This week our group met some new neighbors. Guided by Jesus, a character Rick and Daryl scuffled with last week, a team from Alexandria ventured out to the Hilltop, a community that outwardly appeared to be a Southern estate stuck back in time, and met potential trading partners.
Several aspects to this episode brought up associations of earlier times. The estate itself had been preserved as an historical location prior to the zombie apocalypse, and had features such as sweeping staircases and antique beds reminiscent of the Civil War era. When the party first walks through the gates of the community, we see several stands that reminded me of medieval-fair market stands. Jesus explains that this location ended up as a post-apocalypse community because people figured the estate had existed long before the world became developed and would continue after it ended.
Even the notion of setting up a trading agreement - something taken for granted in modern times - felt like a sign of societal advancement considering the state of pure survival the group has been living in since the world ended. As Jesus said, "Your world is about to get a whole lot bigger."
Along with meeting new potential allies, the group learned more about their next big foe. The introduction of this outside force, like most others, was made with blood. A small group that had been part of the Hilltop community came with word that several of their group had been killed and one was being held captive because Negan believed Gregory had shortchanged him. They were there to deliver a message from Negan - a knife in the gut of Gregory, Hilltop’s leader. With the assistance of Rick’s group, Gregory survived, but Rick killed one of the attackers.
Rick and our gang, who are in need of Hilltop’s food, suggest a partnership. They’ll kill Negan in return for half of Hilltop’s supplies. In what feels like an interesting commentary of how their values have evolved, Maggie, who is negotiating on behalf of the Alexandrians, rejects a proposal that they become what sounds like indentured servants for food, but accepts a deal in which they become Hilltop’s hired assassins. They’ll kill, but they won’t surrender their autonomy.
This was a good episode that moved the plot forward. We met some colorful characters, and season’s second-half scenario was set up with their deal to get rid of Negan. In addition, we had some focus on character development for Maggie and Abraham.
With Maggie, we saw her step up into a leadership role, utilizing her talent for dealing with people. Recognizing that Maggie is much more diplomatic than Rick would ever be, Rick tells Maggie to talk to Gregory when it’s clear that Gregory is difficult. We see Maggie play hard ball in the negotiations, scoring a deal that’s better than even Negan was able to get, as Jesus observes. It’s nice to see some development for Maggie’s character that exists outside of her relationship with Glenn.
We also see the Abraham take stock of his life - wrestling with a decision whether to break up with Rosita to pursue a relationship with Sasha, with whom he shares a type of PTSD outlook on the world. In a series of comments throughout the episode, we see that he’s curious about Maggie and Glenn’s decision to have a baby and becomes emotional looking at Maggie’s ultrasound picture. Abraham, who is still wounded from losing his wife and children, is wondering whether he should try for a deeper future with Sasha. While I initially had a negative reaction to introduction of this love triangle, the way it was handled in this episode softened me up to it a little. I’m also hopeful this will open up Rosita to having a new interesting character path.
What did you think of the episode? Share your thoughts in the comments.
