What did the end of 'The Walking Dead' ('East') episode 615 mean?

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon - The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 15 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, March 27, 2016

"The world's ours and we know how to take it!" - Rick to Michonne, before more crappy stuff happens

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ALERT

That final three seconds will break the heart of every Daryl lover out there. And there are millions. Social media will blow up immediately. It will be mayhem! People will boycott the show!

My hashtag prediction: #IsDaryldead?

Bottom line: Dwight shot him. With a grin. The blood splattered all over the camera. The camera went black. You hear Daryl's body fall to the ground. "You'll be alright," Dwight said, sardonically. End of scene.

Question: is Daryl really kaput? Did "The Walking Dead" just take down the most popular character on the show?

That is either the bravest or dumbest move in all six seasons of this still very popular show.

But in all likelihood, he isn't dead, just wounded, very very badly. Problem: Denise isn't around to save him. His three allies Rosita, Glenn and Michonne are captured.

Things are looking mighty bleak for him and the rest of them. Bleak indeed.

This episode seemed to be involve a lot of dialogue and rehash of philosophies between characters. But all that is superseded by Daryl, similar to what happened last October when Glenn supposedly perished.

Based on all that I've seen over the years, Daryl is by far the most popular character on the show, bigger than Rick, bigger than Michonne, bigger than Glenn, bigger than Carol. (That's the top five.)

Next week, for the 90-minute season finale, we will meet the evil Negan for the first time while we ask ourselves how much better is Rick's group in this situation?

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So what else happened? Does it even matter? Okay, here we go:

• Carol flees. As noted in the previous episode, she left because she thinks she can't kill anymore and protect those she loves. I'm not sure if she loved Tobin but she appeared to at least like him somewhat. Out on the road, she drives without seeming purpose and runs into more Saviors who are casing Alexandria. Instead of killing her, she acts all innocent, then shoots a couple, spears another, then hits one more with a bullet. Unfortunately, she didn't look carefully enough in the truck. One Savior survives. By the time Rick and Morgan find her, shes gone. Where? We do not know.
• Rick and Morgan argue yet again. Yes, it's the "should bad guys live or not" debate. Rick is now 100% in the camp of kill or be killed. Morgan remains in the "every life is precious" camp. But they accept each other's differences. Morgan convinces Rick to go back to Alexandria. He plans to find Carol and even if he doesn't, don't go looking for him. He realizes how valuable Carol is to Rick. He'll do that for him.
• Maggie bonds with Enid. Maggie wants to start anew and has Enid cut her hair. Unfortunately, she starts having major pains in her stomach. Is she miscarrying? At least we got to see her and Glenn in a sizzling shower scene.
• Abraham and Sasha sitting in a tree... They are a couple for sure. Rosita watches on, sadly.
• Revenge not so sweet. Daryl is shot because he went out on his own to find Dwight's gang to have revenge upon Denise's death. Rosita, Michonne and Glenn track him down and try to get him to go back home. He refuses. So Rosita and Daryl go on. While Michonne and Glenn go back to the truck, Dwight finds them and ties them up. Why? Because Saviors may be mean and menacing but they are terrible shots and don't kill Rick's crew when they should... until that very last moment. In this case, keeping them around was a good move because they were used as bait. When Rosita and Daryl see Michonne and Glenn tied up, Dwight & Co. sneak up on them.

Talking Dead:

"Walking Dead" fan Yvette Nicole Brown said it's now way Daryl is dead: just a shoulder hit. The poll asking if he's okay, 92 percent of viewers said yes. Denise Huth, the executive producer, didn't seem to say he's dead. So I doubt it.

"It was really dumb everyone started flooding out of Alexandria," said Chris Hardwick.

Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Sasha, said there were enough Alexandrians staying back to hold everything down. "As Sasha, it was a little embarrassing that Carol left on her watch," she said.

They then talk about Carol. Brown said she is on the edge. "She is running from herself," Martin-Green said. They talked about the gun in the sleeve bit.