‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: Season 5, Episode 10 – ‘Them’

Norman Reedus as Daryl, Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha and Lauren Cohan as Maggie in ‘The Walking Dead’ (AMC)

Out of gas and out of food, our survivors pounded the pavement on the long path to Washington, D.C., on Sunday’s “The Walking Dead.”

But, as they struggled to survive, it wasn’t just walkers and hunger our group encountered. There were also feral dogs, a storm and something else altogether — a person claiming to be “a friend.”

Here’s our blow by blow recap of “The Walking Dead” Season 5, Episode 10, “Them”:

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A New Threat For The Gang

Maggie, Daryl and Sasha, in the woods: Maggie doesn’t have the strength to deal with things. Crouched by a tree, she wipes away tears, seemingly oblivious to the walker approaching. But she’s not Tyreese. She isn’t totally unaware. As a walker paws at her through the branches, she stands up, picks up her knife, kills the creature and crumples back down to cry. Elsewhere, Daryl Dixon is hungry and turning to earthworms for nourishment. He plops a fat squiggly one in his mouth, chews and keeps digging for more. Sasha finds a frog graveyard. They’ve croaked. She shakes her head when Maggie and Daryl walk by. There’s no meal here. “It’s been a day-and-a-half. They didn’t find nothin’ either,” Maggie says as the trio walks back to the group, who are seated by their SUV, hungry. “How much longer we got?” she asks Sasha. “60 miles,” Sasha replies. “I wasn’t talking about that,” Maggie says, thinking that it might be hunger that gets them, not walkers.

The gang, in a car, on the road to Washington, D.C.: The vehicle the group was traveling in has run out of gas, so they all hit the road on foot, sweaty, hungry and tired. “We’re not at our strongest,” Rick says, after Daryl looks behind them to see a pack of walkers slowly following. They’ll get them when they have a strategic advantage. “It’s been three weeks since Atlanta. I know you lost something back there,” Rick tells Daryl as they walk, his way of giving his friend the opportunity to open up. But Daryl isn’t ready and turns their attention to baby Judith. “She’s hungry,” he notes. They need to find sustenance. As Daryl heads out into the woods to find some, Carol is close behind.

As the walk continues, Father Gabriel tries to provide Maggie some comfort, making light of his priest collar, and how uncomfortable it is, before getting to his real point. “If you ever want to talk…,” he says. Maggie tells him to stop. “You had a job. You were there to save your flock, right? But you didn’t. You hid,” she says, stinging him with her words.

Sasha, still bristling from the loss of her brother, is ready to fight. “We can take ’em,” she tells Michonne, looking at the small collection of walkers behind them. Michonne won’t bite. She knows Rick is right. They have to save their energy. The walk continues.

Daryl & Carol, in the woods: “It’s too dry. There ain’t nothing here,” Daryl tells Carol, suggesting she head back. Being away from the group gives Carol the opportunity to bring up what she needs to – Beth. “It was hers,” Carol says, handing Daryl Beth’s knife. “I know you,” she says. “You have to let yourself feel it,” she adds, before brushing his hair off his face and kissing Daryl’s forehead. Carol wanders off, leaving Daryl alone.

Walker Fight

Rick, Glenn, Michonne, Abraham, Maggie and Sasha, on a bridge: With the conditions right – a bridge and a slope – the gang is ready for the walkers who have been following them. Though they’re weak, they manage to shove a handful of the creatures down the embankment, minimizing the threat, and saving their energy. Except for Sasha. She wants to fight. Attacking one with her knife heats up the situation. “Plan just got d**ed,” Abraham says, annoyed. It’s Rick’s gang vs. the walkers, as things get out of control. Hooray! Darryl gets back just in time to stop a walker from biting Rick’s arm, and they turn the tide on the attack. Michonne tells Sasha off.

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Daryl, in the woods: Daryl finds what’s left of a deer, and a rotting human corpse nearby. Returning to the group, he and Rick don’t need words to explain his lack of luck. Abraham takes a swig out of a bottle of booze, the only thing they’ve found. After wondering if things can get worse, they do. Feral dogs! Growling and hungry, the dogs descend on the group. Bang! It’s Sasha who saves them with her sharp shooter skills. Rick makes the best of the situation, lighting a fire. They’ll eat Fido tonight. Looking into the fire, Fr. Gabriel pulls off his priest collar and tosses it in.

