It was date night for Rick and Michonne on this week's episode of The Walking Dead. Now what would a good date be for the two of them without some awesome zombie slaying action? Throw in a carnival of the undead for good measure and you have an exciting episode that hearkens back to the earlier seasons of the show.
The episode picked up with Rick and Michonne scavenging for guns. They are not doing this for the Saviors, but for Jadis and the Scavengers as per their agreement. In the midst of all this gun hunting, Rick and Michonne decide to have a little fun with each other. They take advantage of this alone time together and to put it mildly, Rick got "lucky."
At first, the two have no luck finding guns. They are only able to come across mere boxes of mac n' cheese and other measly little rations. Soon, they miraculously stumble upon a former army base in front of a carnival ground still being traversed by walkers. The two stand atop of the level, water-bogged roof (that any fool knows will give at any second due to rot) of the army base to get a better view of the walker-infested carnival. Most of them are former soldiers, with their weapons still strapped to their bodies.
They begin to devise a plan to traverse the fair grounds when the roof predictably gives. This sends them both down into the confines of the base. Laughing and having a good time, they discover that they've landed in a room that's filled to the ceiling with ready-to-eat food rations left behind by the previous inhabitants.
Later that night, the two have themselves a much-needed date night. It is complete with candles, beer and chili mac n' cheese from a bag: the makings of any romantic date. While they're enjoying each other's company, Michonne gets serious with Rick. She begins talking about what will happen after they manage to take out Negan and the Saviors. Michonne tells him that since the Saviors practically reign over this new world, someone will have to lead the new dynasty in Negan's absence. She says that that person ought to be Rick. At first, Rick is uncertain, but eventually changes his mind when Michonne reminds him that he's a strong and fearless leader, having led his people this far already.
The next scene was enough to win back anyone who felt the show has gotten too "soft." In an action-packed sequence reminiscent of Tallahassee in Zombieland, Rick and Michonne clear out the entire parade of walkers on the fairground. Causing racket to attract the walkers and then splitting up, they each close themselves within the gates of two rides and they systematically start taking out all of them. Rick spies a deer not too far away and begins climbing the Ferris Wheel in attempts to shoot it. Possibly for food. However, Rick loses his grip and falls right into the walkers' laps.
In a scene that hearkened back to the notorious Glenn and dumpster moment, in which everyone was under the sick impression that he died, the walkers close in. They begin feasting on who we think is Rick. Michonne slowly comes across the disturbing scene and is literally paralyzed by what she sees. She even goes as far as to dropping her katana. For awhile, she's thinking what we're thinking: that Rick is a goner. Then, in heroic slow motion, Rick emerges from behind her, hands back her weapon and they continue to decimate the walkers. Turns out they were just eating Bambi.
Finally, after wiping them all out, the two then proceed to collect all of the firearms from the recently departed.
In the next scene, we see Rick and the group presenting the Scavengers with the 63 guns they acquired. However, Jadis is unimpressed and is disappointed that they weren't cleaned and properly oiled before coming to her. Now she wants more, leading to new negotiations. The new agreement: Rick keeps 20 of the guns, plus the cat figurine he took for Michonne, so they can go out and collect more. Jadis reluctantly agrees to these terms.
Meanwhile, back at Alexandria, Rosita has gone rogue. What's new? She visits Father Gabriel at his church and blames him for every terrible thing that has happened to their group so far. She blames him because he told her not to go crazy and start going after the Saviors guns blazing. For reasons that make no sense, she pins the blame for Olivia's murder and Eugene's kidnapping on him. While all of this is transpiring, Tara is sitting in her house and debating whether or not she should share her knowledge of the Oceansiders with Rick.
She made a vow with them that she would never speak of their community with anyone. But at the same time, she feels like she's betraying Rick and the group if she doesn't tell. Conflicted, she talks it out through baby Judith. However, she might as well be talking to a brick wall. It's clear Judith has no idea what she's talking about. Judith, who should logically be walking and talking in semi-complete sentences at this point.
The episode ends with Rosita foolishly marching back to the Hilltop to where Sasha is sitting in their little makeshift graveyard there. She hands Sasha a military-grade rifle with a scope and tells her they're going after Negan themselves. She is getting tired of waiting and being jerked around by people. It seems like things are going to turn very ugly for our protagonists (if you can call them that) as Rosita is about to unwittingly destroy everything they've been working towards.