You know, when an episode of The Walking Dead opens with a montage of all the times Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) has saved the day, people are going to die.
And Episode 20 is no exception.
First, we get flashbacks to all those gloriously murderous and terribly tragic moments involving Carol. All the while, Judith’s (Cailey Fleming) voiceover reminds us that what makes a family is just how far they will go to save those they love.
Then, we enter the present day, and Carol is stocking up on baked goods before everyone leaves the Commonwealth.
Except we all know that things went seriously awry in the final moments of Episode 19, so it is no surprise that Ezekiel (Khary Payton) disappears mid-conversation.
When two men dive in to swoop up Carol, she is already on the ball and ready to take flight.
Daryl’s in trouble
While Carol may have escaped relatively easily, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is having a hard time. Still, with the help of Carol, he is finally free.
Once they have a quiet moment to reflect, they realize the Commonwealth has taken every last member of their communities — adults, children, and Dog.
Now, they are on a mission to find them.
All they know is that the Commonwealth has taken them away somewhere. Still, Carol surmises that Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) might know where they have been placed, so track him down and free him from his prison cell, killing the undead version of Sebastian Milton (Teo-Rapp Olsson) in the process.
Lance Hornsby is still trying to spin everything in his favor
Even from his prison cell, Lance hopes his coin will be flipped in his favor. Then, when Daryl and Carol turn up, he thinks his luck has changed.
Oh, and that he can manipulate the pair.
What an amateur.
But he gives it a red hot go, insisting he knows where Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) will have sent their community members.
They take him along as a hostage but get separated when Commonwealth guards find them escaping with Lance.
This is when Lance really comes into his element, trying to gaslight Carol when he has no idea that her entire origin story centers around an abusive husband.
On and on, he drones as he leads Carol out of the Commonwealth until troopers catch them. Luckily, Daryl is right behind them and kills the guards.
He finally gets cocky enough to reveal too much information to Daryl and Carol, so he outlives his worth to them. They give him two options: try to survive in the wilderness or die.
Lance tries to take control of the situation, pulling a gun on the pair, but Carol is already one step ahead and shoots him with an arrow.
Seriously, when will people learn that you should never f**k with Carol?
Yumiko is torn between saving her friends and the Commonwealth
While all of this is going on, Pamela has decided to put Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) in charge of prosecuting Eugene (Josh McDermitt) for the death of Sebastian.
She believes that if Yumiko prosecutes him, it will make the trial look fair and just to the people of the Commonwealth. She also blackmails Yumiko into the task by threatening that something might happen to her brother, Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale), if she doesn’t do as Pamela says.
Yumiko spends way too much time after this, working out whose side she is on.
First, she speaks to her brother, who wants her to do everything she can to stay alive, which means following Pamela.
Even Eugene gives her a pass and tells her to save her own hide.
It isn’t until she comes across Connie (Lauren Ridloff), who is 100 percent determined to rescue everyone, that she is swayed.
Then, when Pamela hands her a speech and tells her to read it out loud to everyone at the Commonwealth, Yumiko finally realizes that she is not a puppet to the leader.
Getting her important and not easily replaceable brother to stand up and take a bow to everyone is an intelligent step to ensure nothing happens to him. She then declares that she will be working on Eugene’s case — but defending him.
Pamela, as to be expected, is outraged. And, honestly, how did she not see this coming?
Where is everyone? And what about Oceanside?
Episode 20 of The Walking Dead ends with all the exiled members on a bus being drugged and taken God only knows where.
However, I believe they will be fine with Carol on the case.
As for Oceanside?
Well, I am starting to wonder if maybe AMC has forgotten about this storyline as we get not even a shred of information about the group this week.
The Walking Dead airs every Sunday night at 9/8c on AMC.