The Walking Dead, “East,” was directed by Michael E Satrazemis with a story by the team of Scott M Gimple and Channing Powell with Powell also writing the teleplay. This episode continues the season spanning head long run of the story and ends with no fewer than three cliffhangers. We also see the same themes come up again. When is enough enough or when is it simply too much? How does one survive in a violent kill or be killed world and still retain some humanity? Is it luck? Is it some intrinsic force? The religious references in this episode are everywhere – from the title to Carol’s (Melissa McBride) rosary. And by the way? If McBride isn’t nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy for the work she’s done this season, there is something wrong with the world!
The teaser to the episode shows us the aftermath of Carol’s confrontation with the Saviors – which we get later in the episode. We get only glimpses of a blood pool, Carol’s rosary, the wrecked car. We hear Carol’s voice telling someone to come out slowly. A voice – Jiro (Rich Ceraulo) answers that he thinks he’ll pass. We hear a gunshot, cut to black. Loved this scene, not only because it’s repeated, giving us almost all the details, but also because of how it ratchets up the tension right out of the gate. And of course, the second time we get the gunshot, we still don’t get the information we really want – what happened to Carol?!?!
The action cuts to the day before. It looks like Carol is mending a jacket – but in reality, she’s sewing in whatever she had up her sleeves. She’s backing an away bag, which she hastily stuffs under the bed when Tobin (Jason Douglas) comes home. He’s hurt his hand helping to build a new watch tower. He assures her that he’s already gone to the infirmary.
Tobin goes on to say how quiet the infirmary is… now. He tells her that he knew Denise before and that she was quiet. She never really came out before Pete… and it’s at this point that Tobin’s voice stops registering for Carol. Because of course, she and the group were the ones that started all the events that lead to Pete’s death, and ultimately Denise’s – it’s a circle like Morgan (Lennie James) refers to later in the episode. Carol’s eyes drift to where she’s hidden her escape bag as she can no longer face the violence.
Tobin thinks that she’s simply upset about Denise, and Carol covers by saying she’s worried about how Tara (Alanna Masterson) will take the news. Tobin apologizes and tell her that everything’s going to be ok!?! Not in this universe!
Johnny Cash’s “It’s All Over” plays as the scene switches to night and Carol sneaking out of the bedroom and away from Tobin and all the others she loves. The song itself is a about a man letting a woman go after the end of a relationship. Carol doesn’t want the others to come after her. The scene shifts to morning and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) on the guard tower. Carl (Chandler Riggs) is in the armory and takes a pistol with a symbol of the Saviors – Lucille – etched on the handle. This is significant for fans of the comics – Carl’s picking that gun.
The scene shifts again to Maggie (Lauren Cohen) and Glenn (Steven Yuen) in the shower. He sees the bruises on her back from the beating she took and he comforts her. It’s interesting to contemplate what is all over for them given the way this episode plays out. Will Maggie actually lose the baby? Who will have to let someone go? The scene shifts again to Daryl (Norman Reedus) on his bike, looking at the Dennis keychain – which I thought he’d buried with Denise. The song echoes with Glenn’s telling Daryl that Denise is gone – to let her go – at least in the short term.
And finally, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) takes over guard duty from Sasha. She presents him with a cigar. All the while, Rosita (Christian Serratos) watches from her position at the gate. It’s definitely all over for Rosita and Abraham. But isn’t it Rosita that has to let Abraham go? Yet, we last see him waiting at the gate in this episode. Waiting for Rosita.
The song fades out and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) are waking up. She grabs an apple which they share. Could the religious symbolism be any clearer? Adam and Eve are thrown out of the Garden – to the east – for eating the tree of knowledge – that gave them knowledge of good and evil. Carol has already fled to the east. And of course, Cain was cast out after killing Abel to become a restless wanderer of the world. Michonne also says to Rick, “Jesus came through…”
Rick is all for making love before Judith wakes up, but Michonne puts it on hold as Maggie has them on a schedule. She’s afraid of an attack. Rick tells Michonne, “When they come for us, we’ll end it. The world’s ours, and we know how to take it. Everything we need is right here within these walls. And we’re not losing any of it ever again. I’m not.” Michonne echoes the sentiment when she also vows she’s not losing anything. Doesn’t pride go before a fall???
Maggie, Michonne, and Glenn are going through the guns. Some they’ll place for defense and some they’ll hide so that only they know where they are. Daryl drives up on his bike and leaves – despite protests from almost every one. Suddenly, Glenn and Michonne are going after Daryl. Interestingly, when Abraham tries to go with them, Rosita tells him to stay, she’ll go – one of them has to go to show the other two where Denise was killed because it’s clear that Daryl is going after Dwight (Austin Amelio). And suddenly, not everything – or everyone – is within the walls. Arguably three of the very best fighters – Daryl, Michonne, and Carol – are gone. There’s a heartbreaking shot of Maggie in Glenn’s sideview mirror, staring after the van as he leaves.
