Starting right in with the feels! After five weeks we finally get to catch up with the grief stricken, baby-carrying, widow of Glenn. Add to that Sasha, Abraham’s paramour when he caught it, is by her side. The episode opens with confirmation that Maggie’s baby is still healthy, the entire scene in which the doc does a quick ultrasound and explains the situation really taught my what flashbacks are all about. Now, I do know how ridiculous that is and I am in no way equating the events of the premier to some real world trauma. All I’m saying is that througout that scene the image of Glenn’s broken visage struggling to tell Maggie he’ll find her continuously jumped to the fore-front of my mind. If by any chance you made it through the opening scene without shedding a tear Maggie and Sasha go to visit the graves of Glenn and Abraham where Sasha presents Maggie with the only thing Glenn had on him when he died. Herschel’s pocketwatch…call back city and a really nice touch. I’m just not sure how I feel about her leaving it on the grave, seems like the kind of thing you’d want to pass on to your unborn kid. As if sensing the lull in our anger the show sees fit to take this time to bring uber-douche Gregory back into the mix, immediately making his feeling known that he wants Sasha and Maggie out. Thankfully Jesus is there and though he can’t talk sense into him he brings a light of hope. Personally I can NOT wait for Jesus to get the screen time he deserves. In the comics and now in the show he’s a character that just exudes charisma, he’s got that Dixon-ism about him.
Throwing a curveball we then jump back to Alexandria with emo-Carl, pissed at his Dad for bending the knee (wow…weird Game of Thrones cross reference there) to Negan. We learn Rick is heading out to find a way to pay Negan when he returns which makes way for a LONG and awkward kiss between Rick and Michonne…is it just me or is there absolutely NO physical chemistry there? I mean, I can see why they did it they were a dynamic duo as friends and battle buddies but the sex thing…it just ain’t right, not to mention it doesn’t leave room for the Ezekiel/Michonne fling all of us comic book readers have been waiting for (I guess maybe spoiler alert? Honestly with how freely the Glenn thing was bounded around media I’m thinking that society is over it’s whole spoiler jihad).
Back to the Hilltop where we are finally treated to another glimpse of just how awesome Jesus is, for real…if the real Jesus was a parkour kicking ninja flipping zombie killin’ bad ass there would be far more people with butts in pews on Sunday morning. Long story short the inhabitants of the hilltop are woken up when a car radio starts blaring and the gates are opened, allowing a small herd of zombies in. Walkers that are deftly dispatched by Jesus, Sasha, and a tractor driving Maggie, all while their fearless leader Gregory cowers from his room behind his rich curtains. Shocker…it’s still not enough to convince Gregory that Sasha and Maggie may just be good additions to the community we do find out very clearly that his fear of the Saviors is driving the whole thing a fear that is affirmed just moments later as, thanks to the magic of TV timing, a caravan of saviors pulls into the community. I racked my brain for a good five minutes trying to figure out how I knew who played Simon, the leader. He looked SO damn familiar…so I did what any cellar dwelling geek would do, I IMDB’d em. And I’ll be damned if he isn’t the guy that played Trevor from GTA V, no doubt the single greatest or at least most recognizable video game performance to date. The meeting between Simon and Gregory is hard to watch, not for the reasons that we generally list in these recaps…nope, just because Gregory is such a sniveling, dick-less, spine-less, shell of something that possibly once was a coward of a man. The best thing to come of the whole scene is the okidok that Jesus pulls when Gregory tries to give up Sasha and Maggie. Thinking that Jesus has hid the two in a closet outside of his office Gregory leads Simon only to open the door and find it full of his favorite scotch, which he has to play off as a tribute and give to Simon. If you need further proof of just how much of a slimeball Gregory is he actually makes you thankful for the Saviors as they dress him down, make him kneel, then take his precious painting (if you remember that call back to last season).
It’s not all for naught, Jesus finally stands up and takes Gregory down a peg and out of his leadership position. They are left without a leader but it’s strongly implied that Jesus has no one but Maggie in mind to fill the spot. Have I said yet how awesome I think Jesus is? I wasn’t the only one that thought you needed yet another reminder as Sasha asks Jesus to find where Negan lives so of course he sneaks onto one of the trucks heading back to the Sanctuary to stowaway for the trip. Surprise surprise, Jesus hears a “Hello!” And looks up to see none other then Carl sitting in the truck stowing away to Negan’s homestead as well.Not a landmark episode but definitely one that moved a number of storylines forward and was worth it if for no other reason then to be inundated with the awesome that is Jesus!
