Forget.

“People are the real threat now.” - Rick

The Kickass Trinity is back at it, plotting to overthrow Alexandria in any way they can. And frankly… I don’t blame them. After seeing how shoddily the town is defended, it’s a miracle these people weren’t overrun ages ago.

But each member of the trio goes on their own little journey in this episode, and some come out on surprising ends of the "should we do this" spectrum. 

Deanna

B-Last week I thought she seemed competent and in charge. Now I’m getting the impression that Deanna thinks the zombie apocalypse is just a touch of the flu. No guards in the towers, no one patrolling the walls, and not a single gun out and about inside the town? Girl you are just asking to be attacked.

Rick

A-

“They’re the luckiest damn people I’ve ever met, and they just keep getting luckier.” - Rick
“How’s that?” - Daryl
“We’re here now.” - Rick

Well, aren’t you just God’s gift, Rick?

Honestly though, it’s so true. The people of Alexandria are content as housecats, which is the worst thing you can be when zombies are a constant threat. They might have those nice fancy walls, but they’re easily fooled and distracted. They’re just lucky that a semi-decent group like Rick’s stumbled on them first. Can you imagine if the Governor or those delinquents Daryl was running with last year had found them? It would have been a bloodbath!

Sasha

BI’m still not a fan of Sasha’s angry grief plot, but I have to respect that she's the only one living in reality. While Rick is busy staging a coup, Sasha is still very much living in a world where loved ones are lost every day, and walkers are a real and present danger. I'm glad that someone seems to remember Bob and Beth and Tyreese. 

She might be acting like a crazy person, but that's strangely normal considering the circumstances.  

Carol

A-

“You know what’s great about this place? I get to be invisible again.” – Carol

Kicking ass and taking names, Carol played the sweet little housewife to perfection. She even had one of those Stepford ladies calling her ‘girl’ and swooning over her oatmeal cookies. All the while, Carol was plotting to steal a dozen or so handguns that would make taking over Alexandria a piece of cake.

In other news, Carol is also a sociopath. She scared that little boy to DEATH and even if it was totally badass, I’m now terrified of her. 

Jessie

C+I’m torn on this girl.

On the one hand, she’s sweet and smart, and she really seems to be spinning some truths that Rick needs to hear. Their town may be weak, but it’s something that the world needs: a new community without stigma or prejudice, with a group of totally diverse people who rely on one another. She’s giving Rick good stuff to consider during his takedown mission

On the other hand, I never enjoy seeing a character so clearly shoehorned into a plot like Jessie is into Rick’s. Whether their relationship is romantic or not, she sort of popped up out of nowhere, and she has yet to interact with anyone besides Rick. Creating a female character whose sole purpose is to revolve around the male lead - while keeping her separate from anything and everything else - is a major “Pointless Love Interest” move. Just look at Barbara on Gotham or Camille on The Originals. Those girls are two of the worst female characters on television, and I hope Jessie does not fall into the same cycle.

Expand your horizons, Jessie. Branch out. 

Spencer

AOMG GUYS IT’S JULIAN FROM ONE TREE HILL.

Okay, freak out over. Back to your regularly scheduled snarking. It seems like Deanna's second son is way less of a douche than the first, but we only met him for like 5 seconds. Too soon to tell.

DarylA

“The longer they’re out there, the more they become what they really are.” - Daryl

Daryl spent the day with Aaron, chasing after a pony and making friends. It’s funny how the broody redneck gets some of the cutest storylines.

This was one of those times that the show really got the symbolism stuff right. Daryl and the horse seem to be one and the same. The whole group fits the metaphor really. They became exactly what they were meant to be out in the world, and the longer they stayed out there, the more animal they became. But like the horse, we have to consider that shunning any kind of civilization might be bad for our heroes in the end. You can only run for so long before the zombies get you, and then you might wish that you had stopped to let a friendly hand take you inside the walls. RIP Buttons.

I think Daryl might be learning that lesson, at least with Aaron. He knows the good people from the bad after all, and Aaron seems like the good kind.

Aaron & Eric

Forget

A-The plot keeps moving forward onThe Walking Dead, and I couldn't be happier that we're out of the doldrums. This week seemed to be a lot of buildup to the inevitable coup that Rick plans to stage, with some pretty solid character development thrown in too. 

Predictably, each of our heroes fall somewhere different on the cutthroat spectrum for this mission. Carol, true to form, falls pretty surely on the psycho side. She's ready to take this town, guns blazing. Our ultra-huggable Daryl-kins sees that Aaron and his vision for the place are actually pretty solid, and he holds back from taking the guns. He genuinely wants to try to give Alexandria a shot. Rick hesitates, clearly affected by Jessie's speech, but ends up taking a gun after all. That's what I love about Rick. He's never beyond the point of no return, but he'll push that Jimminy Cricket voice down in favor of keeping his family protected. 

Extra Credit

• Daryl racing to eat his pasta and grunting “Done!” like it was race. Adorable.
• Rick’s little cheek kiss was adorably awkward.
• Aww, Noah is family now. That's sad considering I've got him tapped to die this season.
• A new motorcycle for Daryl! Yay!

Demerits

• I actually screamed “NO! NOT BUTTONS!” at the top of my lungs. Kill as many humans as you want, but leave the poor animals alone! Some things are sacred…
• Not even drunk Abraham can make me tolerate his presence on the show.
• Where the heck did Father Gabriel go? Did he just float off into the ether? Can a few of the others do the same?