The Walking Dead – What’s Been Lost

By: Kelly Kearney

In what might be the most on the nose title of any episode to date, “What’s Been Lost”  brings Daryl and Carol together again to take on Pamela Milton after she rounds up their friends as payback for Sebastian’s death. It’s your typical Carol and Daryl hour–they have each other’s backs and at times, function as if they are one person. It was nice to have them back, but why were we missing them at all? Since the start of this series– over a decade ago, Carol and Daryl quickly became the super couple that never was. They were the fan favorites–the abused housewife turned warrior and her redneck loner bestie she nicknamed Pookie. They were responsible for some of the most memorable moments on television, and fans loved to debate the nature of their relationship, which is why many have been left feeling confused by the recent attempt to force them apart. After Rick and Michonne’s departure, there was a gaping hole in this show; taken from where the heart used to beat. Most assumed that spot would be filled with original Atlanta besties and new leads, Carol and Daryl, but somehow, with every new villain they faced and loved one they buried, the two soulmates slipped further and further apart. The action in the series and the endless string of newcomers took precedence over the characters we grew to love and it slowly eroded the very thing that separated this show from the typical gore-fest. Burying the spark that made them fan favorites has often felt like a concerted effort to turn down their chemistry and look away from their history, much to the outrage and exhaustion of fans who’ve kept Sophia’s death and that single Cherokee Rose close to their hearts. These two lost a lot in these twelve years, but nothing as tragic as losing the tight bond they formed when the world fell apart. This week’s episode tries to recoup what’s been missing since that season 10 cabin argument, offering TV watchers a glimpse of what we lost and what we hope to revisit before we say our final goodbyes.

KIDNAPPED!

After a quick montage of all the best Carol and Daryl moments – the first time Daryl rescued Carol on the farm, he epic hug after the Terminus save, and the devastating losses of Sophia and Henry’s death – Judith’s (Cailey Fleming) voice over talks about what’s been lost and what they’ve gained from it. She leads us to the present where we see Carol (Melissa McBride), gathering a few baked goods for the ride back to Alexandria. She runs into Zeke (Khary Payton), and the two joke about all the goodbyes they keep having, with this one being the last and final before they separate for good. Or do they? When Carol turns her back, Zeke goes missing and immediately Carol knows he’s been taken by Pamela’s (Laila Robins) goons. Governor Milton has declared war on the group but she made a big mistake not grabbing Carol.

After realizing Zeke was taken, Carol runs to find Daryl (Norman Reedus) and the kids, but all she sees is his lone bike and a pool of blood on the ground next to it. Her protected Daryl instincts kick in so when she finds him in the clutches of a Milton assassin, she easily takes the attacker out. Daryl tells her they grabbed the kids, and obviously they are both in a panic now. Nobody touches the Grimes kids and lives to tell about it!.

While the besties plan their next move we catch up with Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), who also evaded kidnapping thanks to the Governor, who plans to make her work for her and her brother, Tomi’s freedom. Yumiko is not only a lawyer, but she symbolizes–for Pamela, a newcomer who can legitimize the charges against Eugene (Josh McDermitt) by forcing her to prosecute him. The choice is hers, if you can call it a choice. She can prosecute one of her friends or she can risk everyone, including her brother’s, lives? The counselor seemingly has little choice but to follow Milton’s orders. She even goes to her brother and then to Eugene at the jail to ask them what she should do. Both men are in agreement and think she should do what she can to save herself and their friends–especially now that Connie (Lauren Ridloff) managed to escape the round up and is on Milton’s Most Wanted list. She really doesn’t have many options and the guilt she expresses to Eugene is heartbreaking. He doesn’t blame her and equally doesn’t want her to risk any lives for him. Who knows? Maybe this can still turn out ok? This altruistic side to Eugene is a far cry from the guy who would kneel at their enemies feet if it meant saving his own hide. A coward turned hero, nobody– not even Eugene expected that.

LOONEY LANCE

Over to Daryl and Carol and the two make a plan to sneak into the town jail to beat information out of Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton). Instead, what they find is a crazed man covered in blood chatting away to his lucky coin. On the floor of the cell is what’s left of walker Sebastian–still hungry for more food even though he devoured the man Lance fed to him. These two have seen crazy before, so they never miss a beat. They jump into their good cop/bad cop game, with Daryl tossing the blood-soaked Lance up against the wall demanding information on where their friends are. Carol takes the kinder approach, which we all know is deadlier than a cobra’s dance, but she sweet talks Lance into helping them. He must know all of Pamela’s secrets, the two are uncomfortably close. With a bleeding creepy grin on his face, Lance seems to have lost the final shreds of his sanity, but he’s surprisingly clear-headed enough to realize this information they want could be what saves his life. So, he promises to take them to the location, but first he has one last message to leave his former boss. After Daryl puts walker Sebastian down, Lance tucks the infamous coin inside the kid’s gooey-gorey head. It’s a final message to Pamela that he thinks he’s won their little sick game. Later he’ll realize he should’ve taken that luck with him.

