The cast of The Walking Dead have yet to be reunited, since they split into smaller groups searching for each other. The episode began with Glenn and Tara in the captivity of Sgt. Ford. Ford appears to be a good guy but looks can be deceiving. Tara watches as Ford takes out some walkers and notices that he does so with a smile on his face—something she’s never seen. This foreshadows that Ford may not be a friend for long, as he clearly enjoys killing.
Michonne and Carl share a nice moment. The break from recent traumatic events going on around them results in laughter until Carl remembers that his baby sister, Judith, is missing. He still doesn’t know the baby is with Carol.
Carl and Michonne go out searching for supplies and Michonne, out of her usual character, tries to lift Carl’s spirits. In trying to cheer Carl up, Michonne reveals what was hinted at in episode eight: she once had a 3-year old baby named Andre Anthony.
As it turns out, they couldn’t have left at a worse time as Rick is alone in the house with bandits. Rick has to hide under a bed so he doesn’t give his position away while a bandit with a flamethrower sits on top of the bed.
Meanwhile, Michonne makes the frightening discovery that the family that lived in the house Carl and her are raiding committed suicide together. The parents, two young children and a fifth person lay dead in a nursery, each with self-inflicted gunshot blasts to their head. She tries to prevent Carl from seeing this horrific sight, telling him that she just saw a dead dog. Carl then tries to comfort Michonne by telling her that he believes his sister Judith and her deceased son Andre are probably in heaven together.
This comment illustrates how Carl’s unique perspective on the zombie apocalypse. He has seen and done terrible things: He has killed countless walkers yet he still believes there is a higher power involved. This act shows his lack of maturity as he still sees things in the rosy-eyed way that that a child would.
Glenn finally wakes up and tries to storm off in search for Maggie. Ford prevents the search informing Glenn that a scientist who knows exactly what caused the zombie outbreak is present. He says they are on a mission to Washington, D.C. to tell someone important this information though the viewer would be remiss if they didn’t trust Ford completely.
Ford tries to convince Glenn that his wife is probably dead which leads to a fist fight. This is the perfect moment for walkers to swarm their vehicle. A shoot-out to kill the walkers damages their truck’s gas tank leaving Ford and the crew without transportation.
Back in the house, Rick repeatedly dodges being spotted by the bandits, dramatically murdering one of them in the bathroom. He manages to get a gun and escapes from the house, setting out to find Carl and Michonne before they run into the same bandits. Eventually the man he killed in the bathroom turns into a walker and attacks the bandits, giving Rick a chance to escape with Carl and Michonne.
Glenn and Tara leave in pursuit of Maggie. Ford and his friends reluctantly join them, since their car is no longer drivable. The new group sets out to find Glenn’s wife Maggie. The episode concludes with Rick, Michonne and Carl heading towards a supposed sanctuary that is walker free.
While this episode was packed with tense scenes and disturbing imagery, it was a slow burner. Not a lot of plot development happened. At this point in the season, story details will be fed to viewers at a snail’s pace. Once we get closer to the final episode things should ramp up in terms of story but fans have a few more slow episodes left before the big, more than likely bloody, conclusion at the end of the season.
“The Walking Dead” airs at 8 p.m., Sundays on AMC.
