Spoiler Alert!
In this week’s episode of the AMC’s The Walking Dead, Maggie and Carol are still being held captive by the group of Saviors, and the last of their morality faces a dark path.
The female dominated episode dives into the psyche of captives, as they face almost certain death, and the Saviors statements will echo far beyond this moment as their captors tell them, “We are all Negan.” A statement that further confuses a clearly shaken Carol.
At this point in the season, both Maggie and Carol, reveal the long-term mental damage this world has finally taken on them, as they face murderous women counterparts in their captors, lead by Paula, a cancer-stricken Molly, ‘Chelle and a shot Donnie.
Carol in many ways sees herself in Paula, as she fights for her life, she now becomes overwhelmed with guilt over the people she has killed. Paula tells Carol of her own transgressions and echoes her sentiments in killing, “When I got to double digits I just stopped counting, and that’s when I stopped caring.”
Doing her best to both toe the line of guilt and acting terrified by the Saviors, Carol attempts to gain the pity of Paula’s group playing the part of a weak, shaken victim. In some ways this is an act, but as we see towards the end, it’s also part of the guilt she now carries. This guilt is added to when she tricks Savior rescuers into a fiery death in the slaughterhouse.
Here are five foreshadowing statements from of the episode.
- “I’m a dead woman walking honey, so it looks like we’re in the same boat.” Molly is coughing up blood when she tells Carol this statement, leaving the impression that Carol could die in this walker filled slaughter house. But we learn later she will not die here, but at what cost of her mental stability? Is the death Carol is staring down more than a physical death?
- “We are all Negan.” Both Primo and Molly make a similar statement. Fans of the graphic novel know Negan is an actual person, but perhaps the Savior’s statement signifies an overall philosophical stance or collective thinking that brings them all together. Rick clearly takes it literally when Primo says he is Negan, and Rick instantly executes him.
- The Carrot, Egg and Bean story. We learn that Paula was once a weak, under-confident office assistant. She uses a story she once read to explain their current state. The story tells of the affects boiling water has on a Carrot, Egg and Coffee Beans. The beans changed the water around it, while the other two were physically changed by the water. This is a revealing moment for Carol, who now ponders which one of the three items she is.
- “Are you going to kill me?”Carol pleads Paula to make the deal for with Rick for their exchange, or she will die. Although currently bound by duct tape, instantly we are lead to believe the statement will ultimately lead to a showdown between the two women and it does. After escaping and rescuing Maggie, the duo take down the last of the Savior group. Carol gives Paula a chance to escape telling her to “just run.” Seeing herself in her counterpart, Carol fears she will become like the current version of Paula, who has become cold and emotionless after killing so many people.
- “You guys are not the good guys, you should know that.” Although this statement is not fully defined during this episode, it is clear that they are now toeing the line morally between survivors and murders. We also learn something dark about the Savior’s society with ‘Chelle’s amputated finger. She was caught stealing and finger was cut off. Maggie reveals her dark side as well in her brutal execution of the Savior captors, which clearly has taken a toll on her by the end of the episode when she tells Glenn, “I can’t, I just… can’t anymore.” Is Rick’s group still the good guys? or has the world turned them into the same type of people as the Saviors they are fighting?
