Terminus is up in smoke, but as the episode begins, I find myself really freaked out over that bit of foreshadowing I caught in the season opener when Rick insists they all go back in to make sure “every last one” is killed. As the group hurled the fence, we see hoodie-wearing cannibal asshole Gareth dodge Rick’s bullet-a real cosmic failure considering Rick confidently told Gareth just minutes earlier that he would kill him with the machine guns and ammo he had hidden in the forest, in those bags Gareth was so interested in retrieving. It’s one of those fatal Walking Dead mistakes that will come back to haunt everyone sooner than later-you know it because you’ve been watching since Season One and this shit always happens to Rick.
The group charges forward and spends a few nights in the woods, simply relieved to be away from the place that provided zero sanctuary. Rick thanks Tara (Alanna Masterson) for saving Glenn’s life and basically being a cool chick that he can trust. This moment is so solidifying because it gives me hope that Tara will survive a little longer and earn her place in the group. There’s been a lot of talk lately about lesbian characters being killed off in television-and in case you haven’t read our interview with Alanna Masterson yet, it should be noted that she’s rooting for Tara to live a long, full life.
Carol (Melissa McBride) is dealing with some heavy emotions surrounding the dark decisions she made last season. She refuses to talk to anyone about it-that means Rick, Tyreese, even her homeboy Daryl (Norman Reedus). Carol not only killed Tyreese’s girlfriend Karen and was banned from the prison by Rick after she confessed what she did, but she also killed little Lizzie, the girl who killed her sister Mika and played in the yard with walkers like they were her friends. Carol had reason-she was worried for baby Judith and was willing to do whatever it took. She felt threatened, but now she’s wrought with the kind of guilt that makes her stone cold determined to just be okay. Daryl asks her if she’s really, truly OK, and she responds: “Have to be.”
Not-so-little-anymore Carl Grimes hears cries off in the distance. It could be anything-it could be a human pretending to suffer, only to lure the group into danger. Rick knows this, but the group runs toward the screams anyway. There they save and meet a man in clerical attire complete with a white neckband. The guy is freaked-he introduces himself as Gabriel. If you’ve read the Walking Dead comic, you might remember him as Fr. Gabriel Stokes. He leads them to his church, but they feel like he must be hiding something. How is it that he’s been here ever since the world ended so long ago? Carl’s convinced that not everyone is bad-there has to be some people left in this world who aren’t so far gone. Clearly, due to the zombie apocalypse Carl never made it far enough in school to have his class syllabus include Lord of the Flies. Rick reminds him: “You are not safe. No matter how many people are around-it only takes one second, and it’s over.”
Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and a few others hit up a gun shop nearby Gabriel’s church. They don’t expect to find anything left behind, it’s been years since the world changed and the chances of there being any gear of any kind is about as questionable as Gabriel’s story about a canned food drive being the reason he’s survived this long on food without venturing too far from his holy sanctuary.
“Sanctuary” is a strange concept in the world of the Walking Dead. When Rick and the rest of the group met Maggie, Hershel, Beth and the rest of the family on Hershel’s farm, that felt like the deepest haven from the new ways of the world. Hershel even knew exactly where to sit and drink the last bits of aged whiskey at a nearby saloon, if the moment called for it. When that ended, it was mercy that the Governor disregarded and destroyed -the kind of mercy Hershel gave to Rick, the kind of relationship that was developed so sweetly over time, the kind of humanity that served a beautiful reminder amid all this violence and fear. When that ended and the group found the prison-the institution now represented a juxtaposed place of safety, once for captivity, now for refuge. Of course, it reverted back to its original inception when the Governor found them out. And we don’t even need to discuss the moral codes behind whatever kind of “sanctuary” the Governor and others of his kind have established in the new world. That said, how is anyone supposed to trust that the ultimate space for what we define as holy, spiritual and open to all “children of God” is serving its original purpose?
