The Walking Dead S5E15: Try
Original Airdate: March 21, 2015
Recap by Sarabeth Pollock
We’re down to the last two episodes of Season 5. Can you believe that? It’s almost like we’re back at Season 1, what with Rick’s freshly-shorn baby face….
A Walker comes through the woods and steps on a photo. In a dark room, Deanna, Reg and Spencer play Aidan’s “run mix.” They’re in shock. The music is hard, pounding. Perfect for running. Or frustrated people.
Carol is busy cooking. Her kitchen is immaculate. Judith can be seen napping on the baby monitor. Carol writes out a note, but then Sam taps on the window.
Sasha is out hunting Walkers.
Reg sobs, Deanna hugs a pillow, and Spencer turns off the music. There’s a knock at the door. Deanna sees the casserole dish that Carol left with a note: “We’re truly sorry for your loss.” She leaves the dish outside and takes the note. She burns it and drops it onto a plate. This, of course, doesn’t bode well for Rick’s group.
A Walker approached the fence. Sasha takes it out.
In a field, Daryl takes out another Walker. Aaron says that more walkers are around than before. Daryl points at a light in the distance. Someone is out there in a cabin in the woods. Aaron and Daryl stare at it. (Is it Morgan?!)
Deana rewinds the tape where Nicolas tells the story of Aidan’s death. He says that Aidan was trying to save the group but Glenn distracted him. Deanna asks about Tara, and Nicolas was going to save her but the group was going to leave her behind.
Glenn tells the real story to Rick. “I watched him die,” Glenn says.
Deanna asks Nicolas why they came back together. Spencer interrupts them and she says that they shouldn’t do this right now, but Deanna says that she has to do it. Nicolas doesn’t think Deanna understands what he’s saying; he thinks that Rick’s group is evil and needs to leave. Deanna watches the recording on her laptop. She says she sees more than people realize.
Glenn tells Rick that he was trying to save Noah but he couldn’t. These people don’t know how to survive. Rick tells Glenn that they don’t have to live by their rules, but Glenn says that they are all one and the same now. Noah believed in that place. They have to make it work.
Carol watches Sam from a distance. Carol tells Rick that she sent Deanna a casserole. She tells Rick that Sam told her that Jesse put a bolt on the inside of his closet and she sends him inside when things go bad. Last month Sam found his mother unconscious while Pete sat on the porch. Rick asks why Carol cares, and she gives him a look.
Rick sees a boat in the pond with a balloon tied to it. (Where did they find helium?) He’s about to shoot it when Pete comes up. He’s drunk and stumbling. “Keep walking,” Rick growls. Pete is confused at first, but he complies. Rick is intimidating!
Michonne wakes up. She’s in a bed, but she’s fully dressed in case she needs to make a quick move. She contemplates her sheriff’s uniform when Rosita knocks on her door. Tara is stable, but Sasha spent the night in the tower. The women go out into the woods to find her. (Michonne isn’t in her uniform) It’s their first time outside since their arrival and Michonne feels the difference already. She points out that Noah is dead and she feels like she was asleep inside the walls. Rosita points out that she didn’t bring her sword.
Deanna stares at the graves. Rick walks up and apologizes for what happened. She’s not holding up well. Rick says they have a problem with Pete. Deanna says that she’d hoped it would get better. She knew about the abuse, but he’s a talented surgeon. Rick says they can separate them, and if he refuses they will kill him. Rick says that exiling him won’t work, because he’ll come back. She says that this language is not to be tolerated inside. She says if it came down to it, she’d send him away, too.
Michonne and Rosita find Walkers with wounds in the back of their heads. “She’s hunting them,” Michonne observes.
Enid calls out when she hears Carl approach. She wants him to leave, but he says that two people just died and they shouldn’t be out on their own. He asks what she does out there, and she runs off. He chases her, smiling for the first time in a long time. Eventually they come across Walkers in the woods. Enid starts a kitchen timer and throws it. When it goes off, the Walker is distracted. They run off.
Glenn finds Nicolas cleaning the van. He tells him that the four people’s deaths are on him, as is Noah’s death. He says he was lucky to find this place when the walls went up, but he’s not fit for going outside. In fact, it won’t happen anymore. Nicolas thinks it’s a threat, but Glenn says he’s saving him.
Enid says they’re supposed to be outside, that they shouldn’t forget what it’s like. Carl admits that he dreams about it. Carl asks if Ron knows that she comes out there, but she says he wouldn’t understand. Carl wants to know why he scares her. He just does. He compliments her knife, which belonged to her mom. He wants to know what happened to her, but before she can answer, they hear Walkers so they climb into a hollowed out tree. “It’s their worlds. We’re just living in it,” she breathes. He moves to touch her hand, and she notes that he’s afraid of her, too. One of the Walkers bears a W on his forehead.
Nicolas goes out to the woods and finds the gun that Rick had hidden before they arrived in Alexandria. So. He’s the one who took it.
Sasha takes out several Walkers. Michonne and Rosita find her and she says she’s sick of playing offense. She starts shooting as a huge herd approaches, and while she shoots them, Michonne has a flashback to the woman she was. We see her in her hood with her pets and her sword. Rosita goes into action with her knife, and then Sasha’s gun jams. She falls to the ground and drops her knife, but Michonne shoots the Walker. Sasha says she had it under control. She doesn’t need their help. Sasha wants them to leave. Michonne can’t help her. Sasha breaks down and says that she told Noah he wouldn’t make it. She walks off and Rosita follows, but Michonne looks at the gun in her hand.
Daryl and Aaron wait til the next day to explore the field and the house. They find more Walkers who have been chopped into pieces. They’re fresh, too. Aaron follows behind Daryl, gun drawn, as they search. They come upon a woman who has been tied to a tree and flayed alive by Walkers. There’s a W on her forehead as well. She’s newly dead, too, because she is in the process of turning. Daryl puts her out of her misery.
Rick finds Jesse smoking in her garage. Rick gets to the point and says that he knows Pete is hitting her and that it has to stop. She says it will and blames things in the past. It was going on before and he stopped. He’ll do it again. She doesn’t think Rick can help, because throwing him in jail will make things worse. Jesse wants to know why Rick cares. He has everything he needs now, why is he bothering. She says she’s married and she can take care of it. They all have to take care of themselves.
Rick leaves and watches the town with a new focus. He sees the elderly couple on their porch, and a woman reading, and a boy with a balloon. He turns and goes back to Jesse’s house and tells her that Sam asked for a gun to protect her. Rick says that it’s the same out there as it is in there: if you don’t fight, you die, and he doesn’t want that to happen. He can keep her and her boys safe. All she has to do is say yes. Jesse asks him if he’d do this for anyone else, and he says no. “Leave us,” she says. Pete walks in and asks what Rick is doing there. He tells Rick to leave and Jesse intervenes. “Excuse me?” he slurs. “You need to leave,” she tells him. He can’t believe this. He rushes Rick and the men fight. Jesse screams.
Sasha watches as people inside the walls start running. Inside, Rick and Pete have taken the fight to the street and everyone in town is watching. Someone calls for Deanna. Pete is on top of Rick and Jesse tries to pry him off, but he punches her. Sam runs to Carol. Rick gets on top and Carl tries to grab his dad, but that only distracts Rick long enough for Pete to land another punch. Deanna arrives and tells them to stop. Rick gets up and points a gun at them all. Sasha is in her tower shooting the Walkers at the wall. Rick tells them all that their way of doing things is wrong. Deanna says that is very clear to her. Rick says that he isn’t going to stand by and let it happen.
Michonne steps up and knocks him out.
Well, that was intense. What can possibly happen next?
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