By: Tyler Miller
Spoilers for Season 6, Episode 10 follow!
This week’s episode was a big one, and at the same time a small one. That’s a good thing though because after eight episodes of constant chaos and misery for our characters (not counting the Morgan flashback episode), this was a needed step back from everything. A chance for the viewers and the characters to be able to rest easy for a bit and enjoy life before things go sour again, as they always do.
We start the episode off in the Grimes residence two months after the events of last week’s episode, and things are normal. It’s nice to see Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith living together and being happy. Ever since the prison fell they’ve seemed like a family and it’s about time they lived like one. Seeing Carl back on his feet and having totally adjusted to his eye loss, which is great! As much as I wouldn’t have minded watching him have to deal with getting used to it and be sad about it for a bit, it’s great that we don’t have to watch it. We can just pick up after all of that has happened.
Seeing Michonne walk in with her bathrobe on and a towel on her head automatically sent alarms blaring in my head at the prospect of what could be, and they went even crazier when her and Rick did their sort of hand clap/grab as he left. I know that this was driving the “Richonne” shippers absolutely nuts, as it even made me kind of excited by the prospect of them being together. Little did I know though…
Although we didn’t catch up with a majority of the cast this week, we did get to catch up with some of them. Denise and Tara are finally, officially a thing! I know they kissed before the walls came crashing down, but there was never anything really official about their relationship. It’s cute that Denise wanted to get her some Crush, and the way that she went about explaining it to Daryl was funny due to how awkward it was. Oh Denise, it’s okay to want the soda. No need to explain to much.
Speaking of awkward, Eugene’s explanation of the food situation and where to get seeds to Rick and Daryl was incredibly awkward, but also in a funny way. Eugene has always been an awkward character, so this was just made even more so by the fact that Daryl and Rick just looked at him in utter confusion, probably thinking”Yeah, um…. Alright then Eugene, thanks.”
With that we end up on our Rick and Daryl road trip! Unless I’m mistaken, I think this is the first time that we’ve had just these two go out on an expedition together, so it was nice to see it happen. We really got to see how brotherly their relationship is, with Rick irritating Daryl with his music, and later with Daryl sharing some of the chocolate. Hopefully we can get more episodes with these two (assuming Daryl makes it through the season).
After some driving and music jamming, our duo comes across a truck that is filled to the brim with supplies. Just the thing that Alexandria needs! Too bad they don’t get it back to Alexandria though. Deciding to look for more supplies, they come across a vending machine that has the soda Denise wants. After chaining it to the truck to turn it over, we finally meet our newest comic character, and his name is Jesus. Well, it’s actually Paul Rovia, but he goes by Jesus and he certainly is one of the best additions to the show. Granted, his introduction to Rick and Daryl doesn’t go that well, with them both putting guns in his face. Rick doesn’t trust him at first, but decides to give him a change, while Daryl doesn’t trust him at all, as he’s suspicious of anyone after trusting Dwight earlier in the season and getting his stuff taken from him.
Rick’s trust goes from about 50% to 0 real quick though since Jesus takes their truck full of supplies (and the vending machine). I guess you can say that Jesus, ahem, took the wheel. So Rick and Daryl are left to run after him and get their stuff back.
Back at Alexandria, Michonne spots Spencer heading into the woods and pursues him. Meanwhile, Carl and Enid are in the woods for some alone time and comic reading. Just typical Carl/Enid shenanigans. They spot Michonne and and Spencer walking through the woods, but then Carl spots a walker that he refuses to kill, causing Enid to think he’s crazy and leave. I honestly thought we were beginning to see Carl’s transformation into a harder, rougher person due to his eye loss, but it wasn’t this at all.
He follows Spencer and Michonne, leading the walker to them. It turns out that the walker is Deanna, the very person that Spencer was in the woods looking for. Spencer hasn’t been the most liked Alexandrian since we first met him, but he’s slowly starting to redeem himself and become a better person. Him trying to find his mother so he could kill her and bury her is a small step towards making him into someone other than a coward and a screw up. Let’s keep moving him in this direction and he’ll be a much better character than he currently is.
