The Walking Dead review: Reunited at Hilltop, but danger looms nearby

A Walking Dead reunion is imminent as our survivors all head to Hilltop. Let’s just hope The Whisperers don’t find them first…

I can’t say this is one of the most telling episodes of The Walking Dead even if it is the episode before the midseason finale, but some of the questions that have been at the back of our minds, including Maggie’s whereabouts and why Daryl is living out in the woods, were finally answered. It also doesn’t hurt that Michael Cudlitz, who played Abraham, made his directorial debut with “Stradivarius.” But for every morsel they unwrapped in this episode, they unraveled even more mysteries about what happened after Rick’s death that sent everyone in separate directions.

Last week, Rosita and Eugene came across a talking herd that we can guess are the rumored Whisperers. Rosita ends up running in the forest with a gash on her head and seemingly running from the herd’s voices, which she can still hear even though they are nowhere to be seen. Dehydrated and exhausted, Rosita collapses to the ground. Were the voices hallucinations due to her exhaustion or were enemies nearby? And more importantly, where is Eugene?

Before we get those answers, we’re whisked off to Daryl’s hideout in the woods where Carol and Henry have come to visit. We meet Daryl’s faithful dog who chews on walker fingers –and get this, the dog’s name is “dog.” (Fun fact: That adorable dog is actually Norman Reedus’ pet, giving us more reasons to hope he stays alive). A new mystery pops up in the shape of an “X” — as in the mysterious X-shaped scar we previously saw on Michonne’s back. The same one is etched on Daryl’s lower back, in addition to other scratches and a scar on his face. What kind of battle did these people get themselves into? These scars may be the reason Michonne trusts absolutely no one, and Daryl left everyone to be on his own. Carol, for the most part, seems to be holding herself together but we’ll wait and see if she’s got one of those scars as well.

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

As for Daryl’s story, we learn that after Rick blew up the bridge, Daryl went looking for Rick’s body probably for closure and was disappointed never to find it. He spent the remaining time looking for Rick and just never went back to any of the communities. With Rick being Daryl’s non-blood brother, it breaks our hearts to learn he tried so hard to find him, especially since we know all too well Rick’s body would never be found — it was flown off somewhere else instead.

Now, Carol isn’t just visiting Daryl because she wants to judge him for not fixing his boat since the last time she visited. She hopes Daryl will come with her to Hilltop to help with Henry. Henry is headed to Hilltop to become a blacksmith, but Carol thinks he needs some street smarts. Daryl resents the idea because he doesn’t see himself as a top of the line babysitter, but what Carol hopes rubs off on Henry is Daryl’s hardcore survival instinct. Henry is as much an idealist as his father Ezekiel, and as we’ve seen in the past few episodes, Henry’s capable of running into battle without thinking, risking his life with every wrong decision. If Daryl could somewhat train Henry, then Henry would have the best of both worlds.

Carol sticks it out in the wilderness with Daryl hoping to soften him. She cuts his hair before dinner and then pitches a tent with Henry for the night. Henry awakes to see someone walking outside their tent and finds a walker in a trap. This would be totally fine, if it weren’t for Daryl’s dog ending up in the middle of several trapped walkers. Daryl almost gets dragged by a walker himself, trying to save the dog. Despite Daryl’s orders for Henry to stay back, the boy comes to Daryl’s rescue by taking out one last walker who nearly gets a chomp on Daryl’s leg.

Matt Lintz as Henry, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

While Daryl snaps at Henry for not listening, this life or death situation becomes an incredible moment for bonding. Carol is seen with a pointed arrow in the background but doesn’t interrupt them. She knows how important the bonding is to her goal of getting Daryl out of the woods, but she was prepared nonetheless. She wasn’t going to lose either one of her precious boys to walkers. Henry and Daryl talk and agree not to tell Carol what happened. Daryl realizes that Henry isn’t interested in being babysat either. But more importantly, Henry points out that Daryl’s distance in the past few years has been uncalled for, and not something family does. The next morning Daryl packs up before taking off to Hilltop, and Carol smiles ecstatically that her plan worked.

As for our merry band from Alexandria (ok maybe not so merry, Siddiq, Michonne, and DJ are headed to Hilltop to drop off the five strangers that Judith rescued. Siddiq senses that Michonne likes the group and she doesn’t deny it. But that doesn’t mean she trusts them; her guard is up at all times just like Rick.

The group ends up back at their camp to see what’s left and Michonne comes along for the ride just to see if their story checks out. The strangers didn’t lie about their camp being overrun, but that doesn’t soften Michonne in the slightest. She doesn’t intend on going with them to Hilltop because she has had a falling out with Maggie. Once again, what happened that could have cost all these relationships to split in Rick’s absence instead of joining together in the name of family? Perhaps Michonne blames Maggie for Rick’s death, since it was Maggie’s plan of killing Negan that started a chain of events that led to Rick getting injured and being on his own.

