Negan regains control of the Sanctuary and sets the stage for the final battle between Team Family and the Saviors. Here’s our recap of “Worth”!
I put this recap into easier to follow sections. Since the episode jumps around so frequently, sometimes things get lost in between. First up, we’ll get the opening out of the way and then move into “Mission: Kidnap Eugene” followed by Oceanside then into the meat of the episode at the Sanctuary.
—-
Rick is sitting on the balcony of the house at Hilltop, and he’s holding Carl’s letter. We finally see what he wrote to his dad as a voice over reads the letter and we see the everyday duties at Hilltop and Rick’s reaction to Carl’s words. {This is the letter in its entirety.}
I thought growing up was about getting a job and maybe a family, being an adult, but growing up is making yourself and the people you love safe As safe as you can, because things happen. They happened before. You were shot before things went bad. Kind of felt like things went bad because you were shot.
I want to make you feel safe, Dad. I want you to feel just like I felt when you held my hand. Just to feel that way for five minutes. I’d give anything to make you feel that way now.
I wanted to kill Negan. I wish I did. Maybe it would’ve been done. I don’t think it’s done now. You went out there again, but I don’t think they surrendered. I don’t think they will surrender. There are workers in there, Dad. They’re just regular people Old people, young people, families. You don’t want them to die, Dad.
We’re so close to starting everything over, and we have friends now. It’s that bigger world Jesus talked about The Kingdom, the Hilltop. There’s there’s got to be more places, more people out there, a chance for everything to change and keep changing, everyone giving everyone the opportunity to have a life. A real life.
So if they won’t end it, you have to. You have to give them a way out. You have to find peace with Negan, find a way forward somehow. We don’t have to forget what happened, but you can make it so that it won’t happen again, that nobody has to live this way, that every life is worth something.
Start everything over. Show everyone that they can be safe again without killing, that it can feel safe again, that it could go back to being birthdays and school and jobs and even Friday-night pizza somehow. And walks with a dad and a 3-year-old holding hands. Make that come back, Dad. And go on those walks with Judith. She’ll remember them.
I love you,
Carl
How this will change how Rick after the final battle is up in the air, but he’s definitely going after Negan again.
Rick looks down from his perch and sees MIchonne walking with Judith before he folds up his letter.
Honestly, Rick needs to think about what life could be like and stop living in this mindset, but also, he needs to kill Negan.
Michonne lays down on the bed in her room, but before we cut to a break, she opens the drawer and picks up Negan’s letter. She finally got curious enough to read it!
—-
At the bullet outpost, Eugene is eating some sardine mac-and-cheese made by a couple of Negan’s wives. Apparently it takes him back to his college days…
This is the moment from the preview that Eugene starts telling his bullet makers that they need to at least make enough to appear like they’re on target. He also find one bullet that isn’t flush.
That’s when he relieves Gabriel of his duties.
“I didn’t know. I just wanted to make it so that the bullets didn’t work. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I don’t want any of my people to die.”
“If you cannot accept that we’re your people now, you may as well cut to the chase and chew the next bullet coming off that line. Is that what you want?”
“No. That’s not what I want. I don’t want that. I don’t want to help you, but I do fear death. Maybe all this…maybe this is just His way of showing me that I haven’t changed a way of showing me that I’m still the same person who locked my parishioners out so long ago. I’m still the same scared animal, doing what I must to survive just like you. Being alive may be something we don’t have in common for much longer.”
“You are hereby suspended from the line.”
He tells him not to cry too loudly then goes outside to shoot some of the bullets. That’s when Daryl and Rosita show up and kidnap his ass!
They get on their way, and he’s trying to talk his way out of what’s happening to him. It’s so damn annoying, and Daryl pulls his knife.
“Shut your mouth before I cut your tongue out.”
Next time, don’t tease me, Daryl. Just do it.
Rosita takes over and tells Eugene that everything that’s happened since the Saviors got out of the Sanctuary is his fault. Eugene blames Rick, and Rosita pulls a gun on him.
