'The Walking Dead' Season 8, Episode 10 'The Lost and the Plunderers' Recap: A Community Wiped Out [SPOILERS]

After the harrowing episode, “Honor,” “The Walking Dead” continues to thin the herd this week. Season 8, Episode 10, titled “The Lost and the Plunderers” aim for where Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) moves forward following the death of Carl (Chandler Riggs). With the communities thrown into chaos, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Simon (Steven Ogg) look for a way to gain leverage from their losses against Rick. Meanwhile, Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) try their luck out in convincing the Oceanside dwellers to fight with them—despite the loss of their leader. There’s also an interesting exchange with Rick and Negan, and we can only see where this fight goes.

Michonne reels from Carl’s death

“The Lost and the Plunderers” opens with Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) suffering emotionally from Carl’s death. They’ve just finished burying him, and Michonne still can’t accept the fact that he’s gone. Rick tries to leave Carl’s gun on his grave but changes his mind anyway. Michonne, on the other hand, works to divert her anger and sorrow towards a group of Walkers pushing through the gates of the now-destroyed community of Alexandria. She kills them all with her katana, and she walks back to their home. On the front porch, she sees Carl and Judith’s handprints painted on the floor, and it tears her up.

As they’re about to leave, Michonne sees a burning gazeebo (where Carl used to hang out) and proceeds to extinguish it with Rick’s help. As soon as the fire is out, Walkers overtake them, but they get out quickly and drive off. In the car, Rick tries to process Carl’s wishes with Michonne. Does he want them to surrender to Negan? Does he want peace? With those questions come the realization of needing Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and the Scavengers. They need to reaffirm their alliance. However, as soon as they arrive, Rick and Michonne are met with a booby-trapped gate and Walkers scattered all over the dump.

Negan’s instructions

As Negan gives his last minute instructions to his fellow Saviors, Simon comes in to provide a full report on the situation so far. Negan now knows that Dwight is with Rick, and this frustrates him. Simon offers to sort it all out, but Negan tells him to win back the Scavengers by killing one of them to scare them into submission. “Take one out,” Negan said. “And the rest will follow.” This directive seems to bother Simon, though. He speaks up about minimizing their losses, Negan has none of it and tells Simon that killing everybody is the easiest way to do so.
Negan’s men come in with a casket delivery from Maggie (Lauren Cohan). It’s one of Simon’s men (now a Walker). Simon bursts out in anger and vows Negan that he will kill every single one of them in the Hilltop, but Negan tells him to stand down and follow his initial plan with the Scavengers.

Enid and Aaron take on the Oceanside

In the Oceanside, Enid, and Aaron are taken into a container van by the dwellers. Their new leader, Cyndie (Sydney Park) has them bound. Aaron pleads for them to hear them out because the fight is coming to them if they don’t team up. One of the dwellers suggests killing them, and their crew goes out to discuss their plan. As soon as they come back in, Cyndie has them untied and prepared for execution by the oceanside. Enid and Aaron ask Cyndie to not blame her grandmother’s death on them because it won’t accomplish anything. If word gets to Rick that the Oceansiders killed them both, Enid knows that they will come to wipe them out. Cyndie considers this and has them freed.

They lead Enid and Aaron out of their camp and warns them never to come back. As soon as the Oceansiders leave them both, Aaron tells Enid to go back to Maggie and report about what happened while he proceeds to convince Beatrice (Briana Venskus) and Kathy (Nicole Barré) to fight with them. After all, they’ve been eager to team up ever since Rick held them up and took their guns for the fight with the Saviors. Enid makes Aaron promise that she’ll see her again, and the two hug.

Simon wipes out the Scavengers

Simon rounds up his group for a trip to the Scavengers. The Saviors arrive, as Jadis finishes up a painting. He sees them all carrying guns, and demands for “a heartfelt act of confession” for teaming up with Rick. Jadis offers to ignore the deal they made with Rick and deliver him to Simon. Simon calls bull and commands her to stick to their agreement with the Saviors so that all will be forgiven. But there’s a catch—the Saviors need to take their weapons. As soon as they collect the guns, Simon asks Jadis why she chose the dump as her home. Jadis answeres vaguely, and Simon presses her by asking about the helipad and the solar panels surrounding the place. Jadis still refuses to answer and asks if they have a deal now that Simon has their weapons.

