Our seasonal tour of The Walking Dead communities continues as we find ourselves at The Hilltop where Maggie’s recovering. Dr. Carson assures her the baby’s fine and she heads out to Glenn’s grave to mourn with Sasha and Jesus. Gregory shows up to question Maggie about The Saviors and suggests she leave for getting into trouble with them. Jesus explains they’re both from Alexandria and Gregory suggests them being there will only bring The Hilltop more trouble. He decides they can stay the night but must leave in the morning. Meanwhile, it seems like everyone’s leaving Alexandria. Rick and Aaron set out for a supply run, Michonne leaves on her own, and Carl tags along with Enid as they journey to The Hilltop.
That night Maggie and Sasha awake to find a herd of walkers invading The Hilltop while orchestral music dramatically blasts through a locked car. Maggie directs Jesus and the guards to close the gates and save Sasha. As they try to open the car Maggie drives through the yard with a tractor and steamrolls over the car, finally silencing the song that attracted the walkers. It’s clear this was all an elaborate trap The Saviors set to send a message.
The following day The Saviors, led by Simon, show up at The Hilltop to collect their half. Jesus hides Maggie and Sasha and welcomes the Saviors inside. Full of bravado, Simon tells Gregory his Hilltop men were too soft for The Saviors and are now dead at the hands of Rick’s group. After some more alpha male talk Simon asks if there’s anything he wants to tell him and Gregory decides to sell out Maggie and Sasha. He opens the closet he thought they were hiding in and discover they’re gone. Gregory improvises and offers Simon the booze that IS in the closet. Simon gladly takes it, thanks Gregory for the gift, and informs him his men will begin taking half of their belongings. As a cherry on top Simon demands that Gregory kneel for him. He does and Simon pats him on the head.
Meanwhile, Carl and Enid arrive outside of The Hilltop and Carl reveals he was driving to find The Sanctuary, not her. They kiss and Carl decides to follow The Saviors on their way out. Gregory confronts Jesus about hiding Maggie and Sasha and Jesus threatens to tell The Saviors about his collusion with Rick’s group. Gregory reluctantly agrees and tells Maggie, “See dear, the Saviors can actually be quite reasonable.” Maggie punches Gregory in the face and informs him The Hilltop is her home now. She clarifies her name is MAGGIE RHEE and that she expects him to call her that from now on.
Later, Sasha asks Jesus to discover where Negan lives and he agrees. Maggie finds Enid in the garden and notices she put green balloons on (what she thinks is) his grave. Shortly after Sasha and them sit down for dinner and Maggie gives Enid Glenn’s pocket watch. Jesus sneaks on the Saviors’ truck and discovers Carl hiding in the back.
What did YOU think of tonight’s episode? Do you think Carl’s storyline for next week will mirror the comics or go in a different route? Tell us in the comments below!
Kind of slow. Gregory may be the best comic to show adaptation. Actually, I hate him more in the show. So much. Really having trouble deciding if I like Simon more than Negan. Great addition to the series. Lastly… yay! Carl’s in the truck. But will it play out the same? I sure hope!
Good backstory we know what happened to a lot of the characters but it was kind of slow
Gregory comes right off the page onto the screen, that asswhole. Warm fuzzies over Carl & Enid. Cool to see Carl become the stowaway & the grin that put on Jesus’s face. Love that ass-kickin’ ninja! Cannot WAIT to get back to Negan!!
Simon might be more intimidating than Negan, simply because he doesn’t joke around as much. The whole conversation with Gregory was dripping with tension.
I agree… If it weren’t for Lucille and that’s Negan already killed two, Simon would be much more menacing.
I find the psychological warfare more intimidating & I think Negan owns that better than anyone. Simon is a cool character tho. I bet I know what’s coming up for him & it may seal the deal on who’s the real boss.
I too think the psychological warfare is actually worse than the physica. That’s why it’s so aweful watching what he’s doing to Rick. lwish thought that JDM’s performance was less playful. I’d like to see more dimension in that character. I hate Negan’s guts, but as long as he’s around why not make him more interesting. I don’t like Dwight either but we’ve seen there’s more to him than meets the eye and one can’t be sure of which way he’s going. Simon on the other hand is cool but there’s a real glint of evil behind the eyes. He’ll probably be the first of the 3 to die. Someone needs to pay for Glenn and Abe SOON. Although Negan ultimately will pay eventually, I think Simon will be the down payment to satisfy us until they’re ready to get to Negan.
Jesus, Sasha and MAGGIE —–
Time for the children to go away.
The flaws in this episode were hard to ignore. Carl/Enid story was just ridiculous. It took me off this episode completely. Chandler Riggs’ acting is not getting any better, so isn’t his hair. I didn’t believe neither in their sentimental chat, nor their attraction for each other. I love the show, but this episode left me disappointed. And that would be ok if it was 2nd, or 3rd episode, or even 4th. But when we are so close to the mid-season finale and all we get is a bad storytelling it is just sad. I love JDM as Negan. I would personally add complexity to him. Simon’s character is great. They need to get rid of lots of characters we don’t want to watch. And rather work on more significant ones. I don’t know where do they go with this direction, but seems like they do many odd choices this season. I really worry about the show.
Sadly I agree. Not buying Enid, Carl and Carl’s Goblet of Fire era hair style.
Carl’s hair is awful… so much that it’s distracting. Hopefully, Enid puts some shears to it soon.
I think the chapter had an unexpected end and a little comical in my opinion.
Jesus is my favorite hilltop character because of his knowledge of martial arts, and his aptitude, he is too cute in all senses.
Carl & Enid better enjoy the roller skates while they can, they’ll be property of Negan soon! Skate night at the Sanctuary!
Fine for me. Can’t wait for Jesus & Carl Sanctuary trip, I doubt that Jesus will let Carl carry out his suicide mission. On the other hand, if Saviors caught Jesus, it would cause a big problem for everyone. Jesus kicks ass!
And I hope Enid is sort of Sophia… Carl, wait for that Whisperer chick!
It fills my heart with warmth to see Maggie, Sasha and Enid carry on with Glenn’s legacy by being strong and positive. That’s what Glenn would wanted. I belive in Maggie Rhee!
I can’t tell if the actor playing Gregory is acting, or really a drunk. It is this blurred line that makes him so slimy and sleazy. My dislike for him is palpable. Simon is very scary. I would not want to be on his crew. It looks like lots of arduous work. When he said “I’m your Negan.” I got chills. I hope we get into more of that, and it isn’t just a dingleberry. Jesus is such a mysterious character. I’m glad he has a large presence in this episode, and would like to learn more about him. Maggie is so badass! I think that punch fractured Gregory’s jaw. She was the embodiment of the Survivors in this episode and a reminder of what they are really like. I think Carl is a cool character and think his long hair is cool. But, he is going to either get killed or be responsible for people getting killed. Like his father when he gets dumb he gets super-dumb. I had a quiver of this theory in the last episode, and Enid added more fuel. My theory now is Enid gets to the Kingdom, and, thusly, Carol saves the day again. I had no problem with this episode.