alive, but it’s dangerous to stay. She’s ready. Please. Leah actually looks like she has an emotion, and the woman closes her eyes. Leah aims her gun, but can’t do it, wiping her tears away. Daryl shoots the woman, and asks if Leah is going to tell Pope. She says, that Daryl killed her? It will look good for him. Daryl retrieves his arrow from the woman’s forehead, and covers her face. He says there’s something he needs to tell Leah, but the radio crackles. Pope tells them to come back, and she says they’ve got to go.  

Maggie, Negan, and Elijah walk with a whole lot of zombies. Maggie sees Elijah’s sister among the dead, and it freaks her out a little. She surreptitiously takes Elijah’s hand, and they continue to walk, tons of zombies now behind them. They head toward Hilltop.

Next time, zombies attack Meridian and Alexandria; Pope says, the end is close, and they will not escape this time; and Virgil talks to Judith about Michonne.   

🔦 News flash: Walking Dead has an official whiskey.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

We flashed back to the Republic blowing up the Campus Colony. Elizabeth told Hope that she would be reunited with her father, so Hope got on a helicopter with Elizabeth and Huck. Instead, Elizabeth said, change of plan, and they landed on a rooftop in Albany. Hope asked if Elizabeth had lied about taking her to her father, and Elizabeth said, not yet. She told hope they were heading into new world, where clusters of the dead were roaming around the continent, and as far as they could tell, the world. There were columns of them so big, they’d run right over whole cities. Elizabeth then gave Hope a bullsh*t story about how one giant horde was headed for Omaha, and another to the Campus Colony, and they mashed together. They’d tried to rescue ask many as they could, airlifting out those still alive, but the Colony was gone. Elizabeth brought Hope to Albany because it had been her home. She’d been working in military defense, and realized how quickly any chance for a future could crumble. She asked if Hope still believed a future was possible, and Hope said, she does, she did, she should. Elizabeth said that despite the fallen cities, she was trying to get Hope to think more positively. That’s why she pushed Hope to go on this journey; to see how fragile civilization was. It took everyone coming together to give it a shot. Hope’s father was a genius, and valuable to their research, but he was also a troublemaker. They couldn’t risk bringing in someone who could jeopardize the community. She asked if Hope wanted to work with them. She couldn’t bring Hope in to join her father unless she knew that, despite Hope’s grief and anger, she was committed in being an asset to the future; committed to a life where she’ll consume knowledge to hand to the next generations. Hope needed more time to think, and Elizabeth told her to think about what she truly wanted. She gave Hope a radio, and said she’d need Hope’s answer by dawn. She thought Hope had every reason to walk away, given the extent she and her friends had been manipulated, but she’d be taking her chances alone on her own, and wouldn’t make it out of the city alive. Life was a gift, and Hope could choose to waste it alone or fight for a future with for others, making sure it never happened again. The choice was hers. Hope left, and Huck asked if Elizabeth was really doing this when Hope could die. Elizabeth said, or Hope could join them, but she needed Hope to choose.    

Will told Felix and Iris how he escaped CRM, who wanted him dead, and he would be if they found him. He told the two of them to a place called The Perimeter, where he’d been taken in. It had been an abandoned farm, and before everything fell apart, it was an artists colony. He introduced them to Indira, the head of the council. She told them that she was sorry about their home, but since Will was vouching for the, they had a home there until a more permanent solution presented itself. They could keep their knives, but were she asked that they surrender all other weapons. The council will ask them some questions, but she wants Felix’s leg looked at first. She asks what they have to live for. Living took effort. It took everything, and she needed to know their reasons if they were staying. Felix said, these two, indicating Will and Iris, and a few others. Iris guessed she lived for Hope, and Indira said the world was nothing without hope.

Will and Felix got reacquainted, and Felix had a good cry. Will explained that Indira was risking everything harboring them, and cautioned Felix and Iris against trying to rescue Hope just yet. This was about the long game. Not just how to keep them all safe, but what would happen afterward. One wrong move, and it was over for all of them.

Hope went into a school, and while she was exploring, it didn’t take long for her to run into a zombie and end up rolling down a flight of stairs with it. She managed to kill it for real, but got a nasty head wound bouncing off the wall. Zombies came at her, but she fought them all off. Then she thought she saw Elizabeth, and flashed back to Elizabeth telling her to think about what she truly wants. After killing the last zombie, she saw a poster for a missing woman named Candace Froder. She looked down the hallway to see a hooded figure, and said, hello? 

