Episode 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead opens up pretty much where Episode 2 ended. The Reapers have attacked and everyone is running for their lives.
However, this episode also takes viewers on a little detour back to Alexandria as Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) gets another dumb side mission, this time tracking down horses.
Oh, and if you wanted to see more of the Commonwealth after Eugene’s (Josh McDermitt) group got accepted, well, sorry, but you’re flat out of luck in that department. Maybe next week.
But let’s see what’s going on with those Reapers.
The Reapers attack
While not a lot is known about the Reapers, it has been revealed that they have some sort of military background or training. However, they like to wear creepy masks and use weapons that are anything but like what you’d find in the army.
This episode sees them throwing knives and using razor-sharp scythes with deadly precision. In fact, for a moment there, it even looks like Father Gabriel (Seth Gillam) might lose his life.
Before long, it seems to be down to just Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and she makes her way inside an abandoned shopping mall, all the while still being pursued by Reapers.
It’s all sorts of creepy in there and she has a torch, which makes it all the harder to see exactly what is going on. But, have no fear, a walker appears out of nowhere and Maggie loses her torch in the attack.
Oh, and the metal railing on the stairs she’s on gives way as well. You know, like metal that is protected from the weather does.
But, you have to set the groundwork and when a Reaper also surprises her in the gloom, he gets sent through the faulty metal railing as well.
Surprise! It’s Negan and Alden
Once the Reaper is dealt with, Maggie comes across a badly injured Alden (Callan McAuliffe). She saves him from an attack and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) comes out of nowhere and helps too.
And so commences the awkward dynamics of Maggie, the guy she hates and the guy who used to be in the same group as the guy she hates.
They drag themselves around the countryside after that and dragging the badly injured Alden with them. Maggie may dump people Like Gage (Jackson Pace), who took her supplies and ran, but she’s not leaving Alden for dead.
No matter what anyone else suggests.
Along the way, they come across Duncan (Marcus Lewis) and Agatha (Laurie Fortier). Duncan is a dead man sitting at this point, but it doesn’t take Agatha long to get bitten by walkers and die, sending it back to the original trio.
When they eventually find a church, they really have no choice but to leave him behind. So, giving him some food and pushing a pew up near the door so he can barricade himself in, Maggie and Negan set off on what is likely to be an even more awkward road trip as they come to terms that they are, basically, just as bad as each other.
Father Gabriel is hellbent on revenge
Meanwhile, Father Gabriel is off on his lonesome, having been left behind by everyone else in the mad panic to escape the Reapers. He has a little knife situation, though, and is working up the courage to remove it himself.
And, once he does that, he takes off like a mofo who has exactly zero f**ks to give about anyone who crosses his path.
This means the injured Reaper he comes across is also going to get absolutely no sympathy from him.
In fact, Gabriel has even less f**ks to give after the Reaper tries to use the “man of God” card. You see, Gabriel has come to the conclusion that God isn’t there anymore and kills that guy without a single regret.
Carol chases horses
Of late, Carol’s storylines have fallen into two categories: the ones in which she is struggling emotionally and the really dumb going-nowhere ones. (Remember when Carol made soup?)
In tonight’s installment of The Walking Dead, she gets to do both. Goodie!
She’s on a determined mission to find the horses that escaped from Alexandria and screw everyone else’s plans.
Taking a small group, she heads out, and they are all pretty crap at trying to lasso the runaway horses.
Side note: Rosita (Christian Serratos) admits that she is dreaming about Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and not only does that hurt my heart, but it also makes me worried about what message he is trying to get across to her.
Finally, they manage to corral them all up in a paddock, and for the first time ever, I wonder if this is the group of horses that finally get a happy ending in The Walking Dead.
I should have known better.
I mean, this storyline involves Carol, right?
And, while they really do need the horses to do the heavy lifting for them and to use as transport, one doesn’t make the cut, and Carol dishes up horse meat to everyone.
While Season 11 of The Walking Dead started off strong, this episode really felt like a filler between the dramatic scenes from the first two episodes and the journey that Maggie and Negan are setting out on as they try to find supplies and evade the Reapers.
Regardless, I have high hopes for next week’s episode as I suspect a blast from Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) past is about to shake things up dramatically.
Season 11 of The Walking Dead is currently airing every Sunday night at 9/8c on AMC.