The Other Side

"The Other Side" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the ninety-seventh episode of the series overall. It will premiere on March 19, 2017, at 9/8c on AMC, and on March 20, 2017, at 9pm on Fox.

Plot
The Saviors visit the Hilltop unexpectedly, surprising everyone, with plans of taking more than supplies.

Synopsis
Maggie regards the bustling Hilltop community. She gives residents knife-throwing lessons, in preparation for the war against the Saviors. She and Jesus work on plans for the future of the community. Gradually, the people of Hilltop begin to look to her as a leader.

Meanwhile, Sasha sharpens a blade and draws floor plans of the Sanctuary.

In Jesus’ trailer, Maggie falls asleep while working at the kitchen table. Enid sees as Jesus hands Sasha his map of Negan’s compound.

Maggie sees Daryl sitting alone outside the trailer, despondent. She brings him a plate of food and briefly comforts him with a hand on the shoulder before heading back inside.

From his office window, Gregory suspiciously watches a group of Hilltop residents congregate in the courtyard. He downs a drink.

Rosita arrives at the Hilltop and tells Sasha she needs her help killing Negan.

Maggie apologizes to Jesus for taking over his trailer. Having grown up in a group home, it doesn't bother him. With Maggie, Sasha and Enid, he feels close to people for the first time. Maggie leaves to speak with the blacksmith about making spears they can trade with the Kingdom for body armor.

Jesus begs Sasha to delay her mission until more people can join her, but Sasha refuses. Enid warns Sasha that she’s going to tell Maggie what’s going on, but she’ll give Sasha a ten-minute head start. Outside, a guard sounds an alarm: The Saviors are coming.

Enid runs over to Daryl and asks him to help hide Maggie.

Sasha packs her bag and takes Rosita to a secret escape hatch that passes beneath the perimeter wall.

Maggie realizes she doesn’t have enough time to make it to the escape hatch herself. Enid guides her and Daryl to a root cellar to hide.

Gregory greets the Saviors in his foyer. Simon tells Gregory that Negan wants one of the Hilltop residents.

Daryl peers out of the cellar. Maggie calls him over to a hiding place in the dark shadows of the cellar.

Sasha and Rosita escape through the woods on foot.

Rosita tries to hotwire a car, to no avail. She notices Sasha’s necklace and gruffly points out that she made it for Abraham. As the two continue looking for a ride, Rosita rebuffs Sasha’s attempts to make small talk.

Sasha suggests they hole up at a building near the Sanctuary and shoot Negan from a distance. She’s sure she won’t miss. Rosita argues that they should instead enter the compound and kill Negan on-site to ensure success.

At the Hilltop, Roy (a Savior), walks toward the cellar doors. Enid tries to distract him, but he proceeds to enter the cellar. Daryl’s face fills with rage as he and Maggie watch him from their hiding spot.

In the medical trailer, Simon tells Dr. Carson that they need his services at the Sanctuary. Dr. Carson correctly guesses that his brother, the Sanctuary’s former doctor, was killed. In exchange for taking Dr. Carson, Simon gives Gregory a crate of aspirin.

Gregory pulls Simon aside and assures him that he’s an ally to Negan. He explains that he needs to hold on to his people’s trust; otherwise, someone less cooperative (Maggie) could take over. He hints that he might eventually need Negan’s help quelling insurgents within the community. Simon gives Gregory a hand-written note that will grant him entry into the Sanctuary should he ever need to seek their help.

Roy searches the cellar. Daryl readies his knife to attack, but Maggie holds him back. Roy leaves with some supplies and shuts the door. Once he’s gone, Maggie remarks that Daryl nearly killed a Savior unnecessarily. Sensing Daryl’s fury at the Saviors, she tells him that she, too, wanted to kill, but that it would only have detracted from the bigger goal -- winning the war.

Daryl apologizes to Maggie for his role in Glenn's death. Maggie resolutely maintains Daryl wasn't to blame. Glenn knew Daryl was good, she tells him.

The Hilltop residents gather at the gates and watch the Saviors leave with Dr. Carson. Gregory, sensing their disappointment, shifts around uncomfortably.

