Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Walking Dead S4E15 "Us" 3/23/14

Rick makes an appearance but it's very brief, so that's okay.  We're almost at the end of the season so the pace is picking up a bit: less character work, as we've had for the last several episodes, and more "let's hurry up and get these people to Terminus."  Still, not much actually happens this go-round. 

Glenn and Tara.  And also Abraham, Rosita and Eugene.  The group tromps along the railroad tracks, Eugene droning on and on about nonsense while Tara largely ignores him.  That night, she and Abraham talk a bit while the others sleep, the soldier interested in her motivations for helping Glenn track down Maggie.  He has figured out that it isn't because she's in love with Glenn - he caught her checking out Rosita's "hypnotic" breasts at dinner - and has narrowed it down to "something you did or something you didn't do."  Tara admits that it was something she did but refuses to elaborate.  Abraham doesn't press her.  The next morning, they find one of Maggie's blood signs instructing Glenn to meet her at Terminus.  Even though they have no way of knowing how far ahead Maggie is, Glenn takes off at a sprint down the tracks after her.

Rick, Carl and Michonne.  Rich is trying to pick up the pace when he turns to find Carl and Michonne balancing on the rails, whomever doesn't fall off to win their bet with the prize being chocolate bars.  Michonne falls off and Carl takes her favorite candybar (over her protestations), and immediately hands half of it back to her.  Come on, he says, we always share.  Rick grins to see them so happy.

Daryl.  Daryl is still with Joe and his nasty, sketchy crew.  Early in the morning, Daryl gets up to track a rabbit.  One of the other guys follows him and shoots the rabbit at the same time Daryl does.  This asshat (Lem?) announces that he "claims" the dead bunny and Daryl is all, WTF? Before it can come to blows, Joe walks up and explains some of the rules he established, to keep things from "going Darwin every couple of hours."  All you gotta do is say "claim" on something and it's yours.  Since Daryl didn't know the rules, Joe's going to give him a pass this time.  He's also going to cut the rabbit in half so each of Daryl and Lem gets some.  Daryl is not pleased.  As they continue walking along the tracks, Joe asks Daryl what his plan is.  He says that Daryl should stay with the group: we don't have to be nice, don't have to be friendly, just gotta follow the rules (claiming, no stealing and no lying).  And if Daryl ain't leaving right now, he's part of the group.  The problem here is that Joe is fairly charismatic and Daryl is a self-professed follower.  You can just see him losing the humanity he gained from his time with Rick, Beth and the others.

Glenn et als.  Abraham protests the pace Glenn is setting, saying they have to stop and rest for a bit.  Glenn's all, it's only noon.  Or, he and Tara will keep going and the rest of them can rest.  Or he'll give Eugene his riot gear and they all keep going together until sundown.  They keep moving until they come upon a "long, dark tunnel full of reanimated corpses."  Maggie went through, according to the blood sign on the tunnel entrance so Glenn is going to do that too (of course) but Abraham doesn't feel sure he can keep Abraham safe so they're going to backtrack and go around.  Abraham gives Glenn his flashlight and wishes them luck.

Daryl. Joe's gang finds a garage full of old cars and they bed down for the night, all the asshats "claiming" all the vehicles before Daryl can, so he lies down on the cold cement floor.

Glenn and Tara.  A ways into the tunnel, they find a section of the tunnel roof has collapsed, trapping a bunch of snarling walkers.  Tara says that the blood spattered on the wall is still wet, so the collapse had to have happened today.  Glenn makes his way carefully forward, checking to see if any of the zombies are Maggie.  None of them are.  Tara joins him and they climb to the top of the pile of rubble, only to see dozens and dozens of mobile walkers on the other side of the cave-in.  The walkers turn, drooling and growling, drawn by the light of the flashlight.  Now what?

