Everyone remain calm. On the season 6 The Walking Dead episode “The Same Boat,” we learned the fate of Maggie and Carol, who were supposedly captured by members of Negan’s party in “Not Tomorrow Yet.” The story picked up with Maggie and Carol being ambushed in the forest by Paula, Molls, and two additional characters from Negan’s clan: Donny and Chelle. The female leaders gagged and bagged Maggie and Carol, announcing to Rick that two prisoners for one seemed like a bad trade and that they would try to negotiate a different proposal, before dragging the ladies to an undisclosed “safe house.” What happened next has left us concerned for the future of Rick’s party.
The Walking Dead Recap: Will Maggie and Carol Make It Out Alive?>>>
1) Carol Begins to Break Down
After cornering Maggie and Carol in the forest, Paula (the group’s unofficial leader, it seems) ordered the two to be tied up, gagged, and brought to an unknown “safe house” away from Negan’s main base. The incident sparked a panic attack in Carol who began hyperventilating. Though Carol’s breakdown initially seemed like a ploy to trick the women into thinking she was weak, it soon became clear that her panic was not just an act as the episode wore on and her behavior remained frenzied.
2) Paula Confesses: “We Are All Negan”
As she waited for Paula to make a decision on the hostage situation, Carol began questioning the leader on whether or not Negan was killed in Rick’s attack on the compound. Paula’s provided an ominous response that left Carol practically in tears: “we are all Negan.” Does this mean that “Negan” is not actually one person, but a general name for a collection of people? Or that Negan is somehow “Big Brother-ing” each member of his group, keeping a watchful eye over their every move so that he can “be” all of them?
3) The Women Radio More Members of Their Group
After capturing Maggie and Carol and making demands from Rick’s team, Paula contacted a mysterious person on her walkie talkie, eventually arranging for backup in case Rick’s clan attacked. The way Paula communicated with the man on the other line suggests that there may be more people in Negan’s team than Rick originally anticipated.
4) Paula Equates Rick and Negan, for Valid Reasons
As decent as Rick and his team think they are, their murderous behavior at the compound makes them no better than the villainous Negan that they claim to be taking down. This is the point Paula argued halfway through the episode after Carol tried to justify her group’s actions. Though Rick’s decision to slaughter the members of Negan’s stronghold was well-intentioned, it makes his group no different from Negan’s, who are also willing to do anything to survive. This realization was troubling to Carol who realized that Paula was, in some ways, entirely correct.
5) Maggie Uses Donny to Kill Molls
Once Maggie and Carol were left alone, they were each able to untie their hands and plot an escape plan which, for Maggie, involved letting the wounded Donny turn and using him as a weapon against his group member Molls. This strategy was visibly upsetting to Carol who pleaded for them to just abandon the safe house and let Paula and her friends alone. Killing other living humans is one thing but letting someone’s undead friend attack them for the sake of convenience? That’s next-level crazy.
6) Maggie Slashes Molls to Pieces
As if letting dead-Donny attack his friend wasn’t enough, Maggie proceeded to stab Molls after she’d been bitten, slashing her over and over again to Carol’s obvious dismay. The camera angle revealed Maggie’s violent expression as she plunged her knife into Molls an unnecessary amount of times, to the point where it made us wonder if she was maybe enjoying it.
7) Carol Hesitates to Kill Paula…Twice
Not often does Carol shy away from killing another human being. In fact, she’s often criticized Morgan for not killing humans enough. And yet, in “The Same Boat,” Carol hesitated to kill one particular character, Paula, not once but twice. Despite Maggie’s insistence, Carol refused to shoot Paula, telling her to run instead. Though Carol eventually shot Paula, the wound was not fatal and Paula returned to make a final stand, one that ended, once again, with Carol hesitating. What made Paula so different from all of the other humans that Carol has killed, including Chelle who Carol had no problem shooting point blank in the head moments prior to her Paula standoff?
8) Maggie and Carol Burn the Rest of Negan’s Group Alive
Maggie and Carol crossed a new murder threshold at the end of “The Same Boat” when they lured Negan’s group into a gas-soaked room with a lit match and shut the door, watching through the window as they burned to a crisp. The horror and regret on their faces were evident as they escaped down the hall to exit the safe house, leaving the fiery “kill floor” behind them.
9) Primo Claims to be Negan
“Who is Negan?” This question resurfaced at the end of the episode when Maggie and Carol announced that they’d killed Primo’s friends. Rick turned to Primo hoping that, with nothing left to lose, the man would identify his boss and confirm his death. Instead, Primo challenged Rick, claiming to be Negan himself which in turn caused Rick to shoot him in the head without a second thought.
10) Carol and Maggie are Not Okay
Maggie and Carol are some of the strongest ladies on television, which made their response to Daryl and Glenn’s question — “Are you okay?” — even more shocking. Carol’s blunt “no” and Maggie’s desperate “I can’t do it anymore” revealed the cracks growing in the two’s moral foundation. Their murder counts are in the double digits; have they finally reached their limit?
The Walking Dead season 6 airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.
(Images courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
