The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 12 "The Key"

A book of medieval achievements so we may have a future from our past.

Negan smiles. Simon looks around. Dwight looks worried.  Dwight pulls out Sherry's wedding ring. Negan welcomes Dwight back to Sanctuary. Dwight keeps up the charade of the ambush. Negan tells him good job. I'm not sure he believes him. Zombies are getting their guts removed by Saviors. They dip their weapons in the zombie blood and guts. Negan laughs. Dwight looks around at the preparations the Saviors are making. Simon announces they are going to scare the people at Hilltop. No head shots just flesh wounds. He wants them to turn. No killing. Simon tells Dwight Negan doesn't need him so he will be riding with Simon. Dwight says he wants to go scout ahead but Simon says they already have people doing that. The Saviors load up into cars. Dwight joins Simon in his car. Negan dips Lucille into a bucket of guts he has in his car. He smiles.

Rick and Michonne arrive at Hilltop. Michonne hugs Maggie. Rick stares at the Savior prisoners. He shrugs off Michonne and goes towards Judith. He looks over at Daryl and Daryl nods. He got Judith to Hilltop safely. Rick stares at a grave. Daryl comes up to him. Daryl says "You know, I look around and I think about the people that are gone and the people that are still here. It ain't right. And it ain't fair." He apologizes for what he did at Sanctuary. He just wanted to end it with the Saviors, no second chances. "And I didn't care who was there. I don't know if that makes it right or  . . ." Rick says they should have only worried about their own people (forget the workers at Sanctuary). Rick says he is ready to fight. Maggie has lookouts every half mile ready to signal when the Saviors come. Daryl wants to go with Rick but Rick thinks they should split up. Daryl agrees reluctantly. Rick says he is okay. Then he changes it to he's going to be okay. He thanks Daryl for getting everyone to Hilltop. Rick speeds out of Hilltop. Maggie and Rosita look out from the gate. Maggie asks Rosita if she thinks Rick will come back from this. Rosita responds, "Have you come back? I just keep going." Maggie looks back at the house and sees Enid reading the letter from Carl and Michonne sitting on the steps. She says they will come back too. Rosita says it will be harder when the fight is over and it is quiet. Maggie disagrees. When Negan dies she'll be fine. Rosita agrees with her. Maggie sees something and looks out with binoculars. A crate with a note is out in the field.

Simon asks Dwight what he makes of their little road trip. Dwight answers, "Opportunity to close. Nothing wrong with that." Simon wants to get candid. Does he really believe Rick and his people will cower at yet another warning? Dwight says they don't get paid to think. Simon says he values Dwight's opinion. Simon has doubts about the plan. They (Rick's people) keep fighting regardless of what they throw at them. They don't scare.

Rosita pulls up to Hilltop. In the back of her car are the crates Maggie saw. She hands Maggie a note that says, "If you fill the crates with food or phonograph records, I will gladly exchange them for a key to your future." The note also includes coordinates for a meeting spot. Michonne says this isn't the Saviors. Maggie thinks it could be a trap. Michonne believes it could actually be someone who wants to help. Maggie is willing to risk missing out on help from a stranger in order to be safe and stay alive. Michonne thinks they could be careful. Enid says that being careful is staying at Hilltop. Michonne volunteers to go. Rosita wants to go with Michonne. Enid says that Rick wants all of them at Hilltop. Michonne says, "But the last time we took at chance like this it changed everything." Eventually Rick will understand. Maggie decides to go because her people are starving besides Jesus's best efforts at scavenging. Enid wants to accompany her and Maggie agrees. She's going to go grab some records and wants Enid to get some extra bullets so they are prepared for any outcome.

Rick sits on top of his car listening to the Saviors over his walkie. They are ordered to stick to their plan and not engage. He looks out through his binoculars and sees the caravan of Saviors. He goes to honk his horn but pauses. He sees Negan driving alone. He gets in his car instead and heads in their direction.

