The Walking Dead - S5E11 - The Distance

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Previously on The Walking Dead, ‘Them’

By the time Maggie and Sasha make it back to the barn, everyone is awake and just sitting around. Judith looks bored as fuck. Man. Judith is SO over this zombie apocalypse shit and it’s evident in every scene she’s in tonight.

Anyway, the girls walk in with Aaron and our group go right into Asshole Mode. Aaron is gripped up and patted down. Sasha says he has a camp and he wants them to audition to join them. Aaron says his job is to lure, er, I mean, convince people to come back. He has pictures of their community, which looks well protected, but we can’t be sure because after looking at exactly TWO pics, Rick walks up on Aaron and punches him in the face.

“Audition? This ain’t Glee, bitch!”

Okay. He didn’t say that.

Michonne is like, “You have no home training.”

 

They find a flare gun in his pack while he’s out, and when he wakes up, Rick questions him on how many people are out there. Aaron says it won’t matter what he says, but eventually says it’s one. Of course Rick thinks that’s bullshit. Aaron insists it’s him and one other person, with two cars just a few miles away. Rick isn’t trying to hear ANY of it, but Michonne thinks it’s worth checking out. Even though Rick says her way is dangerous, she thinks passing up a safe place for Judith to live is dangerous, too - especially since they can take care of themselves.

Eventually, Rick is outvoted. The group splits into two groups to check out the vehicles while Rick stays behind with Aaron. Aaron tells him he’s seen bad people before. Bad people who wanted to kill him. He doesn’t believe Rick and crew are bad people. Rick points out just because they’re good people, doesn’t mean they won’t kill him. If Michonne’s group isn’t back in an hour, Rick will put a knife through the base of Aaron’s skull.

Aaron better hope they don’t run into ANY trouble. Shit.

Maggie, Glenn, Abe, Michonne, and Rosita are walking down the road when Glenn directs them to shoot right away if they see anyone. Michonne wonders what that would mean should the others be people like them. Glenn seems to be following Rick’s train of thought. He says if the other group is like them, they should be afraid. Michonne reminds him that even though they look evil as hell, they’re the same group of people who save people. They eventually find the vehicles, including an RV with food. But first they need to take care of a few walkers.

 

Abe and Rosita have a moment where she lets him know she’s not mad about his flip-out after learning Eugene is a lying liar who lies.

Back at the barn, Judith is screaming her head off. I told y’all she is over it. Aaron says he has applesauce, but Rick would rather feed his baby these mashed up acorns he wasn’t even tryna mix with any kind of liquids. Also, the applesauce might be poison. Aaron is forced to eat a spoonful to prove it’s not. Before he even swallows good, Rick eats some, too. I don’t know how effective that was, Rick.

Michonne and crew find the vehicles and drive them back, with lots of supplies. Rick says they’re gonna Debo those supplies whether they’re going with Aaron or not. Michonne says, “But we are going.” Again, Rick is outvoted. When it comes down to how to get to Aaron’s camp, Rick wants to know where it is so they can just go. Aaron insists on driving them and not giving up the location ahead of time. Fine. Then they’ll go at night, Rick says, so they can sneak up and they’re going to take the one road Aaron says is fucked because trust issues.

Outside, Michonne calls Rick on his shit. Are they really going or was he just saying that to see if Aaron would give up the location? Rick talks about the silence outside of both Woodbury and Terminus - which is bullshit because Woodbury was like Mayberry with fucking Main Street parades of fresh lemonade. Anyway, he’s not sure there’s anything that can make him cross into the gates of this new place, with his family, but he’s going to find out.

So, they’re driving down Rt. 23, which might as well be called Rt. 666, and it’s dark as fuck. Michonne rides in the backseat with Aaron while Glenn drives and Rick rides shotgun. Everyone else follows in another car. Rick discovers Aaron’s license plate collection in the glove box. He wants to collect all 50 states and hang them in his house. Michonne is impressed that he has his own house and he shows her more pictures of the community. She notices there aren’t any people in the pics and his answer why smells like straight up bullshit. That’s when she remembers they didn’t ask Aaron the three questions.

How many walkers have you killed? Too many to count. How many people? Two, because they tried to kill me.

