Someone pointed out that this might be the happiest episode of the series to date.  No one died, so far as we know, and there was actually a little bit of comedy thrown into the mix!  It might have been a deliberate counterpoint to the insanity of the previous installment, but having a classic road trip comedy and a little unexpected romance was hardly the expected next step in the journey! 

At the same time, there is something to be said about the air of complacency that seems to have fallen on Alexandria.  It’s been two months, they haven’t run into other people, and the threat of the herd is long gone.  Carl is more or less all right, and Rick and Michonne have fallen into enough of a domestic routine to get interested in each other.  What could possibly go wrong?


Anyone with any sense realizes that this is the relative calm before the next horrific storm, and the stormclouds will be brewing soon enough.  Right now everyone is accumulating all the things they could and should be afraid to lose.  I suspect the next few episodes will be all about that: giving the audience a sense of relative normalcy and community-level conflict before introducing, as we all know they will, the terrifying threat of Negan and The Saviors.  

Meanwhile, there is also the arrival of Jesus on the scene, and he is right out of the source material, in terms of his mannerisms and abilities.  Rick was right to notice that Jesus was too well-groomed to be on his own in the wilderness, but what does that mean?  Readers know, but it should be noted that Jesus only said that he didn’t have a camp.  He said nothing about any other time of community or support system.  And he also used the possibility of interlopers as a plausible threat for distraction.  Needless to say, something more is brewing.


One of the interesting nuances of the episode pertains to Carl.  Specifically, it’s not entirely clear through much of the episode if Carl is entirely himself after the gunshot wound.  I think there are indications that he’s changed a bit, perhaps still processing what has happened, but fundamentally he is still trying to do the best he can.  Driving Deanna in the direction of someone who loved her was a touching sentiment, from a post-apocalyptic point of view.  





Maybe that’s a reflection of Rick’s restored desire to save other people, right down to resurrecting those three questions.  Daryl is perhaps less enthused, especially after running into Jesus, but there always seems to be an interesting dynamic in the mindset of these two characters together.  There may be a larger picture to take into consideration, though.  Just how many people have survived, and how long does Rick think they can continue without new additions to the Alexandria Safe-Zone?  Quite frankly, if Rick and Daryl are making the supply runs, that speaks volumes.


The episode doesn’t make a lot of noise about the amount of time that has passed since the events of “No Way Out”, so it may seem a little fast for Rick to be moving on to making out with Michonne so soon after losing Jessie.  That said, Rick and Michonne have been circling each other for a while, so all things being equal, it’s not hard to understand.  It also quickly re-establishes a sense of familial attachment, and one that is more relatable, so any threat that might come in the future will only be that much more potent.