At an abandoned car lot, Rosita lights a car on fire to distract walkers. She and Sasha climb the fence into the lot, and Rosita hotwires a car. They drive off to the Sanctuary.

Sasha and Rosita situate themselves in an empty building near the Sanctuary. Sasha observes the walker yard through her rifle’s scope and sees Eugene monitoring the area, and giving orders. She relays the information to Rosita, who is convinced Eugene must be playing some angle.

As they wait for Negan to emerge, Rosita opens up to Sasha, revealing where she picked up her multifaceted skills. She learned about bombs, cars, knots, etc., from men she dated. They wanted to protect her, Rosita tells Sasha, but she always ended up surpassing their skills.

But, she continues, that wasn’t how things were with Abraham, who saw her as she was. Rosita admits that she wasted her time hating Sasha and wishes she could’ve gotten the chance to tell Abraham she was happy for him.

Sasha looks through the rifle’s scope again and sees the truck arrive with Dr. Carson. Negan finally walks into the courtyard, but the saviors surrounding him prevents Sasha from getting a clear shot before he goes back inside. They hear Eugene on their walkie, ordering Saviors to help beef up fence security. There’s a change in plans as Sasha and Rosita decide to enter the compound.

Back at the Hilltop, Gregory summons Jesus to his office and hands him job assignments for the newcomers. Jesus accuses Gregory of splitting up groups to protect himself. Gregory warns Jesus against talking back to him. Gregory says he’s realized they’re no longer friends.

Daryl asks Jesus where Sasha and Rosita are.

That night, Eugene discusses security protocol with a Savior in the courtyard. Rosita and Sasha kill the Savior and cut through the fence. They urge Eugene to come with them and escape, but Eugene refuses. He tells them to go away and heads back inside. Rosita curses at Eugene, in sincere disappointment.

At Sasha’s suggestion, Rosita keeps watch as Sasha slips through the fence. She uses a lock to close the opening behind her, locking Rosita out. Despite Rosita's protests, Sasha tells her that Alexandria still needs her and breaks into the sanctuary to kill Negan herself, killing another savior in the process. Rosita sobs in frustration, and flees when she hears Saviors approaching and gunfire breaking out. She stops and notices a dark figure with a crossbow watching her.

Co-Stars

 * Karen Ceesay as Bertie
 * R. Keith Harris as Harlan Carson
 * James Chen as Kal
 * Peter Zimmerman as Eduardo
 * Brett Gentile as Freddie
 * Ilan Srulovicz as Wesley
 * Brian Stapf as Roy
 * Stephen Jones as Bike Park Savior

Uncredited

 * Unknown as Keno
 * Karl Funk, Alyssa Riley Burrell, Joshua Seymour, Jessica Marshall, David Lee Marshall, Marc Dementer, Ketan Patel and Rieshun Newell as Hilltop Residents

Deaths

 * 2 unnamed Saviors

Trivia

 * First appearance of Roy.
 * Jesus confirms that he is gay in this episode, same as his comic book counterpart.
 * This episode confirms that Emmett Carson and Harlan Carson are brothers.
 * The title of this episode comes from many situations which could be seen throughout the episode:
 * Sasha tells Rosita that the secret hatch at the Hilltop leads to "the other side" of the wall.
 * Gregory seems to switch to "the other side" - The Saviors to maintain his leadership power.
 * Eugene seems to switch to The Saviors' side.
 * It could also reference how Sasha and Rosita are on separate sides in regards to how they should kill Negan and how, later at the end of the episode, they are on separate sides of the fence as Sasha heads into the Sanctuary.
 * This is the fifth season in a row in which Carl Grimes is absent from the fourteenth episode of a season.
 * This episode was filmed as the 13th episode of the season, and Bury Me Here being filmed as the 14th. The two episodes were switched. This is the second time there were switched episodes this season, the first two being The Well and The Cell, the 2nd and 3rd episode.
 * The crate containing the aspirin given to Hilltop was designed to look like the one that held the Ark in "Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981).
 * Eugene uses a Texas slogan in this episode: “Don’t mess with Texas”. It is commonly used to discourage people from littering on highways.
 * Eugene is also from Houston, Texas.
 * Sasha finds bullets in a book titled "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway.