The Walking Dead S5E11: The Distance
Original Airdate: February 22, 2015
Recap by Sarabeth Pollock
After last week’s episode in which we see how low our group has gotten, this week it’s time to pick things back up.
Remember that water from a friend? Now we know who the “friend” is. It’s Aaron.
The group is still in the barn. It’s very quiet. When Maggie cautiously walks in with Aaron, everyone is alert. Maggie says he’s by himself, but that doesn’t mean anything. (Don’t you love seeing Rick holding Judith and a gun?) Aaron says it’s nice to meet everyone. Rick is surprised by the tine gun Aaron has with him. The girls explain that Aaron wants the group to audition for membership. Aaron says that the choice isn’t his to make; his job is to get the group to come back to the camp to see if they should be allowed to stay in the camp. He doesn’t blame the group for not trusting him. Aaron wouldn’t trust a guy like himself either.
Sasha hands Aaron’s backpack to Rick and Aaron tells Rick to take out an envelope full of pictures. The first picture is of a huge steel wall that is impenetrable. The only thing that Aaron’s community is lacking is people like the ones in Rick’s group to make it stronger. As Aaron explains the second picture, Rick walks up and knocks him out cold.
With their new hostage, the group needs to figure out how to prepare for the arrival of the rest of his group. Carl empties out the pack and finds a flare gun to alert the rest of the group. Michonne wants to know Rick’s plan since Rick didn’t give a “let’s knock him out” look.
When Aaron wakes up, Rick wants to know how many people are out there. Aaron seems unfazed that Rick knocked him out. He knows that it doesn’t matter what number he tells Rick. Rick will never trust him. Aaron reminds him about the bottles of the water. Daryl wants to know how long they have been following the group. Aaron says they were impressed that they had Walkers on their trail but never panicked, and they never turned on each other. Aaron says he has one person with him, and he’s prepared to drive the whole group to the camp by lunchtime. If they’d wanted Rick’s group dead, they would have set the barn on fire. Michonne wants to check out the cars because she’s not sure of anything. She doesn’t think it’s safe passing up a place where Judith can live. Glenn volunteers to go with her. Rick asks Abraham and Rosita to go with the search party. Rick says is the group isn’t back in sixty minutes they will come after them. They leave Aaron in the barn with Rick while the remaining people find a place to hide outside the barn.
Rick stays inside with Aaron, who explains that he once worked for an NGO where he constantly had guns pointed at him. He knows Rick’s people aren’t bad people. Rick nods, but he insists that if Michonne’s group isn’t back in sixty minutes, Aaron will have a knife in the base of his skull.
Michonne’s group walks down a road. Glenn issues safety orders, telling everyone to keep their weapons up. Michonne challenges Glenn’s idea of shooting people without knowing what they want. Glenn doesn’t understand why Aaron’s people would want to welcome them anyway. Michonne points out that they have saved many people along their way, including a priest, one of the Governor’s people, and a “crazy lady with a sword.” In the distance, someone watches the group walk down the road.
Rick tries to make food for Judith by mashing up acorns with the butt of his gun. Aaron reminds Rick of the jar of applesauce in his bag. If Judith cries, she’ll attract Walkers, which would not be in their best interest. Rick takes the jar and feeds a spoonful to Aaron, who is shocked at the thought that Rick thinks that Aaron would want to poison his baby. Aaron says that he hates applesauce because his mother made him eat it, but Rick insists and holds the spoon to the stranger’s mouth. After Aaron takes a taste, Rick does as well. Aaron has 43 minutes.
The street gang finds a car and a motor home where Aaron said they would be. Two Walkers leave the bushes and Abraham and Rosita kill them. They go into the motor home and make sure it’s empty. Not only is it empty, but it’s full of food. Abraham asks Rosita if she thought Abraham was going to hurt her back at the fire truck. No, she didn’t.
