Before he knew what hit him, the fella was face down in the flames, Pope explaining that “God doesn’t only use fire as his baptism, it’s also his wrath.” So yeah… welcome to the Reapers, Daryl good luck with that. How far had this guy gone to protect Turner? Not far enough, apparently. Everyone saw how far Daryl would go to save Leah from the fire. He also wondered about where the guy had been when Turner was getting attacked. ‘ARE… YOU… HUNGRY?’ | Later, around the campfire, Pope marveled at the heroism of the Reaper who’d carried Turner’s body 10 miles to assure that he’d get a proper burial. “Guess I just believe in me now.” That, said the religious nut, is a mistake, because “you’re not Him.” With that, Pope explained how after the fall, he and his men had been spared from the bombing and the burning all around them by hiding in a church. (Well, at least in their minds his face wore an altogether appropriate “WTF?” expression.) Finally, alone with Pope, Daryl was asked if he believed in God.
“Welcome him.” And just like that, Daryl was a Reaper. “Forged by fire… ordained by God… ” Pope intoned. But no sooner had Leah told Daryl to follow her lead with Pope than the two of them found themselves locked in… and the place set on fire! Once Daryl had broken them out, Leah joined the Reapers waiting at a safe distance outside. Later, after Leah pleaded Daryl’s case to Pope - and reaffirmed her dedication to the Reapers - her ex was taken to a (I wanna say) barn for a meeting with the big kahuna. And these people… they greatly outnumbered the Reapers. She’s the leader,” Daryl said, and “a tall, skinny guy who never shuts up… and a priest who carries a shotgun.” Wait, replied Leah, “ that’s their leadership?” Daryl knew it didn’t sound impressive, but he’d been counting Reapers, he admitted. “Not in a world like this.” Nevertheless, she still cared for him and wanted to save him, so she beseeched him to tell her something she could take back to Pope. “We wouldn’t have worked, anyway,” she sighed. Daryl was all like, “You didn’t tell me you were a mercenary.” It was the “same job,” she said, “but we could pay our bills.” Soon, talk turned back to Daryl and Leah’s relationship, with him reiterating that he came back for her, only to find her gone. They’d been soldiers together first, then mercenaries. ‘GOD CHOSE YOU TONIGHT’ | When Leah next visited Daryl, she revealed that one of the dead - Turner - had been like a little brother to her. When Leah visited Daryl, he told her to “just give me Dog, let me go, and you’ll never see me again.” In response, she asked, “Is that what you want?” (Thirsty much?) Before he could answer, they were interrupted: Two of the Reapers had been found dead, a twist that resulted in a preacherman basically speaking in tongues over one of the bodies and Reaper leader Pope ( Happy! alum Ritchie Coster in fine form) expressing his outrage like a latter-day Jim Jones. And quickly enough, Frost understood the show that Daryl was putting on.
“Just ’cause we shared a bag of grain doesn’t mean I give a s-t about you,” Daryl huffed. So he was dragged through an unnaturally tidy prison to a cell across from - well, hey there - Maggie’s pal, Frost. Leah, still clearly smitten, put a stop to it and warned that if he didn’t spill the tea on the group with whom he’d been traveling, “the one we answer to won’t be so nice.”Īgain, Daryl insisted that he didn’t know those people, he’d just traded with them for food. Before he knew it, he was undergoing water torture… up to a point. His family, he lied, had picked the wrong fight with the wrong people a long time ago. In no time, Daryl was surrounded by Reapers and dragged to Meridian, where alone with Leah, he insisted that he didn’t know Maggie & Co. And “I always thought he liked you better,” she deadpanned (emphasis on the “dead”). She even hinted that now Dog preferred her to Daryl. But, as will happen, they were followed by one of the villains - one who was soon revealed to be… ta-da! Leah! ( Thanks for the hint, Norman Reedus.) Since last they’d seen one another, she’d gotten very blonde and very bitter. ‘GOD IS HERE… HE’S ANGRY… I’M ANGRY’ | As the hour began, Daryl and Dog fled from the Reapers’ attack that was cued up by “Acheron, Part II” ( read the full recap here).