The only thing worse than being eaten alive by a horde of zombies? Being single when it happens!
That's why the heroes of The Walking Dead spent the episode on Sunday, Nov. 8, pairing off like it was going out of style — or substituting food for love with a shameless pantry-raiding attempt.
"Now" found our survivors facing down a new threat, fresh on the heels of the invasion by the terrible rogue gang known as the Wolves. Rick made it back to Alexandria mere moments before the giant zombie horde, and as we speak, only a perimeter of sheet metal and reinforcement beams stands between the Alexandrites and a very, very bloody end. But while some of our citizens prepared for the worst, others found something to live for.
The Great Pantry Raid
With a mob of hundreds-to-thousands of zombies surrounding Alexandria, morale was at an all-time low. Some citizens responded to the imminent threat of death by making a run on the only resource in town: the food pantry. Fortunately, Deanna's (Tovah Feldshuh) son Spencer (Austin Nichols) stepped in and sent everyone home — but only so he could steal all the water crackers and then blame his mom for letting everyone inside Alexandria's walls be too confident and unable to protect themselves.
"We were never safe here!" he screamed. "What happened to Dad, to Aidan? That's all you!"
Oh, man. That was way harsh, Spencer. And Deanna, who had been sketching an awesome inspirational map of all her great plans for Alexandria after they survive this ordeal, was so stricken by the accusation that she wandered out into the street and barely survived an attack by a stray zombie.
Just Leave Those Bodies Anywhere
The most industrious resident of Alexandria in the aftermath of the Wolves' attack? Surprise: It's Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge)! She got busy right away digging a grave for the lady Wolf she killed, only to be interrupted by Rick (Andrew Lincoln), who reminded her about the ixnay on burying murderers inside the walls. So, um, about these bodies?
"What do we do?" Jessie asked.
"Build a giant catapult!" Rick said. Okay, no, he didn't. But that would have been awesome.
Instead, Jessie found another way to make herself useful: After discovering one of their neighbors had been zombified, she did the dirty work of taking her out with a knife to the eyeball.
And when everyone else looked grossed out about it, she followed it with a rousing speech: "This is what life looks like now. We have to see it. We have to fight it. If we don't fight, we die."
To give you an idea of how inspiring this moment was: Denise (Merritt Wever) was standing nearby when it happened, and not only did it give her the courage she needed to run back to the medical hut and save her dying patient, but it also inspired her to give Tara (Alanna Masterson) a big, fat smooch.
And when Rick heard about it, he was inspired to go give Jessie a big, fat smooch as well. Which is adorable! Until you remember that according to the show's chronology, he shot her husband in the face less than a week ago, and then it's actually pretty inappropriate.
You Might Say Maggie Is Waiting Expectantly
Finally, zombie horde or no zombie horde, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) wasn't about to wait around for Glenn to come back to her.
"If he's alive, he needs my help. If he's dead, I don't want to be waiting on him," she told Aaron (Ross Marquand). And Aaron, who blamed himself for leaving behind the photos that led the Wolves to Alexandria, jumped at the chance to help Maggie by showing her a better way out: through a sewer that would go under the wall and hopefully come out beyond the reaches of the horde.
Right off the bat, they ran into trouble — in the form of two disgusting zombies so waterlogged and decomposed that they looked like sentient phlegm wads. Worse, when they reached the end of the sewer, there were too many walkers and no way out. And worst of all? In this moment, Maggie admitted that she'd lost hope that Glenn is alive…oh, and also, she's pregnant.
But Seriously, Glenn Has to Be Alive
And although we saw no sign of Glenn after he took that ill-fated dumpster dive two weeks ago, the fact that there's a baby-to-be in the picture means he can't possibly be dead — right?
At least, Maggie seemed not to think so. Despite her moment of despair, the last we saw her, she was furiously scrubbing Glenn's name from the memorial on Alexandria's wall, not ready to give up hope yet. (And really, with the way they're dragging out this cliffhanger, confirming Glenn's death at this point would be cruel even by The Walking Dead standards.)
But the question now is, if and when Glenn returns to Alexandria, will it still be there to return to? Because in the final shot of "Now," it looked like the haven's perimeter had sprung a small but juicy leak. Uh-oh.
