Them

"Them" is the tenth episode of Season 5 of AMC's The Walking Dead. It aired on February 15, 2015 at 9/8c on AMC, and on February 16, 2015 at 9pm on Fox.

Plot Synopsis
The episode starts with Maggie, still mourning Beth, when a walker slowly makes its way through the bushes towards her. Only when it gets near her, Maggie dispatches it. Meanwhile, Daryl digs up a worm and eats it, implying the group is on the road without supplies. Sasha walks along a dried-up creek in hope to find some water when she notices several dead frogs on the soil, suggesting there is little water in the surroundings of the group. The three of them make their way back to the others waiting on the road.

After driving a little further, the group is forced to abandon their cars when they run out of fuel. They proceed on foot followed by a small pack of walkers. Carl gives Maggie a music box as a reminder to Beth, which she appreciates. Father Gabriel offers his consolation to Maggie, but she rejects it, stating he didn't know Hershel or Beth and doesn't know the pain she feels, and reminds him of his own sins of letting his parishioners die. Next the group keeps moving on the road, starving and dehydrated, moving like the walkers in the background.

Sasha, still angry about the loss of her brother Tyreese, wants to take on the walkers, but Michonne warns her not making the same mistake Tyreese made after the death of Karen: letting her anger getting the best of her.

Daryl and Carol splits from the group to find some food and water. Carol says Beth saved her life and Daryl's life as well and gives Beth's knife to Daryl. She continues by saying they aren't dead and Daryl should allow himself to feel before kissing him on the forehead.

Rick, together with Glenn, Maggie, Michonne, Sasha and Abraham, attempts to dispatch the group of walkers by corralling them into falling in a river below the bridge. However, Sasha takes them on with her knife forcing the group to dispatch them as well and even cuts Abraham on the upper arm. Rick is nearly bitten by a walker when Daryl saves him.

The group proceeds further to find some abandoned cars. Maggie finds a female walker bound and gagged in the trunk, reminding her of Beth, which Glenn takes care of.

Daryl is hunting in the woods, and as he does so, he encounters what remains of a deer, possibly eaten by a walker. Daryl is visually considering to take the deer and eat it due to the starvation, but eventually he leaves the spot and returns to the others.

The group rests up on the side of the road. Abraham starts drinking his liquor, as the whole group watches. Tara says to Rosita that Abraham is just making it worse and Rosita responds that Abraham knows that. Eugene then says that Abraham knows what he is doing and the situation won't be worse than it is now. Rosita disagrees by saying that the situation can be worse. The conversations between the whole group gets interrupted by a group of wild dogs that have appeared from the woods, barking, threatening the group. As the whole group becomes wary, several muffled gunshots kill the hounds. Much to the group's shock, Sasha is revealed to be the shooter. Rick seems to be irritated but stands up, picks a branch, snaps it in two, and uses it as a stick to grill the meat from the dogs. Noah refuses to eat the hounds' meat, visually overwhelmed as he continues to stare at one of the dogs' collar. Sasha approaches him, tells him not to think about the meat. Noah leaves what she said unanswered, instead telling Sasha that Tyreese tried to help him and that he believes that he won't make it. "Then you won't," Sasha says, visually stern, before she walks away. Meanwhile, Gabriel is seen pulling off his clerical collar and tosses it into the fire-pit, watching it as it burns. Maggie appears to be shocked.

The group continues to walk. As they walk, Glenn offers Maggie a drink but she refuses. Glenn then asks her just to talk to him. Maggie explains that after Hershel died, she didn't put much hope on Beth being alive, but after she heard that she was alive from Daryl, she regained her hope. After she found out Beth was killed the same day, however, she doesn't know if she wants to keep fighting in order to survive. Glenn reassures her that everything would be fine, and she will, because she is a fighter. Glenn then re-offers the drink, and she accepts it. Meanwhile, Sasha is walking by Abraham, who is still drinking his liquor. He offers Sasha to share his drink, but she refuses. Sasha says that he's just making it worse, but Abraham disagrees, saying that she is the one who is making it worse. Sasha disagrees, and when Abraham reassures her that everything will be okay because everyone in the group is her friend, Sasha says that they are not her friends. Abraham continues to drink his liquor. After Maggie drinks her share of water, Glenn offers the bottle to Daryl, who refuses. Realizing Daryl is still devastated by the death of Beth, Glenn reassures him that they will make it together. Possibly overwhelmed by what Glenn says to him, Daryl alienates himself from the group, enters the woods, and sits under a tree. From afar, a small cabin is seen. Daryl smokes a cigarette as he daydreams. He deliberately burns his hand with the cigarette, but doesn't show any pain, before eventually breaking down in tears.

The group finds a stack of drinks in the middle of the road. Daryl rejoins them and Rick shows him a note that says, "From A Friend". The whole group looks wary about it being a trap. Eugene disagrees and says that he believes it is indeed from a friend, and volunteers to be an assurance. He snatches one of the bottles and is about to drink it before Abraham slaps it away. Not long after that, rain begins pouring down. The whole group cheers except Daryl, Maggie, and Sasha who are still devastated by the death of their loved ones. The gleeful celebration is interrupted when the group sees an oncoming storm not far from where they are. Daryl tells the others that he found a cabin not far from where they are and the group then heads to the cabin.

