The Walking Dead: Thank You Recap

Synopsis of 6×03: While Abraham, Sasha, and Daryl continue to lead most of the herd, Rick’s group further splinters to deal with the stragglers that broke free towards Alexandria and the sound of the truck horn. There are many Alexandrian casualties and more…

Rating: ★★★★☆

The nonlinear story-telling of this season continues, as we pick up with Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and the Alexandrians in the woods with the truck horn still sounding in the distance. Rick splits his people off to make a plan – telling them that they need to get back to Alexandria, but that he already knows not all of them will make it. Heath overhears him urging Glenn and Michonne to keep going and get themselves back safe regardless of what happens to the rest.

Immediately, the Alexandrians prove themselves incapable of surviving, as they’re attacked, one man is bitten and one man is shot by friendly fire before another one of the group abandons them. This is on top of the woman who already tripped and sprained her ankle, as well as the first guy who was skeptical of Rick and was quickly eaten.

Daryl starts having second thoughts about the plan now that it’s all going to hell. He doesn’t give them an option of him staying to help them with the herd, instead telling them that he has faith and leaves them behind. Without him, Sasha points out that the herd could potentially stop them.

Banged up and trudging along, Michonne bonds with David, the bitten man, over his new wife and how he’s handling the new reality they’ve been thrust into. The group makes it to an abandoned town, the same one that Nicholas and Aiden lost people on during one of their runs. Without finding a working vehicle, they’re forced to rely on a less-than-calm Nicholas’ knowledge of the town, while he seems to be panicking at every turn.

Heath makes some pointed comments about Nicholas, they find Sturgis’ hat in the middle of the road, and then Sturgis’ insides in the mouths of walkers. Glenn makes a plan to light a building on fire and lure the herd away from the town so that they can escape and Nicholas volunteers to help him. But before he makes this crazy mad dash, he radios to Rick about the new plan. Rick, in the middle of killing walkers on the road, doesn’t respond when Glenn signs off, “Good luck, dumbass.”

Hidden inside the store, the girl with the sprained ankle and the black guy both insist that they be left behind for the good of the group, but Heath disagrees. He insists that his group doesn’t leave anyone behind and Michonne confronts him about the obvious chip on his shoulder. He admits to hearing Rick’s advice and she tries to smooth things over, telling him that he hasn’t seen what the world is really like these days. Until he is covered in enough blood to be confused by the source – himself, friend, foe – Michonne doesn’t think he’ll truly understand the situation.

After splitting off from the group, Nicholas and Glenn are moving through the streets when they come across a walker that Nicholas recognizes. It’s a young man from his last run, one they left behind, and he feels obligated to put the walker out of its misery. Glenn insists that Nicholas is no longer that man, giving him the courage he needs to finish the job. Soon after, they hear gunshots from Alexandria and Glenn gets them moving again.

Michonne and her group hear the gunshots as well, which draws the walkers from the street and down the alley towards the noise. Her new plan is to have them all sit quietly and wait for the herd to pass. David, the bitten man, writes a note to his wife in the silence and gives it to Michonne to pass along for him. It’s a contingency note in case he doesn’t make it, though she writes on her own arm that he will.

Unfortunately, walkers in the stock room begin to bang around and they’re forced to kill them even as the noise attracts more walkers. Michonne sees the start of the herd and they’re forced to flee the store. As they run, the woman with the sprained ankle falls and is eaten as she urges the group to continue on without her. Climbing over a fence, they lose the bitten guy and his note and then there were three.

Glenn and Nicholas are also running from the herd while Nicholas continues to be the wrong man for this job. He panics as they climb onto a dumpster and become surrounded on all sides by walkers. Glenn yells at him to get his focus back, only to have Nicholas say, “Thank you.” He blows his own brains out and topples himself and Glenn onto the ground. There’s a lot of blood, yelling, and unclear camera angles that leave a small hope for Glenn surviving. Scott Gimple also assured that viewers would see Glenn again in some form.

Rick, alone, makes it to the RV without incident and starts driving to the rendezvous point. When he gets there he tries to contact everyone on the radio, Glenn included, but the only person that answers him is Daryl. He explains that they have to ignore the gunfire and allow the Alexandrians to handle it themselves, if they go for them now, it’s selfish. He implores that the mission is what’s really important here, but it’s hard to see who he’s trying to convince, the people on the radio or himself.

As he sits there, contemplating his next move, the Wolf that Morgan let escape with a gun last episode bursts into the RV and starts shooting. They fight briefly before Rick kills two of them and spots more sneaking up the side of the RV. He shoots through the wall at them, killing them but also damaging the RV to the point where it won’t start. And for the first time in a while, as the herd creeps up around him, Rick seems to be truly at a loss as to what to do next…