The Walking Dead “New Best Friends” was written by Channing Powell and was directed by Jeffrey F January. This week’s episode answers the question of what Rick (Andrew Lincoln) was smiling at at the end of the last episode – and I’m happy to say that I was right. He was looking at the numbers and weapons he needed. The episode also reunited Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride). And finally, the episode also had one of – if not the, coolest walkers we’ve ever seen – Gladiator Spike!
The episode opens with yet another confrontation between Richard (Karl Makinen) and Jared (Joshua Mikel) Tempers are running short. Gavin (Jayson Warner Smith) looks about as ineffective as Gregory (Xander Berkeley) and he’s certainly not Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) or Simon, but he’s come up through the ranks to lead this crew. It’s clear that Ezekiel (Khary Payton) is getting tired of having to bow and scrape, and Morgan (Lennie James) steps in when he shouldn’t to protect Richard, resulting in his losing his stick. It’s, perhaps, a nice bit of foreshadowing that he’s also going to be more comfortable with using more violent means – has he lost his zen too?
Ezekiel tries to simply remove Richard from the equation, but Gavin insists that Richard is going to keep attending the drop offs – and then he threatens that even if it’s not Richard’s fault, if it doesn’t stop, things are going to get “visceral.”
It’s hard to imagine how Morgan could have thought that appealing to Jared’s compassion would get him anywhere. Telling him the stick had personal meaning to him was only ever going to make Jared less likely to give it back – keeping it just made it even crueler! Morgan is really a terrible judge of character. I love that Benjamin (Logan Miller) watches the entire exchange – still trying to learn from Morgan. When Jared insists that he wants to “tune up this dipshit” Benjamin moves right in, clearly ready to defend Morgan. Gavin proves that he’s not the idiot he may seem. He tells Jared to back off – and “read the room.” Gavin has noticed how close everyone is to fighting back – how pissed off even Ezekiel is.
Morgan’s attachment to the stick and his mentor is also nicely paralleled by Diane (Kerry Cahill) killing the walker that was wearing the same dress her sister loved. Is it her sister? She certainly doesn’t go closer to verify it. She also remains completely dispassionate about it.
Back home, Ezekiel is impressed at how quick Benjamin was with his stick – and stepping forward to protect Morgan. But Ezekiel is worried for Benjamin and is still trying to protect him. It’s not bad advice to tell Benjamin not to seek a fight even now that he’s become better at fighting. The message not to be a hothead is also clearly directed at Richard. I loved Jerry (Cooper Andrews) telling Benjamin that he was “sick with the stick.” Who doesn’t love Jerry! And Ezekiel, exasperated telling Jerry to come along! But of course, if you could, you’d want happy Jerry with you all the time, right? Of course, he’s also huge which doesn’t hurt…
Benjamin continues to try to look after Morgan by insisting he get his ear looked after in the infirmary, but Morgan needs to talk to Daryl. Daryl knows where Morgan’s been and who hurt him. Ironically, he tells Morgan that if Carol were there and saw Morgan’s head and knew about Abraham and Glenn she’d be leading them, ready to kill all the saviors. Morgan agrees, and adds that’s why Carol left. I don’t think that Daryl really believed that Carol had changed that much at this point.
Daryl comes on Richard practicing with a bow and arrow – he needs to get better if he’s no longer going to be able to carry a gun. He then gives Daryl a crossbow – and wasn’t that a great moment to see Daryl back with it! Daryl knows you don’t get anything for nothing in this world, and asks why. Clearly, Daryl’s reputation has preceded him – not to mention that he hasn’t made it a secret that he wants to take out the Saviors. Richard thinks they want the same things – and they do… until they disagree over methods.
Richard knows he needs a reason to get Ezekiel to act and join Rick. He feels justified because it’s for the greater good – keeping dozens and dozens of people safe. He’s plotting an ambush. Any cars will be the Saviors. He can’t do it by himself. The fire is only to make it look bad so that the Saviors who find the bodies will be brutal to whoever they think did it. Richard has left a trail to the weapons stash and a cabin. There’s someone in the cabin that Ezekiel cares about. But here Richard has severely misjudged Daryl. He wants to know who’s in the cabin. Daryl is never going to knowingly sacrifice an innocent person. He may have suspected that this was Carol, but I think that Daryl’s innate goodness runs deeper than that.
Richard brushes off the question – it’s just some loner. Clearly, he doesn’t think that Carol really has anyone that cares about her – other than perhaps Morgan and Ezekiel. As soon as Richard mentions it’s a woman, I think that Daryl started to suspect. And then when Richard says she has more balls than they have, Daryl becomes increasingly sure. Richard keeps saying that she might escapes, and I loved how the camera came in every more tightly on Reedus’ fact as he demands her name – as he becomes increasingly sure.
