The Walking Dead: Remember (5x12)

I love Alexandria! Oh my goodness! This is going to be amazing. I hope this location and these characters stick around for a very long time. The plot summary is probably going to be pretty basic, because this episode had a lot of intricate details and new characters, and I don't think I can write down every little thing that happened. Let's get started.

The group is now in Alexandria, trying to decide if they can make this place a home. They meet Deanna, the leader of the group, who takes each of the gang away separately to interview them about who they were before the apocalypse, and what they are looking for in Alexandria. This place, Alexandria, was a planned community before the apocalypse, meant to be self-sustaining. Deanna and her family have been behind the walls from the very start, and have thus never lived out there in the chaos.

Deanna gives Rick's group two large houses to live in, but for the first few nights, the whole group sticks together in one of the houses. The existence of running water and electricity is obviously something of a shock to everybody, but most of them eagerly partake. Rick shaves his beard and gets a haircut from Jessie, a woman who used to be a hairstylist.

During interviews with Deanna, each member of the group is basically being tested to see how they will fit in at Alexandria. Carol lies and says that she was like a "den mother" to the group, and that she's not very helpful otherwise. She hopes to therefore get a job that will allow her to meet the neighbors, and scope out the situation.

Carl makes friends with some kids his own age. He meets a girl named Enid, who is apparently also rather new to the community. Enid sneaks over the fence, and Carl follows her to see what she's up to, but he loses track of her. Rick also goes outside of Alexandria to find a gun he had stashed away, but he finds that it's gone. Rick and Carl find each other and defeat a group of Walkers before going back inside the gated community once again.

Glenn, Tara, and Noah have all been tasked with going outside the wall on a supply run, along with a couple of the Alexandria people. Deanna's son Aidan is the leader. He's cocky, saying that the new people must listen to everything he says. However, Aidan then reveals that he's not as good at this as he claims - he and his friends have a Walker tied up to use for sport, as this same Walker killed some of their companions recently. Aidan refuses to kill this Walker, which almost results in Tara's death. Glenn calls him out, telling him that he clearly doesn't know what he's doing.

A scuffle breaks out, as Aidan tries to attack Glenn, and Michonne and Daryl step in to defend him. Deanna breaks up the fight, announcing that Rick and his people are now a part of the Alexandria community, and should be treated as equals in all things. Deanna even thanks Glenn for giving Aidan a piece of his mind, since Aidan is too cocky for his own good. Deanna announces that she has jobs ready for Rick and Michonne - they are both to be Constables, and look after the safety of the town.

At the end of the episode, Rick announces that they'll try to make it work in Alexandria. If these people are too weak to survive, then Rick says they'll just take Alexandria for themselves.

See what I mean about a lot of stuff happening? And I skipped over a lot of the details! I'm not sure how they did it, but this episode managed to be full of a lot of stuff without feeling crowded or too fast.

I don't think I have a single complaint, to be honest. Just the typical one about ensemble casts. Now that we're adding even more characters, I hope that we have time to keep up with all of our people.

There are just too many things to love about this episode. I'll try to keep the list reasonably short.

First of all, Deanna. She's awesome. I love how it's almost impossible to figure her out. She seems so well-adjusted and practical about everything, but at the same time, it's abundantly clear that she doesn't know what the world's really like out there. She's pragmatic - she wants to bring in people who can help keep her and her people safe, and she's willing to make a lot of concessions for that to happen. I liked the fact that she thanked Glenn for putting Aidan on his ass. That's sure to be an interesting dynamic...

I also like the other new characters. Jessie seems sweet, and although I'm sure the Rick/Michonne crowd is nervous about a new love interest for Rick, I think this could be an interesting direction to take the show. Nothing like a little domestic drama to make a nice change from all the zombie apocalypse stuff.

We have other kids now! I'm so happy for Carl! I want to explore his relationships to all of these kids, not just the girl, who obviously has some issues. I can't wait to see where this goes.

I loved the dynamic with Rick and the whole group. They're basically all suffering from collective PTSD. They don't want to be away from one another. They all sleep in the same room together instead of taking advantage of the two large houses. When Aidan and Glenn get into a fairly harmless scuffle, Daryl freaks out and rushes to defend Glenn. These guys are such a family. I love that protectiveness that they feel for one another. They're going to have each other's backs, no matter what happens moving forward.

Daryl is having the hardest time adjusting to this whole Alexandria thing. He doesn't want to talk to Deanna, he doesn't want to settle in and get comfortable. This is a manifestation of his grief for Beth, but also just his (quite reasonable) distrust of these people. We'll have to wait and see if Daryl's right to be cautious.

Carol is playing a clever game here, as she pretends to be timid and a bit simple. It's a great strategy to get these people to open up to her, since they won't see her as a threat. It just goes to show that Carol is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family, albeit in a different way from what Rick might do. I love the idea of Carol as something of a spy, getting people to reveal their true natures to her.

I also think the differing opinions of Michonne and Rick are going to be interesting as we move forward. Michonne is so ready for this to work out, and Rick is so afraid to let himself hope for that. I love the idea of the two of them as the peace-keepers of the community. It'll be tricky, that's for sure...

Finally, I absolutely love the way that this episode ended. The people of Alexandria think that they're in control here, but Rick is already thinking ahead - this place is a good home for them, regardless of who else is there. If they have to, they'll take Alexandria from its current inhabitants. It's dark, it's villainous, but it's actually completely believable, given what these people have been through.

I hope that we can see how some of the other members of the group are adjusting to Alexandria - in particular, I noticed that Maggie didn't have much to do in this episode. Can't wait for more!

9/10