Carol & Daryl reunited!

Written by Sophie Williams. 

I already decided I was going to like this episode when a member of The Kingdom took down a Walker and made a comment about her sister. I like these casual references to character’s lives as they remind us of what once was.

Surprise, surprise, the Saviours turned up and Ezekiel handed over their supplies. Ruffling a few feathers, I was happy to see Morgan (Lennie James) step in when things got heated until his staff was taken from him. Along with many other viewers I’m sure, I was with Morgan, begging for him to get his staff back. Nevertheless, Morgan had to return to The Kingdom empty handed. This scene was particularly well crafted, ending with the female from the start saying, “my sister loved that dress.”

Back at The Kingdom, Daryl (Norman Reedus) approaches Richard (Karl Makinen)  as he’s practising his skills with the bow and arrow since he’s not allowed a gun anymore. He needs to work on his aim (a lot) and asks Daryl for help. Everyone knows that Daryl is a dab hand with that crossbow and he’s reluctant to pick it up but when he does, it looks like old times. Away from The Kingdom, they are about to begin their practice when Richard admits he wants to use ‘a woman’ as bait for the Saviours. As we all expected, Daryl was quick to figure out the mystery woman was Carol (Melissa McBride) and after beating Richard to a bloody pulp, Daryl warns him that if anything at all happens to Carol, it’ll be Richard he’ll come looking for. Nobody wants to behold the wrong side of Daryl so hopefully Richard will receive the message loud and clear.

Surrounded by a mass of people dressed in black, I assumed we were being introduced to Rick’s army until they gathered into a formation, trapping Rick, Michonne, Rosita, Tara and Aaron in the middle. With the strange music playing in the background I was extremely confused as to what was happening, until Jadis stepped forward. Rick then demanded what I definitely was not anticipating: Father Gabriel. I found this encounter gripping to watch, especially when Gabriel held a knife to someone’s throat. After he tried to talk sense into them about fighting the war against Negan, Jadis took Rick to the top of a big mound of junk. I wasn’t surprised when Jadis pushed him off but what did surprise me was what was lurking within the makeshift cage Rick fell into. A Walker full of spikes emerged from the mound, inevitably putting a hole in Rick’s hand. Firm in Team Rick during this battle, it was fortifying to see him eventually defeat and destroy the zombie. From what we’d seen of her so far, I can confidently predict that Jadis will become a new powerhouse and an unlikely ally to the group, especially when she revealed that Rick passed the test to prove that he and his army were strong enough to take out the Saviours.

After the excitement for this episode, we were brought back down to Earth when Carol and Daryl were reunited. Carol is far from being my favourite character but this was a touching moment. We also saw Daryl sitting with Ezekiel’s tiger and appeared to make friends with it. Perhaps if a cure for the zombie virus is found Daryl could pursue a career as a tiger tamer? Overall, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than last week. There was just the right amount of emotion, excitement, and tigers.