“You’re selfish, and you’re a coward, and you’re a traitor. You turned your back on the only friends you ever had. Shooting you in the head right here would actually make the world a better place, but we’re not gonna kill you, not because we give a rat’s ass about you. We just need what’s in there! We’re gonna stick you in the darkest hole we can find, and the only time you’ll see the light of day is when we need you to teach us how to do something. So don’t worry. You’ll get what you want. You’ll live, but we’re gonna force you to do something useful with your pathetic life.”
They get a bit further, and walkers come there way. Daryl tells them that he’s got it, and Rosita can keep an eye on Eugene. While Rosita is distracted, Eugene puts his fingers down his throat then throws up all over Rosita.
He runs to get away and she chases him. Daryl follows and they eventually hit a burnt out area. Rosita tells Daryl to shoot him if he sees him as they run past.
Eugene uncovers himself from the ashes and makes his way back to the bullet outpost. I refuse to believe that this is symbolism for Eugene rising from the ashes of his mistakes because when he gets to back to work, he’s a complete asshole to everyone, including Gabriel again.
I’m ready for him to die.
—
Oceanside people are walking through the woods and seem genuinely annoyed that Aaron is still hanging around their place.
He comes out of the woods and kills a walker, but they just keep walking past him after he falls down.
One tells him that he needs to find water.
I’m not sure how long Aaron’s on his own after that, but he wakes up to rain and is super stoked about it but walkers show up. He loses his knife the mud, and he has to use a stick to kill the walkers that run up on him.
I’ll be real honest, I didn’t think he could do it. Also, for someone who used to go and recrute people, he does a really bad job and taking care of himself on his own.
He gets found by Oceanside people again, and he rallies? them before he passes out.
“What they did to you, what they turned you into it’s their fault. You hide. You don’t trust. You don’t live the life the way you want to because of them. They hurt you, and they’re gonna keep on hurting you. Unless you do one thing! Fight.”
—-
At the Sanctuary, Gregory is talking to Simon about how he miscalculated Maggie and Hilltop. Along with Alexandria.
“You made me look like an ass!”
But that’s never what Gregory wanted! In fact, he stumbles around, telling Simon just that. They’ve had a bit of tequila at this point. It was something they always shared, so what a nice gesture on Simon’s part…I guess.
Gregory tells him that he wants to make it up to Negan to which Simon tells him that he IS NEGAN. As in Negan is dead, and Simon took over. This changes things for Gregory.
He proceeds to tell Simon that he’s not dying like this, and Simon knocks him down.
“First, I wasn’t gonna send you away. I was gonna kill you. Second do you make coffee?”
“Best in the land.”
“We’ll start with coffee and see where it goes.”
So, Simon secured his PA before the take over?
—-
At the Sanctuary, Negan has a talk with Dwight outside by the fences.
“See, when the time comes And you will know when it comes I want you to remember this little talk. I want you to remember what we’ve done and what we can still do together.”
Later, inside the building, Negan is having a meeting with his top people. Simon apologizes for taking over and for making it seem like Negan was dead. All the while, Negan stares at him with a little smile on his face while he cleans Lucille.
He brings up that Simon was pretty crazy before he got there, and we find out that Simon was responsible for the men of Oceanside’s death. So, Simon has a very big problem with killing all the people.
“I mean, before me, before there was a system in place, what you did, killing all those men, those boys in that settlement so long ago, a lot of people would think that is some psychotic shit. Like that is the work of a demented, broken, goddamn ghoul. Like that’s not someone that you want to work with, let alone stand next to. So I figured I’d keep my eye on you, and I did, and everything seemed to work out right up until this point. I’m gonna need you on your knees. You gonna make a move, or is that it?”
“No move to make.”
“No. There isn’t. All is forgiven. Get your ass up.”
Afterward, Negan explains his plan for surrounding Hilltop and sniping them all day long. He will get order again and he will kill as many people as he has to restore that order.
I honestly don’t know if this is all a ploy (check out what happens later) or if he’s trolling Simon by doing exactly what he told Simon not to do.
Everyone else leaves the room, and Negan talks to Dwight about how he’s always kept a clear head…even after everything that’s happened to him. He encourages him to continue to:
“Keep that shit clear.”
I don’t have a good feeling about what’s coming for Dwight.
Later, Dwight is copying Negan’s map when Simon knocks on his door. He puts the maps away then lets him inside. Simon is a bit shook and wants to know what Negan wanted to Dwight after everyone left.
