‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Home Sweet Home’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 1017 of ‘The Walking Dead’.
​
Over the course of the past ten seasons, the characters that inhabit the world of The Walking Dead, have faced some downright incredible trauma. For not only did they have to watch the world collapse before their eyes at the rotten hands of the living dead, but they’ve also lost friends and family members during their long trek eastward and sadly, their tough experiences didn’t end with their arrival at Alexandria. For their introduction to Negan and the Saviors brought about the end of Glenn Rhee and Sergeant Abraham Ford, and the resulting war that came from that… saw Carl Grimes pass away as well.
​
Yet the hardships didn’t end there either. For Rick Grimes, the appointed patriarch of this extended family seemingly died in an accident years after ‘All Out War’ came to an end, and Alpha’s desire to bring chaos and pain to their world, saw more good people die before the Whisperer War came to a close and really, this is important to note, simply because… these brave characters have always done their best to try and hold their heads high after losing those they love. In part because there is always so much for them to do and new challenges for them to face. But also, because, they seemingly haven’t wanted to face their pain. As if this bold and unsettling new world has motivated them to hold onto it in order to give them strength.

Which is… an unhealthy thing to do, to say the least. Since that means the resultant pain from their losses has festered and grown and that can lead a person down a pair of interesting paths. One where they eventually explode because they can no longer contain their emotions or one where they finally open up and face it and begin to heal and it just so happens, that after ten years of strife and difficult moments, the series is opting to give the characters the opportunity to take part in that latter option as we begin to close in on the eleventh and final season, as evidenced by last night’s tale. For ‘Home Sweet Home’ focused heavily on Maggie Rhee and her return to the Alexandria fold and that of course meant… the time had come for Maggie to face the past and the pain she's buried.

In fact, the series wasted zero time in making that happen, since she quickly encountered Negan in her travels and that of course, immediately opened up all kinds of old wounds and questions about what her future in Alexandria was going to look like. Because returning home would mean that she and her son, would be forced to have to look the man that murdered Glenn in the eye, just about every single day and that left her wondering if by chance, she was making the wrong call in potentially returning to Alexandria. But sage advice, and a harrowing situation, and her son, helped Maggie to realize a few key things. Such as the fact, that there was no better option for her family and friends right now, than going back to Alexandria.

---

Which brings us to the tough situation in question. Because it turns out that Maggie’s prior colony, was brought down by a mysterious group of attackers known as the Reapers and sadly, one of them had tracked Maggie and her group to their current location. Which meant that before they could even think of settling in behind Alexandria’s gates, this rag-tag group had to deal with this threat and well, it quickly became obvious why Maggie and her friends fear these people. Since they are relentless and ruthless and as strong as they come, since this mysterious hunter/reaper was able to toss Daryl around with impunity. And while they were able to defeat him in the most unique and messy way imaginable, clearly being somewhere safe with walls and armed guards really does offer up Maggie and what’s left of her group, their best chance at survival. 
​
But while that definitely played a big part in her coming home, there was mention of other reasons for her to come back to Alexandra. Such as Daryl pointing out that she couldn’t run forever and needed to face her pain and also, her son also helped to solidify her decision to return home after all these years. Because Daryl was in fact, one hundred percent correct and running from yesterday wasn’t doing her any favors and eventually, her son would be cognizant of her decision to hide from this as well, and setting that example didn’t sit right with her. Which meant the right thing to do was to face Negan and stand tall in doing so and teach her son some valuable life lessons in the process and well, her decision to do that, made this episode quite inspiring and downright brilliant, quite frankly. For several reasons.

Because this really is the first time we’ve seen any character on this show, speak to their pain and reflect upon their journey in a healthy manner. Which led to some powerful and moving moments for certain as Maggie and Daryl reflected upon Glenn and what comes next and it was equally as wonderful to see Daryl be the source of logic and guidance for Maggie in this instance, since it speaks to how far he’s come and grown. And of course, seeing Maggie rise up and walk right past the source of her pain was indeed about brave as it gets and that’s most certainly where the inspiration in this tale comes from. Because it takes guts to do what she did and if Maggie Rhee can walk right by the man that killed her husband in a mad quest for power, then we can certainly take the time to face our fears and problems in life.

But the bittersweet stuff, well that came from the introduction of Herschel Rhee. Because regardless of Maggie’s bravery in this tale, the fact that he is a spitting image of his father definitely tugs at one’s heartstrings and reminds us of the gravity of this journey and what these characters have lost and how badly we want to see them rise above their pain. And this episode hopefully signals that the story is working toward just that and really in the end, this was one incredible episode for certain. Because this is the first time that The Walking Dead offered up a story that was completely free of the confines of the source material and the first time it’s been so intimate in nature and if that is any kind of indication of what the show is going to be like going forward, then we are going to be in for quite the incredible treat as we inch closer and closer to the end of this grand and sweeping saga. Until next time.

---