Abraham, Rosita and Eugene.  Having back-tracked a bit, they find a minivan, dispatch the zombie trapped inside (there's a sign drawn on the dirty window: Leave Momma Be), consult their map and decide on their route.  Rosita drives and Eugene navigates while Abraham naps in the backseat.  Abraham gets all tricky, however, and they eventually end up back on the railroad tracks on the far side of the tunnel.  Eugene is a total weirdo but he does not want to leave Glenn and Tara behind.  Abraham wakes up and starts shouting at Rosita (Why'd you stop? You never stop!).  Eugene looks down the tracks and says, "Guys - wait!"

Daryl.  Lem can't find his half of the rabbit and accuses Daryl of stealing it from him.  Joe steps in and asks Daryl if he took it.  I didn't take nothin', sneers Daryl.  When Joe dumps out Daryl's bag, the half rabbit falls out.  Lem gets all excitable and Daryl protests that Lem planted it there.  Joe's all, Lem, either Daryl's lying or Lem's a pussy punkass cheatin' coward cop.  It's the latter - Joe saw Lem put the rabbit in Daryl's bag - and Joe tells the other asshats to beat Lem.  Daryl's all, WTF?!! but Joe is like, you know how to follow the rules.

Glenn and Tara.  Glenn sticks the flashlight on the side of the pile of rubble to distract the zombies while he and Tara try to sneak past on the other side.  She slips and gets her foot stuck.  She tells Glenn to leave her and go find Maggie but he refuses, firing into the approaching herd of zombies.  It's looking dire for a minute until headlights light up the tunnel.  A voice shouts, "GET DOWN!" and as Glenn and Tara drop to the floor, a barrage of shots takes out all the zombies.  Glenn staggers to his feet, trying to see into the headlights.  It's Abraham, Rosita and Eugene, and also Sasha, Bob and Maggie - who runs to her husband, laughing and crying and throwing herself into his arms.  Good: now Glenn/Maggie can stop putting their fellow travelers in danger to find his/her spouse.  That night, there is a discussion on what's next.  Abraham, of course, is all "we've got to get Eugene to Washington" and Tara's ready to join up.  Eugene points out that they're not far from Terminus so they should go there first, stock up, maybe recruit some more people to their cause.  Sasha thinks that's a good plan - she is willing to go to Washington but wants to see if Tyrese is at Terminus - and Bob agrees too.  It's settled.

Daryl.  The group heads out and Daryl sees Lem, bloodied and well-dead, tosses in a ditch.  He grabs a tarp, to cover the body (like Beth would have done), but then changes his mind.  He talks some more with Joe as they follow the tracks.  They see a Terminus sign and Joe scoffs, saying that there's no sanctuary there for guys like them.  He tells Daryl about how some guy [Rick, remember] ambushed them in a house a while back, killing one of their guys who then turned on them.  One of their group ("Tony") got a good enough look at his face so they're heading to Terminus to see if they can find him for a reckoning.  Daryl doesn't see anything wrong with that plan.  They continue along the tracks.  Tony sees something and bends down but Daryl calls out, "Claim!" and snatches up the prize, a strawberry plant with one red berry.

Glenn, Maggie, Tara, et als.  They make it to Terminus, letting themselves in through closed but unlocked and unguarded gates.  Everything is neat and tidy, colorful with raised bed gardens.  There are no people tho' until they get in further, past a sign that says to lower their weapons and they will be met.  They turn a corner and there's a lit barbecue with one woman standing next to it.  She walks up to them, unarmed and gently smiling, and says that it looks like they've been on the road a while.  We have, says Maggie, gratefully.  The woman [played by Denise Crosby, a/k/a Tasha Yar from Star Trek] introduces herself as Mary and says that they get them settled and give them something to eat.  "Welcome to Terminus."

Color me skeptical but this Terminus place is creepy.  My first thought: cannibals and whatever is cooking on that barbecue is people.  I've got no reason to think that but that's what I was left with.  

Previously on The Walking Dead / next time on The Walking Dead

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