Checking back in with Rick and Daryl, after lots of running they finally catch up to Jesus who’s stopped to change a tire. They sneak up on him, but little do they know that Jesus is a kung fu master! That only helps temporarily though as our dynamic duo gets the upper hand on him, and ties him up, leaving him in the street. It’s not too long before they get to a pasture and realize that Jesus is on the roof. This guy can literally do anything if he can get onto the roof of the truck while being tied up in a matter of seconds. One hard brake and a fall later, and Rick and Daryl are chasing him down.
Jesus didn’t go down easy though, juking and playing Daryl and Rick the whole time. It was pretty fun to watch Jesus essentially troll them the whole time. It all comes to a head though when Jesus gets in the truck and uses Daryl’s gun to take out a walker sneaking up on him, only to get punched, accidentally cause the truck to start going backwards toward a lake, and get knocked out by the door. So no one wins! Daryl suggests tying Jesus up to a tree (which admittedly is a pretty funny idea), but Rick decides to bring him back to Denise so she can check him out, and then put him in the makeshift prison tied up.
It’s now night time and Carl and Michonne have a quick chat about what happened in the woods earlier in the day. Michonne felt that it was stupid what Carl did, but he tells her that he did led Deanna to them so that Spencer could kill her, since he feels that family should be the ones to kill loved ones that have turned. This makes sense coming from Carl, seeing as how he killed his mom after giving birth to Judith because he felt he should be the one to since she was his mother. It’s nice to see Carl say this, and in a way that wasn’t fueled by anger or anything. Him saying that he would do the same for Michonne, and vice versa followed by their hug further pushes how much of a family they are, and it’s pretty touching to be honest.
Now we get to the BIG moment of this week, that not even I saw coming. Yes, “Richonne” is finally a thing. After a long day for these two, they end up just chatting about how they each had a crazy day. Rick gives Michonne the mints that she asked for, but then their hands interlock. What follows was every shippers dream come true. I’ve seen a fair amount of people online say that they feel this pairing was rushed and not set up at all, but I actually disagree. These are two characters that have been through A LOT together. They’ve gone from associates working together just to get something from the Governor, to becoming incredibly loyal best friends.
Ever since the fall of the prison when they met up and started getting closer, it was clear that they could become something more if they wanted to. Although their relationship was just plutonic, they had a connection that was a bit more than just friendly. It makes sense that now would be the time when it becomes a reality. They have a place they call home, a community of people they know and trust, and things have calmed down in the world. Inside the safety of Alexandria, they can be more than just friends. They can establish a romantic relationship, something they couldn’t do outside the walls with danger around every corner. This is something that the two of them deserve and I’m happy with it.
We closed the episode on Jesus in Rick’s house (this man may really be Jesus with all the sneaky stuff he does) waking up Rick and Michonne, telling them that they need to talk. Although this was a slower episode that didn’t have too many big things happen, this was definitely a great episode all around that benefited from being slower. Looks like next week will be when they learn about the Hilltop, another community of survivors and travel there to see what it’s really all about. Should be a fun one!
Other thoughts:
- The humor in this episode was on point, making this probably the funniest episode of the series! The truck sinking into the lake, and Rick and Daryl demonstrating that they do indeed have ammo to Jesus are just two of the funniest moments this episode offers.
- Nice to see the tried and true Morgan method of putting spikes outside your walls being put to use here again.
- It’s unknown if we’ll see them next week, but I wonder where Carol and Morgan are in terms of their relationship following the events of last week.
- Rick and Daryl trading places on the topic of bringing in new people was interesting, especially seeing Daryl being so pessimistic about it. Maybe Jesus earning his trust will turn him around
- Jesus had a great debut in this episode and is going to make a great addition to the crew! Unfortunately, this only furthers the idea that Daryl is going to have a date with Lucille, and Jesus will take his place in the group.
We’re two episodes into the back half of the season and things have been going great so far. I’m optimistic that things are only going to get better from here on out. We have a new character, a new couple, and a new sense of hope for these characters. Things can only go up from here. At least until Negan shows up of course.
TheComfySpot 