BWW Recap: This is What it Sounds Like When Daryl Cries on THE WALKING DEAD

Remember two weeks ago when they ripped our hearts to shreds and then stomped on them? And then last week when they were all "we have a sense of humor too, here's a tiger?" Well, it is now Week 3 of the new season, so let's see where we are now.

First of all, the way they unfolded the narrative of this episode was so finely crafted, I almost had to watch it twice to process everything that happened. I can't really do the storytelling justice, so let me just break it down.

Daryl is imprisoned (and naked, thank you Jesus) and Dwight is his key master feeding him literal dog food and torturing him with bad pop music. (I'd so give in to torture if someone blasted Bieber at me 24/7). Dwight JUST wants Daryl to kneel to Negan. Yes, they not only all kneel to Negan, they all claim to BE Negan to emphasize the fact that he is everywhere. (I know, gag me.) But our lovely (and very dirty) Daryl is pretty unbreakable.

Dwight, who is vile in every way, got a little bit of redemption tonight. Yes he's done bad things, but he's been through some things. Turns out, he and his wife, Sherry, came to Negan for help and Dwight wound up stealing some pretty valuable meds to help her. When Negan tracked them down, the only way he would let them live is to accept Sherry's offer to marry Negan and Dwight to get a hot iron to the face. (Negan is nothing, if not reasonable.) So, not only did Dwight give his wife to Negan, he now serves as his right hand man and has to act "excited" that they are trying to have a baby. Sherry seems to be trying to help Daryl and advising him to succumb to Negan, but we're not sure on her yet. Dwight is having some conscience issues too as he comes in contact with an escapee, Gordon, out on the road who basically lays it all out for Dwight. Gordon is horrified what Negan did to Dwight and doesn't understand how he can do what he does. He begs Dwight to kill him rather than to have to go back to the Sanctuary. Dwight does so, but really, he sentences Gordon to being a walker in the yard. Dwight pulls out the big guns to torture Daryl. A photo of Glenn's remains, a reminder it was his fault and a music change to Roy Orbison's "Crying." It does the trick and the tears fall. But did it break him? Nope. When Daryl AGAIN refuses to bow to Negan, Dwight gets pretty pissed. Daryl offers Dwight the one thing he can't seem to handle; empathy. He informs Dwight he totally understands why Dwight did what he did and that is exactly why Daryl won't do the same.

Is Dwight redeemable? Do we feel badly for Dwight suddenly? Crap, I think we do. He was so utterly one-dimensional last season, just a bad guy. But suddenly, he has layers. And his layers have layers. I think that Gordon really got to him when they were out on the road. Gordon told Dwight that it's over and there is nothing left and Dwight knows he's right. Couple that with Daryl's understanding at the end, I'm not sure how long our pal, Dwight, is for this evil world. Is it possible that we could see a Daryl/Dwight partnership at some point? Daryl seems to be unbreakable at this point, which we would expect nothing less. Is it possible that his resilience, while driving Dwight nutty could also simultaneously inspire him to rise up? (#hamiltonreference)

I also have to say, in all these years of watching this show, it usually makes me want to vomit, but dammit if Dwight's sandwich didn't look unbelievably delicious. There's a chance I'm just hungry, but spreading that mustard on the bread was something else. I digress.

Is there a significance to having an "A" on Daryl's prison uniform? I saw "F" and "S" in the yard. I hope that gets revealed at some point. Negan really seems to dig Daryl, while Dwight seems to want to be him and also is jealous of him. And I feel a little guilty for enjoying Negan so much. He is vile, obviously, but I do like him. I cannot wait until his judgment day and, oh yes, it is coming.

Gotta say, it was tough not seeing Steven Yeun in the credits. Just a reminder how no one is safe.

Here's a preview for next week's all new episode:

Photo Credit: AMC

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