AMC/Gene Page(NEW YORK) — Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead took place sometime before the last one, sometime after Dwight escaped the Saviors’ Sanctuary, and Negan kidnapped Eugene.
To his horror, Dwight discovers Daryl’s gone; a handwritten note telling Daryl to leave, and the dead body of Fat Joseph, who Daryl killed.
Eugene is brought to a room in the Sanctuary; surprisingly, it’s well-stocked with amenities.
Dwight meanwhile, gets thrown a beating for losing Daryl, and locked up by Negan, who addresses him through the door of Daryl’s old cell.
Negan tells Dwight that not only did he discover Daryl had flown the coop, but that Dwight’s former wife, Sherri — who Negan stole from him — might have been the one who let him escape.
Dwight proves his loyalty, then vows to Negan he’ll bring Sherri back.
Meanwhile, a female Savior shows Eugene around, letting him know he’s part of Negan’s promised crew, who eat better than the rest. “You want something, you take it, Haircut,” she tells him, before taking him to meet the man.
Negan shows Eugene Lucille — which killed Eugene’s friends Glenn and Abraham — but also caught the bullet Eugene made and Rosita fired in a failed attempt to shoot Negan a few episodes ago.
Negan wants to know if Eugene is a “smartypants” who can craft his own ammo. Thanks to Eugene’s nervousness, Negan doesn’t believe him. To improve his chances, Eugene again spins his lie about being a scientist, just like he did with Abraham back in the day.
Negan tests him to see if he could come up with a solution to keep the Sanctuary’s security system — walkers strung up on a fence — and somehow Eugene passes the test with a plan to armor them with molten metal.
Negan is impressed, and promises him the company of some of his wives. “Sex is a huge no-no,” he reminds Eugene. Eugene is happy to accept, and later shows off his Atari skills for the girls.
Eugene also impresses them by showing off an explosive science project using household products.
Meanwhile, Dwight ends up at a small house where he’s sure Sherri’s holed up. He finds a letter from her, and in voice-over she confirms she let Daryl go, and why she left — telling him Dwight has become the kind of person he once feared.
The next day, two of the three girls show back up at Eugene’s room and bemoan the fate of Amber, one of the three from the night before. They explain she wants to kill herself, and they look to Eugene to make something that would kill her in her sleep.
Eugene — Dr. Eugene Porter, he claims — sets off to start, demanding cold capsules from a Savior woman he reminds her he outranks.
Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary, Dwight lies, telling the doctor he killed Sherri who he said ran afoul of a group of walkers.
Later, Eugene and the others are gathered together by the furnace, where that doctor is being threatened to literally face Negan’s hot iron treatment; he blames the doctor for Sherri’s leaving.
Negan has apparently bought Dwight’s line about Sherri getting killed by walkers; to back himself up, Dwight has stashed a piece of her letter — the “Goodbye, Honey” closing — in the doc’s pocket.
Negan forces the doctor to take responsibility for letting Sherri escape. The doctor does — we know he’s lying — and Negan tosses the iron down, sparing him the torture.
Instead, he railroads the doctor right into the furnace, headfirst.
Back at Eugene’s room, the two girls come to collect the poison pills. Eugene deduces the pills were for Negan — and he refuses to give them to her for that reason — even though Negan killed his friends.
“You’re a coward,” one of the girls, Tanya, says to him. “That is a correct assessment,” Eugene replies.
Soon after, Negan shows up to his room, Lucille in hand. He says, “I’ve got to ask you one question, and it’s a big one.”
“I am Negan,” Eugene cuts him right off, proving his loyalty.
Later, Eugene eats a pickle while the underlings use his molten metal idea to reinforce the “security” walkers. Dwight ambles up him and Eugene apologizes for “clamping down” on his nethers late last season.
“Are you on board?” Dwight asks. “I am, just like you,” Eugene says quietly. We are Negan.”
“Yeah,” Dwight says, resigned their collective fate.
The Walking Dead returns next Sunday, March 5 at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