Tobin brings Rick Carol’s letter. He goes to the gate and discovers that Michonne, Glenn, Rosita and Daryl are also gone. Morgan insists he’s going after Carol, but Rick insists on going too – all of which further weakens the forces of Alexandria. It’s also telling that Carol was able to leave unseen. We know she’s a badass, but we also learn that the Saviors have a scary amount of knowledge about what the entrance to Alexandria looks like and where it is. One can only assume that the Saviors who stop Carol were on their way to Alexandria to continue surveillance upon it.
We get one of the now signature long shots on a road of Carol in her newly acquired, “Spike” car. Wonder if those will catch on? We get the also signature close up on her eyes as she sees the pickup coming down the road toward her. Interestingly, Carol is driving on the wrong side of the road at first in a kind of game of chicken. She blinks early on and goes to her “proper” lane, but of course, they blow out her tires to stop her.
Carol has her rosary – there’s that religious element again. She’s also breathing heavily – almost hyper-ventilating as she did in “The Same Boat.” She gets out of the car and raises her hands. She virtually begs: “Please don’t hurt me.” She tells them, “I just have the car and a knife for the dead ones. Nothing else.” I liked how she specified the knife was only for the walkers – she wasn’t going to hurt them with it.
Jiro corrects her, telling her that she’s got information – and they really want that. She insists that she’s nobody. And then lies and says she’s Nancy from Montclair. It’s hard to say what Carol would have done if the group hadn’t so directly threatened Alexandria. Carol tells them “It doesn’t have to be this way. Just go home. Nobody has to get hurt.” Carol is shaking and her eyes are filled with tears. I really did think – like Roman (Stuart Greer) that she was on the verge of passing out. Little did I realize that she was getting her weapons in place.
Carol gives them one last warning – “Don’t, please” – as they stand up and then she shoots them all! It was one of the best moments in the entire series! Right up there with Carol storming Terminus.
We get a close up of her smoking and tattered sleeve. Carol is crying, still struggling with what she is continuously being forced to do. The driver isn’t dead yet though, and comes out shooting. She gets behind the guy and spikes him through the car. Jiro is still alive too.
And we’re right back to the sequence from the beginning of the episode. Only this time we see both people in the equation. However, as the guy yells and jumps up with his knife and Carol comes around the truck, the camera once again focuses on the puddle of blood and we are left with only the sound of a gunshot – and no concrete idea of what has happened to Carol. If Carol isn’t the one to meet Lucille, I suspect we may not see her at all in the finale.
Back at Alexandria, Maggie goes to the pantry for a quick lunch before taking an extra sentry duty. Enid (Katelyn Nacon) is there, and it’s clear that these two are becoming fast friends. Enid insists that Maggie stay and rest – put her feet up and eat some pickles – while Enid herself takes the sentry duty.
At the end of the episode, Maggie has Enid summoned to her house – to cut her hair. Another indication that the two have grown close. How else could Maggie know that Enid used to cut her dad’s hair? And it’s a boyish cut that Maggie wants. There’s a nice parallel to the image of Maggie in Glenn’s rearview mirror as she looks at herself in the hand held mirror. She tells Enid “I have to keep going. And I don’t want anything to get in my way.” Let’s not forget how much Maggie relied on “having a job to do” back at the prison – it was Hershel’s mantra. Focus on the job and that will get you through. Has she moved from one mirror to another? Is this an indication of who dies in the finale?
The last we see of Maggie in the episode, she is writhing on the floor in agony. Is she losing the baby? Were those pickles bad? I’m betting that with Denise gone, this is an elaborate way for the writers to now get Maggie out of Alexandria too. Will Enid take her to the doctor at Hilltop? That gives them a much better tactical leader and leaves Alexandria almost completely vulnerable.
Rick is curious about why Morgan is insisting on going for Carol when Morgan doesn’t even know her. Morgan points out that Carol headed east. The opposite from the Savior camp that they attacked which was to the west. She’s heading away from the violence. Morgan tells Rick that he got to know Carol a little. He also addresses the elephant in the car – their own clash over violence. Morgan tells Rick, “I’m not right. There is no right. There’s just wrong that doesn’t pull you down.” Rick insists that it hasn’t pulled him down, but Morgan tells him he thinks it will eventually because he knows Rick too. Rick and Carol are both good people. Maybe too good because even for the right reason the killing bothers them on some level – as it should.
