Tensions rise as The Walking Dead pits everyone against the Commonwealth

Okay, it’s official. The fuse has been lit—now, it’s just a question of when the massive explosion of everything involving the Commonwealth that’s been established over the past season is going to happen. Connie and Kelly are teaming up with Eugene and Max to blow the lid off of Sebastian’s homicidal treatment of everyday citizens. Mercer is getting pressure from his sister to stand up for what’s right and reform the corrupt government, with some emotional support from Princess. Carol is starting to get sick of playing the long game with Hornsby.

But most of all, Hilltop has just been placed on Lance Hornsby’s endangered species list. Daryl made it pretty clear which side he’s still on, so now, the worst middle manager in the apocalypse is making it his personal mission to take down everyone who has disrespected his smarmy ambition. Too many guns have been pointed in too many faces for any sort of “forgive and forget” at this point; all that’s required is for one of them to finally go off, and this whole society is going to erupt into chaos.

The ironically titled “Trust” is all about what happens when you start saying everything out loud—except for what you actually mean. I’m pretty sure every single exchange with Lance Hornsby this episode involved people telling each other the opposite of the truth. From Aaron and Gabriel’s weak story about how the events at the building went down (honestly, that was the lamest element; surely they could concoct a more plausible alibi?) to the smiling-through-gritted-teeth exchanges at Hilltop, everyone was dancing around the actual topic: Namely, that Hornsby wanted to blame Hilltop for the theft and violence, and thus have an excuse to kill those standing in the way of his plans.

Well, everyone but Daryl: “You got something to say, say it,” he bluntly tells Hornsby, as though the smiling Commonwealth operative would ever do anything so pedestrian as be honest. Considering how close he came to selling Maggie on cooperation a few weeks ago, it’s almost disappointing to watch them cast aside niceties and just stare each other down. Or rather, it would be, if director Lily Mariye hadn’t done such a solid job of ratcheting up the tension from scene to scene. From the comic beat of Aaron and Gabriel affirming that things went down just as they said (which may as well have added a ba-dum tsh! in the sound mix) to the stretched-out moments of Lance trying to start the truck and placing the hat on Hershel’s head, there was a steady progression from bad to worse.

But if things at Hilltop were one bad decision away from all-out war (luckily averted by Hornsby having his men stand down, and thereby living to smarm another day), things inside the Commonwealth were actually more intriguing in the long run. Honestly, at this point, I’m most excited to find out how Carol’s patient, manipulative actions will pay off once the battle lines are drawn. She’s risen in Hornsby’s estimation to such a degree that it’s literally nothing for her to now take control of an otherwise disastrous situation (Tomi and Ezekiel’s fumbling their attempt to smuggle medical supplies out and perform an emergency appendectomy), and order around stormtroopers. That’s behind-the-scenes power that will make an impact.

And it also helped sell some of the emotional drama between her and Ezekiel. At this point, the remains of their relationship feels a little past its expiration date in terms of our investment, so it was nice to hear Carol call that out by flatly saying they’ll never get back together. It was relatively interesting seeing the veterinary operation Ezekiel’s put together, as well as Tomi managing to perform a successful operation despite being potentially kinda drunk, but that was all treading water in the grander scheme; these are relationships being put to bed, not developed.

Heavens, but Michael James Shaw is jacked. That whole scene in the gym with Max and Mercer was hilarious; it reminded me of John Mulaney’s bit about every character on Law & Order who won’t stop unloading their truck to talk to a cop about an actual murder investigation. Here’s Max, pleading with her brother to do possibly the most dangerous thing he’s ever considered, and he can’t be bothered to interrupt his reps. It’s not like he hasn’t thought this through: “I’ve got fifty thousand other lives to think about,” he says, when she broaches the idea of justice for some cruelly murdered victims of Milton family capriciousness. But as he confesses to Princess later, Mercer might be ready to drop his just-following-orders shtick. He knows the Commonwealth needs something else.

It ended in implausible fashion: I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to point a gun at your boss, Daryl, especially when that boss is Hornsby, and then just rejoin the stormtrooper posse for dinner and bedtime. And Leah letting the soldiers live long enough to be offered a job felt more narratively convenient than character-driven. Still, the question is just how much of this extensive table-setting setting will be paid off in next week’s midseason finale (technically the second midseason finale). Knowing Hornsby’s duplicity and Leah’s anger, the answer is hopefully, “All of it.”

Stray observations

• I can’t be the only one who thought Ezekiel was playing at something else with the whole “friend needs help” plea to Tomi, can I? It just seemed like setup for something else, so I was surprised when it was all taken at face value.
• Max and Eugene finally got their kiss. Well, I guess it’s technically the second time Eugene is getting a first kiss with his “Stephanie,” but still.
• A nice way to kick things off: a close-up of Carlson’s eaten-apart skull.
• The show is doing a good job of peppering in all the ways the Commonwealth’s bid for normalcy can be awfully appealing; here, it was Carol dropping Judith and RJ off at school.
• Kill of the week: A slow-motion shot of Aaron punching apart a walker head was a little cheesy, but still takes top honors.
• Next week is the last episode until the final batch drops in the fall. I’d be curious to hear from you in the comments about where you think they’re going to leave things heading into the hiatus.