When people on The Walking Dead find themselves feeling a little hopeful, they make some rather bad decisions. The one they made tonight? It just might be their worst.
After that little wake-up call Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) received at the end of last week's episode from everyone's new pal Jesus (Tom Payne), it was time to visit the Hilltop and see if Alexandria might able to enter into some sort of mutually beneficial trade arrangement. The terms they agree upon, well, we've got a feeling it's going to wind up costing Rick's crew dearly.
There are a few things we need to talk about from the trip to the Hilltop. First of all, this Gregory fella. He's kind of a piece of work, right? Demanding that Rick and the gang freshen up upon their arrival, creepily hitting on Maggie (Lauren Cohan) during their negotiations, continually calling her Natalie. Even his own people don't seem to like him all that much. All we can say is, Xander Berkeley was just the right actor for the role.
That said, Maggie handled him like a pro during their talks, stepping into the leadership role dearly departed Deanna had in mind for her. Sure, it's a given Daryl's suggestion that the Alexandria people take out Negan and his crew is not going to go well for them, but Maggie sold the hell out of it to a wounded Gregory, making sure Alexandria benefited from it from the jump. She took half of what the Hilltop had, knowing Gregory and his people couldn't defend themselves against any further Negan attacks. It was a badass moment for the character, no doubt about it.
But it's hard to get too excited for their slight win at the Hilltop because there's no doubt that taking on Negan—straight-up murdering him and his people—is going to wreck our heroes in ways they can't even imagine. So, they can pass around Maggie's ultrasound photo and smile all they want, but this is The Walking Dead—and there's nothing but doom ahead. Like Maggie told Rick about the trade, this is going to cost them something. And very likely someone.
Are Rick and the gang a little too sure of their skills in promising to take out Negan? Sound off in the comments below!
Spare Parts:
-Well, the Richonne cat is out of the bag and it's earned a seal of approval from Carl (Chandler Riggs). The looks of surprise on everyone's face on the stairwell when they put two and two together was priceless.
-How do we feel about this love triangle between Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green)? The heavy focus on Abe's state of mind this week felt a little strange, considering we've rarely ever spent much time in his head. If we were betting people, we'd bet on danger visiting him sometime soon.
-Negan's message to Gregory (aka, having one of his own men stab him in the guy) was intense. The way the show is slowly building up how terrifying this guy is before we ever even see him is smart. Here's hoping Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance will live up to the expectations by the time he finally appears in the season finale.
-"Sorry in advance. Gregory can be a real prick." You said it, Jesus. Not us.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.