Dwight doesn’t give him anything, and that’s when Simon really starts pushing his agenda of taking over again. Dwight looks unsure about the situation, but in the end, he agrees to go along with Simon’s plan.
Some time has passed again, and Dwight is hanging out where all the traitors are supposed to meet, and he’s eying his stubbed out cigarette and looks very uncomfortable. The other traitors and Simon come out, Gregory’s there, too, but honestly OF COURSE HE IS. After a moment of feeling out Dwight, Simon launches into his plan. He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty of course, so he outsources the job of killing Negan to Dwight.
After all, Dwight has big issues with Negan. He took his wife, burnt his face, continues to belittle him. When Dwight doesn’t agree, Simon stares at him for several seconds and Dwight begins to whistle.
That’s when Negan pops out from behind a dumpster and everyone knows they’re screwed. Negan counts it off and on three, snipers kill all the people who have decided to take him out except for Simon and Gregory.
On top of all that drama, he tells Simon if he wants to be the leader, he needs to fight him for it.
It’s Challenge Day at the Sanctuary, folks!
While everyone is distracted by their fight, Dwight hands off his map and keys to Gregory who is supposed to rush those plans to Hilltop.
The whole fight is a bloody, primal mess. We’ve seen Negan kill people with Lucille, but we’ve never seen him set her aside and use his bare hands. It’s obvious who is going to win, and while Negan strangles Simon, he tells him all the things he’s messed up that he’ll have to fix now:
“You went for it all at the Hilltop. You got Saviors killed, and then you ran away like a coward! You got shown up one too many times. Those people, they are always gonna know that there’s a loophole, a way to skate. They are always gonna be looking for that chance to push back, so now I gotta kill all of ’em just like I’m gonna kill you!”
Negan stands up and looks around at the people watching and simply says:
“What an asshole.”
AND that’s the end of Simon…in human form.
—-
Gregory gets to Hilltop, and he’s locked back in the cell, but he has handed over Dwight’s map.
Maggie, Rick, and Michonne look at it, and then Maggie asks:
“What are we going to do?”
—-
“Worth” closes out at the Sanctuary with Negan tying up his other loose end.
He’s talking to Dwight as they walk through the halls, and tells him there was nothing else to do with Simon. He couldn’t let all that shit slide. He promotes Dwight to be his right hand man…if he’ll accept.
“I do, and I’ll help you finish this thing with Rick.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, D. You already have.”
He opens Dwight’s door, and there’s the woman who got away that night at in the ASZ…the one who saw Dwight turn on the Saviors. THAT was who Negan picked up last episode, and she has told him everything.
We also find out that whatever map Dwight sent with Gregory is a total trap, and Dwight has essentially helped him finish this with Rick without actually meaning to do so.
It all makes sense now. You told Rick when to attack. How to get to the outposts You keep us locked in here, slipping them workers guns. Maybe you even lied to me about killing Sherry. Oh, hell. You, for sure, lied to me about that. So, what? Hmm? You think you’re some sort of a hero? No. You are nothing. A nobody in way over your head.
Things are going to get really bad for Dwight.
It’s also very interesting to note here that Negan calls Dwight a “nobody”. Daryl referred to himself as a nobody once before when he talked to Beth in S4. This is another further connection between Daryl and Dwight.
—
Negan is outside, leaning over the railing when Michonne calls in on the walkie talkie. He makes sure he knows who he’s talking to, and she explains that Carl left him a letter, and she feels that he should know what it says.
It’s essentially a plea for Negan to make peace, but that time has long since passed.
“All this…there is no getting out of it now. I wouldn’t accept your surrender if you came to me on your knees.”
All the while, he’s tearing up and looks devastated. I would have given anything to see that relationship play out on screen. JDM and Chandler would have been fascinating to watch evolve.
Negan reiterates that this wasn’t how it was supposed to be:
“I didn’t want this. Rick made this happen.”
He ends by saying that there will be no more talking. He drops the walkie talkie and crushes it under his boot.
Chained to the fence across from him is a chained up walker Simon. Ready to protect the Sanctuary he wanted to take over.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC at 9/8c! Live tweet the finale with us next week!
