As many comic book followers expected, episode 11 was the journey to Alexandria. The episode was mainly about the newcomer, Aaron, who was trying to convince Rick and the rest of the group that his camp is safe.
Rick has been ruthless of late because of all the things he has gone through during the apocalypse. He doesn’t trust anyone anymore, no matter how believable the person may be. His goal is to keep his family safe, and that is exactly what he was trying to do in this entire episode.
When Aaron was brought into the barn by Sasha and Maggie, Rick immediately questioned him and did not believe a word out of his mouth. However, as the episode went on, it was evident that Aaron was indeed telling the truth about everything.
He showed the group pictures of his camp to prove that it has walls and is safe. He also brought food and supplies for Rick’s group to show his purity. Rick was still not too convinced, but he agreed to make the trip to Alexandria, very cautiously, led on by Michonne’s strong beliefs that Aaron is trustworthy.
The episode was filled with many intense moments, such as Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Aaron running into a herd of walkers on the road, nearly resulting into Glenn getting bit. Luckily, they made it out alive and rejoined the rest of the group, who had ran into Aaron’s boyfriend, Eric. (Yes, they are the first gay characters of the series)
The episode concluded with the entire group outside of the gates of Alexandria, wearing big smiles on their faces. So Aaron did not lie and safely directed Rick’s group to his camp, demonstrating to Rick that not everyone in the apocalyptic world is bad.
Rick’s actions were justifiable in this episode, though, since the sheriff and his group have run into a handful of untrustworthy people already. But this time, it was the complete opposite.
Now the only question remains is, how safe is Alexandria. Obviously, it has steel gates and appears to be 100 percent safe. However, could it last forever? We’ve seen Rick’s group lose many places they previously called home. The group has already bought into the idea that they cannot stay in one place for too long.
As safe as Alexandria may be, there could still be evil groups out there trying to take them out, perhaps the group that demolished Noah’s old neighborhood. There were, after all, few hints dropped in episode 9, with “W’s” carved on walker heads and graffiti on a wall that read, “WOLVES NOT FAR.” What does this all mean? It could possibly mean that a cruel group of people are somewhere around the corner, and if they find Alexandria, they could attempt to take it.
Episode 11 – Overall Grade: 8.1/10
