The Details

• Food and water are running low. So is morale.
• Maggie, Sasha, and Daryl are all grieving losses. Father Gabriel reaches out to Maggie, but her faith is dead. Sasha won’t listen to group plans to fight walkers, instead going on renegade battles that put the entire group at risk. Daryl retreats to the woods for a cigarette then burns himself with it.
• Someone leaves water for them on the road. The note reads, “From a Friend.” They don’t trust it.
• Finally, it rains, and the group rejoices. Father Gabriel praises God and repents his fear and doubt.
• The rain becomes a storm, and the group takes shelter in a barn. Rick again says that they are the walking dead, but this time, to argue that they have to believe they’re already dead in order to survive. Daryl disagrees, saying, “We’re not like them.”
• Walkers surround the barn, and the group holds them back by keeping the doors closed as the storm rages.
• In the morning, Maggie and Sasha go to watch the sunrise, and their spirits seem restored. All the walkers were killed by trees in the storm, but the barn was unharmed.
• Aaron, a clean stranger who presumably left the water, meets Maggie and Sasha. When he approaches, Maggie’s broken jewelry box begins to play on its own. Aaron asks to speak to their leader. The women do not trust him.

The Big Q

Is life merely a test of faith?

The Impact

While the spiritual overtones are thick in this episode, I’m interpreting faith broadly. Every character has moments along the doubt/hope spectrum of faith. And when the episode asks about people being “tested,” it’s not so much the puppeteer God making his puppets dance, but more the idea that life is a series of events that move us one way or another along the spectrum. If life is a test of faith, the greatest lesson this episode suggests is that with friends and family, you stand a greater chance of passing.