We jump to the attack site and see Roman is still alive – and so is Jiro – barely. There’s what appears to be an empty cigarette package next to Jiro. Is it Carol’s or did she take his? Or maybe Jiro smoked because he was also marked for death or conflicted about the violence. Roman has no sympathy for the dying Jiro and tells him to just let go. He hides in the woods when Morgan and Rick show up – you can see him in the background as Rick leans over Jiro.
Rick asks Jiro where Carol is and when he gets no answer, knifes him in the brain. Rick quickly determines that it was the Saviors because he recognizes one of the weapons from the Hilltop. Morgan finds blood – Carol may have been hit. Rick pauses to say, “I’m proud of her…. She took four of them down. That woman. She’s a force of nature!” And isn’t that the truth! But Morgan points out that “she left because she can’t anymore. That’s what the letter said.” Rick maintains that “She could because she had to. Sometimes, you have to.” Is Rick oblivious to the turmoil Carol is going through? I don’t think he is. I suspect it’s the same turmoil he’s gone through himself.
Morgan finds a trail of blood leading into the field. Rick points out that all their guns are gone – likely taken by Carol, but she could also have died there. Either way, they will look after her. As they cross the field, Rick looks worried. These Saviors were far too close to Alexandria and there are clearly more of them than what they killed. Rick states, “We didn’t end it.” And Morgan adds, “You started something.”
Roman comes out of the woods. He picks up Carol’s rosary, and I had to wonder if he recognized it. Did it belong to someone he knew or was related to? Regardless, he follows Rick and Morgan across the field. He’s carrying the rosary in his right hand, but has been shot in the left shoulder. Scenes for the next episode show a very bloody right hand carrying the rosary. Does he lose it? Does he get shot or injured more?
Meanwhile, we arrive back at the train tracks and the site of Denise’s death. Rosita is transfixed by the pool of blood marking the spot where Denise died. Michonne finds Daryl’s bike hidden. Rosita wants to let Daryl “do this.” But Glenn points out that Daryl doesn’t know what he’s doing. Glenn is absolutely right and it’s a clear indication of how off his game is that the group is able to essentially sneak up on him – and a foreshadowing to the end of the episode. Glenn tells her that Rosita might feel good in the short term about Daryl killing Dwight, but it could also lead to the Saviors getting to know more about them or to Daryl getting killed.
They really lucked out on some of the weather for this shoot as there is a beautiful shot of them on the tracks and there is fairly heavy fog in the background. It’s a lovely mirror of the fog of grief and anger that has settled over Rosita and Daryl that is blinding them to the clear signs of what is going on.
Daryl is in a field with his eyes fixed to the ground, tracking, when the others catch up with him. Daryl admits to Glenn that he feels guilty for Denise’s death. It’s his fault for trying to help Dwight and not killing him in the Burnt forest. It’s yet another circle – as Morgan will illustrate later in the episode. This circle isn’t close to closed yet, though.
Glenn asks Daryl: “Doing this for her? She’s gone. You’re doing this for you. We need to get home and figure this out from there. We need you. And everyone heeds us back there right now. It’s gonna go wrong out here.” And hasn’t Glenn been saying that for some time? That they will lose themselves in the violence “out there”? But this has an even more chilling implication for what is very likely coming in the finale. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what the last image is going to be for this season.
Michonne also steps up to try to save Daryl. She tells him that “We’ll square it. I will. I promise you. Just come back.” And let’s not forget that Daryl was the one who kept gently trying to bring Michonne back from her own single-minded and relentless search for the Governor to exact revenge on him. And look how that turned out – with the death of Hershel. And Glenn is clearly Hershel’s apostle.
Daryl is clearly surprised and touched by how much Michonne and Glenn clearly care about him. He hesitates, but in the end, he has to avenge Denise and correct his own mistake. He tells them, “I can’t” and Rosita finds that she can’t either and goes after him.
Glenn and Michonne head back towards Alexandria. Glenn worries that the Saviors have already attacked Alexandria, and Michonne asserts that if they have, they’re dead. Glenn hopes they aren’t dead because they need information. The two pause beside a stream in the woods. Did anybody else keep shouting at people to pay more attention to their surroundings in this episode?? Glenn tells Michonne “We just got stuck with each other. We were lucky. Figure it out together. It felt like we did. After everything. We did. The world’s not what we thought it was. Hilltop. The Saviors. It’s bigger.” This too is a circle – the circle of family they’ve created through shared experience. What if Shane had remained in power? What if Dale had? What if they’d never come upon Hershel? So much depends on circumstance.
