“Try” begins with the most tonally jarring cold open The Walking Dead has ever produced. Everything at the house mourning last week’s loss to the soundtrack of Nine Inch Nails felt incredibly out of place, and oddly forced to make the viewer feel some sort of discord with Deanna and Reg. But, it didn’t feel authentic. Luckily, it was saved by the brief tease of Aaron and Daryl finding some glimmer of a survivor in the distance. Creating an awkward juxtaposition to kick things off.

Nicholas’ testimony was pure and utter bullshit. I wish Glenn left him out there. Alexandria’s discrepancies with the harsh reality of the outside world are starting to add up. It’s nice to see since everything felt so isolated and tonally off in week’s past. Glenn’s persistence that things need to work here gave me hope. He’s right. This is one of those times where Rick isn’t going to do the right thing. Acting against Alexandria would is a mistake, but since it’s all embodied in this abusive husband, he’s compelled to act. You can see the pain in Andrew Lincoln’s performance as he grips the gun during the night scene with Pete. This isn’t easy for him, but it’s here where Rick’s mind is already made up.

Michonne has been vastly under utilized in the back half of this season. Her scenes embody this vague sense of loss with extra emphasis on the vague. Tonight felt a little different by giving her a clear goal in helping Sasha. She’s been a driven warrior for so long that it was nice to see her out in the world again. Sasha’s insanity was a great way to bring Michonne back from the brink of mediocrity and gave perfect motivation for the final scene. I loved the three ladies taking on the waves of zombies but Sasha’s insistence that she doesn’t need help is going to get her killed.

I really strain to see how both her and Michonne are so upset over Noah’s death, when they just met the guy so recently. I’d get it if he contributed something to the group or even had one redeeming moment on the series, but this sort of emotional fallout just feels forced and inauthentic.

Deanna and Rick’s conversation about Pete made me see the error in Rick’s ways. Deanna is sensible, she is a good leader that is afraid to make the strong call, but life inside Alexandria has made her isolated to a point. It’s hard not to see why she wants to keep Pete alive, hell, it’s good to keep him alive.

That slow motion pre-teen running scene… I can’t even. All of Carl’s bonding scenes were awful, every single one of them. Whoever wrote the “It’s there world we’re just living in it” line should be ashamed of themselves. I couldn’t help but laugh at the forced sexual tension when they hid in the tree together. This isn’t the story for Carl. He could be such a strong character if given the right role to play.

After his speech to Nicholas, Glenn is one of the strongest characters on the show. His confidence is well warranted, but I’m beginning to see that every character in Alexandria is a waste of space. It begs the question as to how these people survived this long without experiencing some degree of bad stuff. It’s as if our survivors are the only ones who have lived in the walker filled world.

Aaron and Daryl’s investigation was by far the most invested I was during the whole hour other than the final fight. Finding that body tied to the tree with the same carving in the forehead was foreboding in all the right ways, but didn’t offer enough for me.

Rick playing cowboy is always a good time. But, his sense of justice is incredibly skewed. When confronted with the question of why he cares, he’s at a complete loss. He thinks he’s trying to help, but he’s getting too involved in other people’s business. I’m with him on this, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t help but think he’s going about it in the wrong way. His fight or die reasoning is sound, but his weird affinity for Jessie feels forced. I don’t buy their relationship, but I like that he asked for permission to kill her husband.

Pete and Rick’s showdown was incredible. That shot of the window was the perfect way to take us to the final commercial break. The fight was brutal, and suitable violent. More so than the traditional walker fight thanks to the editing. But, then Rick lost it. Andrew Lincoln’s delivery of Rick’s final speech was phenomenal, if not a little insane.

What an ending…