The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

If you haven’t watched the newest episode of The Walking Dead, then I would suggest not reading any further, because there will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Quiet Times in Alexandria

When “Twice as Far” begins, all is quiet in the Alexandria Safe Zone. Any immediate threats to the community have been taken care of. At the moment, the Saviors are not on their radar. Things are going well. As the days go on, the shelves in the pantry grow fuller and fuller; they aren’t going to starve anytime soon. Morgan is building a jail cell. He is giving them a choice, an option not to kill. Rosita and Spencer have a possible blossoming relationship, and he even invites her over for dinner. Carol, on the other hand, is still struggling with the events that took place when she and Maggie were captured and all of the lives that she’s taken. Overall, though, the residents living in the ASZ are doing well. But this is The Walking Dead, and things tend to change very quickly.

 

Eugene and Abraham

They’re an unlikely duo, but they go on a short little adventure together, Eugene sporting a new hairdo. On their walk, Abraham notes that Eugene is trying to change, and Eugene informs him that he is adapting to this world. He states that he is a survivor, to which Abraham is quick to disagree.

Eugene leads Abraham to an abandoned building. Why? Eugene wants to make bullets. Ammunition is money in this new world, and even though the Alexandria Safe Zone has ammunition, they are running low and will eventually run out. Eugene is confident that with a little tender loving care, they will be able to turn the building into a factory and will be able to successfully manufacture bullets. Before Eugene can continue, however, he is interrupted by a walker, to which he “formally calls dibs.” The only problem is that this walker’s head is coated in a thick coating of metal, and Eugene struggles to put the walker down. Abraham comes to his rescue, and this upsets Eugene, who truly believes that he is capable of fighting walkers and no longer needs Abraham’s protection. This doesn’t sit well with Abraham, and he takes off, leaving Eugene to find his own way home.

 

Daryl, Denise, and Rosita

“Twice as Far” saw another adventure take place, this group a trio consisting of Daryl, Denise, and Rosita. Denise had seen a store called Edison’s Apothecary and Boutique, and she believes that they will be able to find medicine there. Both Daryl and Rosita are hesitant to take Denise out with them. She hasn’t been out before, and she has had very little training; they doubt her skills. Denise informs them that she is the one who will be able to identify the medication, and she’s asking Daryl to go with her because he’ll keep her from being killed.

So the trio begins their journey, and Denise gives Daryl a lesson on how to drive a stick shift. Apparently Daryl isn’t the best at driving a stick shift. Who would’ve thunk it? The road is inevitably blocked, however, forcing the group to abandon the truck and make the rest of the journey on foot. Rosita and Denise initially want to follow the railroad tracks because it will be faster, but Daryl refuses to, walking off with Denise following in his wake.

Eventually, the three meet back up and make it to Edison’s Apothecary and Boutique. Daryl and Rosita take the lead upon entering the store, and Daryl jokes that they might end up seeing Denise’s breakfast by the her reaction to the smell in the abandoned building. (Just so you know, she had oatmeal for breakfast). As they find the pharmacy and begin to raid it, thudding noises can be heard coming from a different room. It’s a walker, but it only sounds like one of them, and it sounds stuck, so Daryl and Rosita are content to leave it. Denise thinks otherwise and goes to the room to put it down. She finds a walker, cast in its leg, and the word “Hush” written repeatedly in crayon on the wall. She panics, immediately leaves the room, bumps into something and knocks it over, and then leaves the building.

A few minutes later, Daryl and Rosita find Denise outside holding a key chain that reads “Dennis.” As they discover on their walk back home, Denise had a twin brother named Dennis. He was six minutes older than her, brave, and angry. Daryl states that he sounds a lot like his own brother. The group takes to the tracks this time under Daryl’s suggestion, and Denise stops when they find broken down cars. One of the cars has a cooler in it, and she believes that there could possibly be something of use in it. Daryl and Rosita tell her to leave it. There is a walker in the car and it’s too much work for what it’s worth. Denise decides to ignore their warnings and gets the cooler herself, killing the walker inside of the car after a brief struggle. And yes, we saw her breakfast. Yuck.Both Rosita and Daryl are mad at her for being so reckless. She could have been killed just for a cooler. Denise tells them that if you want to live, you have to take chances. After all, living is more than just surviving. As she finds out, the cooler had pop in it, and she takes one. On an earlier supply run, she had asked Daryl to find her pop for Tara. Daryl and Rosita are still mad at her, though. Denise tells Daryl that she asked him to go with her because he’s brave like her brother was and she knew that he could keep her safe. She asked Rosita to go with her because she knows that Rosita is alone for possibly the first time in her life, but she’s strong. She knew that she could learn something from them. As Denise is giving her speech, though, she is shot through the head by an arrow.

