This was a relatively low-key "Walking Dead" but still fraught with tension and conflict. And the writers tease us with a possible reason why this whole mess happened but it's "classified." (Classified? Is this information that valuable? It's not as if Glenn could suddenly Tweet the news to the world.)
Here are six things we learned from this episode, which has to be a frustrating one for Daryl Dixon fans because yet again, he's not in this one:
1) Abraham does not appear to be the new Governor. Michael Cudlitz's character looked menacing when we saw him at the end of last week's episode but he may actually be more of a good guy. He has this scientist Eugene Porter with him who had been in contact with folks in D.C. via satellite phone about helping them solve this zombie problem, but there has been no answer lately from the feds. So Abraham wants to drive the 1,000 miles or so to D.C. to get Porter to them because Porter knows why this is happening. Abraham keeps saying he wants to 'save the world," but Tara wonders if he has other ulterior motives. Still, at least Abraham has a mission that appears to be compelling. For better or worse, there may just be three of them. Good news for Tara and Glenn: they aren't marauders or Mad Max types.
2) Glenn has only one mission in mind and it's not saving the world. Glenn wakes up on the truck with Tara and finds himself three hours drive (at least 120 miles away, if they were taking their time, more like 150 to 180 miles if they weren't) from the prison - and Maggie. He believes she's alive. He doesn't really care about Abraham's high-falutin' comments about finding a solution to all this. Even when he asks why, Eugene says, "It's classified." (What???? Boooo!!!) Abraham tries to convince Glenn that his pursuit for his wife is all for naught, that Maggie is most likely dead and even if she isn't, what does it matter if we have to keep living in a world like this? He wants Glenn to join them because there's safety in numbers and he was impressed the way Glenn had killed those walkers earlier before fainting. Glenn impulsively punches Abraham in the face. Really, Glenn? You think that was smart? This is as much of a mismatch as Glenn vs. Merle last season.
3) Eugene may be a genius scientist but he's a horrific shot. While the two are fighting, Eugene sees walkers coming. The others aren't paying attention to him. So he clumsily takes a high-powered weapon and starts shooting. Only this gets Glenn and Abraham and the two women into focus. They come over and kill off the walkers as a group. But Eugene accidentally shoots up the vehicle, rendering it unusable. So much for the trip to D.C.! A sign Abraham is a forgiving guy: he is no longer peeved at Glenn for punching him. He gains respect for Glenn for being such a focused fighter, even if his cause (Maggie) is not worthwhile to him. Glenn walks off, ready to go back toward the prison to find Maggie. Tara follows. Then Rosita, then Eugene, who tells Abraham this is the best move at the moment, that they'll find another vehicle in due time. For now, Eugene noted with quite arrogance, he believes he's smarter than Abraham anyway. Abraham does not object to this. Heck, the guy might help save the world!
4) Does Easy Cheese get some $$$ for the endorsement? Carl and Michonne bond over whether soy milk is delicious or gagworthy. They laugh. Then Carl said he would rather drink powdered milk. He'd rather drink Judith's... That kills the laughter, Carl goes into a dark place thinking about his (presumably) dead sister. As they leave Rick behind to recover, they seek foodstuffs, batteries and water. Michonne finds Easy Cheese and tries to make Carl laugh. He doesn't. Later, while checking out a home (which featured a family of stiffs all together in one room), she tells Carl she had a son, something she has not told anybody in the group before. The bonding is sweet.
5) Rick uses his cop instincts to evade detection while dudes invade his temporary sanctuary. He wakes up to hear people inside the house. He hides under a bed. A dude saunters in, doesn't catch Rick and lays on the bed to nap. Another guy comes in and beats the first guy up for the big bed. Rick gets out while the guy is napping. Then others start coming up the stairs so Rick has to keep running from room to room to evade them. Finally, his luck runs out. He meets up with some dude using the bathroom and they get into a heavy-duty fight that nobody else notices (lucky for Rick.) Rick escapes out of the window after killing the guy and deliberately leaves the bathroom door open so the guy can turn into a walker and create some mayhem. He drops down to the porch and hides, awaiting the return of Michonne and Carl. One of the men is sitting the porch and Rick worries Michonne and Carl might get ambushed. So when he sees them in the distance, he gets ready to attack the guy. Fortunately, the dude is distracted when the bathroom dead guy causes anticipated mayhem and runs inside. This allows all three to escape. On the tracks, they see a sign for sanctuary similar to one that Tyreese, Carol and the two girls saw last week, also on the tracks. So the trio are likely to meet up with the others soon. Rick will probably not be pleased to see Carol again - and with Tyreese no less.
6) Recuperation time in "Walking Dead" land? Amazing! Rick, in just a couple of days, appears back almost to full strength after being unconscious and almost left for dead by his son. The Governor had beat him up pretty hard at the prison. But miraculously, Rick's so strong now he can overcome a man much larger than him and choke him to death. Plus, his incredibly puffy, beat up face from two days earlier is now almost well. Wow! Ditto with Glenn, who also looked godawful just a few days earlier, having just (barely) recovered from that flu. He had just fainted a few hours earlier and then fights a guy 100 pounds bigger than him. And once they stop fighting, Glenn appears just fine - as is Abraham.
The Walker death count: A light load this week. Abraham killed three while Tara watched. Carl, Michonne and Rick together kill none. Rick chokes a dude to death in the bathroom who later turns into a walker. Eugene, Rosita, Glenn, Tara and Abraham drop about 10 of them on the road.
Ratings last week: Ratings fell back from the previous week's mid-season return episode but episode 9 still drew a solid 13.3 million viewers.
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