RIP Buttons. “Forget” was a mixed bag for me, as we see Sasha really coming into her own as a distinguished warrior. Michonne feeling a little lost in her new role, Darryl and Aaron bonding over tracking and Rick and Carol going back to being best pals.

There was something strange about seeing Abraham and Rosita arrive to a party. Both characters look stunned to be in front of the camera, and just don’t fit in. The party scenes didn’t really fit either. Reg come into the scene after a weirdly obsessive night watching the tapes of everyone. It didn’t seem like time well spent, or something a normal person would do.

Darryl longing to be at the party was a little bit of a heavy-handed metaphor, but it leading to a faint bonding moment with Aaron was lovely. When we arrived to Alexandria I really wasn’t sure how Darryl would fit in, and it turns out he wont. They need people outside on the front lines taking care of hunting, and making connections with new survivors.

As we continued to return to the party, almost all of the conversations felt horribly on the nose. We’ve had the theme handed to us before “look around, these people are your family now” but it never felt more forced than this awkward mixer. I get the idea of welcoming the newcomers into the city, but tonally these scenes were all over the place, and never really respected any of the characters. Everything felt forced, and well when the purpose is for everyone to mix, not a whole lot of mixing was being done. Or at least not in the forefront.

That being said, a drunk Abraham spouting off philosophical musings would be enough to carry the entire party. I could watch him talk in circles for hours or watching Sasha spin in circles as she starts to lose it. I get her dissonance. It makes the most sense for the situation our survivors have found themselves in. She’s so far removed from it, and in a way she’s in the right. Clinging to parties and the old way of living isn’t a comfort Alexandria can afford just yet.

The scene with Carol and the idiot bowl head kid, Sam, was the standout of the night. She is one sinister woman. The way she creeped into the kid’s psyche and destroyed his options was just stunning. I can’t imagine he’ll tell his mother any time soon, but when he inevitable does this will the rift that tears apart the new utopia.

Michonne hanging up her sword was a symbolic gesture of moving on. I imagine it won’t last for long, but for her this is a big deal. While I didn’t quite get the idea of Carol, Rick, and Darryl taking guns from storage to keep for their own. It was also really jarring to see Rick think about shooting Jessie’s husband. I don’t know if that was the intention but it sure seemed like it.

There’s a really great turn for almost everyone in this episode. Carol and Rick are comfortable with their new roles to play, but Darryl is the one who seems most committed to this new status quo. While the tone of the episode was a little too all over the place for my liking, and the final scene feeling completely devoid of context I was a little lost.

However, I am excited about where things head next. There is a lot of volatility on display here every week, and there is still the case of that etched “W” or was it an “M?” As we get closer to the finale, something tells me the hope instilled by Alexandria will soon be laid to waste.