The Walking Dead – Look at the Flowers

By: Kelly Kearney

Last week we said out goodbye to Michonne as she headed north to find the owner of those famous cowboy boots. Rick might be alive, but Alpha definitely isn’t thanks to a surprising partnership that leaves Daryl in the dark and Negan looking for redemption. The title to this episode is a familiar term made famous by Carol’s maternal traumas. Here we find her, once again, trying to overcome the consequences of her recent actions. Guilt, desire, respect and fear are what fuels these characters and it might just lead them down a path they can’t come back from.

Took You Long Enough

When we last saw Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) he was rolling Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) head like a bowling ball at the feet of Carol (Melissa McBride), a partnership that makes sense when you see how it began. We see a flashback to before Negan escaped his cell and Carol shakes his bars with a deal he can’t turn down. The woman who’s managed to escape most of the horrors he unleashed on her friends offers him redemption for her enemy’s head. Carol offers to secretly release Negan if he gets close to Alpha and kills her. The Skin Queen’s head for Alexandria’s respect and gratitude? It seems like a fair trade, but will it be enough to help the community get over what Negan put them through? Doubtful, but Carol promises that if he removes the Whisperer threat that they will be in his debt and that’s worth something. There is just one stipulation. Negan has to get this done quickly or the deal is off.

Cut to absolutely not quickly and an impatient Carol wants to know what took Negan so long. While he was biding his time and getting down and dirty with Alpha, Carol lost everything that mattered to her. Negan’s explanation about trying to stay alive long enough to kill the woman doesn’t really impress Carol. The deal was to do this fast and now the deal is off…or on hold until Carol can process the situation. As she places Alpha’s head on the same pike she found her son Henry’s head, she tells Negan he can stay there and wait for her or not. He’s free to do what he wants, but right now Carol needs to be alone.

The Truth is Out

After the attack at Hilltop the survivors are recovering from the brutal battle. Eugene (Josh McDermitt) looks after an injured Rosita (Christian Serratos) who seems to be well enough to convince him to tell the others about Stephanie. Their home is gone so this on-mic girlfriend of his could be the answer to their problems. Her community could have supplies, doctors, weapons and everything this battle-weary group could use. Eugene does the right thing and comes clean and, at first, the others are furious that he would risk their safety for a little flirtatious fun. It’s not until Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) says he trusts Eugene that they all agree It’s worth checking out.

Back at the border and Beta (Ryan Hurst), along with two Whisperers, find the gift Carol left for them. When one of the Whisperers calls him “the new Alpha,” Beta feeds the man to his Queen’s head! For Beta her death hasn’t changed anything. She was the Queen of the Dead when she was alive and she still is now. He lifts her head off the pike and cradles it in his arms like a precious child as he walks off into the woods dragging his soon to turn friend behind him.

Next, we find Negan back at the cabin where he left a tied-up Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and instead of the teenager he finds Daryl (Norman Reedus) and his crossbow. The two old foes come face to face and after all their dog food sandwich eating and baseball bat line up times Daryl is in no mood to hear Negan’s story. It is then that Negan says, “You talk about silencing the Whisperers? I silenced the Alpha. Why do you think your girlfriend let me out of that cell?” Without even flinching Daryl knows Carol was behind Negan’s escape and it’s enough for him to take his finger off the trigger. Instead of killing him, Daryl ties Negan up and marches him to the border where Carol was last seen.

Speaking of Daryl’s main side kick, she’s off on her own trying to process all that she’s lost on the road to vengeance. Unfortunately, getting rid of Alpha wasn’t so easy. “I’m always watching,” Alpha says, as we see she’s now infected Carol’s conscience! Carol and Alpha are one! She isn’t the only one having problems with Alpha’s untimely demise. Beta is practically sulking and makes his way to an abandoned pub, which seems like it might be a familiar old stomping ground. For Beta it seems that Alpha is not gone. She’s just different and the two sit down and have a quiet moment together. The solemn mood ends when Beta spots a devastating reminder of what we can assume was his past – a stage littered with posters and instruments and on the floor a box of albums from the band Half Moon. Beta loses it and smashes one of the guitars in a furious rage. Is Beta the famous singer of this band?

What Do You Want, Carol?

While Beta is having a meltdown, Carol is still trying to find some peace from the ghost of his girlfriend and, so far, she isn’t having any luck. The woman is relentlessly dragging her down memory lane with mentions of how both her children suffered before they died. This is just another example of how guilt is eating Carol alive. She’s wrestling with her own demons and now they have infected her mind. It also doesn’t help when Carol’s delusions of Alpha start to push her towards suicide, a place she’s been in before. She even goes as far as to call Carol “a true Alpha” and that hits her hard. The consequences of her actions are too much for her to bare. Everyone she loves dies and she can’t live with another loss, especially if that loss is Daryl. “What do you want, Carol,” Alpha asks. Not to be dead apparently because when a walker interrupts Carol’s internal struggle, she immediately snaps into kill mode and takes the hungry beast out. “I want to be alone,” Carol responds as she walks off. Alpha whispers, “Yeah, that’s not it.”

Back to Eugene, his plan to find his new girlfriend is a go and he gathers Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Ezekiel and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) along for the trip. On route they see a group of caged walkers lining the streets almost like they’re someone’s pets. Is it a warning or a joke? They have no choice but to clear the road yet a cancer stricken Ezekiel struggles in the fight. His illness makes him weak and he might be a risk to the others if he can’t hold his own.