Rick decides it’s time to go on a run-they must go to the place Gabriel claims is overrun by walkers to retrieve supplies. The basement supply room is not crawling, but floating with walkers. The whole place is flooded, making for an interesting standoff between the group and the undead. Father Gabriel has a major panic attack when he spots a walker inching closer to him-and by that familiar look in his eye, we most certainly know it’s likely someone he knows. Later on, it’s confirmed: It was someone he knew. He still has a photo of himself with the woman, but we don’t yet know if she was his partner or someone in his congregation, or what. Rick spares Gabriel from getting bitten by whoever this glasses-wearing zombie is.
Still, we don’t know if Gabriel is good or evil-he has a great poker face and he seems vaguely sheltered from the nightmares outside. Bob is convinced Rick will decide to say “yes” to forging ahead toward Washington, D.C. He doesn’t see this as the “real world” and fully believes in Dr. Eugene Porter’s “restart button.” Michonne doesn’t have her trustee sword anymore, but by some grace of fates Carl still has his dad’s beloved hat. While everyone unloads the newest bounty of supplies, Carl shows his dad some weird stuff he discovered behind the church: Knife marks all over the wooden walls outside, and a carving that reads: “You’ll burn for this.” This cannot be good. But it’s no time to sit and fret, it’s time to feast! The group spreads out across the church pews, candles lit, smiles and laughter abound, and everyone claps after Rick makes his official decision: Yes to D.C. Dr. Porter has tried to explain the situation a little bit more: There are infrastructures in D.C. that he says offer everything they’re seeking: shelter, food, water, and this elusive restart button.
Is it all just too good to be true? What happens if they get to D.C. and realize everything is as abandoned, messy and broken down as it is where they are? Let’s be real: I know that guy left at the Center for Disease Control in Season One was nuts, but if he let the CDC go, who’s to say there’s anything better in D.C.?
Tara thinks this is a good opportunity to tell Maggie the truth about how she came into the group. She was one of those girls who fell under the Governor’s spell and helped aid him in overrunning the prison, witness to Maggie’s father’s assassination, something that sticks with all of us who love the show and watched everyone suffer for that unwarranted death. Maggie takes a moment to hear the gravity of what Tara is saying, but she knows Tara means well and got tangled up in the wrong scene. She hugs her tightly and tells her she’s with them now. This is important: It means that Tara is willing to be upfront and honest-she’s formed a forever bond with Glenn, and she knows the magnitude of his love for Maggie. I like the little trio they’ve formed and the ways two very unlikely groups have merged into one big family.
But, once more, for those of us who see a moment in this show before it’s about to happen, that moment comes once more-when Bob asks for “one more” kiss from Sasha and exits the church to cry outside. I’m worried about Bob. I’m worried that he’s about to shoot himself and end his misery. We know how emotionally exhausting this has been for Bob and Sasha and the ways Bob has had to deal with his aloneness. This could be the end for Bob. Suddenly, someone wearing a hoodie strikes him on the head and he falls. Dammit, it must be Gareth. It must be! When he wakes, he’s sitting with his back to a fire, and sure enough, there’s Gareth giving him some bullshit speech about wanting versus needing. He takes a chomp out of something meaty, and the camera pans out and we see one of Bob’s legs has been amputated for the group’s sick bbq dinner. Others are sitting around chewing and biting off their own pieces of Bob. You guys, that’s his foot. In the fire. THIS IS NOT OK. “You taste so much better than we thought you would,” says Gareth.
Right as the episode is about to leave us hanging, we see Daryl find Carol outside by a car she tagged earlier, in case they needed a “back up” getaway car from Gabriel’s church. It almost looks like Carol is about to book it again. Maybe she can’t handle the pressure of coming clean about her killings. Everyone has their shame, but Carol’s is quiet and selfless. She’d rather take herself out of the group than inflict any more confusion and burden. Daryl sees this quite differently; he’s not willing to lose his friend again.
As he’s confronting her, they see a car drive by-it looks like a Monte Carlo, a black one with a decal across the back. It’s the same one that Daryl saw BETH get taken in. He shouts to Carol and smashes the lights on the back of the car so they won’t be seen in the dark. Like two old peas in a pod, our favorite partners in crime take off to follow that car. Rick and the rest of the group have no clue that Bob is missing, legless, and being held captive by the monsters from Terminus that they didn’t go back to kill.
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