TV Review: The Walking Dead S6 E13, “The Same Boat”

By Laury Scarbro

Remember last week I asked the question “How the hell do you get the drop on Carol and Maggie?” This week answers that question, but presents others.

First and foremost, let’s talk about Maggie and Carol’s abduction. While they were in the middle of arguing about whether or not to go in and help the others, one of the Saviors, Donnie, shows up and after Carol shoots him, Maggie proceeds to kill him. Before she can do so, his friends Paula, Molly, and Michelle arrive and put a gun to Carol’s head. Carol and Maggie have no choice but to surrender. This leads to Paula and Rick negotiating a trade: Maggie and Carol for the Savior named Primo. The Saviors lead Maggie and Carol to a “safehouse,” which isn’t exactly safe at all; there are walkers everywhere.

It’s pretty obvious that the Saviors maintain very good communication with one another when they’re separated, and have an organized method for dealing with problematic situations like the one they have found themselves in; they have code words and protocols in place. It’s also easy to see that they have more experience at this survival thing than Rick and the group, but they also face the same kinds of issues, like food and ammo shortages.

Paula tries to come off as tough, but isn’t fully convincing that she’s as tough as she makes herself out to be. She reveals to Carol that she was a secretary before all of this started, had a husband and four daughters. She also killed her boss for being weak and stupid. Molly, who reminds me of Large Marge from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, was probably a hateful old bag even before the world changed, and life since then hasn’t improved her disposition. Fun fact: She’s got lung cancer, if the blood she coughs up is any indication.

Michelle and Donnie don’t reveal much of anything about themselves; Michelle was pregnant at one point, and was going to name the baby after her father. Maggie’s condition is revealed to the Saviors by Carol, and Carol herself plays on people’s tendency to underestimate her. She consistently presents herself to be weak and timid. I have to laugh because every time someone thinks she’s weak, they end up getting way more than they bargained for.

At one point Paula and Carol are discussing Negan, and Molly offers up the information that “We are all Negan.” It has a very “We are Spartacus” feel to it, but I think it’s a safe bet to say that Negan and Spartacus are nothing alike.

Our girls are expected to do some things in this episode that I would never have expected them to be forced to do, but ultimately, it was the only way they could survive their situation. I’m going to spoil that one little part: Maggie and Carol make it out alive. Unfortunately, I don’t think they emerge from the building the same as they went in. Daryl goes straight to Carol and asks her if she’s OK, to which she responds by shaking her head no, and he envelops her in the first hug I’ve seen between the two of them since they left the prison–Caryl fans can rejoice! Maggie tells Glenn she “can’t do this anymore”, and it’s unclear if she means she can’t keep putting herself on the front lines like that, or if she means something else, but that’s the explanation I’m going with. Rick’s interrogation of Primo after the women escape leads to Primo being cryptic with his answers, then telling Rick “I’m Negan, shithead.”

This was very much a Woman Power episode, reaffirming my previous comments about Maggie and Carol being the Queens of Badassery. While they may be two of the strongest female personas on television, the writers still manage to show that Maggie and Carol have not been irreversibly changed by the things they’ve had to do, but those things weigh heavily on them. Now to the questions: What does “We are all Negan” mean? And why did Primo say “I am Negan”, when he is clearly not? Is this a cult mentality they have going on within the Saviors? And how will the events that took place this episode affect Carol and Maggie later on down the road?

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