You have no idea how happy I am to be writing these recaps again. With semester 1 done and college applications out of the way, I can finally devote myself to what I do best: watching television (a mini joke to all my teachers out there reading this).

Anyway, let’s get started.

The mid-season premiere starts with Father Gabriel stealing food and weapons from the community. Shocking, I know. He fills up a car with gas and then departs when suddenly a hooded figure in the backseat appears by sitting up. Who might this hooded figure be? My guess is he’s the guy Rick and Aaron stole from a few episodes back. My theory is still pending though.

The next day, the leader of Hilltop, Gregory, has a heated debate with Rick and his group. The people of Alexandria are fed up with Negan and his sadistic ways; however, Gregory is a coward that would rather go on his knees (literally) than fight back for his freedom. Maggie then asks Gregory how many of his people would be willing to join forces with Alexandria to fight against Negan and his men, the Saviors. Gregory tells her that his people are all farmers—not fighters. “When people have a chance to do the right thing, they usually step up,” Tara retorts. And as much as I hate Gregory, his answer made me laugh: “Let me stop you before you break into song, okay?” The argument soon diminishes; Alexandrians realize there’s no use trying to reason with Gregory. There is a bright side to this. Turns out, the Hilltop residents are willing to fight the Saviors. It’s only their leader that won’t step up.

The group weighs the pros and cons of fighting against the Saviors. Rick decides they need more people. Even with the Hilltop residents, fighting the Saviors requires more numbers. Daryl argues that they just need the right weapons. They’re about to head back to Alexandria when Jesus tells them, “I think it’s time I introduced you to Ezekiel. King Ezekiel.”

When Rick and his group arrive at “The Kingdom,” they run into Morgan. Tara and Sasha happily embrace Morgan. Rick tells them, “We go back from the start.” Morgan updates Rick and Daryl about the latest Carol news: “Carol was here. She got help. Now, she’s gone.” That pretty much sums it up. No need for me to elaborate, really.

When they finally meet up with King Ezekiel, their faces are priceless (Jesus failed to mention that Ezekiel has a pet tiger named Shiva). After Rick processes the fact that there’s a living, breathing tiger in front of him, he wastes no time telling the King his reason for coming. He tells Ezekiel that Alexandria, The Hilltop and The Kingdom all have one thing in common: they all serve the Saviors. He wants The Kingdom to join them in fighting the Saviors. “My people are strong, but there aren’t enough of us,” Rick says.

Ezekiel stands up, wanting to dismiss Rick and his group, but Rick delivers one last powerful message (in the form of an analogy) that perfectly describes their situation with the Saviors.

“Well, when I was a kid, uh, my mother told me a story. There was a road to a kingdom, and there was a rock in the road. And people would just avoid it, but horses would break their legs on it and die, wagon wheels would come off. People would lose the goods they’d be coming to sell. That’s what happened to a little girl. The cask of beer her family brewed fell right off. It broke. Dirt soaked it all up, and it was gone. That was her family’s last chance. They were hungry. They didn’t have any money. She just… sat there and cried, but… …she wondered why it was still there… for it to hurt someone else. So she dug at that rock in the road with her hands till they bled, used everything she had to pull it out. It took hours. And then… when she was gonna fill it up, she saw something in it. It was a bag of gold. All right. The king had put that rock in the road because he knew the person who dug it out, who did something, they deserved a reward. They deserved to have their life changed for the good…. forever.”

And what a better way to reason with the charismatic king!

Honestly, that’s why I love Rick so much. He’s so good at adapting to his environment and appealing to all kinds of people. He’s had to deal with a ruthless dictator, a selfish coward and now, an erudite king. He approaches them thoughtfully and carefully, which is essentially what makes him the best leader. Ricktatorship all the way!

Ezekiel invites them to “sup” with them and stay “till the morrow.”

The following day, Ezekiel tells Rick, “The peace we have with the Saviors is uneasy, but it is peace.” Unfortunately, he intends to keep it that way. However, he is nice enough to offer Daryl a place to stay there since the Saviors are after him. Rick and the rest of the group leave. Rick tells Daryl to try to stare Ezekiel into submission during his time there. “We’ll be back soon,” Rick says.

On the way home, Rick and his group come across a wire wrapped with explosives. They decide to carefully disarm the explosives and keep them. This entire scene is AWESOME. So instead of reading about this part, I recommend you watch it. Here’s a link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pilt6_vhef4. Oh, and by the way, viewer discretion is advised.

Shortly after arriving to Alexandria, Negan’s men showed up and trashed the place, searching for Daryl. They end up leaving and Rick and the others find out that Father Gabriel is missing, along with many of their supplies. They search for him unsuccessfully and end up finding something else. A large group of survivors closes in on them. And get this—Rick smiles.

Find out next Sunday what happens next.