On their way out, the jail is overrun by Pamela’s troops, who corner the escapees with gunfire. Daryl covers Lance and Carol and tells her to go ahead without him and he will catch up later, but she refuses. “Not without you!” she yells, but the bullets are ricocheting and someone needs to get to the kids, oh, and Connie! She was also taken after she met with Yumiko, and now Carol is everyone’s last hope. The relationship between Daryl and Carol is a constant struggle between wanting to protect each other and knowing they both can handle any situation the world throws at them. So, Carol takes one last look at him and takes off with Lance. They make it past the Commonwealth’s walls undetected and that’s when Hornsby picks up on the worry wafting off of Carol. She is concerned for Daryl and that care reminds him of his unrequited passions for Pamela. He starts blathering about how smart Carol is and then questions Daryl’s loyalty to her. Is he hoping he can widen some nonexistent divide in their relationship, or does he see a woman who could survive anything and is making some weird play to be Dixon’s replacement? He alludes to the fact Daryl won’t bother to come find her, and he is right about one thing–she’s smart and knows what manipulation sounds like. If Lance keeps on yapping, he’ll be lucky to survive until morning. He turns the conversation towards the future and the innocent people of the Commonwealth who will pay the price if she and her friends burn the place to the ground in a rebellion. Carol shrugs him off with a “not my problem” but when he questions whether or not she would rip the futures from Commonwealth children like Judith and R.J., it seems to strike a chord with her maternal side–not that she lets him know that.

LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT

Eventually, Lance leads Carol to one of the Commonwealth’s “infrastructure repair projects” where she is immediately forced to take on a small herd of walkers. She manages to take them all out but then winds up facing an even bigger threat–Pamela’s troops! They finally caught up to her, and what does that mean for Daryl? With tears in her eyes, Carol drops her weapon but the look of shock on her face isn’t from whether or not they will kill her, but from Daryl Dixon and one of his well-timed saves! Daryl pulls a sneak attack on the troops and takes them all out from behind; leaving me wondering why these storm troopers even bother to wear armor when they can’t block gunfire! Magic bullet theories aside, Carol is relieved and the two share one of their legendary looks, but then it’s back to finding their friends and dealing with Lance. Speaking of, he must think he’s been welcomed into this twosome because he casually makes the worst mistake of his life when he mentions that all they have to do to find their friends is to follow the train tracks. The Commonwealth has trains? Yup, for transporting their unwanted residents it seems. To where? We don’t know, but now Daryl and Carol can follow tracks and there really isn’t a point to keeping him around anymore. Killing him seems like the obvious next move but in a moment of compassion, they offer to let him go as long as they never see him again. Lance has never lived outside the walls–not since the Fall, so wandering the woods with no survival skills is a fate worse than death. They must’ve known the coward would refuse because when Lance quickly grabs a rifle from the back of the dead Commonwealth troop’s jeep, Carol instantly shoots an arrow in his neck and ends his life. They never fully put him down–just let him bleed out on the ground, so we can assume there might be a walker Hornsby sighting in the future. You should’ve kept that lucky coin, Lance! One villain down and one evil Governor to go!

Back at the Commonwealth, Yumiko is forced to give a speech in front of the townspeople about her case against Eugene. She starts off by taking a moment to thank her brother and reminds the town of how useful the Thoracic Surgeon is. It’s her way of keeping everyone’s eyes on Tomi so Pamela can’t touch him now that she’s made the deadly decision to defend Eugene, not prosecute him! When she tells the town this, Pamela has no choice but to save face and go along with it. Everyone is watching and the disappearance of The Commonwealth’s beloved surgeon and top legal mind would be noticeable. It would also give the public a hefty dose of doubt when it came to deciding on who was really responsible for their loved one’s disappearances–Lance or Sebastian. Doubt in Pamela means reasonable doubt in Eugene’s case and that could win over the jury. Do they even have jury trials in this rigged dictatorship? Who knows, but it’s a risk Yumiko is willing to take. She is a lot smarter than Governor Milton gave her credit for.

Now that Carol and Daryl are trying to catch a train, we get an update on what happened to all of our kidnapped characters. With hoods over their heads, they’ve been loaded on a bus to an unknown location. Ezekiel panics from under his hood as he can sense a trooper approaching. That’s when we see the needle and realize everyone on the bus has been drugged and Zeke is next!

With Lance dead, Carol and Daryl on a mission to save their friends, and Pamela seething with rage over her doubly-dead son, it’s looking like this could be a fight right up until the final minutes of the series. Let’s hope they at least take a moment to talk about what they lost in that cabin before they’re separated by an ocean and a spin off. It’s the least this show could do for the last remaining survivors from the Atlanta crew.