The Walking Dead S6E5: Now
Original Airdate: November 8, 2015
After last week’s Morgan-palooza, it’s time to return to Alexandria and the aftermath. Fans should note that Steven Yeun’s name still appears in the episode guide. What does that mean? Does it mean anything? Will we ever truly know?
In the aftermath of the attack at Alexandria, Deanna climbs the wall to survey the damage done to the town. She traces Reg’s name on the first panel that was erected to build the wall. Below her, the townspeople gather bodies while Michonne tells Maggie that they had been separated. When she hears a noise, she turns to see thousands upon thousands of Walkers coming down the road, Rick at the head of the pack. He’s running at breakneck speed and trips right before Michonne opens the gate. He gets inside, but the town is in a world of hurt right now.
The herd is pushing up against the wall while the townspeople try to figure out how to reinforce it. Rick reappears, looking slightly more refreshed. He tells the group that they are surrounded about twenty deep but they can survive this. He knows they haven’t been through something like this but they can live through it. Daryl, Sasha and Abraham will drive them off, while Glen and Nicholas will return. Someone points out that this is a graveyard, but Aaron speaks up and says that Rick’s plan is what saved them. It was during one of his scouting missions that the Wolves figured out about Alexandria. This happened because of him, and he wants people to understand that Rick is a good leader. Deanna walks away in a daze.
Jesse returns home to the body of the Wolf she killed. She drags her out of the kitchen to a community body pile in the town’s cemetery. She starts digging, but Rick stops her, telling her that they don’t bury killers inside the town’s walls. He says they’ll wait to bury them.
The food storage area is inundated with townsfolk who don’t want to starve while they wait to die. Spencer runs in and tells the people to stop. Bruce mentions the gate, and Spencer points out that he stopped the truck from getting in, so they need to stop this behavior or else they’ll destroy the place. The hungry townspeople reluctantly agree. Deanna smiles at her son with pride.
Aaron sees Maggie making weapons, then he sees a group of people painting a memorial to the people who died. Someone paints Glenn’s name, and Aaron sees Maggie rush off. She’s in the weapon’s locker getting ready to go out. He knows she’s going to go out after dark on her own. He asks her what’s going to happen if she gets hurt. He wants to help her out. He knows a better way.
Deanna stares at Reg’s wedding ring with tears in her eyes. She grabs a set of plans and starts scribbling a map of the crops she plans to grow, along with a new plan for the town to reinforce it and rebuild it. The sound of a glass breaking distracts her. She finds Spencer picking up a glass and realizes he’s getting drunk off the wine he took from storage. He’d stopped the looting but he admits that the group was right about the fact that they’re going to die. And he blames her for their weakness.
Carl finds Ron sitting near her house. He asks him if he has seen Enid. Ron hasn’t seen her since he saw her with Carl, and wonders why Carl doesn’t think she’s dead. She had been Ron’s girlfriend until Carl came along. They get into a shoving match. Ron says Carl shouldn’t risk it because more people will die. If he goes, then Rick will go, and others will follow, and then they’ll die. Ron says Carl saved his life, so now he’s returning the favor.
Denise is reading through medical manuals and trying not to freak out when Tara walks in. She tells Tara that her patient is still sick but she has no idea what to do. Tara lies about her headache and admits she’s just checking on Denise, who says she is of no use. She hopes a new doctor shows up so she can return to her apartment and read War and Peace. Tara says being afraid sucks, and she kicks a copy of Grey’s Anatomy at her before leaving.
Jesse goes to check on a neighbor and finds that she’s a Walker. As the scared townsfolk look on, Jesse slowly opens the door and kills her with her knife. She turns and tells everyone that she never wanted to see what things really looked like, but now they don’t have a choice. They have to see it, and they have to fight or they will die. She walks away, and Denise stares in wonder.
Aaron leads Maggie to a sewer drain that connects the neighborhoods. Maggie wants to go alone, but Aaron can’t watch more names go up on the wall. As they go through the tunnel, Maggie says that if Glen was alive he’d signal to her, and he needs help. If he’s dead she doesn’t want to wait around for him. They try to move a piece of the ladder when they come across two very rotten Walkers. The Walkers awaken and attack, and Maggie gets overwhelmed. Aaron steps in and helps her. His forehead is gashed but he insists that he has to keep going.
Denise comes across something in her medical books. She uses a syringe to drain the pus from his arm, and he immediately stabilizes. “Hot damn,” she says, smiling.
Ron climbs the wall to talk to Rick. It’s the first time he has seen the wall of Walkers. He tells Rick about Enid’s absence, and that Carl had planned to go find her. Before Rick leaves, Ron asks if Rick will teach him how to shoot. Rick empties his pistol and gives it to Ron to practice with while he’s gone.
Denise finds Tara. Tara asks how Gabriel is, and Denise leans down and kisses her passionately. She says it’s the end of the world. “No, it’s not,” Tara replies.
Maggie and Aaron come to the end of the tunnel. She stops him from leaving and says that she buried Glen’s picture. She doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead, but she’s pregnant. Glen didn’t want her to go but maybe if she’d been with him he’d be alive. Michonne told her that he’d have shown her by now. Aaron hugs her as the gate is covered in Walkers.
Jesse baked cookies for Sam, who doesn’t want to go downstairs. He says the upstairs part of the house didn’t change the way it did down below. He refuses to meet his mom halfway. Jesse takes the plate and leaves them outside Ron’s door.
Deanna has a basket of groceries and she stands in the street staring at the house. A Walker approaches and attacks her, so she grabs a broken bottle and tries to kill it. Rick comes and helps her. She tells him that she wants to live, and that in order to do that, they need him. She wonders if her plan for Alexandria is too pie in the sky, but Rick assures her that it isn’t. She gathers the groceries and walks away.
Aaron and Maggie stand on the wall at night looking out at the Walkers. They have bonded. She says she’ll be right back, and she goes to the wall and scrubs Glen’s name from it. Aaron comes and helps her. “When he gets back, it’s worth mentioning that Aaron, or Erin, works for a boy or a girl, depending on the spelling,” Aaron tells her.
Spencer comes to relieve Rosita. He says he volunteered to take Carol’s place. Rosita says he did a good job taking out the truck, and even though he says he got lucky, she says he should keep doing what he’s doing.
Jesse is doing laundry and finds one of Ron’s shirts. Rick comes in and tells her that the reason they’re waiting to bury the bodies is that they don’t know if everyone else is ok, and so he wanted to wait. She tells him they can still be alive. Rick has heard about Jesse’s speech. She wants to believe there is more. Rick kisses her.
Deanna approaches the gate and sees the masses of Walkers there. She hits it in anger, then she walks away. Blood seeps through the wall as she passes.
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