Gene Page/AMC(SPOILER ALERT) Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead catches up with with what Tara has been up to while Negan’s Saviors have wreaked havoc on Alexandria.
We’re quickly introduced to a new group of survivors, who are combing a beach for walkers. Cindy, a young woman, is accompanying a little girl, Rachel, who’s all too eager to kill. However, when they find Tara washed up on shore, Rachel moves to off her, too, until Cindy dissuades her.
Flashback to Tara on her scouting mission with Heath. He’s still haunted by the raid on the satellite farm, at which Rick’s crew slaughtered Saviors in a vain hunt for Negan.
Cindy drags Tara to the shade and leaves her with water and a spear to defend herself. But when Cindy slinks away, Tara reveals she was feigning unconsciousness. She slurps down the water and tracks the girls through the woods.
Eventually, she finds their main colony, Oceanside…which is all women. Tara spies on them, finding a massive armory — which the women flock to and begin firing at the intruder.
Tara runs through the woods under fire until she disarms one of her pursuers, Beatrice, and takes away her shotgun before striking her with the weapon’s butt, knocking her out.
Tara runs before finding herself in front of little Rachel and her gun. Just before the little girl pulls the trigger, noting, “It’s what we’re supposed to do,” Cindy again steps in and gets her to stop. Tara is spared, but captured.
A flashback shows Heath and Tara scavenging until they find a pair of sand-filled trucks, and what the pair thinks is spare ammo. Suddenly, the sand in the dump truck gives way, spilling dozens of walkers all over the road, eager to bite the pair.
Back in the present, Tara is cuffed to a radiator and is questioned by the leader, Natanya. Tara makes up a story about where she came from and offers to just leave. Instead, they leave her chained up, then later lead her at gunpoint — to a quaint dinner.
Natanya invites Tara to stay at Oceanside, just to keep their village secret. Tara declines the offer, and comes clean, explaining she has a life — and love — back at another community. However, Tara doesn’t know that her love, Dr. Denise, is dead, and those responsible, Negan’s Saviors, have Alexandria under their thumbs.
Natanya decides to let Tara go to find Heath, sending escorts with her back to Alexandria to see if they can work together. The first chance Tara gets, she bolts. Beatrice scuffles with her before getting the upper hand, pulling her rifle on Tara.
She explains to Tara that Saviors were the ones that killed every male in their colony from 10 years old and up, after they tried to fight them. Instead of living under Negan’s control, the women fled, eventually finding safety in the anonymity of Oceanside.
Beatrice takes aim on Tara, hoping the secret of Oceanside will die with her. Eventually, Cindy steps in again and takes Beatrice out, giving Tara the chance to leave — if she swears to never tell anyone about them.
Cindy leads Tara to the walker-filled bridge and vows to get her across. They dispatch a few walkers to find dozens more, and hopscotch over cars until they get closer to the entrance.
Tara bolts, with Cindy giving her cover fire until she makes it to safety.
Another flashback shows how Tara and Heath got separated while fighting off the sand walkers — and how she fell off the bridge and into the river. In the present, she looks around and finds clues that lead her to believe Heath drove away to safety.
Tara’s happy about it, though she’s stranded in the middle of nowhere. She wanders into a little antique shop and spends the night before getting back to Alexandria — where she learns her love, Dr. Denise, was one of the Saviors’ first victims.
Rosita asks Tara if she knows a place to get guns and ammo to take on the Saviors for killing Glenn and Abraham and the rest. Instead, Tara keeps her promise to Cindy and doesn’t reveal she knows about Oceanside and its arsenal.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday, December 4 at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC.
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