First of all, I would like to welcome you all about my nope-mobile, which I will be riding all the way down Denial River. You know. Because of the thing that totally did NOT happen at the end of this last episode. Are you comfy? Good.

Ok, so at the end of last week, Carol ran away from home. As this episode opens we see Carol packing for her departure. Warm clothes, baggies of snacks, weapons. The usual stuff. Tobin comes in and starts reminiscing about Denise, but Carol doesn’t hear a word because she is too busy memorizing his face.

Rick and Michonne are cuddling. CUDDLING. Like this:

Michonne lazily snags an apple off the nightstand (courtesy of Jesus and the Hilltop folks), takes a bite and then offers it to Rick. They’re like Adam and Eve in this new world, except instead of Eden, they’re in Alexandria, and instead of the fruit of knowledge, the apple is basically the forbidden fruit of EVER BEING HAPPY. WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING TEMPTING FATE LIKE THIS. Don’t you watch the show like the rest of us?! When Rick tells her, “This world is ours” you just know shit is going to go sideways, but it’s hard not to enjoy their determination to have this bit of peace. Rick says he’s not going to lose everything again. Michonne replies, “No, you won’t.” And the look she gives him is fierce and loving, like she’ll do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.

Glenn and Maggie are having shower fun times, which is sexy, but more than that, it feels almost baptismal. Like they’re washing away all the crap. (Again, you know this can’t last.)

Daryl, still feeling the weight of Denise’s death, takes off, no doubt to find Dwight and kill him as he should have back in the burned forest. Glenn and Michonne set off to find him and are joined by Rosita, who says she knows where he’s going.

When Carol’s absence is discovered, Morgan and Rick go after her. People seem to be splintering off and the core group is fracturing.

Carol, meanwhile, has taken off in one of the spiky cars the Alexandrians have parked along the road as walker-deterrent. It’s very Road Warrior. All she needs is a crazy guitarist dude chained to the hood. Very shortly, she encounters a pickup truck full of armed goons who shoot out her tires. They know about Alexandria and want her to take them there. “Maybe they’ll let us in if you’re with us.”

Carol is clutching the rosary she grabbed when she and Maggie were abducted by the Saviors (and we all know how that went). She begs the men to just give up and leave. She’s crying, and they think it’s from fear, but we know it’s because she is sick of killing people and these idiots are pretty much begging for the can of epic whoop-ass she is so reluctant to unleash upon them. What follows is the whooping of much ass.

Favorite bits:

When Rick wants to get frisky with Michonne and she turns him down because “Maggie has us on a schedule and I’m not about to piss off a pregnant woman.” I love it that Maggie is the new Deanna.

The tender look between Abraham and Sasha as they change shifts and she hands him a cigar, and the way that moment is witnessed by Rosita. It highlights the ways in which having a secure homebase has changed the group and allowed them to explore their feelings. What can I tell you? I’m a sucker for this kind of shit.

The bro talk between Rick and Morgan about morality in the new world. Morgan says there’s no right anymore, just wrong that doesn’t pull you down. Rick says his hasn’t pulled him down yet, but Morgan tells him it will. I also really dug the moment after Morgan prevents Rick from shooting the stranger they encounter at the barn (who says he’s looking for his horse) when Morgan brings it all full circle: he spared the young Wolf, the Wolf saved Denise, Denise saved Carl. “Everything gets a return.” He’s trying to tap into what’s left of Rick’s humanity here, but the words come out sounding ominous. I do love the friendship between these two, which is apparent when Morgan urges Rick to return home. He says he’ll find Carol himself, but if he doesn’t return, “don’t come looking.”

Also? Rick tells Morgan that Michonne really did steal that protein bar.

The emotion Daryl shows when he refuses to return to Alexandria with Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita. “I can’t.” Glenn is almost desperate to persuade him. He just knows it’s going to go wrong, but Daryl isn’t having it. Denise’s death, the humiliation of the little prick Dwight tying him up and robbing him after he tried to help, all of it is too much.

A short while later, when the others find themselves surrounded by Dwight’s baddies, Daryl is about to save them. Instead, Dwight sneaks up behind him and then this happens:

I refuse to even entertain the notion that Daryl is dead. NOPE NOPE NOPE. And actually, since we hear Dwight’s voice saying, “You’ll be all right” there is good reason to believe this. Are you with me on this? Or should we start sending out Evites for the riot?

Next week is the finale, guys! Start preparing emotionally.

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