Warning: This may contain spoilers!
On this week's episode of The Walking Dead, apparently, some time has passed and Alexandria has been rebuilt and the walkers are cleared. Rick and Daryl are getting together to go on a supply run, but they aren't the only people trying to get supplies.
The episode opened with the weirdest unintentional shock. Carl is no longer in a hospital bed. He's out and walking around. He has an eyepatch on, but he seems pretty fine. The show jumped ahead what seems like at least a month, with no real solid indication that it was going to happen.
Jesus! Paul Monroe makes his way onto the show and warns Rick and Daryl about scavengers headed their way, then proceeds to steal Rick and Daryl's truck. This sends the two men running after him, but Jesus is already too far gone. However, the guys catch up to him down the road when he gets a flat. The guy is just as awesome as he is in the comics. He easily holds his own against two men in a fight. He's resourceful, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy.
It's this weird game of cat and mouse between them all. It's the first time the group has come across someone on the road who isn't inherently evil and flat out trying to kill them. However, their back and forth battle with him results in Rick and Daryl losing the truck in a pond.
All-in-all, Rick and Daryl make what seems to be the smart decision by bringing Jesus to Alexandria. Obviously, to progress the story, this is smart, but it's also smart because fans will want to see more of Jesus because Tom Payne did an awesome job portraying Paul Monroe.
Enid and Carl's trips outside of the walls of Alexandria take a weird turn as their relationship becomes a bit standoffish. Enid isn't comfortable taking these trips with Carl anymore, but something is inside of Carl wants to get outside of the walls, even though he is still recovering from a shot to the eye.
There's also the story of Spencer and Michonne venturing outside the walls. Spencer is going for a reason, which isn't revealed until later. Before that's all revealed, that story feels a tad tedious and dull. However, when it's revealed that Spencer is there to find the undead version of Deena, it all makes sense and is some nice character development for Spencer, who sometimes feels lost at sea, since there are so many other much more interesting characters on this show.
There is another shocking moment at the end of the episode, and for once, it's not the death of one of the characters on the show. Michonne and Rick end up hooking up after both of them having a pretty rough day. As a fan of the show, I've always seen their relationship as more of a brother/sister relationship, so them engaging romantically is a bit jarring, but it makes complete sense. They're both strong leaders and why wouldn't they be interested in each other? Another part of me is thinking this is less of a relationship and more of a moment of casual sex between two very stressed out individuals.
Following last week's episode was extremely tough because it was such a high-tension show with a lot of pay off. This episode, aside from the Jesus story, was a bit slower and drawn out, putting these characters back into some state of normalcy. However, it worked exceptionally well and while this episode didn't leave off on a huge cliffhanger, it still engaged the view exceptionally well.