Time to figure out who Jesus is on Season 6 Episode 11 of The Walking Dead, titled Knots Untie. We also meet Gregory, another community leader, and learn more about this mysterious Negan character. Check out Josh’s recap on the episode, followed by our thoughts after the recap!
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Episode Recap of The Walking Dead, Season 6 Episode 11: Knots Untie
So, the episode goes back a little bit after last week’s episode, with Abraham and Sasha coming back in from a patrol, seemingly getting along pretty well. Abraham is excited to do more patrolling with her, but Sasha breaks the news–she is going to be on a different shift and Eugene will be taking her place. Abraham seems a little sad about this.
Then we see Abraham laying next to a naked Rosita in bed, and Rosita sees he is somewhere else–mentally. Abraham seems to try to make up his mind on which woman he wants to be with by loving on Rosita. Rosita then presents a gift to Abraham–a chain for his neck, and the “pendant” is made from a brake light from the fuel truck from before. Abraham still seems conflicted, though.
Then we see Glenn come up to Maggie, who is having trouble growing tomatoes. Maggie seems a little down about it while Glenn tries to reassure her. There is some commotion though, and the two head towards it.
Moving to Jesus, he is sitting on the stairs in Rick’s house when Carl shows up with a pistol, demanding to know what Jesus is doing there. He says he is waiting for Carl’s “Mom and Dad” to get dressed. Then a bunch of other people come in–“Richonne” is figured out pretty quickly.
So the main players of Alexandria listen to what Jesus has to say–he sees that Alexandria is low on food, and he thinks that they can trade. Rick asks about their food, and they apparently have farms going. Jesus wants to show his settlement to these people, and also reveals he is already trading with some settlements and ominously says, “Your world is about to get a whole lot bigger”….
So the group agrees, and most of the good fighters will be going to this new community–Daryl, Rick, Abraham, Michonne, Glenn, and Maggie. On the way out, Rick explains to Carl that his relationship with Michonne just happened, and Carl seems ok with it. Oddly Carl opts to stay behind, to keep Alexandria safe. He also says “A kid with a messed up face probably wouldn’t make the best first impression anyway.”
The team heads out in an RV. Abraham seems to still be struggling with this new world, and he sees Maggie and Glenn seemingly happy. Abraham then asks, rather indirectly, about Glenn wanting to have kids, or if it was just an accident. Glenn says they had planned for it. Abraham can’t really believe it, given the way the world is. He maintains his decision to wear a “raincoat”.
Their trip gets interesting with seeing an overturned vehicle, that appears to have just happened. Jesus says it is his people. Rick is worried about this being a trick, but Jesus thinks the remaining living people must have holed up in a building close by. Maggie is left to guard Jesus while the rest head inside to see what is going on. Inside, they encounter some walkers, but also find some survivors of the crash. So far it seems Jesus is telling the truth about wanting to help his people.
Back on the road, they talk with their newfound friends. Harlan is one man, who is a doctor. Glenn asks for prenatal vitamins, and it looks like he is more than willing to help. More problems in the RV though–Rick gets stuck in a mud pit. Jesus says they have made it though.
There is a bit of a standoff at the gate though–the guards don’t want to let armed people in, but Rick refuses to go in without the weapons. These guards interestingly only are armed with spears. Jesus plays mediator though, and gets the guards to let them in. Inside they see the farming plots, a lot of bungalows, and a big building that used to be a museum. Jesus gives a quick history lesson on the building, and they head inside to meet the boss, Gregory.
Inside, Gregory will not meet with the team until the group gets, “cleaned up.”. Rick says they are “fine”, but Gregory insists. Rick tells Maggie that she should take the lead on talking with Gregory. While waiting, Daryl and Abraham have a chit-chat about “settling down”. Seems like neither one is looking to do so. But back to Maggie — or Natalie, as Gregory would call her, and they begin discussions. Gregory comes off as pompous, arrogant, and even tries to come on to Maggie. The two go back and forth and feel each other out. Gregory seems to challenge Maggie, insisting food is the most important commodity. He offers to let people work at their community. Gregory then cuts the conversation short, with no trades being agreed to.
Talking with Jesus again, he tries to convince Rick that the two communities can work together, saying he can talk to Gregory. Michonne makes the call to wait it out for Jesus to talk to Gregory.
But then a new development–some men return from an outing, and Nathan, a man out on the run said they lost several men, at the hands of Negan. Nathan is not happy about this, and says that Negan said the deal wasn’t enough. Another asks if the drop was “light”, and Gregory denies it. Nathan tells Gregory he has a message for him–which is a knife to the gut. Rick and his group work to subdue these people, and a fight breaks out. Rick winds up with a knife on his throat, and Nathan insists that Gregory must die or his brother will be killed, as he is still in Negan’s custody. Michonne is able to provide a distraction though, and Rick shanks Nathan in the neck. When getting up, the Hilltop residence don’t know how to react, but they pull weapons on Rick and the group, demanding they drop their guns. Rick refuses, defending his decision because of Nathan attacking Gregory then himself. Jesus then jumps in and tries to diffuse the situation. Jesus pins the blame on Nathan for trying to kill Gregory, and the situation seems to calm down. Jesus then says he needs some time to work things out. As a quick side note, Abraham seemed to give up on the fight, laying on the ground. Daryl helps him up and when asked how he is, Abraham responds with, “I am better than alright”, with a wry grin on his face. His brake light necklace fell off as well, which he didn’t notice or bother to pick up–not sure which one it is.
