After last week’s recap (episode 509), it seems there were lots of varying opinions. But after the Tyrese death being shown in the most film student way possible, what happens next?
What follows is our Walking Dead episode 510 “Them” recap and review. Of course, spoilers follow.
[divider]Recapping Walking Dead episode 510 “Them”[/divider]First, we open on the sadness of Maggie. And I have to say, girl, cry those tears. I cannot imagine what it must be like to go through the emotions of “Missing sister” to “Found sister we are going to free” to “Dead sister” in a matter of a few moments like she did. But the sadness doesn’t stop her from matter-of-factly taking care of the walker that stumbles upon her.
Nearby, we see Daryl eat a worm and Sasha kick dirt on a dead frog. The three of them then walk back to the others, who also seem to be failing at their hunting and gathering skills. Maggie then asks “How much longer do we got?”
When the church van runs out of gas, the group takes to hiking. It allows a variety of conversations to happen between small groups or duos. Daryl and Rick talk about how it has been 3 weeks since Atlanta and Daryl is worried that they are running out of food and water, and he takes back into the woods.
Carl and Maggie chat, which I think was only done to remind us that Carl is alive; well, that and to give Maggie the music box. Gabriel then tries to strike up a conversation, but Maggie quickly shuts him down with a jab about how her daddy was religious and how she doesn’t think much of his shepherding skills, given how he abandoned the people he was supposed to be caring for. Michonne and Sasha talk, mainly about how Sasha has to keep moving forward, even as she mourns her brother.
Daryl and Carol go off to look for food and while away, Carol gives Daryl a pep talk. She knows he is in pain and he needs to express it. He can’t just let it fester. Carol gives him Beth’s knife.
Once the survivors abandoned the van, there has been a growing legion of walkers following them. Rick decided to wait until the right moment to deal with them, so they expend as little energy as possible. (It did make for a nice scene of seeing two hordes in slow hike mode: survivors in front, zombies in back.) And they have found the spot, the plan being to throw the zombies down a steep hill at a bridge. And the plan is working well until Sasha decides to take out her rage on the zombies. After they all work together and save Sasha’s hide, Michonne is none to happy with her and a staredown happens.
Daryl again goes to look for food. Maggie is searching a car when she finds a bound and gagged zombie in the trunk, which is what will be the official sponsor of my nightmares this week. Maggie closes the trunk but then decides to put the walker down, only to struggle with the key. Glenn comes to help, manages to open the trunk and end the walker.
Daryl comes across a dead carcass and it is clear that in addition to the whole “Zombies are ending the world” thing, the survivors are suffering through a drought, with food and water being hard to come by. But in their scavenging, Abraham found some booze. There is a discussion about how it will dehydrate him. In the midst of that discussion a pack of rabid dogs come out of the woods. While everyone is looking around, Sasha quickly dispenses of them with her silenced assault rifle. And dogs are cooked and eaten. (I am above making a chinese food joke here.) (Also, how awesome would it be for Mike Vick to come out of the woods and be “Did you all see some dogs?” I mean, he is from Virginia.) Sasha has to pep talk Noah into eating the dogs and Gabriel quietly discards his clerical collar into the fire beside Maggie.
As the group continues on in the hike, Glenn and Maggie talk, as she expresses her pain at losing her sister and he encourages her to drink the water, to keep moving forward. Abraham tries to give Sasha a pep talk and she, as @EarthNerdAdkins pointed out in our live tweet, DTRs that relationship quick and to the point: they aren’t friends.
After rejecting Glenn’s water, Darryl was off to forage yet again. He takes a smoke and watches a barn in the distance. And then puts out the cigarette on his hand. (You wouldn’t have guessed it at the beginning but Darryl has become the most emotionally rich character on the show. The writers have done remarkable work in his backstory, his changes and his pain at loss. Sidenote: I assumed he and Carol were more than just BFF. Other disagree. Thoughts?)
When Darryl comes back, there is a large stack of water and a note “from a friend”. They debate it and Eugene is stopped from drinking it by Abraham, who you have to wonder did it out of instinct or care. Was the water poisoned? I can’t imagine a better cupbearer for the group than Eugene after the shenanigans he has pulled.
But immediately the heavens open up and rain comes, as Gabriel prays for forgiveness. But the moment stops when it becomes apparent that this is not a drenching rain but an even worse storm.
Daryl then leads the group to the barn he found, where Maggie kills a walker, who had holed up with a gun before she died. As Abraham drinks, Carol says that Carl will be okay, as he is a survivor, as she and Rick sit around the fire. A debate then happens on what the world is like with Micchone saying that the world as it is can’t be the end, that they have to keep hoping and fighting for more.
Rick then tells a story of his grandfather, a world War two veteran, who survived by telling himself that he was dead already everyday he was in combat. Rick then says they will survive by telling themselves that they are the Walking Dead. Daryl disputes this, saying that they are not dead.
Daryl then looks out the barn door, only to see a horde coming down upon them. In what I think was the best scene of this episode, in the sound of the storm, one by one, the survivors come, pushing back against the horde, losing their footing in the mud of the barn, they manage to hold.
The next morning arrives with Maggie awakening, seeing little Judith awake. She has a conversation with Daryl about Beth and then she quietly then goes and awakens Sasha. Together they go outside, with the music box that Daryl has managed to repair by cleaning the gears.
Outside, we see the thing that saved them was the storm, as a tornado has strewn zombies all over, through trees, in pieces etc. Sasha and Maggie walk away and as they watch the sunset and begin to talk, the music box doesn’t work.
But suddenly a very well manicured man who looks like he just came from an REI/LL Bean catalog crossover appears. As Maggie and Sasha draw their weapons, he says that he needs to speak to their leader. And before they can say anything, he says he needs to speak to Rick particularly. And when Aaron, as he introduces himself, promises he offers them no harm, just hope, the music box plays.
[divider]Find Thoughts on Walking Dead episode 510 “Them”[/divider]This episode gets 8 out of 10 Nerds.
There are things I really liked, like the visual comparisons of the two groups of hikers. I also liked that the hiking let us see different groups and pairings.
These folks have been through a lot of things and they need to process it in order to survive. I think we see that most in Darryl, who is putting himself in physical pain to deal with the emotional trauma he has faced.
I will say though, I need them to find some shred of hope and optimism to keep moving forward. Was Rick’s speech at the campfire enough? I am not sure. But I hope we see them work towards doing more living and less just surviving.
Tabletop Takeaways: Tips for Dungeon Masters with a Narrative Spin