The Walking Dead - Recap: You Are Not Safe

This episode introduces us to Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), a mysterious preacher who lives in an abandoned, though well-maintained, church away from walkers and other people. He doesn't come across as much of a threat when we meet him, cowering atop a boulder trying to get away from walkers, yet Rick (Andrew Lincoln) doesn't buy that he's as harmless as he seems. It says a lot about what Rick and co. have been through that they immediately aim hostile, suspicious looks towards Father Gabriel simply for noticing baby Judith and noting that she's a beautiful child. This is a world where even the most innocuous comments can be taken in a sinister context if they're coming from the lips of a stranger. There's no real way of knowing what darkness lies beneath a stranger's surface. Hell, it can be just as hard knowing as much for the people in your own ranks, as evidenced by Carol (Melissa McBride) continuing to feel guilt over having killed Karen while Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) remains wracked with torment over what happened to Lizzie and Mika. The deteriorating nature of this world and its society makes it hard to ever truly know where a person stands, so while it might seem as though Rick is being doggedly persistent in his belief that Father Gabriel can't be trusted, it's hard to really blame him for it. This is a man who's been burned before, and will likely get burned again. Yes, Father Gabriel has offered them shelter and didn't show the slightest hint of betrayal while out foraging with the group (at Rick's demand, since he wasn't about to leave Father Gabriel back at the church). But we know nothing about him because he deflects telling his story by saying he only explains his sins to God. And keeping mum isn't the best idea around people who are already suspicious -- and armed to the teeth.

Credit: AMC

That said, we know Rick's group isn't going to harm Father Gabriel without just cause. The closest they even come to hurting him is Rick's decision to put him in harm's way, by forcing him to come scavenging with the group. This takes them to a flooded food bank, and one of the creepier action setpieces the show has done in sometime, as the group has to fight against a bunch of soggy, waterlogged walkers. It's great stuff, given us plenty of brutal kills and close calls. A lot of shows thrive on the notion that anyone can die at any time, but The Walking Dead actually delivers on that promise, not only killing off major characters, but doing so at unexpected times (i.e., during non-premiere/finale episodes). This added a lot of tension to the food bank sequence, since no one died in the premiere, leaving a feeling that the show was overdue for a death, whether major or minor. Luckily, for the group, that death doesn't come. At least not right away...

Credit: AMC

It's implied that Bob (Larry Gilliard, Jr.) has been bitten in the leg by the walker that ambushes him from under the water, since he spends the rest of the episode with a limp and a resigned look on his face, as though he's about to say his final goodbyes. After spending a few last moments with Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), he retires to the woods and breaks down into sobs, as if preparing for the end. It's a great, extended arc of "show, don't tell" narrative. Bob's story is far more subtle than the blunt developments we usually get, such as Rick outright explaining the episode to Carl (Chandler Riggs) when he tells him that no matter how clear the area or how many members are in their party, "You are not safe." It's a statement that explains why Rick is so untrustworthy, and why he holds potential additions to their group to a higher standard. He goes as far as to threaten Father Gabriel, warning that he'll kill the priest if the secrets he's hiding results in anyone in the group getting killed. This is what Rick has become, and even though Carl insists that their strength doesn't mean they can't still help people, it doesn't seem like his edges are going to soften any time soon. This blunt development with Rick is in contrast to the subtler development with Bob. Or, at least, it's subtle until the moment Bob gets bludgeoned over the head by a mystery assailant, who turns out to be Gareth (Andrew J. West), because the show never met a villain they didn't love to bring back (The Governor, Merle, etc.).

Credit: AMC

That said, the villains the show brings back tend to be fairly interesting, and Gareth is no different. "We didn't want to hurt you… before," Gareth says. "We didn't want to pull you away from your group or scare you. These aren't things we want to do. They're things we gotta do. You and your people took away our home. That's fair play. Now we're out here like everybody else, trying to survive, and in order to do that, we have to hunt. It didn't start that way, eating people. It evolved into that—we evolved. We had to. And now we've devolved into hunters." We then find that the remaining Terminians are eating something...Bob's leg. "If it makes you feel any better," Gareth says, "you taste much better than we thought you would." It's an absolutely mortifying way to end the episode, especially since it leaves Bob's fate in the balance. Hell, it leaves the Terminians' fate in the balance as well. Assuming Bob really was bitten -- and, really, that's just a guess on my part, since the episode doesn't tell us explicitly -- will the Terminians become infected? Will Bob be cured after having the infected limb removed? Or was it too late? Tons of questions and not a whole lot of answers just yet, but I do have buckets of eagerness about what lies ahead. After all, the group still needs to get to Washington with Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita, while Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol finally get a lead on Beth. The Walking Dead isn't slowing down one bit, and that has made it an absolute joy to watch the past two weeks. "Strangers" is a fast-paced hour of television that is a worthy follow-up to last week's stellar season premiere. Not every episode is going to be at that level, but this season is already shaping up to be very promising.