“The Walking Dead” Recap: “Service”

Gene Page/AMC(NEW YORK) — As the show opens, Michonne awakens in bed with Rick and quietly gathers her weapons and sneaks away. He watches her go.

Elsewhere, she sits on a rusted out car and waits.

Meanwhile, Rosita and Spencer roll up and ask Eugene to open the gate when they hear a rumbling. It’s Negan. “Little Pig, let me in,” he sasses, after knocking on the gate with Lucille. Spencer asks who he is — but before Negan does anything about the insult, Rick appears.

Rick explains Negan is early for his collection.  He opens the gate, and Negan dispatches a stray walker and makes his way in.  He makes Rick hold Lucille as he tours the town, his men going from house to house grabbing goodies.

Dwight asks Rosita and Spencer to fetch Daryl’s bike.

Michonne, meanwhile, is by herself, boning up on her sniper skills on a lone walker. She needs the practice. She misses him repeatedly, but apparently kills a deer.

Negan’s crew is raiding Alexandria for their goodies, as Negan asks Rick suggestively about Maggie.  Father Gabriel manages to convince him a Maggie is dead, complete with a fake grave in her name.

A shot rings out — they find Carl holding Negan’s men at gunpoint; he didn’t want them stealing their medicine. Negan convinces Carl to drop the gun, and calls for them to give up the rest in their armory.

Rosita and Spencer, meanwhile, look for Daryl’s bike, and find it by the train tracks where Dr. Denise died. Just then, Rosita sneaks off…

Olivia, the woman in charge of logging the food and weapons, is told she’s two guns short, and Negan promises punishment for the lapse.

Rick addresses the Alexandrians, telling them to find the two missing guns. “There is no way out of this. I’m not in charge anymore,” he says. “Negan is.”

Meanwhile, Rosita stalks a group of walkers and dispatches them, recovering at least one pistol from the lot. 

Back in Alexandria, Negan menacingly shares some lemonade with Olivia as Rick tears apart Spencer’s residence for the missing guns, coming up short, until he finds a creaky vent — and a bunch of squirreled-away items, including booze, food, and the missing pistols.

As Negan’s gang rolls out, Rosita and Spencer return with the bike, and Rick spots Michonne.  He asks Negan for a minute to convince Michonne to give up her rifle. Negan’s pleased at the fealty, and Rick asks Negan if Daryl can stay as a reward. Daryl is asked if he wants to stay, and, broken, he doesn’t say anything as he leaves with the gang.

“You can have it back,” Dwight says to Daryl about the motorcycle. “Just say the word.”

A lone walker shambles by and Negan dispatches it — Rick resists the temptation to raise Lucille against him.  Instead, he thanks the baddie, who agrees to leave, but not before noting how Rick just thanked him for violating them.

Having taken the guns, mattresses and more, Negan’s gang leaves — leaving the mattresses in a burning pile on the side of the road.

Spencer faces off with Rick about the missing guns, saying they’re not better off with Rick in charge — and neither are Glenn and Abraham.

Rick and Michonne discuss the new reality, and Rick confides in Michonne how he knows baby Judith isn’t his, in a way to try to convince her that he has to do what he can to keep everyone alive. “You have to accept this or its not gonna work,” Rick says of their situation. “I’ll try,” Michonne responds.

Meanwhile, Rosita recovers the pistol she grabbed from the walker, and recovers a single bullet casing Negan fired. She visits Eugene. “Make me a bullet,” she demands.

The Walking Dead returns Sunday, November 20, at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC.

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