The Walking Dead – Rogue Element

By: Kelly Kearney

This week’s episode focuses on three separate fact-finding missions with Eugene, Connie and Carol asking the question: Is the Commonwealth an oasis in the middle of the apocalypse like it’s claiming to be or are there darker secrets lurking just below the surface? After losing his virginity to fake Stephanie things take a turn for the worse when his love disappears, leaving Eugene distraught and determined to find her. Elsewhere, Carol uncovers a scam involving some farmers Lance contracted to work for Commonwealth. Her help winds up cementing her place in his good graces. Meanwhile, Connie is also digging for the truth about those thousands of Commonwealth resisters mentioned at the ball. Not everything is what it seems and these three are on the case.

Virginia is not for lovers

After a night of romance Eugene (Josh McDermitt) wakes up next to fake-Stephanie (Chelle Ramos), who found a manuscript he wrote and is enjoying her morning read. She kisses him, erasing any concerns over her snooping and leading him to declare his love with a key to his apartment. Stephanie, who seems slightly hesitant, accepts the key with a peck of a kiss and a forced “love you too.” With his ponytail happily swinging in the post-coital breeze, Eugene is all smiles as he leaves his girlfriend’s apartment and heads to Princess’s (Paola Lázaro) shop to discuss his new relationship and any concerns he might have about rushing things. His pal puts his mind at ease and tells him to trust a woman at her word. If she says “I love you” believe her. It’s the confirmation Porter needs but, of course, her advice only makes things worse when he waits for Stephanie to meet him for their ice cream date, but she never shows. He waits all day with his melted vanilla heart on his sleeve, but after a few hours and no signs of her Eugene shows up at her door. She ignores him because we see her inside panic packing all of her belongings with plans to leave without ever telling Eugene about it.

Connie is on to something

With her reporter hat on, Connie (Lauren Ridloff) starts questioning whether some of the people in the Commonwealth’s government might be suppressing the truth about young Trooper Davis and his claims of thousands of dissidents like himself. Her editor, Jan (Aneesh Sheth), isn’t interested in hard hitting reporting. She just wants Connie to tow the party line; that party being Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) and whatever spin she wants to describe the outburst at the Halloween ball. Connie pushes back, but since Kelly (Angel Theory) is her translator she withholds signing her sister’s anger and tries to play nice with their new boss. Connie doesn’t trust the militarized police state at the Commonwealth, nor does she put much credence into whatever press release she’s been ordered to paraphrase for the government. But Kelly isn’t about to make either of them a target of suspicion. They just arrived at this new place and, like everyone else, they’re trying to give it their best shot. Nobody wants to go back to starving with the occasional horse dinner. When the two sisters try to talk to Trooper Davis and request information about his charges and if he has a lawyer, they are completely blocked and only get the grimace of Mercer as a response.

Meanwhile, Eugene asks new trooper and bestie Rosita (Christian Serratos) to do a wellness check on Stephanie. However, once again, there is no response. He requests to make an official missing person’s report because after their night together he knows in his gut something isn’t right.

Carol’s Fact-Finding Mission

After last week’s score with the wine, Lance (Josh Hamilton) invites Carol (Melissa McBride) on a trip to see the inner workings of The Commonwealth. He waxes poetic about his rise to the top, claiming he was once a nobody and now he’s, well, not the most important person in the town. That’s Pamela. But he is the guy who keeps the wheels turning. He’s the man behind the curtain, pulling the strings and getting things done, and we soon learn what some of those things are when their wagon stops at a local encampment. Almost right away Carol realizes this group of people at the camp are producing drugs – heroin to be exact. Lance explains that while these poppy farmers and drug makers aren’t Commonwealth citizens, they do serve a purpose in keeping people healthy in the community. The heroin is used in the hospital and more than likely given in small doses as a pain reliever. The care Ezekiel might be getting doesn’t just create itself and this is a small peek into what it takes to keep The Commonwealth thriving. So, why is she there to see this? Two reasons: Lance knows Carol is the smartest one of her group and he wants to sell her on his town. As of now, the Alexandrians are staying there on a trial basis and, at least for Carol, Lance wants to make that situation permanent. The second reason is because the he wants Carol to sus out a situation with the self-proclaimed leader of the growers. The man, Moto (William Mark McCullough), is holding up the crop for more money and Lance wants to know why. A swarthy looking fellow with an obvious financial stake in this farming claims he’s speaking for the workers, like he’s the Norma Rae of the Poppy fields, but Carol doesn’t buy it. Within minutes she catches the familiar signs of abuse from the female farmers when Moto blames them and their greed for the hold up. She knows that tension and understands that it’s not the workers but Moto taking the extra cut. He is just forcing everyone to go along with the grift. Lance thanks her for the intel and has Moto arrested. He hopes Carol’s help is a clue that she is becoming a believer in Commonwealth and maybe in him, too. Lance seems desperate for praise and Carol is making mental notes of everything she learned on the trip including his ego’s need for recognition. Her people, her family and their safety are always on her mind and making sure this place is on the up and up is her duty to them and to their continued safety.

