The Walking Dead - S5E6 - Consumed

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Previously on The Walking Dead, ‘Self-Help’

Carol Exiled Flashback

Remember when Rick told Carol she didn’t have to go home, but she had to get the hell up out the prison, and she pulled off and I said I thought she was going to hit him? Well, we’re back to that moment where she pulls off and then pulls over on the side of the road to have a good cry. Too bad it’s interrupted by the rudest walker ever. She drives to a nearby town and holes up in a law office for the night. The next day, she’s setting up a contraption to catch rainwater (I guess this means she planned on staying awhile) when she spots smoke coming from the direction of the prison. She hightails it back and watches as the guard tower burns.

On The Run

While they trail the car, Daryl tells Carol about his time with Beth and how she was taken. Their car is low on gas, and Carol suggests running the car off the road and beating the shit out of the driver until he tells them where Beth is. Daryl reasons that if the driver won’t talk, they’ll be back at square one. Better to use the advantage they have to follow them.

And that’s what they do, follow the car north onto I85 and they end up in the city of Atlanta. The mystery car pulls over and a cop gets out of the passenger side, and Carol reaches for her gun because she is queen of the Not Fucking Around Crew. Not really sure why they pulled over, but they’re almost discovered when a walker starts banging on Carol’s window. The mystery car leaves and because of the exit they took, Daryl is convinced they’re staying in the city. Their car is officially out of gas so Carol suggests staying in a nearby place she knows.

The place she knows ends up being a woman’s shelter she once stayed in with Sophia. They’re about to turn in for the night when a noise alerts them to a walker trapped behind a frosted glass door. There’s also a child walker in there. That was rough to watch. Daryl tells Carol she doesn’t have to take care of it. The next morning she finds that he’s taken care of it and is burning the bodies.

Another flashback of Carol and Tyreese burying the bodies of Mika and Lizzie. Carol gazes at the white smoke from the fire that Beth and Daryl lit.

Downtown

In downtown Atlanta, Daryl sets a fire distraction for walkers so he and Carol can enter a parking garage and access the skybridge between two buildings. Someone is watching them and everyone knows it’s Noah. In the skybridge they discover walkers who died in sleeping bags and tents. They kill a few before moving on.

Once inside an office, they survey the city from the window. Carol remarks that Daryl hasn’t asked about what happened with Lizzie and Mika. He says he knows what happened since they’re not there. Carol is all, “Yeah. It’s a bit more complicated than that.” He reminds her that they get to start over because they have to. Then he spots a van on a nearby overpass. The van has the same crosses painted onto the back windows. They decide to head there, but first Daryl gives his opinion on some wall art.

Everybody’s Gonna Kick Chris’ Ass

Back at the skybridge they’re robbed of their weapons by Noah. That little asshole! He’s really sorry about it, but not sorry enough to not do it. To make sure they don’t follow him, he cuts open the tents, releasing walkers for Carol and Daryl to deal with. He didn’t take all of their weapons because Daryl takes out a walker with a knife and Carol is about to fire a shot in Noah’s retreating ass when Daryl stops her. 

As Daryl works on a door Noah locked, Carol insists she wasn’t going to kill Noah… just shoot him in the leg, which MIGHT have killed him. *Kayne shrug* Carol don’t know. Anyway, this is why she wanted to leave the group. She just needs to be somewhere else where she won’t have to worry that every action or inaction could mean the death of someone she cares about. Daryl is all, “Well, you ain’t somewhere else. You’re here. So deal with it.”

Another flashback: Carol watches the bodies of Karen and David burn.

If This Van’s A Rockin’, We’re Probably About to Get Eaten

The van Daryl spotted is hanging off of the overpass. They climb inside anyway, looking for clues as to where Beth might be. They’re quickly surrounded by walkers and without their main weapons they’re forced to strap in and allow the van to be rocked over the side. They survive and then wait for it… wait for it… wait… for… it… SPLAT! It’s raining walkers again!

From a gurney in the van they figure out Beth must be at Grady Memorial Hospital. They head there and watch the building for a bit from a nearby location. On their way out, they run into Noah again and this time Daryl gets the drop on him, letting a bookshelf fall on him. He’s ready to bounce, but Carol says they can’t leave him to die (there’s a walker trying to get in from the next room). Daryl is like, “Fuck this kid and everything he stands for. We got our shit. Let’s go.” The walker busts through and is about to eat Noah when Daryl has a change of heart and puts an arrow in the walker’s head. Noah is appreciative, but says they have to go because the people at the hospital would have heard the shots he made killing other walkers. When Daryl hears “hospital” he asks about a blonde girl and Noah confirms that Beth is still in the hospital.

They head out, but an injured Noah falls. While Daryl stops to help him, Carol goes outside and is hit by a car. There’s like four running vehicles in the ZA and this chick just got hit by one of them. Noah stops Daryl from going out to help. They watch as two cops from the hospital load Carol onto a stretcher. Noah explains that they have medicine, machines, and a doctor. If Daryl goes out there, he’ll have to kill those guys and Carol won’t get the help she needs. He says they’ll need guns and people.

Good thing Daryl happens to know where they can get some of those.

Thoughts & Questions: 

• Daryl swiped a book about surviving childhood abuse from the shelter. I like that he’s still willing to heal himself in the ZA. Carol is also carrying around LIzzie’s copy of Tom Sawyer.
• I loved that we got a look at what it would be like to try and survive in the city - or even a small town like the one Carol went to near the prison. The abandoned buildings were eerie. It was cool seeing places to get resources that you wouldn’t find in the rural areas like, a watercooler in a fancy office.
• Was Daryl smoking X-Files cigarettes?
• Rick is going to fuck up ALL OF EVERYTHING.