Simon sees Ricks' car as he drives down the street. Rick hits Negan's car. Negan speeds away but Rick follows him closely. Simon orders Dwight to tell the other to stay put and keep their guard up. The Saviors all get out of their cars. Simon tells the other Saviors to stay put. He and Dwight will go investigate. He orders them to block the street and keep the perimeter. Negan lies at the bottom of his car. He is covered in zombie blood and guts. Rick shoots at Negan. Zombies come out attracted by the sounds. Rick ignores them and goes after Negan. He follows him into an abandoned building. Negan laughs when he realizes Rick is out of bullets. Rick throws his ax at him. Negan dives out of the way and almost falls. He drops Lucille and hangs from the second floor. Rick goes to cut his hand with the ax when Negan lets go and falls down into a big hole in the floor below.

Michonne, Maggie, and Enid arrive at the meet up spot. They see a big van and two people standing waiting for them. One of the people opens up a car door and a blonde woman gets out. Her name is Georgie. She introduces her friends as Hilda and Midge. When she asks for their names and gets no response she says she knows they are suspicious but also curious. She tells them she doesn't accept spoken words records. "If you're out here, you know you can take care of yourselves. And I like that.  I don't care to share this with the weak." Maggie says, Good. Rosita comes up behind them. They aim their guns at Midge and Hilda and disarm them. Georgie isn't armed. Maggie demands that they give them what they have. Georgie says she has knowledge to trade. "Essential knowledge for the future, primarily in my head, and, uh I prefer to keep that where it is." She's made that offer before. Rosita asks her how many communities they have found. Georgie says not many like Hilltop for a very long time. "What you have is special, unusual. The dead have brought out our best and worst, and the worst has been outpacing the best lately, but that won't last forever. If, perhaps, people can believe in people again, four crates of goods is worth far less than a sustainable future and perhaps an exercise in trust." Enid tells them to stop. This isn't real. No one survives doing what they say they are doing. Georgie says she can tell they are a fine group. Michonne wants to make a deal but Maggie says they will take them back to Hilltop.

Rick whistles as he walks in the dark. He uses his lighter to see. He calls out to Negan to see if he is still alive. Negan responds that he is like a cat. Negan looks for Lucille. A zombie can be heard growling. It approaches Negan and he runs. Rick asks where are his Saviors? They didn't go very far. He announces, "This is where you die, in the dark, all alone." Negan wants to know what is Rick's problem. Why didn't Rick just let Negan save him? He said no one at Hilltop or Kingdom died until Rick Grimes got involved. Rick hears zombies and uses his lighter to read a board that has eaters written on it. Negan picks up a pipe and then throws it on the floor. He says Rick failed Carl and his people. But there is still hope for Rick. He's offering a one-time deal in the memory of Carl. If he can get Hilltop, Kingdom, and Alexandria to fall in line then he is forgiven and the deal is back on. He will even lower his take from 50% to 25%. But Rick has to work for Negan as a janitor. Rick asks why he should accept any offer from Negan after what Negan did to the Scavengers. Negan has no idea what Rick is talking about. Rick tells them he wiped out all of the Scavengers. "Is that how you 'save' people?" Negan realizes that Simon lied to him. Rick once again asks why the Saviors haven't come to rescue Negan. "It's times like these that you realize who you're true friends are. No one's coming for you." Rick chuckles. He bends down and picks up Lucille.

Simon says that Dwight must have thought about killing Negan. Dwight replies very sarcastically that he never did. Simon points out that Dwight did what he had to do to live. "If it was my call we'd say enough. We'd branch out, we'd find new places, we'd make new relationships. We'd make sure the Saviors survive, as you chose to. And we'd move on from past discomforts as you wisely chose to." Dwight laughs. Simon wants to know what Dwight thinks. Dwight asks, "Just move on?" Simon replies, "Just move on." They find Negan's car. They are not sure if the blood belongs to Negan or the bucket he had. Simon says they can keep looking or walk away, go back to Sanctuary and make things better for their people. A zombie approaches. Dwight pulls out a cigarette and lights it. He flicks the cigarette at the car and it catches fire. Simon says, "Good answer."

