BWW Recap: THE WALKING DEAD and The Book of Aaron

We are officially out of Georgia, WALKING DEAD fans, and welcome to Alexandria. (I did say that with a Ricardo Montalban accent). This episode continues the gang on their journey to once again try and find a place to settle, but is Aaron a trustable source? The answer varies amongst our survivors.

When the girls bring Aaron back to the barn to present him to the gang, Rick immediately puts on the interrogation game with his first soldier Daryl at his side. Aaron is presenting yet another idealistic location where they can all live happily and wait out the apocalypse. But if he's been watching this group as closely as he says he is, he should know that it's not going to be an easy sell. Rick immediately knocks him out and ties him up. Aaron swears that there are cars nearby to take them to his camp, but he will not reveal the location.

Michonne and Maggie agree to go check it out and Rick sends Glenn, Abraham and Rosita with them. The group finds Aaron's promises to be true and they come upon a car and an RV. (Aw, Dale. #RIP) They decide to bring back to Rick their opinion that they should trust Aaron and give it a shot. Still skeptical, Rick creates a plan to take a different route against Aaron's warnings. In doing so, they encounter a giant herd of walkers and wreck the car. Aaron sees a flare go off in the distance and takes off. As the group fend off the walkers, Glenn winds up saving Aaron's life and they all escape to safety where they find Aaron's counterpart, Eric. But he's not just his counterpart, he's his boyfriend and Glenn convinces Rick to trust them and let them stay together. #NOH8. They decide they will all leave for the new camp, "Alexandria," in the morning.

Some are starting to have hope, but Rick is still very scared. After all, the Prison, Terminus and Woodbury all had the promise of a new day too. He takes a moment by himself to hide a weapon on him just in case. And as they pull up to the gate it's only the sound of distant children's laughter that sparks a glimmer of hope in Rick's eyes.

I think the big surprise in this episode is Michonne. She has really evolved since we first met her. Here she is standing up to Rick, not challenging his leadership, but also not backing down just because he has decreed his opinion. And toward the end when she is almost counseling him into having a little faith. I really like seeing her as the voice of reason though. Although I wish she had asked Aaron, "the questions" a little sooner. The lack of people in the photos (and in the preview below) is a tad creepy. Quick thought... are Michonne and Carol becoming the devil and the angels on Rick's shoulders?

And Carol's last words of the episode, "Even though you were wrong, you were right," probably best sums it up. Rick is absolutely correct to be this not just skeptical, but terrified. He does have two children at risk here. They have been burned (literally in some cases) many times whenever they have found a place to settle. And Aaron promising this utopia seems a bit too good to be true. I guess we'll find out next week when they open the gate.

This was definitely one of the lighter episodes of the season. The first two upon the mid-season return were pretty heavy and I think this show is really good at giving us these breather episodes where we can sit back and know that something big is definitely coming, but it's not going to be right now. So let's take a look at our characters and still grieve for Tyrese and Beth and everyone and get prepared for where this Alexandria place is going to take us next. I wonder if they'll get all showered and cleaned up. They're gonna look so weird! (Except Daryl, Daryl always looks good.)

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Here's a preview of next week's episode:

Photo Credit: AMC