Viewers of The Walking Dead tuning in to this week’s episode hoping to find quick answers to the fate of Glenn Rhee and to see the plot advance in Alexandria may have been frustrated with “Here’s Not Here.” Rather than move ahead on the timeline, showrunner Scott Gimple — who also wrote the 90-minute episode — took a breather from the intensely paced first three episodes of the season to fill in Morgan’s backstory, from the season-three episode “Clear” to the present day.
Gimple, working with director Stephen Williams (who directed 15 episodes of Lost), took us back to the aftermath of Rick’s meeting with Morgan in the third-season episode “Clear.” After setting his Kings County house on fire during one of his fits of lunacy, Morgan relocates to the woods and sets about indiscriminately killing walkers and humans alike.
Eventually, Morgan stumbles upon a cabin with a goat owned by Eastman (John Carroll Lynch, recognizable for his work in everything from Fargo to Zodiac to American Horror Story), a psychiatrist and aspiring cheesemaker. After a difficult start to their relationship, in which Morgan attempts to kill Eastman twice, Eastman eventually breaks Morgan from his spell of insanity by teaching him Akido and the art of peace. The two became close. Unfortunately, Eastman is bitten while saving Morgan from an approaching walker. Morgan then buries him alongside all the other walkers that Eastman has been forced to kill to protect himself.
Before he dies, however, Eastman reinforces the importance of life, relaying to Morgan that he was only able to get through his own spell of insanity and find peace when he decided that he’d never kill again. Morgan decides to follow in his footsteps. It’s why Morgan is so dead-set against killing even the worst of people.
Eastman also encourages Morgan to leave, to stop living alone. “It’s about people. Everything in this life that’s worth a damn is about people.” After Eastman dies, Morgan begins walking toward Terminus, endeavoring to reconnect with Rick — the choice that eventually leads him to Alexandria.
The episode mostly provided answers rather than raise new questions this week, and those answers came mostly in the form of callbacks, which we covered here. However, there were a few open questions raised to discuss going into next week’s episode, “Now.”
1. Who did Morgan hear yelling at the end of the episode?
That was Rick. He was yelling “Open the gate.” That obviously suggests that he’s survived the ordeal with the walkers circling his RV. However, the urgency in which he was insisting that Morgan open the gate also suggests he had walkers trailing him, which possibly even suggests that Alexandria could be overrun with walkers before the midseason finale.
2. Who was Morgan relaying his story to?
So far as we know, he was telling his backstory to the last surviving member of the Wolves, hoping presumably to rehabilitate him. We saw that Wolf two episodes ago, at the end of “JSS,” and were were left to wonder whether Morgan had broken his vow and killed him. He apparently had not, and he was determined to rehabilitate the man, as Eastman had done for Morgan. That could spell trouble.
3. Will Morgan be able to rehabilitate the Wolf?
That’s unlikely, as the Wolf has vowed — if he survives — to kill everyone inside Alexandria. “I’m going to have to kill everyone here. The children, too. Just like your friend Eastman.” This Wolf may force Morgan to finally break his vow, or Morgan’s refusal to break his vow to Eastman may cost others their lives. In either respect, the Wolf will not survive. If Morgan doesn’t kill him, Carol will kill him at the first whiff she gets that he’s still alive. If she doesn’t, Rick will, Morgan’s code be damned.
4. What’s up with the Wolves code?
“Those are the rules. That’s my code,” the Wolf told Morgan. What is the Wolves’ code? Where did it come from? I honestly have no idea, and I don’t know if we’ll ever find out the motivation behind the Wolves.
5. Will Morgan’s belief that all life is precious undo him?
Compassion for others is often the Achilles heel of characters on The Walking Dead, and I don’t see that playing out any differently for Morgan. Rick’s “survive at all costs” belief system will always win out on The Walking Dead. In fact, Carol may see Morgan’s compassion a threat as dangerous as the illness of Tyreese’s girlfriend or the mental instability of Lizzie and kill Morgan herself to protect others from his perceived weakness. Yes, that could theoretically happen on The Walking Dead: Carol might murder Morgan, and if he doesn’t, Rick might, for the very same reasons he expressed to Morgan about his desire to kill Carter.
6. How will the political fall-out of the differing philosophies between Morgan and Rick/Carol play out in Alexandria?
Given that Scott Gimple has intimated that the entire first half of the season takes place over the course of a day, it seems unlikely that the philosophical differences will play directly into the power structure in Alexandria anytime soon. The looming zombie horde will remain the primary threat moving forward. Once that threat has been removed, a definitive leader will most likely rise.
7. Will Morgan die?
Morgan seems to have been written into a corner with his “life is precious” philosophy. Now that we’ve seen how dangerous it can be, that philosophy is not likely to influence the long-term future of Alexandria. Morgan feels like a character who came into the series to serve a particular purpose and present one particular point of view before he is written out of the show, undone by his own belief system.
I don’t see Morgan surviving into the 7th season.
8. What’s the take-home message of the episode?
The episode was more than filler. It also did more than simply fill in Morgan’s backstory. It provided some valuable insight. The episode established that pacifism could be just as dangerous as the evil the Wolves represent. Morgan’s pacifism has already cost several people their lives. He’s a destructive force. He’s dangerous. He’s got to go.
9. Did we learn anything about Glenn’s fate?
Maybe! According to Vulture, for the first time, The Walking Dead credits did not have Steven Yeun’s name in them. That either means he’s dead, or the producers are messing with us.