When they are clearing the cabin, Maggie finds a walker, who was a girl who died. Maggie tells Carol that the girl had a gun and says that she could've just shot herself. After Maggie stabs the walker, Carol tells Maggie that some people start giving up, but not them.

The night comes and the group is resting. Maggie is lying by a fire, Sasha is sitting with Abraham looking after her with his liquor on his hand, while Rick tells the group about a story of his childhood with his grandpa, who was serving in World War II. Rick used to ask him whether he had to kill a German during his time at the war but he wouldn't answer. Then when he asked him whether the Germans tried to kill him, his grandpa got real quiet. His grandpa said that everyday he woke up, he always told himself, 'Rest in peace, now get up and go to war.' And then, after a few years of pretending he was dead, he made it out alive. Rick later says that that is the trick: They have to believe themselves to be dead, in order for them to keep fighting until the end. He says "We are the walking dead", but Daryl disagrees by saying that they are not the walkers. Rick tries to reassure him that they are indeed not.

Daryl repeats "We ain't them," and walks away from the campfire. As Daryl is pacing by the entrance of the cabin, he hears a noise from outside. He peeks outside and sees a herd of walkers approaching the barn. Daryl then instinctively blocks the door, Maggie notices, realizes what is happening and helps him. The walkers begin trying to push the door open. Rick and the others then realize what is happening and rush to help Daryl and Maggie. As the herd keeps pushing to reach the group, the group themselves keep fighting to keep the doors shut for their own survival. Carl lays a crying Judith on the ground and helps. As the storm rages, the group and the herd fight each other over the barn door. Everyone is giving it their all not to let the herd in, as the storm gets worse. The screen then goes black as the roar of the storm and the herd grows louder while the group struggles to hold the doors shut.

The next morning, Maggie wakes up to see Daryl still awake. She sits by his side and talks with him, telling him he should get some sleep, and saying that it's okay to rest now. They look over at Sasha, who is sleeping along the far wall. "He was tough," Daryl remarks, referring to Tyreese. Maggie agrees. "So was she," Daryl continues, talking about Beth. "She didn't know it...but she was." Daryl hands Maggie the music box Carl gave to her, saying that he fixed it. Maggie thanks him. She then wakes Sasha and the two leave the cabin. It is revealed that, due to the storm's power, most of the walkers were killed while the others are incapacitated. The scale of the destruction is such that Sasha is amazed the barn wasn't destroyed as well. Maggie and Sasha then sit down on a downed tree and watch a sunrise together. As they sit, Sasha tells her what Noah said about himself, that he "doesn't know if he's going to make it". Sasha admits that she feels the same way too. Maggie reassures her that she will survive. Maggie tries to play the music box, but finds that the box is still broken. The women laugh at it, as the conversation is interrupted by a man named Aaron, who asks them to meet the man in charge and asks for Rick. The women are confused as they draw their guns and ask how he knows Rick. The episode ends as Aaron tells them he has good news and the music box suddenly plays its music.

Uncredited

 * Charlotte & Clara Ward as Judith Grimes
 * Unknown as Duke

Deaths

 * Duke
 * Three unnamed dogs

Trivia

 * First appearance of Aaron.
 * First (and last) appearance of Duke.
 * This makes the 25th appearance of Judith
 * This episode marks Chandler Riggs's and Steven Yeun's 50th appearance on The Walking Dead.
 * As of this episode, starring cast members Emily Kinney and Chad Coleman have been removed from the opening credits after being killed off in the last two episodes.
 * Rick's famous line, "We are the walking dead", is taken from Issue 24 of the Comic Series.
 * The title of this episode refers to Daryl's reply of "We ain't them" following Rick's speech at the barn.
 * Andrew Lincoln stated in one of his interviews after the episode has been broadcasted that the line is his favorite line of Rick Grimes. “When I read it, it reminded me of something that happened in my life when I spoke to someone in a fight. It almost had the same speech, so it resonated on a really, really profoundly, deep, familial level. I remember when I read it, I just cried. When I read the script I couldn’t … because I always to tend to read my words out loud and I just couldn’t. I got something caught in my throat when I read this speech. It’s just a very bold episode and I hope we got it right," he told Entertainment Weekly.
 * On the wall of the barn the word "Wolves" can be seen written again, relating to the "Wolves not far" from the previous episode.
 * This is the first episode since "Guts" to feature rain.
 * Norman Reedus ate a real worm for his scene where Daryl eats a worm.


 * Several critics compared Aaron's introduction to that of an Other from the ABC television series, Lost.

Goofs/Errors

 * When the group is attempting to stop the walkers from getting in the barn there is a shot of Father Gabriel wearing his reverend collar even though earlier in the episode he is seen throwing it into the fire.