Angel Theory as Kelly, Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Dan Folger as Luke, Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko, Avi Nash as Siddiq – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

The group is torn between following Michonne’s orders and going off on their own. They find some of their weapons at the camp but Michonne refuses to let them carry them. She can’t send armed strangers into Hilltop, a reasonable decision even if Michonne is bringing the Rick ‘tude hard. As for this group, they don’t know anything about Hilltop and approaching a situation like that unarmed seems risky. Magna insists they need weapons to survive, whereas Luke urges them all to take the risk, as Hilltop may truly be that worth it. Yumiko suggests taking something to remember their friend Bernie who was lost to the walkers during the herd attack on their camp before Judith saved their lives. Magna reveals a side of her we rarely see, vulnerability, as she storms off at the mere mention of this man’s name.

Later that night, Michonne proves she’s absolutely on edge. She spots Luke handling something suspicious and chops the object in two with her katana. That object ends up being a rare Stradivarius violin, one of many precious instruments the music teacher holds onto even in the apocalypse. For Luke, preserving art in the form of the instruments he carries is a way to separate humans from animals, and his theory comes from the importance of art in human history. Michonne, in turn, is baffled that Luke could be so hopeful even after everything that has happened.

And in one of the more interesting reveals of the episode, Siddiq tells Michonne that Maggie is not a part of Hilltop anymore. We’re as shocked as Michonne, mainly because this seems like news she’d have been made aware of long before. We’re also just as baffled that the reason for Maggie leaving is to be with Georgie’s group — let’s just keep adding to the mysteries ahead of the midseason finale, right?

Danai Gurira as Michonne, Avi Nash as Siddiq, Dan Folger as Luke, Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Michonne and Siddiq don’t have much time to argue because a herd shows up. Magna’s group is finally given their weapons, and we finally see how they’ve managed to survive this long. Luke reminds us of Eugene a bit, as he’s not the best with weapons or fighting — he’s the intellectual one of the group, after all. However the others fight with serious skill; we even see a slingshot used to take down walkers, which is pretty creative. Michonne realizes that this is the same herd that attacked them previously, because the aforementioned Bernie appears, now as an undead walker. Michonne kills Bernie respectfully by smoothly stabbing him from behind, while Magna and Yumiko collect themselves since they are overwhelmed with emotion over their fallen friend.

Hilltop seems to be everyone’s destination this episode, and after many years it has been prospering beyond anything that Rick could have imagined. They have bountiful gardens, filtered water, training, pottery, and Enid is an official medical professional. Maggie has left Hilltop with Hershel to live with Georgie in some distant community. Jesus has become the leader, and it doesn’t seem like it’s a position he’s too excited about even if he has been re-elected into office. He won’t take Maggie’s office hoping that she will return, but Tara sees Maggie’s new life as permanent and is eager for Jesus to take his new job seriously. However, Jesus is a free spirit. He disappears for long periods of time, and there’s a whole list of political matters he must attend to which she ends up having to handle including giving a kid a kazoo, which has warranted a noise complaint.

Tom Payne as Paul ‘Jesus’ Rovia, Ross Marquand as Aaron – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

We learn where Jesus has been running off to when he heads out on the road on a horse and is tackled onto the ground by Aaron. Should we ship this new pair? I’m all for an Aaron and Jesus relationship! They end up fighting in an almost brutal way, but this is some type of training that Aaron and Jesus take part in. While the communities have been divided to the point that they no longer communicate, Aaron and Jesus have been updating each other and training together.

A flare goes off in the distance and Aaron, and Jesus runs in its direction and find Rosita injured and weak. Rosita tells them she left Eugene in a barn. Jesus says it will be dark soon and Eugene will have to last till morning. The idea of Eugene alone in a barn while the Whisperers roam free in his area creeps me out. They take Rosita back to Hilltop for some much needed medical attention.

At about this time, Michonne, Siddiq, DJ, and their pack of strangers finally are close to Hilltop and Michonne gets ready to leave. She’s still not willing to go to Hilltop even though she knows Maggie is no longer there. That’s until they end up bumping into two Hilltop residents who are ironically headed to Alexandria. They were sent out to tell Michonne that Rosita has been found and is being treated at Hilltop, and ultimately, it becomes Michonne’s responsibility to make sure one of the residents from her community is okay.

Connie sees something in the woods but when asked she signs that it’s nothing. But based on the camera angles it looks like someone was looking at the group before they headed toward Hilltop. Could this be a Whisperer spying on them as they head into the community? If that’s the case, then its possible the Whisperers discovered the Hilltop location and they are now in danger.

Back at Hilltop, Carol, Henry, and Daryl finally arrive in the midst of Rosita’s rescue. Daryl is pulled in on a separate rescue mission to find Eugene. Jesus had somewhat promised not to go off to find Eugene to Tara but ends up convincing her that he knows the area where this cabin may be. Tara stays back to handle the leader work that Jesus loathes, and Jesus heads out with Daryl and Aaron to find Eugene. We can only pray that Eugene has made it through the night and the Whisperers have left him alone, as doubtful as that really is.