And then they hear fake bird calls and look up to find themselves in a very different kind of circle as they’ve allowed themselves to be surrounded by Dwight’s men.
Rick and Morgan continue their search for Carol. Rick tells Morgan that he’s out there because Carol is family – she’s not just a friend to him any more. Morgan tells Rick he’s heard about what happened with Carol at the prison. It was really interesting to hear Rick’s take on that now. He tells Morgan, “If it happened today, I’d thank her. Kill them myself.” Morgan points out that he didn’t kill Carol then – and wasn’t that an option? In fact, he sent her away because he was afraid of what Tyreese would do. Morgan points out that Rick didn’t kill Carol and that allowed her to come back and save them all at Terminus. Morgan tells Rick: “People can come back.”
They see a walker from behind and it looks frighteningly like Carol – but it isn’t. The woman has only been dead about a day, however. Savior work again? They finally come upon the farm buildings which are surrounded by a bunch of freshly dead people and see a guy in body armor killing a walker. The guy hides and says he doesn’t want any trouble. Rick wants him to drop his weapon and come out, but the guy maintains that they’re too close for him to do that and he’s just looking for his horse! Ok, show. If you kill another horse, I’m really, really not going to be happy!
Morgan tells them that they are just looking for their friend and asks if he’s seen her. The days no, but that they’re coming. The guy runs away as a group of walkers attack Rick and Morgan. Morgan pushes Rick so his shot goes wide when he tries to shoot the guy running away. Rick saves Morgan from a walker. Morgan says they didn’t know who the guy was. Rick again recognizes the weapon as from the Hilltop, so he could be a Savior or from the Hilltop. Maybe he is one of them and was looking for Carol. Or Morgan says, his horse. Once again, Rick tells Morgan, “I don’t take chances anymore.”
Morgan then tells Rick about the Wolf – how he’d spared him on the road only to have him lead the attack against Alexandria. Then he’d saved him again only to have him take Denise hostage. However, the Wolf changed and saved Denise from the walkers, allowing Denise in turn to save Carl. Rick looks confused and stunned by the story. Of course, had Morgan not spared the Wolf in either scenario, Denise would not have been put in danger – and Carl might not have been shot at all. Though again, it was the wolves who caused the herd to come to Alexandria and it was the herd that caused the distraction that stopped Ron from shooting Carl in the back.
Morgan tells Rick: “It’s all a circle. Everything gets a return.” And then he tells Rick to go home because he’s needed there and shouldn’t take any more chances out there. Morgan will go on alone after Carol. Rick is reluctant to give up the search, however. Morgan insists and Rick tells him, “You’re coming back.” But Morgan replies, “Yeah. But if I don’t. Don’t come looking.” Morgan doesn’t want to return to a life of killing and violence. Rick makes him take a gun, and then tells him that Michonne did steal the powerbar – and she did in season three in “Clear.” Morgan tells Rick he knew. The two part – will they see each other again? I feel like they probably will…
The next we see Rick he’s made it home and Abraham tells him that Michonne isn’t back yet – and neither is Rosita. The two share a moment. These two warriors have allowed themselves to let others into their lives again because of what Alexandria offered them. Abraham asks Rick, “You afraid to go back to it. With somebody close?” Rick tells him, “Yeah.” Both don’t want to lose what they have, but it’s also clear that both fear losing themselves in the violence and both know firsthand the toll that killing takes on them – but this is another way that we stay human – love to balance the hate.
Abraham lightens the moment by saying, “Me too. But now? I think I’m all the more ready to tear the world a brand new asshole!” Rick laughs and nods – Abraham is their master of the one liner. Then the two turn their attention to the road, watching through the gate. “Any second now,” Abraham says as they watch.
And now we come to the final scene. Daryl and Rosita sneak up on the Savior’s camp and see that Glenn and Michonne are gagged and tied. Glenn tries desperately to warn Daryl off, but once again, Daryl is too distracted to realize that Dwight has bested him again and come up behind him. The episode ends with a gunshot and splatter of blood on the screen. A voice can be heard saying, “He’ll be alright.” Can we trust that Daryl isn’t dead? It would be the most shocking twist yet – but I’m going to believe that the writers and Scott Gimple realize that killing Daryl isn’t an option. For those who truly love the show, his story has been one of the most compelling.
What did you think of the episode? Do you think all three cliffhangers will be resolved and we’ll be left with new ones? What is your guess for the final scene? I’ll leave my guess later in the comments. How badly do you want to see Daryl take out Dwight? Are you excited for Negan? I can’t wait to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan in this role! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