Jesus meets with Rick and company again. Jesus explains who Negan is–leader of a group called Saviors. Negan forced Hilltop into a deal by murdering one of Hilltops community, and levied more threats. Gregory turned over half of their supplies to Negan, and it is a continual deal. Rick seems shocked by this, but Jesus explains that they have no fighters or weapons. Daryl then suggests they take out Negan, and they get a trade deal with Gregory. Jesus says he will check with Gregory.
Outside, Rick contemplates their decision, and seems like it is the trade. Maggie is concerned there will be a cost. Jesus comes out, and says Gregory wants another chat with Maggie. Again, Gregory comes off as a jerk. But Maggie pushes back. She says in exchange for taking out Negan, they want half. Gregory seems to agree to this. On top of that, Maggie gets an ultrasound.
Rick then tells one of the men who delivered stuff to Negan, that he has to come with to provide intel. The man agrees to go. Jesus also wants to come along. The group then hops in their RV and heads out. Inside the RV the group looks at the ultrasound of Maggie’s. Everyone seems to get a little bit of hope looking at it, including Abraham.
Josh’s Thoughts: The Walking Dead, Season 6 Episode 11: Knots Untie
So, first thought this episode–I hate this Gregory guy. How has Gregory led this community for so long? The group has spears for weapons, and he is willing to just fork over half of his supplies. Granted, they seem to not have the training, or ability to defend themselves, so I guess pushing back at Negan is not a problem, but you would think Gregory would be dead–one way or another by now. Some group, possibly even Negan, could have rolled through and ended them, and took everything for themselves. Perhaps from Negan’s point of view, killing them all is more trouble than its worth, given the great “trade” deal he has worked out.
The subtle running theme this episode that seemed to be focused on though, is determining what the future holds. Looking through Abraham’s eyes, so far he has just be living day to day, not concerned with the “big picture,” it seems. Glenn and Maggie, on the other hand, seemed to have realized–should no one try to build up the human race, it will just end. If everyone opted to not have children, there will be no more people. I think the ultrasound opened a lot of people’s eyes into that fact, and the fact that there can be hope in such a bleak world. I am curious though–does the brake light necklace falling from Abraham’s neck symbolize his decision to pursue Sasha? It would seem to me that is what it means.
I am curious to see how this raid on Negan and the Savior’s goes though. I am guessing not well, given that Negan is likely going to be a big part of season 7. We will have to see what happens, but I am guessing we will have a big death come up in the next few episodes.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 6 Episode 11 of The Walking Dead: Knots Untie
Just last week, Rick was saying how he changed his mind, and that now he thinks that they should be out there looking for more people, that they need other people. Lo and behold, a savior (or could he be secretly be a “Savior”?) by the name of Jesus appeared and opened this new world to them of other communities, and the idea of trading with these other communities. I’m still not sure why he had to bust in on a naked Rick and Michonne though. Couldn’t he have waited till morning? But anyway, it was quite convenient that Jesus was able to show Rick what he wanted, just as he decided that that’s what he wanted. At the same time, it is curious that the people of Alexandria had not discovered these other communities and set up trade with them. After all, we know that Aaron’s job was to scout out others and bring them in. Shouldn’t he have had a better idea of what and what was out there? Or maybe it was that Alexandria avoided large communities on purpose, and it just never really came up.
In any case, so right after Rick has this realization of wanting to be more accepting of other people, he sure doesn’t have much regard for others’ lives, given the way that he killed Nathan. To me, it didn’t seem necessary to just kill him like that. Yes, he attacked Gregory, and then went after Rick, but someone could have just knocked him out. It seemed pretty brutal the way that Rick killed him. The guy only did it because Negan was holding his brother captive, and to him, this was the only way to save him. Pretty much anyone else in that situation might have reacted the same way. While it did show the strength of Rick’s group, and offer evidence that they possess the skill and power that could overcome Negan’s group, it also presumably left an impression on the Hilltop group that Rick’s group is just as brutal and terrifying as Negan’s group.
As the audience, we know that Rick’s group is fundamentally good, and can tell that Negan’s group is evil, trying to take others group’s possession for their own. However, if I was a Hilltop member, I’d probably be just as scared of Rick’s group as I was of Negan’s. Furthermore, the deal that Maggie makes with Gregory puts the Hilltop group in pretty much the same position that they were in with their deal with Negan, with Rick’s group taking half — the same amount that Negan was taking. The only difference is that Rick’s group won’t terrorize the Hilltop group and keep trying to take more and more. We as the audience know that, but again, from a Hilltop resident’s perspective, they don’t know that. It’s just exchanging one ruthless group taking half of their resources for another seemingly just as ruthless group doing the same. That’s a great deal for Rick’s group if they succeed in killing off Negan’s group, but at what cost? I’m guessing at least one person from the group will die in the process. On the other hand, I am looking forward to the showdown. This could be quite exciting…
Scenes from The Walking Dead, Season 6 Episode 12: Not Tomorrow Yet
Here are scenes from next week’s The Walking Dead episode titled Not Tomorrow Yet:
