Holy Moly! The Walking Dead left us with a crazy twist last week with the return of Morales. We haven’t seen Morales since the end of season one.  His family was headed to Birmingham, AL to find the rest of their family.  Seven years later, Morales ends up at a Savior compound.  He says he was a different man back when Rick knew him. So what has changed?

The resistance won the battle last week and of course there were some casualties.  (BTW, Tobin is not dead…) Aaron went into panic mode when he found that Eric had been shot.  Can Aaron save Eric?  And if not, how will that affect Aaron?  

Carol and the Kingdom are waiting to meet more Saviors.

Jesus and Morgan took many Saviors as hostages.

And Daryl is still looking for guns.  So much happened…but it’s not over…

Read the Full Recap of THE WALKING DEAD “The Damned”

Are the Saviors the monsters? Or is Rick the monster?  Maybe they are all “Monsters”.  This is pretty much the question that Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) presents to Rick (Andrew Lincoln).  As much as Rick would like to sit and catch up, Morales points out that they are not the same people they were in Atlanta.  They have experienced tremendous loss.  Morales lost his family and it drove him nuts.  Rick lost Lori and lost his mind.  Rick still has his family.  He was able to come back.  Morales was found by the Saviors and they brought him back. He is 100% Team Negan.  

Morales reveals that Rick is actually a prize. The Saviors have been instructed to not kill Rick, the Widow and the King.   Rick tells Morales about how Negan killed Glenn in front of his pregnant wife.  Glenn’s wife is the Widow.  Morales says that doesn’t matter anymore.  He has the gun.  If the tables were turned, Rick would treat him the same way.  Rick says he wouldn’t.  Someone walks up behind Morales. Rick tries to stop them, but when Morales turns around…Daryl (Norman Reedus) kills him.  RIP Morales.

Rick tells Daryl that was Morales. Daryl says it’s doesn’t matter. They still have to find the guns.  Rick says the guns aren’t there and they need to get out of there because…the Saviors have arrived.

Khary Payton as Ezekiel – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Ezekiel

Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) is surrounded by his people and he tells them that the Saviors are coming.  They will meet them head on. Ezekiel is smiling and points out that Carol (Melissa McBride) is smiling too. Jerry (Cooper Andrews) asks why.  Carol says the Saviors have the numbers, but they have the strategy. If they stick to the plan, they won’t lose anyone this day!

The group, led by Ezekiel walk into a field and the Saviors surround them.  Once the Saviors revealed themselves, the hidden members of the Kingdom start shooting.  Ezekiel looks around.  All of the Saviors are dead and all of his people are alive.  Ezekiel wins.

The group surrounds the king again. Ezekiel says this group of Saviors was just a small part of a larger group. Their first victory will lead them to their second and then their third. They make their way to the next Savior compound.  They get there and are able to get the jump on a group of Saviors hidden in a garage. The Kingdom – 2; The Saviors – 0

Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson and Aaron (Ross Marquand) in The Walking Dead “Monsters”, Photo by Gene Page/AMC, amc.com

Aaron

Scott (Kendrick Green) and Tobin (Jason Douglas) realize that the Saviors stopped shooting at them.  They are shooting the dead. Someone tells the Saviors to get inside.

Aaron (Ross Marquand) leads Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) to a tree.  Eric has a clean bullet wound, but he is bleeding a lot.  Aaron starts crying.  He feels responsible for Eric’s injury.  Eric says he wanted to fight.  He tells Aaron to go back to the fight. They need him. Aaron kisses Eric and tells him that he loves him.  Eric tells him to go back to the fight and win.  Aaron gives Eric a gun and walks away.

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Morgan

Morgan (Lennie James), Jesus (Tom Payne) and Tara (Alanna Masterson) lead the captured Saviors to the Hilltop.  Eduardo (Peter Zimmerman) says Maggie will know what to do. Tara is sure Maggie will remember what the Saviors did to her.  Jesus reminds Morgan that they will not kill anyone.  Morgan says nothing has been decided.  He says Jesus knows how dangerous these people are. Jesus says they are still people.  He says he has killed, and so has Morgan, but they don’t execute people.  Morgan says he has. 

Savior Jared (Joshua Mikel) decides to make conversation with Morgan saying he looks different.  It’s his armor.  Jared realizes that Morgan is wearing Benjamin’s armor.  He says the armor didn’t help Benjamin. Morgan gets angry and point his gun at Jared.  

Walkers come rolling down a hill and start attacking the Saviors.  Morgan and his group start fighting off the walkers.  Jared and the men he’s tied to decide to make a run for it.  Morgan chases after them.  One of the Saviors fall and allows Morgan to catch up.  He shoots one of the guys in the head.  Jesus comes from behind and hits Morgan before he can shoot another Savior.  

Morgan starts yelling that the Saviors will keep trying to run away.  He say they can’t change. He asks if Maggie (Lauren Cohan) will want them dead after they killed Glenn.  Morgan says they are the same as the Saviors, they have no choice but to kill them. Jesus says they will find another way. They have to live with these people after the war. They have to find peace with them.  

Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson, Paul “Jesus ” Rovia (Tom Payne), and Morgan Jones (Lennie James) in The Walking Dead “Monsters,” Photo by Gene Page/AMC, amc.com

Morgan lunges at Jesus and they start fighting.  Jesus tries to calm Morgan down, but has to defend himself as well.  Jesus is able to get Morgan’s staff and knocks Morgan back.  He asks if its over and throws the staff back to Morgan.  Morgan lunges at Jesus again.  Jesus asks if it’s over.  

Morgan is disoriented. He says he knows he’s not right, but he’s not wrong either.  He smiles and says he can’t be a part of it.  Morgan starts to walk away, but Tara stops him. She tells him he’s right.  Morgan keeps walking.

Rick

Rick and Daryl are shooting at both end of the hallway.  Daryl runs out of bullets. Rick shoots a fire extinguisher to cause a smoke screen. The Saviors move in on the two.  Rick and Daryl fight off the guys who come at them.  Someone shoots the rest from the end of the hall.  Rick hears someone yell.  It’s Aaron.  The outpost is clear.  Outside, more dead saviors reanimate.   Rick’s group kill the walkers, take pictures.  They round up their wounded and cover their dead.  Rick writes a note while everyone prepares to leave.

Aaron goes back to the tree where he left Eric. The gun is still there, but Eric is gone.  Aaron see Eric walking away, he has died and turned into a walker.  He starts to go after walker-Eric, but Scott stops him.  Aaron says he has to take care of Eric. Scott tells him, that’s not Eric anymore.  

Hilltop

Enid (Katelyn Nacon) is on lookout and a car approaches the gate.  It’s Gregory (Xander Berkley).  He’s begging to be let in.  Maggie opens the gate, just a little. She asks why he’s there. Gregory starts spouting off about how he was trying to save the Hilltop.  

Maggie tells him to shut up. She says he was only looking out for himself. She says that he is a coward and he sold out his people. That’s what Kal (James Chen) told her when he came back.  Gregory tries to discredit Kal, who is the one operating the gate.  She says goodbye and walks away.

Gregory starts groveling. He admits that he went to Negan because he was scared. And he didn’t think that Maggie would win.  Gregory admits that he was wrong and apologizes.  Maggie listens as Gregory asks her for mercy.  She tells Kal to let him in.  He’s not worth killing.

Kal calls to Maggie.  Jesus and the others have arrived. Gregory throws a fit. He says they will not allow the Saviors into the Hilltop and calls them monsters.  Maggie tells him to shut up and go away. Tara agrees with Gregory.   Jesus says they can put the Saviors in the trailers in the back with guards.  Maggie says she remembers what the Saviors did to her.  Jesus says they can’t let them go, but they can’t kill them either.  

Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in The Walking Dead, “Monsters,” Photo by Gene Page/AMC, amc.com

Rick and Aaron

Aaron waits for the others to get ready to leave. Rick walks out with the baby, Gracie.  He asks Tobin to take her back to Alexandria, but Aaron insists that he will take her to Hilltop.  He says he and Eric were going to go there to update Maggie.  Gracie will be safe there.

Daryl and Rick are getting ready to leave. Someone takes a shot at them.  Rick yells to the shooter. He tells them to drop their gun and tell them what they need to know.  If they do that, they can take a car and leave.  

A kid comes out from behind the tree and puts down his gun. Rick puts his gun down too, but Daryl points his at the guy.  Rick asks if there were guns there. The kid says there were, but the guns were transported to Gavin’s outpost the day before. He asks if he can leave and Daryl shoots him.

Ezekiel

At the Savior compound a group of Saviors run back to their base. The kingdom jump from out of nowhere and kill all of the Saviors.  Ezekiel looks over the dead and not one of them are his. Carol says they need to sweep the compound. Ezekiel allows her to go.  The others take care of the dead so they won’t reanimate. Daniel (Daniel Newman) tells Ezekiel that all of their people are accounted for. Ezekiel is amazed, but then shoots come from out of nowhere.  The King’s people push him out of harms way and some of his people are shot.

Thoughts…

Just when things are going so well, something bad really happens. I love the King’s optimism, but good luck never lasts. He’s a great strategist, but they cannot underestimate the Saviors.  This  is a war. It is guaranteed that there will be casualties.  

Rick seemed a little bothered that Daryl could kill Morales so easily.   There are some bad Saviors, but there are some good ones too. I think we may get to meet some of those good ones.  People like Tara and Morgan are so quick to judge the Saviors as all bad.  I wonder what they will think when they meet Gracie.  Yeah, she’s a baby, but she’s also an orphan. And that’s Rick’s fault.  They may think they are on the right side of things, but what are the consequences of their actions? How will their actions today affect the lives of the children? I think that’s something that Maggie really has to consider.

Finally, I knew Eric would die this season.  Like most Alexandrians, Aaron and Eric were very sheltered from danger. Aaron is probably the one person who saw the most danger before finding Rick and his people.  Aaron is going to feel so guilty for Eric’s death. He already expressed his guilt when Eric got shot.  I hope this doesn’t harden Aaron too much.  As we are already seeing, vengeance can be dangerous.  Aaron needs to keep in mind why Eric wanted to fight in the first place. And it’s a fight that Aaron knows too well. They fight so someone else won’t dictate how they live their lives.  They fight to be free.  RIP Eric.

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