The group, on the road: It’s time for a Glenn and Maggie heart to heart. She never thought Beth was alive, so it was even harder when she found out her sister was alive only to lose her the same day. Glenn tells Maggie to keep fighting. Somehow Abraham and Sasha end up walking together. She scolds him for drinking, suggesting it’ll make things worse. He tells her the way she’s “going,” she’s going to make things worse. At this point, Daryl decides to wander off.

Daryl’s Time To Grieve

Daryl, in the woods: Crouching by a tree, Daryl lights a smoke and looks at what appears to be an abandoned barn. The quiet moment – no walkers, no group – gives Daryl time to reflect on the loss of Beth. He takes another puff and then uses what’s left of the cigarette to burn a hole in his hand, before dropping the cigarette on the ground. And then, Daryl lets it out, his tears soaking his face.

A short while later, he gets back to the group and finds a dozen water bottles and a couple of gallon bottles too. And a note. “From a friend,” it reads. They’re thirsty so it’s Eugene who volunteers to see if it’s safe or a trap. Not so fast! The man who nearly killed Eugene after he revealed he is not a scientist – Abraham – knocks the water out of Eugene’s hand before he can drink it. “We can’t,” Rick tells the mullet-haired man. Just then, a gift from above – rain! Laughs and smiles are followed by a rush of trying to fill up anything they can. But the storm grows fast and they need cover. Daryl suggests the barn he spotted earlier.

We Are The Walking Dead

The group, inside the barn: Of course the barn isn’t empty. Luckily for the gang, it’s just one walker in a small side area that they quickly put out of its misery. Gathered around the campfire, Rick and his friends look at Carl, who is sleeping, curled up with baby Judith. “I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now in this. But I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them,” Rick says. “This isn’t the world. This isn’t it,” Michonne notes. Glenn suggests it might be, but Rick says it’s what they have to live with until things change. Around the fire, everyone listens as he recounts a conversation he had with his grandfather, who fought in World War II. The elder Grimes said he “was dead” every time he went into enemy territory. Before he’d fight for the day, he’d tell himself, “now rest in peace, go to war.” Rick tells his group that might be the trick of surviving this thing. “We do what we need to, and then, we get to live,” he says. “We tell ourselves we are the walking dead,” he adds, as everyone looks over at him slowly. “We ain’t them,” Daryl insists. “We are not them,” Rick agrees, but Daryl walks away to another side of the barn.

Daryl, the barn door: As the wind howls, and lighting strikes, the barn door shakes. Daryl takes a peek outside only to find horror – a group of walkers has found the group. His back against the gate, Daryl tries to hold it. Maggie runs over to help, then Sasha, and quickly everyone else. It takes all of them to keep the walkers out, even Carl, as they struggle in the muddy ground to keep the door closed, and death out, life inside. And they do.

A Morning Of Peace

Maggie, in the barn: It’s Maggie who is first to wake up in the morning. “You should get some sleep,” Maggie tells Daryl, who has been keeping watch. “It’s okay to rest now.” Looking over at the sleeping Sasha, they talk about how tough Tyreese and Beth were. Before she heads off, Daryl hands Maggie a music box he’s fixed. She grabs the box and wakes Sasha and the two women head outside. It’s a walker graveyard outside the barn – they’re impaled on trees and others are cut in half. “Look at this. Shudda torn us apart,” Sasha says now that she’s seen what the storm has done. “It didn’t,” Maggie notes and the two go watch the sunrise on a log.

Stranger Danger?

Maggie and Sasha, on a log: Watching the sunrise, the two women take a moment to express themselves. Sasha doesn’t know if she can make it. Maggie says they both will. Winding up the music box, Maggie finds it doesn’t play. It makes her laugh. Sasha too.

“Hey! Hi!” says a man who walks over in clean clothes, and with a backpack on. Sasha and Maggie spring up and point their guns. “Didn’t mean to interrupt,” the man says. “Good morning. My name is Aaron. I know, stranger danger, but I’m a friend. I’d like to talk to the person in charge. Rick, right?” he says, making them even more suspicious. “How do you know?” Maggie asks. “Why?” Sasha asks the man. “I have good news,” he says smiling. Just then, the music box turns on.

“The Walking Dead” continues Sundays at 9 PM ET/PT on AMC.

Jolie Lash

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