‘The Walking Dead’: Sasha Puts Her Life On The Line To Save Rosita

Grab the tissues, you’re gonna need them. On this episode of ‘The Walking Dead’, Sasha takes one for the team (or just Rosita), while Maggie and Daryl finally have a heart-to-heart about THAT death.

We finally return to The Hilltop and are reunited with Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green). Maggie seems to be adjusting well to her new home, as well as Enid, and we see the two of them preparing for the fight against the Saviors with the group of Hilltop people who volunteered to join the war. However we also see Sasha, who in a previous episode agreed to help Rosita (Christian Serratos) kill Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), preparing for her own fight in private. The next day we learn that Sasha is keeping her secret even as she helps train some of the Hilltop people how to knife fight. Meanwhile, Maggie and Jesus (Tom Payne) are going over a list of things they need to scavenge for, and a moment later we learn that Jesus is helping Sasha by drawing a very detailed map of the outside of the Sanctuary. