A Cannibal House of Horrors

Connie (Lauren Ridloff) returns to The Walking Dead in a terrifying episode. “On the Inside” begins frantically with her and Virgil (Kevin Carroll) fleeing through the woods at night. They are being chased by an unseen enemy. They come to a forked path. Virgil sees a mailbox. Connie wants to go the other way, but Virgil thinks “there’s a house.” They run to a decrepit white mansion. Connie barges down the front door with walkers in pursuit. Virgil kills one after they tussle on the floor. Connie slams the door as walkers pound the outside.

In Alexandria, Carol (Melissa McBride) and Aaron argue about how to search for Connie. Rosita (Christian Serratos) believes they should “split into two groups.” Magna (Nadia Hilker) rushes towards them. Kelly (Angel Theory) is missing. We then see her riding away at a furious pace on horseback.

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The next morning at the mansion, Connie looks around the creepy house with animal heads on the wall. She pulls out a small, handwritten map that has noted markers to Alexandria. Virgil methodically searches the house. He returns to the den. They are safe. He wants Connie to rest, but she refuses. She writes “unsafe” in her notebook. A tired Virgil collapses. Connie looks outside at the walkers, then has a flashback to her time in the cave. She writes to Virgil that she will “search the house again.”

In Meridian, Frost (Glenn Stanton) is tied to a chair and tortured. He screams as Carver (Alex Meraz) pulls out his fingernails with pliers. Pope (Ritchie Coster) motions for Daryl (Norman Reedus) to take a turn. Daryl sadly looks at the brutalized Frost, but has no choice. He puts him in a headlock, but is warned by Carver not to kill him. He punches Frost in the face, who refuses to break. Daryl takes out his knife, but Frost sees that Carver has his gun.

Daryl tells Frost he’s close to the woman that’s “the leader.” He screams for her “location.” Then cuts off Frost’s finger. Frost screeches in pain before burbling “yellow house” by the “antenna.” Daryl backs off with a pained look. Leah (Lynne Collins) volunteers to find it. Pope orders her “to take a squad” and “see if our friend speaks the truth.” Daryl offers Pope the finger.

At the mansion, the audio goes silent as deaf Connie searches the house. She notices that all the paintings have the eyes scratched out. Connie looks at herself in a dirty bathroom mirror. When she opens the cabinet, yellow eyes look back behind a peephole. She scrambles downstairs to wake Virgil. She’s too scared to write in her notebook. She grabs his knife and slashes “NOT ALONE” in a painting.

The Reaper squad has found the yellow house. As Leah tells Carver and the men to search it, Daryl pulls down on a powerline behind them unseen. In the house, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) sees the lines dangling. The Reapers kick down the door and go room to room. They find nothing. Leah orders them to continue searching.

In the woods, Kelly finds Connie and Virgil’s camp. Their horse has been gutted. She spots Connie’s pack on the ground. Kelly weeps as she looks through another of her sister’s notebooks. Connie had documented her escape from the cave.

At the mansion, Virgil finds nothing in the bathroom. He wonders if Connie was tired and hallucinating. Connie refuses to stay there. As she walks away, a trap door slams down and separates them. The audio is silent as a terrified Connie carefully moves ahead. Suddenly, a ragged “feral” man in a loincloth chases her on all fours like an animal. She slams a door behind her, then props her foot on the wall to hold him back.

In Meridian, the search continues. In an adjacent house, Leah sees signs of people in the kitchen. When she turns around, Daryl pulls a rug to cover a hidden hatch. Below them, Maggie’s group hides in silence. Daryl argues with Carver. He loudly talks of their numbers, ammunition, and capabilities. Leah tells him to stop aggravating Carver. Maggie listens intently below.

Kelly leads her reluctant horse. She falls down in the mud. Magna, Carol, and Rosita find her. She tells them the information from the notebook. Connie is with someone that Michonne knew. At the mansion, Connie gingerly walks over the cannibalized bones. She sees a vent, tears off the grate, and starts to climb. There are hidden passages between the walls. She has another flashback from the cave.

Virgil is also being chased. He locks himself in another room. Behind the walls, Connie sees Virgil through a crack. She thumps on the wall to alert him. Virgil takes his knife and warily approaches. Connie watches in terror as another “feral” crawls behind Virgil unnoticed. He leaps on Virgil and starts pummeling him. Connie tries to tear away at the drywall. Virgil grabs his knife and stabs his attacker in the chest.

Connie continues to pound away. Virgil slams his knife in the wall creating a hole. She puts her hand through. Virgil realizes it’s her and pulls her out. Back in Meridian, Daryl loudly declares more information about the Reapers. Carver has become suspicious. He tells Leah that Daryl cannot be trusted. Leah retorts that Carver knew about setting them on fire and did nothing. Daryl proclaims that he’s there for Leah. Carver sees the rug. He pulls it back to find the trap door. When they open it, Maggie’s group escapes from the back.

That night with a storm rumbling. Kelly’s group comes to the fork. But they go in the other direction. The mailbox has been hidden. At the mansion, Virgil realizes that they were “being herded” to the house. He gives Connie the knife. He tells her “to keep running” no matter what happens. Connie slams it down. She will not leave Virgil. A shaken Virgil talks about his choices. If Connie dies, then it “would all be for nothing.” Connie will never leave him. She grabs his hand. They are in this “together.”

Virgil hears the “ferals” coming. He grabs a furniture leg as a weapon. They run through the house with ragged cannibals chasing on all fours. Virgil crushes one in the head. A female jumps on Virgil and stabs him in the back. Connie drags him to the front door. The “ferals” surround them. She covers herself with the guts from the walker. She puts Virgil behind her and opens the front door. Walkers pour in to attack the “ferals.”

Connie watches as the cannibals are torn apart. She takes Virgil outside onto the grass. Two “ferals” come after her. But they are quickly cut down by a slingshot and arrows. Kelly rushes to embrace her sister. They break down in tears as the others watch solemnly.

Leah’s group returns to Meridian, a smiling Pope greets them. He’s not upset they couldn’t find their targets. Pope tortured Frost after they left. He was a lot more forthcoming. Pope hugs Carver, whispers in his ear, and looks at Daryl with a knowing smile. Daryl sees Frost as a walker tied to a pole. He and Leah share a worried glance. The Walking Dead returns every Sunday night on AMC. The following week’s episode is available immediately after on AMC+.

Topics: The Walking Dead, Streaming

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