‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Bounty’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Normally on The Walking Dead, when a villain comes calling at the sanctuary of our heroes, bad things go down. For example, when the Governor dropped by the Prison, he brought bullets and a van loaded to the brim with the dead for Rick and all of his friends, leading to chaos and terror. And of course, every single time Negan came calling at the gates of Alexandria, ugly moments came about, the kind that sometimes saw people die in harrowing fashion and well, I have to admit that as I settled in to watch ‘Bounty’, I was nervous about what was going to happen, now that Alpha and the Whisperers were knocking on the front door of Hilltop.
 
Because her daughter Lydia established last week, that her mother was willing to do whatever it takes to keep her family safe, which had to mean that trouble was about to come calling. But this, this was a special episode, one that oddly enough found a way to embody the best parts of people in the midst of a crisis and I have to admit that I was fully unprepared for all the positive storytelling elements that came our way in this one because this story simply ended up being a delight to watch. But before we dive deep into Daryl’s game of mental chess with Alpha, we need to take a moment and discuss the most positively charged storyline of the night, one involving a special quest for King Ezekiel and his queen.
 
For shortly after the King and his merry band of hunters were able to secure a fine haul of elk to feed the people, he let Carol know about a little surprise side mission he’d be planning, one that had a touch of risk, but one that he thought was necessary to inject a little bit of joy and wonder into the upcoming fair; securing a projector bulb from an old theater. Because the opportunity to show the kids back home a movie for the first time ever was too great to pass up, and it was nice to see everyone work together to fight the dead in this place to secure said bulb and oddly enough, the good gestures here didn’t end with the securing of the bulb. 
 
Because Ezekiel also wanted to get his hands on a display box for something that the story seemingly forgot about, the Community Charter, something that the King was keeping safe in the Kingdom for the time being and well, giving the Charter a little TLC was paramount to Ezekiel. For he truly believes this document is the key to a grand future for mankind, one that will bring forth stability, prosperity and unity and it was just beautiful to watch him care for this document in this tale, and see the hope that it inspires in his heart, because just giving it a proper display case energized Ezekiel in ways we haven’t seen for some time now and one can only hope that his dream of seeing it signed will eventually come true…

---

​Yet, while all of that was lovely to see in its own right, we do still need to discuss the situation with Alpha since she and her people were waiting at the gates of Hilltop while the King and Carol worked to secure treats for the Kingdom and well, this ended up becoming quite the harrowing storyline. Because we quickly came to learn that Alpha comes prepared in any situation since she knew that Daryl would want to talk and negotiate for her daughter, and since he was initially hesitant to hand over Lydia, she quickly used Luke and Alden as bargaining chips to get what she wanted. But while this sequence of events were pretty low key in their own right, and potentially featured the only real ‘grown up’ conversation between hero and foe in the history of the series, what made this sequence tough to watch, is what happened when Daryl went looking for Lydia and Henry, who naturally helped to hide the girl from her mother. 
 
Because during that search, a tiny baby that joined the Whisperers on their journey, cried out as babies are wont to do. And rather than tell the mother to disappear into the shadows or use her lieutenants to protect her from the corpses the Whisperers call their brethren, Alpha simply offered up a simple solution with a shrug and a look; let the dead eat the baby, and I’ll be honest, that was damn chilling to say the least. For it reinforces the fact that Alpha will do whatever she must to survive and that the only life she values in this world is her daughter’s. But thankfully, some quick thinking on Luke’s part, and an assist from Connie, brought forth safety for the baby, keeping the series from crossing a disturbing line. 
 
However, while all of this was chilling to watch in its own right, I made mention of the fact that there was hope and positivity to be found everywhere in this tale and this segment was no exception to that rule. Because despite the fact that conflict was seemingly looming at Hilltop, everyone, including Lydia, worked to do the right thing and avoid bloodshed and Lydia’s willingness to return to her people kept Luke and Alden alive and sent the Whisperers back into the wild and it was nice to see Daryl and others try and find a peaceful resolution to a problem for a change, instead of just raising their weapons, since that embodies the better world that Rick and Carl envisioned for everyone.
 
But alas, the peace found in this tale is fragile at best, since it was implied that the King and his merry band of heroes crossed over into Whisperer territory, and that may bring about retribution, as will Henry’s decision to find Lydia if Daryl doesn’t get to him first. If anything, it’s only a matter of time before Alpha decides she’s had enough of dealing with these communities, allowing for conflict to arise. But in the here and the now, we can at least, bask in the wonder of this episode, since efforts were genuinely made to keep the peace and find ways to improve lives for others, and that was a refreshing breath of fresh air for this series. But the clock is ticking when it comes to peace and I fear that Henry, and his inability to let Lydia go, will only help to push the clock towards midnight. Until next time. 

---