The road crew takes the vehicles back to the barn and take stock of their new food supply. Rick tells Aaron that the food is theirs now, whether or not they go to the camp. Michonne leads the charge and says that they’re going to the camp. Daryl agrees, saying the barn smells like horse shit. Aaron says that he usually drives the recruits back. Michonne says this isn’t negotiable. Aaron wants to take a certain road, but Rick doesn’t want to do it if Aaron won’t give them directions in advance. Aaron won’t budge, so Rick proclaims that they will take his road and they’ll leave at sundown.
Michonne follows Rick outside. Rick thinks that he, Michonne and Aaron should take the car and everyone else can go in the motor home. Michonne wants to be sure that Rick is going to go to the camp. He reminds her that she didn’t hear anything outside Woodbury or Terminus. He’s taking his family there, and while he doesn’t think anything could convince him to go inside, he’s going to give it a shot.
As night falls, Rick looks in the glove box and finds license plates. Aaron explains that he wants to collect all fifty states for his house. He shows Michonne a picture of his house. Michonne goes through the pictures and notes that there are no pictures of people. He says he got the exposure wrong, but now she suspects that something is wrong with him. She asks Rick if he asked Aaron the questions. When she asks him about how many Walkers he killed, he pauses long enough to espouse concern from Glenn, who is at the wheel. He killed a lot of Walkers and two people who tried to kill him. That’s when Rick finds a listening device in the car. If Aaron had one, the others would as well and they know the plan. Suddenly they run into a herd of Walkers. Literally. The road is full of them and the car plows them down. When they get to the end of the herd, the group realizes that the motor home is gone. The car won’t start so Michonne starts pulling body parts from the car’s grill. A flare lights up the night, which sends Aaron into a panic. He kicks open the door and runs off. Michonne points out that chasing him will lead them to the motor home so they go off in pursuit. They’re surrounded by Walkers and they get separated. Glenn almost gets bitten but he manages to smash his Walker’s head into a rock. Glenn finds Aaron fighting off a Walker. He kills the Walker and frees Aaron, telling him that he can run if he wants. Aaron says that they can make it together, but only together. He was indeed listening to Glenn’s conversation with the group.
Rick is out of ammo and he shoots the flare into a Walker’s head. Michonne starts hacking away, but soon Glenn and Aaron show up again, taking out the rest of the Walkers. Aaron holds up his hands and says he can be tied up again, but Rick isn’t interested. They reach the road and run off toward the water tower. Daryl is standing guard outside and he alerts the group that the others are home. Aaron runs inside and finds Eric on the couch with a broken ankle. He says that he really likes Maggie. Aaron kisses Eric and says that they’ll go to the infirmary when they get back. They share a very passionate kiss. They’re lovers. Eric shows Aaron the license plate he found for him, and Aaron sheepishly admits he lost the car. They laugh. Rick walks in and interrupts their reunion.
Outside, Aaron thanks the group and says his debt to them will be paid in full in Alexandria. He wants to sleep with Eric but Rick wants to keep them apart. Glenn suggests that Rick allows this to happen now that they know where they’re going. He relents.
The next day the cars speed down the road. Aaron watches his lover sleep when Noah comes in to say that it’s time for more medicine. Aaron notices Noah’s leg and says there’s a talented surgeon in Alexandria. Inside the cabin, Eugene plays cards with the group while Abraham drives. Rosita points out the city ahead of them. Alexandria is in the distance. Abraham sees that the battery is running low but thinks they can make it. A short while later the motor home dies and he curses their luck. Where on earth will they find another battery? Glenn smiles and shows him a spare. When he asks Glenn how he knew that, Glenn’s smile gets bigger as he remembers Dale. Rick looks down the road and Michonne tells him that the war is over now. He has to let everything go. Rick remembers that Bob said he needed to pick his moments. The motor home’s engine roars to life, but Rick has a task. He has to bury the gun, just in case.
When they approach the gates, Rick’s eyes grow large as he hears children playing. Michonne grabs his hand. “Ready?” he asks. The group gets out and Rick grabs Judith. Carol tells him that even though he was wrong, he’s still right.
The team has arrived at Alexandria. But is it going to be the safe haven they want it to be? Tune in next week!
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