Can Rick convince Morales to spare his life now that they are reunited on ‘The Walking Dead’? Our full recap reveals the outcome of their shocking confrontation.
We start this episode with overly confident King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) amping his people, including Carol (Melissa McBride) up for the Saviors arrival. While this group seems a little concerned about the Saviors on their way to attack, neither Ezekiel nor Carol are phased. Why? Strategy, according to Carol. Though they are low in numbers, they plan out a confrontation in which the Saviors believe they’ve got them — and then they are mowed down with bullets by members of the group hidden in the bushes. Pretty brilliant, but can Ezekiel keep getting this lucky? Probably not for long.
Thankfully we make a quick return to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) who are still having a showdown inside one of the many Savior locations. Morales is still holding his gun to Rick’s head, and Rick still looks concerned. Morales demands that Rick put his guns on the floor and Rick does so without a word, though he doesn’t once break eye contact with Morales. Rick’s old friend finally admits surprise to find out that Rick is the Rick from Alexandria. He tells him that they are definitely not the people they used to be, and he even goes on to call Rick a monster right to his face. Rick tells him that he didn’t need to call the Saviors because he’s alone and the fight is outside, but Morales tells him he’s a prize. Negan’s instructed his men not to kill Rick, Maggie or Ezekiel so long as they don’t have to.
Speaking of outside, the relentless gunfight is still going on. Moments later the Saviors stop shooting at the Alexandrians and turn their guns on the entrance into the building. Once they’re inside we catch up with Eric and Aaron, who have moved out of the war zone once it was revealed that Eric had been shot. Eric is in bad shape, he’s bleeding heavily and although Aaron’s found an exit wound it can’t be ignored that he was shot right in the middle of his abdomen. Once Eric is resting, he tells Aaron that he needs to go back and keep fighting. Aaron doesn’t want to hear it, but Eric’s right — there’s no helping him right now. It’s heartbreaking to watch, but eventually, Eric does convince Aaron to go back. This might be the last time we see Eric, huh?
Rick Desperately Tries To Convert Morales — Obviously, Fails
Rick tries to keep Morales talking while they wait for the Saviors, so he asks about his family. This throws Morales off, enough for him to lower his gun for a moment and reveal that his family never made it to Birmingham, Alabama which was their plan when they left back in season one. Rick tells Morales he’s sorry but he isn’t convinced until Rick tells him that he lost people, too. He names Lori, Shane, Andrea.. and then Glenn. “Negan killed him. Forced him to his knees, bashed his head in right in front of me. In front of his pregnant wife,” Rick tells Morales. That’s when Morales finds out that Maggie is the woman he’s been calling “the widow.” Rick continues to try to appeal to Morales but it doesn’t work. It’s not much of a surprise when Daryl shoots him with a crossbow from behind, even as Rick shouts at him not to. Rick tells Daryl who he was and Daryl admits that he knew who it was and it didn’t matter. They don’t have much time to talk about it though because the Saviors arrive, and now it’s just the two of them.
Rick and Daryl try to make a run for it, but it’s too late. They get separated in between gunfire, and then they run out of ammo. Not. Good. Rick improvises by shooting out a fire extinguisher, and as the Saviors come running in to attack they throw them down the elevator shaft. Brilliant. With impeccable timing, Aaron and the group from the courtyard make it to their floor. But did baby Gracie manage to sleep through all of this, or?
We later watch as the Rick, Daryl and the group clean out the walkers in the courtyard and snap Polaroids of the destruction they caused. As Rick writes a note, which we can only assume is to leave behind, Aaron goes to find Eric. He’s gone. Aaron spots Eric, now a walker, stumbling into the woods after a large group of walkers and is forced to let him go. It’s devastating. However, Aaron finds new purpose when Rick brings baby Gracie out of the building. He promises to look after her by taking her to The Hilltop, and Rick lets him. Interestingly enough, Gracie’s bunny doesn’t appear to be with her when Rick removes her from the building.
Before Rick and Daryl get to leave they find one last Savior. He’s alone so it’s easy for Rick to convince him to come out of hiding, and he tells them what they need to know: that the guns were moved one day earlier. This means that Dwight’s information is bad, which means he’s either lying to them or Negan’s onto him. They learn that the guns are actually at Gavin’s post, which is where King Ezekiel and Carol just arrived too. We watch as Ezekiel and his men realize they’ve made it through the day without losing a single person — until the King notices someone in a window and gunfire rings out. The last thing we see is multiple men tackling Ezekiel to the ground to protect him.
Tara, Morgan & Jesus Have Their Own War
We also get to catch up with Tara and Jesus who are moving their Savior hostages to The Hilltop. Morgan and Tara are still not onboard with letting all of the Saviors live, and they continue to make it very clear. Jesus tries to explain to Morgan that even though they have killed, they don’t execute. “I have,” is all Morgan says in return. While they are walking Jared, the long-haired Savior who enjoyed taunting Morgan and The Kingdom during drop offs, continues to do just that by bringing up Benjamin, who he killed. This sets Morgan off, but before he can kill Jared they are hit by a group of walkers. The Saviors are left defenseless as the Alexandrians try to fend off the walkers, and quite a few of them get bit. Jared’s group makes a run for it, but Morgan goes after them. When one of the guy’s trips and falls it stops the whole group since they are tied together, and Morgan gets his chance to execute, which he does. But Jesus catches up with them and stops Morgan, who attacks Jesus in response. Morgan’s completely lost it, guys. Their fight ends up with Morgan storming off into the woods claiming he can’t be a part of “this” anymore.
While all of this was going on, Gregory returned to The Hilltop. At first, Maggie refused to let him in, reminding him that he is a traitor and that he doesn’t deserve to return. But eventually, Gregory appeals to Maggie’s softer side by admitting that he was just scared and he sees now that he had no reason to be. Unfortunately it works, and later on when Jesus returns with the Saviors who are now hostages she puts him in his place by sending him away. He no longer makes decisions for The Hilltop. Jesus comes up with an idea to lock the Saviors in empty trailers until this whole thing is over, but Maggie seems on the fence about the whole thing.
Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/11/05/morales-dead-walking-dead-season-8-episode-3-recap/