Simon then tells her that he’s still waiting for their apology. Jadis automatically offers her apology, but Simon shoots Brion (Thomas Francis Murphy), one of Jadis’ officials. She then assures Simon that there is remorse, but Simon, driven by his anger at Maggie’s Hilltop fiasco, shoots another one of her right hands. Jadis punches Simon, but he already has his crew rain bullets on every single Scavenger, killing them all. Simon returns to Negan and tells him that the task is done. After Simon shows Negan the weapons he confiscated, he gets a radio call from none other than Rick himself.

Jadis asks for Rick’s help

We cut back to Rick and Michonne fending off the Walkers surrounding the dump. It turns out that they were a bit too late in witnessing Simon massacre Jadis’ people. As they climb up a mountain of garbage, they see Jadis sitting on top of the pile. She explains what happened, and tells them that the only way out is the same way they got in. Jadis also drops her one-word answers and reverts back to who she was before the apocalypse. She tells them how Simon killed everyone, but Rick shifts the blame on her. Had she played for one team only, this wouldn’t have happened. Rick then assembles a makeshift shield for him and Michonne to use to get out. Jadis asks if she could come, but Rick is done with her games.

Rick and Michonne successfully fend off the Walkers. Jadis screams out for their help, but Rick refuses, leaving her to deal with the Scavengers-turned-Walkers alone. She then leads the entire horde of Walkers to a meat grinder and proceeds to dismember them. She flinches at the sight of her two former right hands dying, but she has to remain strong. Now it’s only a matter of time before we see how Jadis takes this experience in shaping her next move. Later, she brings out a box of applesauce for her to eat.

Rick tells Negan of Carl’s death

As Rick and Michonne drive away, he tries to deny the fact that he left Jadis for dead. Michonne, however, thinks that this is not the way Carl wanted them to be when he died. Rick takes this hard, and they park on the side of the road, saying he needs a second to collect himself. He leaves the truck and read the letters Carl wrote for them—including the one for Negan. This message makes Rick angrier and decides to call Negan through the radio. As soon as Negan answers, Rick tells him about Carl. We cut to a shocked and devastated Negan, whom we all knew grew very fond of the boy.
Rick reveals Carl’s desire for both camps, which is peace. But of course, now that he’s gone, Rick wants Negan dead even more. Negan asks if it was his men who got Carl killed. Rick says no, and went on to tell Negan about how Carl died saving someone. This act brings Negan back to his point, if only Rick let the Saviors “save” them, none of this would’ve happened. Carl’s death also left a hole in Negan’s heart, what with the plans he had for him.
Rick, however, is hellbent on making Negan pay. Negan, on the other hand, thinks Rick should give up. To him, Rick is a failure as a father, and he should give it all up because he’s already lost the fight.

‘The Walking Dead: The Lost and the Plunderers’ Overall Verdict

Tonight’s episode of “The Walking Dead” did well in exposing the different emotions and struggles that each of the main players of the narrative faces. It’s yet another slow-paced entry in the season, but it effectively establishes the moral compass that would need to be fulfilled following Carl’s death. The boy was a beacon of hope for the communities, heck, even for Negan and the Saviors. “The Lost and the Plunderers” evens the playing field and thins out the heard even more. It’s good to see Jadis break away from her annoying one-liner quips, and with fantastic dialogue from McIntosh, time will tell how this would affect her character as a whole, not to mention where her allegiance would lie. Negan and Rick, on the other hand, have a more profound spat to level out, and it’s more than just the all-out war for the communities’ retribution—this is now a personal goal for Rick.
“The Walking Dead” continues next Sunday, March 11th, with “Dead or Alive Or” at 9/8c on AMC.