This week’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Spend,” was not only one of the most brutal episodes — with two of the most violently gory deaths of the series’ run — it also hammered home a theme: The people of Alexandria are goddamn cowards. Whether it was the foreman on the construction site leaving behind a man (or a woman, in this case) who Abraham had to save, or whether it was Nicholas being the spineless asscrack who cost Noah his life, the people of Alexandria are clearly not well-equipped to deal with the harsh realities outside their walls. The “protocol” of Alexandria is to sacrifice the lives of others to save your own. That’s not a good recipe for the future, and even Deanna recognizes that.
The people of Alexandria are left with two options, basically: Let Rick and his gang run Alexandria (as the construction foreman seemed inclined to do) or fight them and go down dying. Deanna, the mayor of Alexandria, will have to decide if hanging on to power is worth her life (and that of the other holdouts) or if handing it over to Rick is the best course. This being The Walking Dead, a power struggle is inevitable.
Here are five questions we have about the remainder of the season:
1. What did Aiden say before he died? Right before Aiden WAS RIPPED TO SHREDS by walkers, he was yelling something to Glenn that was hard to comprehend. Basically, he said that “it was us who panicked…. not them,” referring to the other scouting group that they lost. They weren’t lost. They were left behind. Essentially, Aiden is suggesting a pattern at Alexandria: They can’t protect others. They sacrifice Alexandria newcomers to save themselves. Here, they finally ran up against the wrong outsiders.
2. Who will kill Pete? The revelation that Pete was beating his wife and kid explains why he seemed shifty (and why Rick instantly distrusted him). Obviously, Pete has to die, and hopefully, that means a future for Rick and Jessie (unless you’re a Richonne fan). But who will kill Pete? Rick seems the obvious choice, but Carol may ultimately step in and do it herself. Recall that she was the victim of her own husband’s domestic violence, and in that case, it was Shane who beat the hell out of him and basically left him for the zombies. It might be that badass Carol steps in this time and takes care of it before Rick gets the opportunity.
It’s important to note, however, that under the current Ricktatorship, the punishment for domestic violence is basically the death sentence. Harsh? Maybe, but there’s no tolerance for internal turmoil when there’s so much external conflict to deal with already.
3. Why did Gabriel turn on Rick’s crew? This episode was almost entirely about establishing the reasons why Rick and his gang are likely to take over Alexandria, not just for themselves, but for the betterment of the entire community. They’re setting up the civil war. Gabriel, ratting out Rick’s people, has already raised Deanna’s suspicions, and letting Abraham take over the construction site probably makes her feel like she’s losing control. Once she finds out that Aiden is dead, she’s probably going to make some assumptions, and that cowardly rat, Nicholas, may or may not confirm those assumptions, depending on whether he tells the truth or lies to save himself. Hopefully, the fact that Noah died and they saved Nicholas at least serves to calm her possible paranoia. Deanna knows. She’s savvy. But is she savvy enough to give up control of Alexandria to Rick?
But why would Gabriel turn on Rick’s crew like he did? It’s possibly because Rick’s crew are the only ones who know that he left his parishioners to die, and he doesn’t want the shame of that to follow him around. More likely, however, Gabriel actually believes what he said. He’d been held up inside that church for a long time. Recall, he couldn’t even bring himself to kill walkers. He’s afraid of the world. What he saw of Rick — and the way they handled the people of Terminus — was new to him. And terrifying. It wasn’t the zombie apocalypse that made Gabriel question his faith; it’s what Rick and the survivors did to continue surviving that made him question his faith.
And it’s not like Gabriel hasn’t sold out others to save his own ass before. He’s not a very good preacher, y’all.
4. Who are the wolves? Look: I still don’t know who etched the ‘W’ into the walker’s heads, and that may be a reference to something else entirely (the Whisperers?). I still believe, however, that the all the references to wolves allude to Rick (the alpha) and his crew. Wolves are incredibly territorial. They are very protective of their families, and up to 50 percent of wolves die in inter-territorial disputes. This is exactly what’s going on here, and Gabriel may as well have quoted Matthew 7:15: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” That’s basically what he meant when he said, “Satan disguises himself as the angel of light.”
Rick’s crew are the bad people, at least so far as the citizens of Alexandria are concerned. The Alexandrians aren’t bad people (except for Pete). They’re cowards. It’s their incompetence — and not their evil intent — that has cost the place so many lives. Now, they are about to learn a very valuable lesson, only it won’t be biblical. It will be Darwinian.
(SPOILERS FOR NEXT ON SCENES)
5. Who are in the four graves in the upcoming scenes? In scenes from next week’s episode, there were four graves dug. We can assume that two are for Aiden and Noah. But who do the other two belong? Tara and Nicholas (whose lives are both seemingly hanging in the balance?), or will at least one of them belong to Pete? I think Gabriel and Nicolas are more likely to be exiled than killed.
BONUS: How bad ass was Daryl’s new bike?