Richard finally says Carol and that he hoped he didn’t know her, but that he thought Daryl wouldn’t care anyway. Oh Richard. So stupid. Richard insists that she’s just waiting out there to die anyway. Daryl tells him to stay away from Carol. Richard insists that they need to do the hard thing and choose their fate for themselves. Daryl holds him down as the Saviors pass and the two end up in a Mexican standoff.
Richard still isn’t done. He insists that the Saviors will be back – they have another chance. He insists that one way or another, they’ll have to make sacrifices. He also tells Daryl that living on her own like that, Carol might as well be dead right now. He’s not wrong. What kind of a life is it to have no human contact? It’s an interesting paradox. Carol has removed herself because she can’t bear to see those she loves die – but this way she doesn’t see them anyway.
But Daryl tells Richard that if anything happens to Carol – even getting hit by lightening! – he’ll kill Richard. Richard says he’d die for the Kingdom – and Daryl tells him, why don’t you before storming off – presumably to warn Carol.
And then we’re at the junkyard, with close ups of the metal sculptures. The entire thing felt like something out of
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. The sculptures, however, made me think of Jesse. I’m still not entirely sure how I want to think about this group. They certainly present an entirely new way of coping with the apocalypse than we’ve seen on the show – though it feels very familiar to apocalyptic literature. My biggest question is the incredibly stilted language. Have they really been segregated from the rest of the world long enough to have developed this new way of speaking? In traditional apocalyptic literature – and indeed, in reality – it takes several decades if not 100s of years.
Our group are immediately surrounded by a very formal walking pattern – everyone seems to wear black. They don’t form two circles, but a spiral with our group at the center. It also feel an awful lot like a cult. And they may do a good job of scavenging – but apparently they never scavenge shampoo…
Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) shows up – though we don’t get her name until the very end and wants to know if they are a collective or if one leads. At first, I thought maybe they were a collective, but it quickly becomes apparent that Jadis rules with an iron fist. Her haircut is ridiculous, but it also tells us a lot about her. She doesn’t care for her appearance – it’s functional. It’s also straight, unforgiving lines. She things starkly, in black and white and absolutes. Rick is pushed forward as the leader.
Jadis tells him they own their lives and asks if they want to buy them back. It’s a pretty great first line! Rick tells her that she has one of his people and he wants to see him before they talk. Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) is brought out – he’s been stripped of his jacket and collar. Of course they’d want the black jacket! Is this also a symbol of Gabriel moving away from his religion – like Morgan losing his stick? It’s a nice parallel. Gabriel is clearly shaken, however, but he smiles and nods back when Rick smiles and nods at him. I loved Andrew Lincoln here – it’s completely transparent that Rick never believed Gabriel had gone willingly. And Gabriel draws strength from that.
Jadis tells Rick that they took the stuff from the boat because they saw them take it, so they took it and Gabriel. Rick admits that they have nothing else to give. But he also tells Jadis that they are owned by the Saviors already, and if they do anything to them, the Saviors will come after Jadis’ people. He tells her that you only have two options with the Saviors. They kill you or own you. Rick tells them they have a third option – to join them and fight the Saviors.
I loved McIntosh in this scene. Her face is completely devoid of emotion as Rick speaks. She looks like she’s thinking about joining him before making a face that clearly projects that she thinks he’s an idiot and answering No – like d’oh! She has Gabriel taken away again and her people begin fighting at a simple twirl of her finger. Rick struggles to regain control.
It’s Gabriel getting a knife to Tamiel’s (Sabrina Gennarino) throat that stops everyone – and how did that happen!!!?? Jadis won’t listen to Gabriel until he drops the knife. Gabriel tells her that if they fight with them, they can have much of what the Saviors have – and he does a good job of selling how much they have! Jadis insists that she wants something now.
Gabriel tells her that Rick can do anything – and he clearly believes it. Gabriel’s proof – and it sounds like he believes it’s nothing short of a miracle – is that the group found him there, so far from home! Gabriel actually puts all his faith in the entire group. He challenges Jadis: tell us what you want. We’ll go get it and show you what we can do. I doubt that it was Gabriel’s words that convinced Jadis that she wanted a demonstration of Rick’s ability to do anything, but he certainly challenged her to set a challenge. Gilliam was great in this scene.
Rick is shown “up, up, up.” He reassures Michonne (Danai Gurira) it will be alright, but she insists on knowing where they’re taking him. This is a great new set – though I have to say the CGI shot of the entire junkyard left a bit to be desired. Gabriel tries to tend to Aaron’s (Ross Marchand) latest wound, and Rosita (Christian Serratos) wants to know who these people are – “new best friends” – bringing us to the title. Which is also reflected in Richard getting close to Daryl. So the title would appear to be ironic. These new bestie relationships are hardly between “friends.”