Georgie and her two friends sit in front of the house. Jerry keeps Maggie updated on the situation. Michonne says they should let Georgie goes. Maggie won't. Georgie has crates of food in her van and the people at Hilltop will soon starve. Enid says that Maggie's right. "We stop pretending that things just work out. They don't." Michonne mentions that they now have a doctor because Carl rescued Siddiq. She takes Enid's gun away. She says, "Carl was brave." Enid replies, And now he's dead." Michonne orders her to step back and Enid walks away. Maggie says, "Things don't just work out." Michonne answers, "No. No, they don't. But I think he knew that. He didn't give up on who Rick wanted him to be. And we can't, on who he wanted us to be. We can't." She walks away. Maggie looks over at Judith and Gracie.

Rick tells Negan that sooner or later Negan was going to meet someone like him. "You can't save anyone because you don't care about anyone. . . The only thing you care about is this bat. You can't even save that." Rick lights Lucille on fire and breaks the boards blocking the door holding the zombies back. Negan tackles Rick to the ground. Zombies spill out of the door. Rick picks up Lucille and uses her agaist the zombies. Negan comes up and Rick swings at Negan. Rick smiles as more and more zombies surround them. Negan calls Rick a sociopath and tackles him. He grabs Lucille and starts making his way out when Rick attacks him. Rick fights off zombies and follows Negan out the building. Negan is nowhere in site.

Maggie comes out of the house with a crate filled with records. She will fill Georgie's four crates and then she can go. Georgie accepts but changes the terms. She is going to give Maggie some of her food stores. She says they need it more than her people. Maggie wants to know what Georgie wants in exchange for the food. Georgie says records and good faith. "To be clear this isn't a gift, it's barter. I'll be back. Maybe not for a while but I will, and by then, I expect great things." She gives her the "key" to the future. A packet with plans for a windmill, watermills, silos,  guides to refining grain, creating lumber, aqueducts. "A book of medieval achievements so we may have a future from our past." Maggie thanks her. She wants Maggie to build up Hilltop. When she comes back she expects the other crates to be filled. Maggie says, "We'll see what we can do." Georgie replies, "You will." They get in their van and leave. Enid confesses to Michonne that she killed Natania. "So I killed her, and I'm alive, and Carl saved someone and he's dead. How the hell are we supposed to do this? Are we supposed to just stop fighting?" Michonne says, "I don't think Carl wanted us to stop fighting for our future. But I think he was telling us that, to get to our future, it's gonna take more than just fighting." Enid says the Saviors are on their way. Michonne says they will fight them. "But there's gotta be something after."

The Saviors are waiting. Simon and Dwight return. Simon tells them that Negan is gone. Dwight says all they found was blood. One of the Saviors asks what they are supposed to do. Simon asks who he is and the Savior replies Negan.  They are all Negan. They are still Negan. He says Negan could be back. Negan's plan was to scare the people at Hilltop. But now it's time to accept the only thing left for them to do is to expunge the people of Hilltop. "They are a mistake that we shall now erase. We are moving on." Dwight does not look happy with the new plan. Negan sits in the passenger side of a car.  He looks over to the driver and sees it is Jadis and she has a gun pointed at his head.

Final Thoughts
- Yvette Nicole Brown made a good point on the Talking Dead that all the scenes with men involved violence and destruction while all the scenes with women were about building.
- Maggie chose to trust instead of taking at the end and it played out for her benefit. She could have become the Governor or Negan but chose the higher path instead.
- Michonne is trying to help Enid from going to the dark side like Rick intervened with Carl. I hope it works.
- According to The Talking Dead Hilda and Midge are twins. Interesting.
- Daryl wanted to obliterate the Saviors and that backfired on him will the same things happen to Simon?
-  I find it ridiculous and hard to believe that Negan survived that fall, Rick shooting at him (and missing every time when that rarely happens), and a swarm of zombies. I'm done with TV shows and movies making characters impossible to kill. It really bothers me on this show since they don't have a problem killing off characters.
- What is Jadis going to do with Negan?
- Since Georgie came through on her part of the deal and seems to have given them useful information I am going to trust her. For now, at least. She could out to be like the Governor.