Then Rick discovers a listening device in the car. If Aaron’s people were listening, they know the whole plan. Rick screams like Admiral Ackbar and Glenn, distracted, starts plowing into walkers. He won’t put on the brakes because he’s scared the car behind them will crash into them or something. So, he continues on for a bit, slamming into walkers like it’s a video game and those bitches are bonus points.

They finally hop out of the car to clean all the guts and shit off the windshield. The car behind them got away, but now they’re fucked because walkers are closing in fast… for walkers. And of course the car won’t start so Michonne hops out again to clean out more guts from the grill. Then, a flare fires in the distance and Aaron FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. He kicks open the door, knocking Michonne on her ass, and runs off into the woods. Michonne gives chase after telling Rick their people may think they’re the ones who fired the flare so it may be their only hope of reconnecting. I’m not sure what that got to do with chasing Aaron, but okay.

As walkers drive them into … a cornfield, Glenn is separated from Rick and almost gets bitten. As he tries to find Rick, he finds Aaron trapped by a walker. He actually takes a few steps away before remembering his mama ain’t raise him like that. He frees Aaron, who convinces him to stick together.

Michonne and Rick are cornered and Rick’s out of bullet so he uses the flare gun to make a Walk o’ Lantern. Aaron and Glenn arrive with guns to save their asses. Rick warns Aaron that if this is a trap, his people will die tonight. They head off in the direction of the flare (near a water tower).

When they arrive, Rick and Daryl exchange some complicated whistle code like this is the damn Hunger Games or something. Everyone is okay, but Aaron panics when he doesn’t see his friend, Eric. Eric calls out from inside the building and we see that Eric is Aaron’s bae!

They are adorable! Eric has a broken ankle and it’s clear that Aaron was so worried about him. When he saw the flare, he thought the worst. Rick witnesses the closeness between the two. In the next room, Aaron suggests the group get some sleep and they’ll head for his community in the morning. Rick is cool with that idea, but he wants Aaron to sleep away from Eric. Aaron finally puts his foot down and says Rick will have to shoot him to keep him from bae. Glenn talks some sense into Rick. Oh, and Aaron finally says where they’re going: Alexandria.

The next day, on the road Noah and Aaron have a moment where we learn their Alexandria community has a surgeon. When Rosita spies the monuments in the distance, she points it out Abraham, who eyeballs a Low Voltage warning light on the dashboard. They’re a little more than halfway there so he thinks they should make it.

Anaaand then the RV dies. But no worries, Abraham. Glenn is a master RV mechanic and knows about spare batteries in RVs so they can replace their dead one easy-peasy. RIP, Dale.

Before they get back on the road, Michonne warns Rick that he has to let some of that anger and shit go. It will turn on him if he doesn’t. He seems to take in what she’s telling him, and then says he needs a moment alone. I thought he was going to drop a deuce in the woods or something, but it turns out he just wanted to plant a gun somewhere he could come back to later.

Rick’s suspicion is so delicious.

They arrive at the gates of the community and Rick hears the sounds of children playing on the other side. Michonne squeezes his hand and asks if he’s ready. He is, but first he needs to get Judith from the backseat where she’s strapped into absolutely nothing. YOLO. She’s rolling around in the backseat with the confidence of a character who knows they ain’t getting killed off any time soon.

The episode ends before we get to see if anyone is roasting human parts on a grill.

Thoughts: 

• Some of the best conflicts occur when both sides have valid points. Here, I believe going with Michonne’s way is the best move. This is going to become an issue sooner or later. Just as they were cautious about Noah’s community, they should be cautious with this, but at some point - if you want to stop running and feeding your baby acorn mush (dry) - you’re gonna need to trust someone and the guy who has, so far, supplied proof and full explanations, isn’t a bad place to start.
• The end of this episode is perfect for a time jump. Seriously. I don’t need to see a tour of the community and more of Rick’s trust issues. Jump ahead six months and let me see our group settled in before the shit hits the fan. Michonne and Rick can be all boo’ed up and Judith can be like, five, cause you know how shows age children. Then, when and if they ever have to hit the road again, no more crying baby to worry about.
• The Rosita/Abraham clearing of the air was so unnecessary.