The Walking Dead: Us is the 15th episode of the season and deals with the various scattered groups all heading towards the same destination with hopes of being reunited with the others. It opens up with Glenn walking on some railroad tracks with his new group and his mind set on finding Maggie while Eugene chats up Tara asking her what kind of gamer she used to be prior to the zombie apocalypse. Clearly he’s intelligent as she finds a coin and he thinks of many ways it could be utilized, and that explains why Abraham is so intent on protecting him until they reach Washington D.C.. What isn’t so clear to Abraham is why Tara is so intent on helping Glenn as he inquires about this later that night and instead of telling him the true reason she states it’s just part of her mission the same way he has a mission. But at least one of these missions could soon be at an end when the next day, to everyone’s surprise, they come across the sign Maggie left for Glenn to meet her at Terminus. But what of Rick, Michonne and Carl who are also following the railroad tracks in their own way and what lies ahead for them? And can Daryl somehow find a way to reunite with everyone or will he just get deeper in with the group he’s currently traveling with?

I’ve been enjoying the excellent character development the second half of this season and the way the stories have unfolded. And the new characters have come off very well, and even at the start of this episode when we’re given more of a glimpse into the personalities of Eugene, Abraham and Rosita they come off as characters unique to the series. But with the next episode being the season finale it was important that there was enough story progression that would lead to an exciting finale. There wouldn’t be much with Rick, Carl and Michonne as they would just be shown walking with the latter two playing a game of who could walk on a rail the longest. Despite little progress here I do have to say I really like this trio and their interactions, and it’s good to see how far they’ve come. It’s not just about survival to them in terms of remaining a group and that’s in stark contrast to the group Daryl is currently with as we’re reminded of this when they’re woken up by a walker getting caught in the barbed wire they set up as a perimeter while they slept. Initially they think Daryl left but they see his supplies and one of them is able to find Daryl, who’s busy hunting for food. In what would be just the first encounter with Len, who deliberately shoots the same rabbit that Daryl targeted, Daryl would learn the rules that keep the group together and why Len could try to lay claim to Daryl’s hunt. This would be possible by saying one word: claimed.

Of course this wouldn’t go over well with Daryl who refuses to accept this rule until Joe, the leader of the group, cuts the rabbit in half and gives one half to Len. Joe says it’s not just survival of the fittest because they would be constantly fighting and killing each other and so it’s basic: don’t steal, don’t lie and whoever says claimed first gets the desired item. This wouldn’t be the only confrontation Daryl would have with Len this episode however there would be a resolution that would make this dynamic more enjoyable than annoying. And what would be even more intriguing would be the animosity this group has towards Rick, who was trapped in the house with them in an earlier episode and ended up killing one of them, and how Daryl would be unaware of the true identity of who they’re looking for.

There would be more progress with Glenn and the others as they strive to make their way to Terminus despite not knowing what would be waiting for them. And when they come across walkers and the result is Tara getting injured due to Abraham jumping in front of Eugene so one couldn’t attack him, an agreement is made and this is the start of all of them finding some common ground. Glenn doesn’t want to stop even though it’s close to sunset and Abraham doesn’t want to risk Eugene’s life so Glenn parts with his body armor so Eugene would be protected and the full group could continue on. This of course was better than all of them just walking together and Tara comes off much better this episode due to the interactions of the other characters, and it also said a lot about Glenn who would remain silent about Tara’s role in creating the situation where Maggie and Glenn were physically separated.

So when they come to a tunnel it’s easy to understand why they would part ways. Abraham refused to risk Eugene’s life by traveling through a dark tunnel and Glenn needed to travel through it in order to make sure Maggie wasn’t inside as well. But it’s a testament to the second half of this season and not just this episode that the difference between just surviving and actually living during a zombie apocalypse is crystal clear, and so it’s even easier to understand why there would still be a focus on searching for loved ones as opposed to heading to D.C. for Eugene’s cure for the zombie apocalypse. And there would be a good moment between Tara and Glenn inside this tunnel and the metaphor here was effective. And finally the episode moves the overall story forward and I’m very intrigued about what lies ahead in the season finale. With all the recent episodes focusing on the different characters it’s difficult to even guess if there’ll be a significant death in the season finale, and if so, who it might be based on the way characters were played up right before their deaths in previous seasons. Now this could just be improved storytelling and maintaining the suspense more effectively or things are as they seem and the focus was just on developing the characters and their relationships. If the latter is the case I wouldn’t be upset because the characters are more enjoyable as a result however I would wonder where things are going to leave off despite having a general idea of what’s being done at Terminus. And the hope is it doesn’t end being anti-climatic.

SUMMARY

The Walking Dead: Us is an entertaining episode that moves the overall story forward and finally towards Terminus. More depth is given to the new characters and the portrayals of Abraham, Eugene and Rosita have been done very well. And it was good to see Glenn finally find Maggie’s note and head towards the same location as it allowed him to interact with the other characters better. And after all the difficulties they’ve gone through it’s a relief to see some good news for them. Daryl and his new group are slightly intriguing with their rules but not necessarily unique to the series so their pursuit of Rick is by far the more intriguing aspect of them.  And so there’s so much potential in the story line threads leading to Terminus and even though I’m sure it’ll make for a great episode I’m not sure how much can be addressed for a season finale.