The Walking Dead finally returned this weekend, and in addition to exploring Negan’s new, very specific sexual kink, showrunner Angela Kang returned to the cave, where the series left off in the midseason finale.
Writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and director Michael E. Satrazemis — who have teamed up several times before — again tapped into a great horror influence for this episode, The Descent, which is one of the horror movies of the 2000s. Daryl, Carol, Connie, Jerry, Kelly, Magna, and Aaron are all stuck inside a cave surrounded by zombies. They have to navigate around hundreds of them, through narrow passageways, around falling rock, circumvent heights and, ultimately, climb through an opening that collapses in. In the midst of all of this, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick also mixes in some strong character work, particularly between Carol and Daryl.
Carol is being blamed by everyone in the cave — but especially Magna — for recklessly following Alpha and getting them all trapped in this situation. Daryl tries to defend her, but it’s clear that Carol cares more about avenging the murder of Henry than protecting her own life. “She killed my boy,” she cries late in the episode, with agonizing pain. Daryl understands where she’s coming from, but pleads with Carol. “You gotta quit all this. People you care about are starting to get hurt … We fight for the future, not for revenge.”
Carol, however, doesn’t listen. After Jerry narrowly escapes through a passageway while zombies try and chew through his boots like rats (I knew he would survive, and I still thought he was a goner), Carol goes back with a stick of dynamite and tries to blow up Alpha’s horde and herself along with them. Daryl manages to stop her in time, but when the cave starts to collapse, Connie runs back to save Daryl and Carol. Magna joins Connie, and in the end, Daryl and Carol escape, and it is Connie and Magna who are still inside the cave when it collapses.
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Daryl is distraught as hell, and blames Carol — as he should. But he’s so mad over the possible death of Connie that he refuses to give Carol (his best friend) the satisfaction of yelling at her for all of this. Carol is inconsolable, but Daryl just walks away. Melissa McBride gives a powerful performance here. “You cared about her, and now she’s gone, all because of me! Why don’t you just say it!”
Notwithstanding the source material, I hope Carol gets the opportunity to be the one who kills Alpha. She deserves it.
In any respect, the episode is basically another cliffhanger, although it may not be resolved for several weeks. The cave opening collapses, but it does not necessarily kill Magna and Connie. They are trapped inside. Kelly still wants to try and save them, and Daryl insists on finding another exit point. I think they might be trapped inside the cave for a few episodes, if not the majority of the back half of the season (Lauren Ridloff was filming The Eternals, after all, and Nadia Hilker may have been filming this movie). The fact that there is a rescue effort underway suggests that they are not dead, however, and if they are rescued soon, the series has used the infirmary to hide away characters for several episodes.
More importantly, there is a lot left in their character arcs — their deaths here would feel very abrupt. This sort of near-death experience is also the kind of thing that might finally push Connie and Daryl together, and it could prompt Magna to quickly make up with Yumiko, if she survives. It doesn’t feel like the end for either character, although we may get another episode filmed partially inside that cave, as Magna and Connie make their way out of it.
Meanwhile, Negan and Alpha’s storyline gave us a very disturbing sex scene, but that subplot otherwise mostly felt like very amusing filler, although it did nod toward the source material in a way that suggests it won’t end like in the Kirkman’s comics. I think that’s a good thing. It will be interesting to see, however, how having sex will change Negan and Alpha’s relationship. I don’t think that Negan has any genuine feelings for Alpha, but I’m sure he’s not above using sex to secure himself a better position within The Whisperers, especially with Beta wanting to take him out.
Additional Notes
— We can also definitively say that Gamma is on the outs. Trailers have also shown her working with the Alexandrians, so that isn’t much of a surprise.
— I’m really happy that Lauren Ridloff managed to secure a role in the MCU, but I hope she doesn’t leave The Walking Dead anytime soon. The show really needs a presence like hers, and we haven’t really seen anyone as kind and selfless as her since early-seasons Glenn.
— We didn’t know how much we loved Jerry until we almost lost him! Never take Jerry away from us, The Walking Dead!
— We don’t call out his work very often, but Bear McCreary’s score for this episode was very good.
— We’ve seen previews of Beta going on a rampage inside of Alexandria. I wonder if it is a jealous response to potentially seeing Negan having sex with Alpha in her skin suit. He’s given so much to her! Why hasn’t Beta been “crassly rewarded”?
— Speaking of which, here’s a preview for next week’s episode, much of which was contained in previous The Walking Dead trailers.
