The Walking Dead: Dead City
Season 3 - Episode 4 -”Found / Lost”
MAGGIE / LUIS I: With the most vital of hospital medical supplies down to nothing (or near it), and against Renata's concerns, Maggie takes Luis on a long road trip to meet the mysterious woman known as The Trader, and yes, her name is her vocation. Along the way, Maggie and Luis get to know each other, trading life stories, including Luis recalling how he lost his wife (Marisol) shortly after the ZA outbreak, and coming to grips with the reality that he's never see her again. Maggie is not as forthcoming with her more personal memories, but she shares enough to intrigue Luis.
The duo arrive at the overstocked outpost/house of The Trader, a Black woman who eyes the pair suspiciously, like someone who expects things to go south more often than not. The duo offer a trade for medical supplies, and in return, Maggie presents the plans for methane power. The Trader is very interested but warns that such technology could be dangerous in the wrong hands (another hint or tease?). In exchange for a potential trade, The Trader says she will vet the methane plans with a man who used to work on rockets (SEE NOTES); all Maggie &Luis need to do is let her use the van while they stay at her outpost overnight...
NEGAN AND RENATA I: Renata offers Negan the last unoccupied apartment in her building; she explains that he's been a great help to their group, but she accuses Negan of murdering The Dama, since it does not follow that a woman who ended her hunger strike—showing a desire to live—would stab herself to death. Negan initially turns down the offer, thinking Renata's generosity is merely so she can keep an eye on him, or punish him for killing The Dama. Renata adds that she believes Negan's resistance is born from fear of getting too close to people, only to lose them, or perhaps he cannot rust himself in the environment she's offering.
MAGGIE / LUIS II: Having no choice other than trusting The Trader, Maggie and Luis settle down in The Trader's shop, Maggie sharpening the edge ofa broom handle, fashioning it into a weapon.
On the topic of starting over, Luis would like to be ”someone who appreciates what he has...someone who matters to someone...” (GEE, THAT WAS NOT A SUBTLE HINT OF ANY KIND). For Maggie, now that keeping Hershelsafe is no longer necessary, she does not know what she would do tostart over.
That evening, the duo approached by an elderly man named Gerald, who sought to trade roasted apples—Traders favorite—for something.
The man says he's from a community of 62 Presbyterians located on what was once the family camp for church. Maggie argues that “every” so-called Christian group she's come across was more cult than church. To test his stated beliefs, she asks him to finish a scriptural passage from the Book of Matthew (Chapter 7, verse 17's ”By their fruits you will know them..”) and First Corinthians (Chapter 13, verse13's ”And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Although Maggie's doubts are somewhat put at ease from Gerald's obvious knowledge of scripture, she's still cautious, but agrees to visit Gerald's camp.
MAGGIE / LUIS III: Heading deeper into the woods on foot, Gerald leads Maggieand Luis to a large camp clearing, where the man briefly explains how his people live, secure themselves from Walkers. Maggie offers the methane technology for free, but Gerald is not so sure its a good thing, as he comments on he old things—TV, phones, radios are justnoise--places to hide. By letting go of the old world, Gerald and his people discovered connection--who they wanted to be. Gerald refuses Maggie's offer but invites the duo to a celebration to be held that evening.
MAGGIE / LUIS IV: That night, Gerald's people lay out an impressive, naturalistic setting for the celebration, and as the residents partake in dancing, food and general goodwill, Maggie and Luis are prodded into drinking some homemade alcohol, then dancing with each other. Maggie is close to kissing Luis, but it seemed to be herthinking[] about it, as the shot jump cuts to her pulling back, as if waking up from a dream. Not understanding Maggie's behavior, he does not press the matter and joins her on the walk back to The Trader's outpost.
The following morning, Luis thanks Maggie for making him comfortable enough to talk about his late wife, while she caresses the wedding ring hanging on her necklace. The Trader returns with a massive supply of medical goods, but she's not as grateful as one would imagine, repeating her belief of ”Self protection in the end. Always” (SEENOTES).
DISASTER: In the alley which intersects with the pantry building and another structure, an earthquake causes the ground beneath a cage filled with Walkers to shift, eventually dumping the creatures all around Maggie, Negan, Hershel, Luis, Dillard and Renata. Seeing the ground beneath the pantry crumbling away, Renata leads Hershel and Dillard into the room to collect as much food as possible before the roof caves in. Outside, Maggie, Negan and Luis fight for their lives against the Walkers, but of the three, Maggie is nearly overwhelmed, as her wedding ring necklace is torn from her neck—the ring rolling away as she desperately tries to grab it. Negan rescues Maggie as she agonizingly watches the ring drop into the expanding sinkhole (which reveals a wrecked subway train). Both parties stand on the edges of the sinkhole, realizing how desperate their situation has become, now that they do not have enough food to feed all of the new refugees...
NOTES:
Once again, we were treated to another flashback from The Walking Dead , this time, the episode when Glenn declared his love for Maggie and gave her the wedding ring. Itspretty obvious that the showrunners are employing so many callbacks to the parent series, all for building nostalgic feelings for parts of Maggie's life that no longer exist, but the payoff for the lookback is on the horizon.
The scene that was a bit too on the nose was Maggie's loss of her wedding ring; earlier in the episode, she caressed it, using it not only as her connection to Glenn, but a physical symbol of why she believes she must be “the widow” for the rest of her days. Now that the ring has been lost, this kind of character trope usually leads to a person no longer feeling “chained" to the past, thus Maggie has no reason to reject the romantic overtures from Luis.
How a Maggie/Luis relationship will fly with Hershel (considering his longstanding trauma over his father's murder) is another matter...
Dillard mentioned that he has not received a compliment from a woman lately. Since he was flattered, I wonder if he will return to his apartment and find himself chastised by his chained Walker-woman for turning his attention to Renata. If Dillard is too far gone, it is possible he might attempt to replace the Walker-woman with Renata...only in a way that he can relate to a woman...
...that, or if he believes his good 'ol buddy Negan is flirting with Renata, will that lead to violence...betrayal...anything?
The Trader's oft-spoken Self-protection in the end. Always” line felt like a warning of things to come—perhaps hinting that whatever Maggie's group has, in the end, altruism will fall by the wayside as true survival instincts force one to do whatever is necessary, usually something violent. A character can be cryptic without forecasting some sort of betrayal or attack. I hope that's the case with the Trader.
With so few Walker threats in the episode, it provided the space for interesting character development so this week's episode earns...
GRADE: B.