Cue the Saviors who come to ruin the day. The man that Daryl had encountered in the burnt forest steps from the trees and onto the tracks, crossbow in hand and Eugene held hostage. He orders Rosita and Daryl to lower their guns. His name is Dwight (I think it’s important to note that half of his face is burnt). Dwight begins to inform the two that they are going to take him and his group back to their community and let them take whatever and whomever they want. If they don’t, they will all be killed.

Eugene, who had spotted Abraham hiding, takes the opportunity and uses it to his advantage, telling Dwight that if they want to kill someone it should be Abraham. As Dwight is distracted, Eugene bites him in a not so good spot, and a gunfight ensues. Dwight orders his people to fall back, and Daryl runs to retrieve his crossbow, but before he can run after the Saviors, Rosita stops him. Rosita, Abraham, and Daryl take an injured Eugene back to the Alexandria Safe Zone.

 

Back Home

Back at the Alexandria Safe Zone, Rosita is forced to play doctor. She acknowledges that the antibiotics that they got on their run with Denise will save Eugene. In short, Denise, even though she is dead, saves Eugene’s life. When Eugene does wake up, Abraham apologizes for questioning his skills, recognizing that Eugene is adapting to this world and is a survivor. Abraham late goes to Sasha. They both have choices, he tells her, and Sasha invites him inside. Abraham has chosen Sasha over Rosita.

Daryl and Carol in the small cemetery within the Alexandria Safe Zone burying Denise. Carol tells Daryl that he was right, he should have killed Dwight. The episode ends with a voiceover of Carol. She has left a note for Tobin, telling him that she had to leave. The Alexandria Safe Zone has things that others will want, and even when they get rid of one threat, another threat will appear. She states that she loves everyone at the Alexandria Safe Zone and that if she stayed there she would have to kill for them, and she can’t do that. Carol can’t love anyone because doing so means that she’d have to kill for them, and she can’t do that anymore. So she decides that she has to leave, and she asks that Tobin and nobody else come looking for her.

 

Final Thoughts…

“Twice as Far” started off slow, but the good kind of slow. The characters were for once happy, things were calm. But as The Walking Dead has proven time and time again, good things don’t last, and that was evident in this episode. It was one bad blow after the other.

Denise finally got more lines, and she was actually developing as a character. She was becoming strong, and she wanted to become strong; she wanted to be able to protect herself. Unfortunately, though, she died before she could reach her full potential. While Denise’s death is extremely sad, how her death is going to affect the other characters will be interesting. Denise never had the chance to tell Tara that she loved her. And really, does Tara have to lose another girlfriend?! On top of that, Denise’s death is undoubtedly going to affect Daryl. Denise had confided to him that she knew he would keep her safe. Daryl was forming some kind of bond with the woman. Denise was killed with Daryl’s own crossbow from the man that he is regretting not killing.

Carol leaving? That was a surprise. Over the past episodes, we’ve seen her struggling with her past actions. The lives that she’s taken, even though they have all been necessary kills to ensure her survival and the survival of those she loves, is weighing heavily on her. She doesn’t want to kill anymore, and she believes that the only way she can accomplish that is if she leaves. If she stays, she’ll be surrounded by the people that she loves, and she knows that she’d do anything to protect them, even if that means killing. So will Carol make it back to Alexandria? Will the group be able to find her?

 

Bullets:

• Father Gabriel carrying a gun? I don’t think I’ll ever be used to that sight. But kudos to you, Father Gabriel!
• Eugene changed his hair! “The hair does not make the man. The man makes the man.” Wise words, Eugene.
• Spencer and Rosita? Hmmm….
• Eugene, I like this idea of manufacturing bullets! Smart move.
• Speaking of Eugene, am I the only one who feels like I need a translator when he speaks? You are too knowledgeable, Eugene…dumb it down a little, please.
• Daryl and Denise. I love their relationship.
• Why did she have to die?! And that death was terrible…she was still trying to talk…
• Why does everyone that he ever forms a connection with die? Like, seriously, let the man be happy…I think he deserves it!
• Daryl has finally reunited with his crossbow. I know that there are a ton of shipping wars, but I think that we can all agree that Daryl and his crossbow are the only OTP.
• At least Denise got a burial.
• Carol leaving…this can’t be good. Seeing Carol struggling with the actions that she’s been forced to make is heartbreaking.
• Also, Denise is dead. The Alexandria Safe Zone no longer has a doctor…

 

Don’t miss an all-new episode of The Walking Dead Sunday at 9 EST on AMC.