Back to the new town reporters! After another intimidating encounter with Mercer (Michael James Shaw), who invites Connie and Kelly to watch his troops train rather than answer questions about Trooper Davis, the two are more convinced than ever that this place is hiding something. This is especially true after Davis goes missing and Mercer is so angry that he punches through a wall.

Conspiracies & Heartbreak

Speaking of hiding something, Princess uses a fake lasagna to barge into a depressed Eugene’s house and what she finds isn’t just dirty dishes and used tissues, but a whole mapped out investigation on what happened to Stephanie – red strings, photos and all! Princess looks concerned her friend has lost it and maybe he has because he explains (in flashback) why he thinks this Stephanie conspiracy goes deeper than he thought. In a flashback, Eugene is devastatingly drunk and has an epiphany when, through bleary eyes, he spots the same man he saw coming out of Stephanie’s apartment the night she disappeared. He confronts him thinking he might have information on her whereabouts but he, Roman Calhoun (Michael Tourek), is dodgy and claims he’s never even been to that building. Eventually, he admits he was there, but he is a plumber who was on a call to fix a sink. A plumber would have tools, Eugene tells Princess in the present, and this guy had nothing but the jacket on his back. A jacket that didn’t have any indication he worked for a plumbing company. That clue was only the first layer to this conspiracy and, as Eugene explains it all to Princess, we learn Stephanie not only left but had all her furniture removed and apparently sent to her new location. Eugene still isn’t buying it but the deeper they dig the more Princess has her doubts. After the two get caught breaking into Calhoun’s apartment, she realizes her friend risked her newfound happiness for a simple breakup. Lance shows them the receipts for the plumbing order and assures them the bag of weapons they found in the apartment are legal for all citizens, which they aren’t yet. The guy checks out but Eugene refuses to see it. Lance does agree to let this one slide if Eugene signs a paper stating the break-in happened during a time of mental unrest. He was emotionally distraught and suffering from delusions from a broken heart. Feeling pressured with possible charges hanging over him and Princess’s head, he agrees and signs the form and in turn Lance releases the two from their holding cell. Predictably, Eugene doesn’t drop it. He’s still convinced this is about more than a break-up, but Princess is officially done. Yes, she said to trust women when they say they love you but sometimes people can’t be trusted; even the ones you love. She knows this because one day her dad left her and with that he took her trust in people. Not everyone earns it or deserves it; some people just suck. She pats a crying Eugene on the head and leaves him to his pain, but he’s not wallowing. He’s plotting. He doesn’t buy this excuse that Stephanie just dumped him. He felt that love and knows deep down the woman he spoke to for months on the radio made a real connection with him. He’s determined to find her and get to the bottom of this, but this time he isn’t going to risk his friend’s new life to do it. Eugene is on his own.

Through his investigation, and sometimes stalking, he follows Calhoun to a building in the warehouse district that appears vacant and posing as a plumbing company. It’s open all night and only ever occupied by two to four people at a time. It’s a cover for something, but he isn’t sure what until he breaks in and comes face to face with his worst nightmare: everything he thought he knew was a lie. Inside he finds Stephanie and Lance who inform him of what is really going on. She was only used to lure him and his friends into giving up their locations and, like a fool, he gave them exactly what they wanted. The Stephanie he gave his apartment key to is actually named Sharon and, while she didn’t like his music tastes like she claimed to, she did enjoy the book he wrote. If Eugene was hoping for a sorry from Sharon or Lance he’s not getting one. As we physically watch his heart tear in two, Lance with his cold disconnected smile feels confident the pain Eugene is experiencing is worth his friends finding safety in the town. Lance believes in the Commonwealth experiment and sees himself as a patriot. And when is patriotism and fighting for a better life ever wrong? In his mind he’s the founding fathers all rolled into one and having to make difficult choices to rebuild the world to the way it was is what leaders do. He’s high on his own propaganda it seems and his heartless cruelty towards Eugene only escalates when he tells the broken man that if he tries to tell anyone else what he knows, Lance will just remind them of his delusional break down. His record of paranoia means nobody in town would believe him anyway. After Lance rips what’s left of his shattered heart out, Eugene takes his book and burns it. A woman appears behind him claiming she needs to talk to him. “Tater-bug this is Blue weevil… Please come back.” Who is this familiar woman? It sounds like the woman Eugene was talking to on the radio. Can it be? It’s the real Stephanie (Margot Binham)!