Jadis tells Rick that they’ve been there since “the change.” They take, they don’t bother. Rick struggles a bit to keep up with her odd language. She talks about opening cans and finding that the insides are sometimes rotten. It’s another nice metaphor – sometimes, once you get to know a person, you realize that they might be bad – not good as they seemed at first. And that might be a result of the horrible things they’ve seen, had done to them, or had to do to survive.
On a purely literal level, at some point canned food is going to pass its best before date. They are going to have to “bother” if they want to continue to eat – hence the importance of growing their own food – Deanna, Maggie (Lauren Cohen), and the Hilltop have all seen this. Jadis muses that times are changing again, and maybe they will have to change too – to start to bother.
But first she needs to know that Rick is “real” with this, that he’s worth it. She wants proof that he’s all Gabriel said, so she pushes him down into the pit with Spike – who is an awesome walker! It’s a great fight – but how will those cuts not get infected? And of course, anyone who reads the comic, is always waiting for Rick to lose that right hand. Rick putting his hand through the spike totally reminded me of
Blade Runner when Rutger Hauer’s character (Roy Baty) intentionally puts a spike through his hand to keep it functioning because he is dying. Baty – an android – tells Decker (Harrison Ford) that he has seen things that no one else will ever see – and that beauty and those memories will die with him – like a single rain drop. It’s one of my favorite moments in film, and resonates a little with Spike’s death here.
Rick is pretty clearly losing and it isn’t until he gets help from the rest of the group that he’s able to defeat Spike. I loved the utter futility of Rick trying to stop Spike with a computer keyboard and his instinct to keep the teeth away from him so that he spikes his hand completely without even thinking about it. Michonne, who isn’t panicking as badly as Rick, is able to realize that Rick should use the walls against Spike, so he’s able to bury him and then brutally hack his head off with a piece of glass.
Jadis is listening now. I loved the shot of Rick’s watch as he gets back up to the top with Jadis. It’s been such a great symbol of being present, of being ready to fight, of Rick’s commitment to the group itself.
Jadis smiles and tells Rick she wants guns. Lot of them. And then she’ll fight for him. Rick tells her that he knows they’ll win. Jadis wants half of everything when they win. Rick insists that she’s getting a third. Rick wants back what she just stole. Rick settles for 1/3 later and half of what they just stole. Jadis says she wants jars and guns, meaning jars of food. She also says they waiting a long time for someone to get the stuff off the boat for them – they take, they don’t bother. Not fighting the walkers is actually not a stupid plan. I loved the way Jadis turned her nose up at shaking Rick’s bloody hand, opting for the clean one instead.
Rick struggles to understand Jadis. He asks if she had that “thing” down there for someone to prove themselves worthy. Jadis looks at him like he’s the strange one. Was Spike a pet? She tells Rick he was Winslow. Then Rick wants to know what they were going to do with Gabriel. She refuses to answer, telling him the deal has an expiry date, but she does tell him her name. It just so happens that her name is the name of the antagonist in
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and
The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis. Tamiel is the name of a fallen angel – is that her real name? Fitting, of course, that that is who Gabriel grabs. But have they all adopted personas? Does not bothering give them more time for all the arts?
As the others leave, Michonne steps forward onto an old Indian rug – like a prayer rug? There are some really terrific crane shots in the entire junkyard sequence. Rick comes around the corner, bloody but smiling and announces that they have a deal. Michonne moves in for a hug. The others also smile.
Gabriel tells Rick what happened. Gabriel “hoped” he’d left enough of a clue, and Rick tells him it was more than that. Seeing Rick and seeing Rick nod gave Gabriel back his faith – the fact that Rick believed in him. Gabriel tells Rick that things are going to get better, but they’re going to get worse first, and they just have to hold on until they get better. Gabriel thanks Rick, and asks him what made him smile and be so confident. Rick tells him that somebody showed him that enemies can become friends – and of course, he means Gabriel, who has come a very long way.
Rosita continues to be a pain in the ass. She lobbies for going out to get guns – she no longer cares about what they have to do in order for them to win. Tara (Alanna Masterson) insists they have to go back and re-group – Aaron and Rick need to be patched up – they’re getting ready for a fight, not starting one. Of course, Tara knows about the guns with the beach girls – and wants to protect them, but you just know that that’s where we’re going…
Michonne verifies with Rick that they’re going out for guns right after he’s patched up. Rick has no idea where they’re going to find them and he turns to Tara who’s been out further than any of the rest of them. At the very least, she can tell them where NOT to look. We can bet she’ll tell them not to look seaside. In a much needed light moment, Rick presents Michonne with the wire cat – because they won, and he’s replacing the cat she lost!