In the meantime, Elizabeth asked if Huck was thinking about going after Hope. Huck had insisted that Hope was worth the risk of this trip, and that it was the only way to change her. Huck said it had, and Elizabeth said, not enough, but it could still be a win. Elizabeth said she’d only wanted the best for Huck. Hope reminded her of Huck at the same age. She was lost and angry. Elizabeth thought Huck needed Hope to look up to her.

Hope flashed back shooting Elton’s mother.

Elizabeth told Huck that it was easy to form an attachment after being on assignment for an extended period. She wouldn’t stop going after Silas, but after he’d been captured, he was stonewalling. She was still focused on finding the others, but if they continued to be focused on finding Hope’s dad, they’d need to be dealt with. She asked how much Felix and Iris knew, but Huck didn’t say.

Hope ran to another building, trying the doors. After getting inside, and thinking she was alone, she opened a curtain, and someone jumped out, scaring her, me, and probably whoever else was watching. It was the hooded figure Hope had seen, who turned out to be the missing Candace. She fought with Hope, and Hope asked why she was doing this. Candace said she wanted what Hope had. Her group had helicopters, clothes, and food, and whatever they didn’t have, they took. Hope realized it was the same woman from the poster, and said she didn’t want to hurt Candace; she just wanted to go. Candace asked, go where? You didn’t just die. Someone else got your clothes, food, and supplies. What was Hope doing there? Hope said she was just trying to make it. Candace attacked Hope, who pushed her away, into the waiting arms of some zombies who have managed to get their arms, and mouths, outside of a barred gate. Hope sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, and when she opened her eyes, poof! They were gone, and it was all a hallucination. She remembered better times with her dad, and cried. She looked inside a book, and saw one of his secret messages to her. Once again, she recalled Elizabeth asking what she truly wanted.    

Hope called Elizabeth to come back for her, and Elizabeth said she was happy to hear from Hope. Hope said Elizabeth was right. She wasn’t going to make it alone, but she didn’t want this be all there was. She didn’t know if that’s what Elizabeth wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Did she pass? Could she see her dad? Elizabeth said it was okay to hate them; she should. But the bad things they did must be done. They carried the burden so others didn’t have to, so there would be good in the world. Maybe one day, this might not be all there is, but it would be if they didn’t have a world to go back to. She imagined Hope understood that differently now. Huck wondered if Elizabeth had wanted to see if she’d go after Hope, but Hope and the others had changed her. Elizabeth said she was glad she was wrong.  

Huck told Hope that she thought she knew what they could do about Silas. She’d found a settlement, but told her mother that she hadn’t found anything. It guaranteed all of their safety if they had to run. Hope wasn’t having it, and said Huck was just covering her own ass. How about if she told Huck’s mother how badly Huck had screwed up her mission? Since Huck screwed up her life, she’d do the same to Huck. Huck said the only way to stay safe was to lie to her mother. The place was safe, as long as they played by the rules, and didn’t screw sh*t up. Hope said there was no way she was working with Huck.

Iris wondered why the cover-up didn’t make sense, and Felix agreed. The only reason they weren’t dead was because they left. They’d taken a risk. Maybe that’s how they had to keep living. Do what they needed to do, no matter the risk. The council was letting them stay there, and the rules were different. They’d have to change how they played. Iris pondered zombie hordes, then went out sneaking around with a bow and arrow. She saw a CRM guard poking around.  

Hope was led down a long hall like she was going to prison, but she was taken to her father. She hugged him and cried.

A zombie came out of the woods, distracting the guard, and Iris shot the guard. She fought with him, finally knocking him down. She stabbed him, and removed his mask, revealing he was practically a kid, but there was no remorse. She said, it wasn’t the zombies; it was him.    

Kind of a filler episode, eh?

Next time, Elizabeth captures an enemy. Hope’s dad tells her that he’s working to stop the zombies, and Iris says, this is war.

🌬 Gone Like the Wind…

It’s late, but join me tomorrow on Deck and for some soap. In the meantime, stay safe, stay building your character, and stay having a good attitude, even if you have to wear someone else’s face.