The Music of the Night

As the night falls Daryl ties up Negan and walks him back towards the border to find Alpha’s head and hopefully Carol. The sarcastic Savior pokes fun at his captive and accuses him of being angry because his “gal pal” didn’t include him in her plans. While that might be true, Daryl has no interest in Negan’s mockery and gets real with him about how he’s feeling. He’s not angry at Carol, he’s angry for the kids at Hilltop that almost died because of Negan. That knocks Negan off his high horse because there is nothing that leather jacket wearing fool loves more than kids. They are his weakness.

Over at the trashed pub Beta looks at Half Moon albums with a distinct feeling of nostalgia. He throws on one of their country twanging tunes onto the record player and the music pours out of the pub’s window and fills the night air. Walkers follow the music and congregate outside in mass. This music does not calm the beast. It attracts them and that’s exactly what Beta was hoping for.

While her Lieutenant is throwing a concert for a newly formed herd, Alpha is still rattling around Carol’s head while she searches a nearby cabin for supplies. These delusions are a culmination of Carol’s growing mental health struggles since Henry died. Possibly all the way back to Mika and Lizzie. Carol is a survivor and she’s witnessed and caused more mayhem than most and now she’s at the end of her rope. She is screaming at Alpha when things take a turn for the worse and the roof of the cabin collapses, trapping her beneath piles of debris. As she struggles to free herself from the confines of her mind, Daryl and Negan make it to the border only to find Alpha’s head is missing! Negan starts to panic because that head was his saving grace. His story is falling apart and Daryl is lethal with the crossbow. The truth is no matter the deal Negan struck with Carol, he liked feeling powerful at the Whisperer’s camp and that makes him dangerous. At least that’s how Daryl sees it. With his finger only moments from pulling the trigger, two Whisperers emerge from the woods and hold a shot gun on Daryl. The two think Daryl killed Alpha and now Negan is their new King. Outnumbered, Daryl drops his crossbow and puts his hands up. Now holding the gun and a huge chip on his shoulder, Negan orders Daryl onto the ground. “You better shoot me,” Daryl says and just as Negan is about to pull the trigger he turns and shoots one of the Whisperers! The gun jams and the other Whisperer takes off, but not before Negan grabs him and drives a knife through his skull. He cuts Daryl free and the two sit down and wait for Carol, who is definitely not coming now that she’s trapped underneath a caved in roof.

A quick check in at the walker hoe down and all of the dead beats show up to hear Half Moon’s tunes. Looking down at his creation from high above on a balcony, Beta is utterly inspired. He says goodbye to Alpha with a knife to the brain and now he’s ready to fight for his Queen’s honor. He rips half of his mask off and the next time we see him he’s got a new look and an even deadlier mission. He’s somehow managed to sew part of Alpha’s face onto his mask, like some Beta/Alpha hybrid, and now he and his new herd are headed towards what we can only assume is Alexandria! After this war there will be nothing left for our favorites to call home.

With Beta on his way to destroy their last community, it’s a good thing Eugene and company are headed to Stephanie. However, their mission isn’t without problems. Ezekiel is struggling with his own mortality when he’s forced to make the hard choice of putting down his injured horse. He feels as useless as the lame mare and tells Yumiko it’s better if he goes back home. She explains that they’re on the search for their future (and maybe some medical treatment for the former King) and they need “the man who built a Kingdom in the apocalypse.” She gives Ezekiel enough confidence to get back up on his feet, looking ahead to whatever the future may hold. When they do finally make their way to Stephanie, they realize she must have a bizarre sense of humor as the whole town has costumed walkers tied up and posed like some animatronic amusement park ride from hell. That’s when Princess (Paola Lazaro) pops up and she’s a real character. She is one-part Tank Girl and one-part Sarah Conner with the fashion sense that would make RuPaul jealous. This woman is full of life and sass. She offers the group a friendly hello and her excitement is equally matched by the look on Eugene’s face.

Carol Chooses Life

Back at the cabin Alpha won’t give up on her emotional torment. She lists all the people Carol lost and that now includes Daryl. She twists the knife deeper and utters the names Lizzie, Mika, Sophia, Henry, Ezekiel and finally Daryl knowing her biggest fear has always been losing him.  Those words ignite the fire in Carol that forces her to summon her inner warrior just in the nick of time. As a walker stumbles into the cabin and starts to crawl towards her, Alpha leans down and whispers, “Just look at the flowers like you’re supposed to,” and that is the final straw. Carol has had enough! Screaming in agony she dislocates her shoulder, pulls herself free and stabs the menacing zombie as she collapses in a heap on the ground. She’s free from the rubble, but is she free from her guilt?

Later, Carol turns up outside of Alexandria. Daryl is waiting for her at the gates. The two have a heavy and silent exchange until Carol diverts her eyes and brushes past him. Her return proves Alpha was right about one thing – she can’t run from her life or the consequences of her actions because she’s not strong enough to stay away. Her friends, her loves ones, Daryl – they are her weakness and she will always overcome any obstacle to make her way back home to them. Her love is stronger than her vengeance, if only her mercy had prevailed before Hilltop fell to the flames.