What in the Nightmare on Elm Street did I just watch on the latest episode of The Walking Dead? Sometimes…the walkers are not the biggest problem to deal with.
On the Inside
In this episode, while Connie and Virgil find shelter in the woods, Kelly sets off alone to find her sister. Daryl is forced into interrogating one of Maggie’s team, but as scary as Daryl’s position is with Pope. Maggie’s team is not safe. I need to collect my thoughts because so much happened in this episode that I don’t know where to start, but start we must, and I’ll start with Daryl.
Pope is always looking to test his people for their loyalty, and this time he has Daryl take over the brutal interrogation of Frost. This is something that Daryl has to do to infiltrate, gain Pope’s trust, and eventually destroy the Reapers. After cutting of Frost’s finger, they are given a location to search for Team Maggie. I was upset when Daryl not only beat up Frost, but then cut off his finger, but then I realized that Daryl and Frost understood, if only by eye contact, that the safety of Alexandria was more important than their very lives. With the confession that Team Maggie was hiding in a yellow house off route 283, Daryl is purposely antagonizing Carver, until Leah steps in.
What Carver and Leah don’t realize is that Maggie, Negan, Gabe, and Elijah are hiding. Daryl knows that they are hiding under the trap door, and does his best to distract Carver who wants to tear the house down. Although successful in his distraction to save his friends, Daryl returns to Pope to find walker Frost tied to a tree, and a grinning Pope claiming he got Frost to talk. This doesn’t sound good for Daryl.
Connie
I have to say that Lauren Ridloff did a damn good job with her character’s growth. Her expressions as she and Virgil (Kevin Carroll) find refuge in the scariest house since “The Haunting of Hill House.” Connie is frightened, and rightfully so. She suspects that they are not alone in the house even though Virgil has checked out the house. When one of your six senses don’t work, with Connie it is hearing…your other senses pick up the slack. Connie’s inner radar is screaming that they are not alone in the house, but Virgil chalks it up to her not sleeping for days. But Connie is wondering if it isn’t safer dealing with the walkers than what is hiding in the house.
Feral People
Every single horror movie that I had ever watched came back to haunt me after Connie sees an eyeball looking at her through a hole in the bathroom. She scratches on one of the photos hanging on the wall, “Not Alone.” Whenever the camera is focused on Connie, we have no sound, which is the perfect way for we viewers to experience what Connie is experiencing as finds a room full of human bones.
When we first meet the feral family that not only live behind the walls, but have turned to cannibalism to survive, we are instantly put into shock mode. These are not walkers that stumble around searching for food The feral people are famished from lack of food, and they are practically naked. What is very unsettling is the means of mobility that they use. They chase Connie on all fours, like wolves after prey. There is no reasoning with these feral people. All humanity is gone. They only know that they are hungry, and that food has somehow stumbled into their den.
Conclusion
Virgil risks his life to protect Connie because he felt that Michonne’s giving him a second chance should be passed on to others. The last scene in the feral house is scary. Connie and Virgil are overrun by ferals, but Connie thinks fast. Doing the old “smell like a walker” routine, Connie puts the walkers to work in fighting the feral people.
Greg Nicotero directed this episode, and damn, we are reminded how good TWD can be with the right direction. Lauren Ridloff, who has been away from the series until now, asked Greg Nicotero to arrange it so that when Kelly (Angel Theory) and Connie meet on the final scene, that the true emotion of these sisters reuniting comes through. It worked. The emotion of the sisters finding each other was heartfelt. The slingshot sisters are reunited!
I don’t know what Pope learned from Frost, but Daryl is in trouble. The good news is that Team Maggie now know where he is.
See you next week.
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