Ezekiel drops by Carol. He tells her that he was just in the area clearing the dead, he hadn’t meant to disturb her. I loved the one calling her “Lady” and Diane taking him to task – and the tiny little smile that plays across Carol’s face. I think that given the right circumstances, Diane and Carol could be friends. Is there anything better than Jerry’s smiling face? OMG, show. DO NOT KILL JERRY!!!! He has cobbler for Carol! Just in case she did open the door. I loved the exasperated look on Carol’s face – that she directs at Ezekiel, however. He looks at her as if to say he can’t help it if his people are kind – and they like her.
Carol just gets back to her reading and there’s a knock at her door. It’s Daryl. And McBride and Reedus tell an entire novel with no words. Daryl is careful not to give Carol a reason to blame anyone for his being on her doorstep. Jesus brought them to the Kingdom, Morgan just said she’d left, and he just stumbled on her out there. It’s plausible. He has his bow. He could have been out hunting.
Carol is almost utterly overwhelmed. She and Daryl have always shared that incredible bond, and he’s clearly the one she found hardest to leave behind. He wants to know why she left. He’s been trying to protect her and help her ever since Sophia. Carol tells him she had to.
It seems Carol is always cooking, and we come back to her by the fire, getting ready to feed Daryl. She tells him that she couldn’t lose any more people. But she also couldn’t kill them – but if she’s honest, she could and she would if they hurt any more of their people and then there wouldn’t be anything left of her after that. Carol asks if the Saviors came. And then she steals herself to ask if anyone got hurt. Is everybody ok? McBride is just remarkable in this scene.
Reedus is also amazing in this scene. He is sitting at the table, across the room from Carol and her little domestic scene. A space has opened up both physically and emotionally between them. He finally sees the extent of the toll that events have taken on Carol. While McBride is rocking and shaking and crying with emotion, Reedus is stock still. He tells her that the Saviors came. He tells her that they got them all, but he made a deal with the rest of them like Ezekiel, and he tells her that everyone is ok.
Daryl sees that there is someone he can save. He can still save Carol, but he has to lie to her to protect her from losing herself. He makes a joke to break the tension and turn Carol back to her domestic role – it’s a role she’s used to hide in before as we’ve seen. It’s how she keeps the violence at a distance – going right back to her abusive husband. Interestingly, Daryl asks if they’re going to eat – does he have to be a king to get fed? He’s making a joke about Ezekiel, of course, but the king of his home is the man of the house too, and Daryl’s just demonstrated that he’s taking that role on for Carol.
It was nice so see them share a meal and just breathe the same air again. It’s clear that the two still draw strength from each other. Daryl asks Carol for her opinion on Ezekiel, and she tells him that she thinks he’s ok. She is a good judge of character after all. But Daryl also wants to know that she’ll be safe there.
Daryl takes his leave and we get another hug. They both know that they may never see each other again – they are on very different paths. It almost seems as if Carol is going to call Daryl back, but she lets him go. Was it stupid for him not to warn her about Richard’s plan? Quite possibly. But doesn’t part of you want to see what happens when a group of angry Saviors turn up on her doorstep?
Back at the Kingdom, Daryl gets to know Shiva – another cat! Was anyone surprised to find Daryl was a cat whisperer? It’s a nice nod to Reedus being a cat lover too. But Daryl also knows what it’s like to be kept in a cage. Morgan comes upon him, and Daryl tells him he found Carol. He doesn’t give Morgan a hard time for not telling him. He gets it – after all, he’s also respected her wishes.
Daryl does tell Morgan that he has to get the Kingdom on board with the plan. Morgan says he can’t – and Daryl tells him that whatever he’s holding onto, it’s gone – there’s no place for bystanders or conscientious objectors in the war that’s coming – yet that’s exactly what Daryl has made Carol. Morgan tells Daryl that he’s the same as he is – because he knows Daryl didn’t tell Carol. Morgan insists that they’re all holding on to something.
Morgan and Richard watch the next day as Daryl heads back to the Hilltop to get ready for the coming war.
It was nice to have a few bright spots in such a bleak season and to start to see our group starting to have some reason to hope. As always, this episode was beautifully shot, written, and acted. Kudos especially to Reedus, McBride, and Lincoln. What did you think of the episode? Should Daryl have told Carol about the others and dragged her back into the fight? Has he placed her in more danger? What did you think of the new group? Can they be trusted? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
