"The Walking Dead" Recap: "Now"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Well it didn't take long for The Walking Dead to go from hopeful back to darkness did it? Last week was a beautiful and uplifting episode, while this week was filled with darkness, despair and uncertainty, with just a dash of hope and one startling revelation. So let's not waste any more time and get right into discussing all the details of "Now".

The Good: I wasn't quite sure how long it was going to be before we got back to Alexandria to find out what would happen in the aftermath of the Wolves attack and how they basically screwed everything up in Rick's plan and as it turns out, the wait was minimal. Last night we discovered that Rick made it out of the RV just fine and well...he barely out ran a chunk of the superherd to make it back home and the fallout from everything that's happened in the last few hours since the plan to move them went into effect was nothing short of devastating. We saw many of the people of Alexandria fall to pieces faced with the reality of death finally being at their doorstep and Betsy's suicide was certainly an ominous note to say the least, but I did mention a dash of hope, and we did see some changes from the people in Alexandria, but there's a lot to talk about when it comes to that, so I'm going to save that for my breakdown later today.

Instead, we need to talk about a couple of pivotal moments in the show that will no doubt have some pretty hefty repercussions to say the least and let's start with the easy one, Deanna's appointing of Rick as the leader of Alexandria. It was so quick and so sudden that I had to rewind the DVR to make sure I heard her right, but it's clear Deanna no longer sees herself as the future leader of this tiny little community and for her to tell Rick he's the guy who needs to lead these folks is a huge deal and it will be interesting to see where this goes since Rick isn't 100% healed mentally yet. But of course the big shocker of the night...the fact that Maggie is pregnant. We've all been speculating on it ever since Glenn asked her to stay home and away from the carnage that was to ensue, and now it's out there in the open. She's carrying his child and that somehow makes his absence all the more devastating since we still don't know if the poor guy is dead or alive. Either way, it's a big time revelation and I have a feeling it will be important to the story as time goes on.  

The Bad: The fact that we are still waiting for an answer on Glenn's fate. This is brutal to say the least. I think at this point I'm at peace with whether he dies or not, I just would like to know which one it is. But as the weeks progress and the fact that he hasn't signaled the city yet, it doesn't bode well for one of our favorite characters. 

The Verdict: In years past this would have served as a filler episode, but it certainly didn't feel like one. With the dead surrounding the city, the turmoil happening within and the intensity of it all, well it made this episode an impressive one. That sense of impending danger was back this week and I liked this one because of how much character growth was on display for both our original group and the people of Alexandria, but that final shot...well that can't be good news. Either Spencer did something bad from high above...or the dead are slowly squeezing in. Time will tell.

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