The Walking Dead: JSS Recap & Review

Don’t blink or you just might miss something. Choke-full with action and a sick amount of violence, the latest episode of The Walking Dead was just the not-so-friendly reminder we all needed that walkers aren’t the biggest threat to our group or any other sane survivor in this apocalypse. We learn what set off the alarm sound—it was really a truck horn—that caused the disturbance in Rick’s plan last week, Morgan makes his way back to Alexandria just in time to help get rid of some violent intruders, Carol flips from domesticated to warrior…again, and more on The Walking Dead: “JSS.” Spoiler alert.

Domestic Disturbance

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Last week on The Walking Dead, Rick and the other members of our group who were assisting him in driving out the hoard of walkers from the nearby quarry, were startled when a loud alarm sound came blaring from Alexandria, causing the walkers to divert from the beaten path. This week’s episode took us back in the storyline to right before the strange, loud alarm first sounded off. Just like in a creepy horror movie before the crap hits the fan, all was peaceful and quiet in the town of Alexandria. Maggie and Deanna were discussing plans to expand the community and potentially start to farm some of their own food, Eugene and Tara meet the new community doctor (who actually is a trained psychiatrist), Jessie confesses her “friendship” with Rick to her son, and Father Gabriel approaches Carl about presumably learning to defend himself/helping to protect the community.

We even saw Carol getting her domestic grove going, and chatting up some of the ladies while grabbing some canned items for one of her culinary delights, I’m sure. And though there was a moment where Carol let her darker side slip out—just a smidgen—she managed to pull herself together as she realized what was happening. All but one, her intended victim, was none the wiser it seemed. Back at her house, shortly after preparing her dish, it was while Carol was staring across the street at her neighbor Shelly that crap suddenly hit the fan. Out of nowhere, it seemed, some machete wielding psycho laid into Shelly, striking her to the ground with the first blow. And just like that, warrior Carol had kicked into gear and was ready to answer the call of duty.

Morgan and Carol to the Rescue

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With Alexandria suddenly under attack, it left the community in an extremely vulnerable state, given that half the people there weren’t exactly known for their badassness. Just saying. Luckily for them, Maggie and Aaron were there and, of course, Carol aka calm and crazy. In a masterful strategic move, like straight out of a movie or something, Carol went tactical and assumed the identity of one of the intruders, taking their clothes and covering much of her face so that she could move about in plain sight and take out as many intruders as possible. Smart right? And it worked like a charm, even before Morgan came to provide the assist.

They say timing is everything; well nothing could be truer in the case of Morgan. It was a good thing Rick asked Morgan to go back to Alexandria, because as it turns out the remaining community members needed all the help they could get with fending off the violent intruders. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see Morgan really get down to business upon arrival because just as he was about to tango with a worthy opponent Carol comes out of nowhere and intervenes, stabbing Morgan’s opponent in the side, taking him out instantly. But it was ok, Morgan got his chance a little bit later. The only arguably disappointing move Morgan made all day was saving Father Gabriel. Oh, like you weren’t thinking it too.

Within in an hour, Morgan and Carol, in particular, had managed to successfully rid Alexandria of much of the intruders—which come to find out Morgan somehow knew from his days prior to coming to Alexandria—and all was quiet and still again. The only thing creepier in this episode was the intro which gave us a glimpse into Enid’s back story. You know, how she got to Alexandria and before Carl fell in like with her. We still have much to learn about her—like what the hell JSS stands for and why she keeps writing everywhere—but what we do know is that she’s suspicious acting and that can’t be good for anybody in Alexandria. Stay tuned, things are just getting started.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9:00pm EST on AMC.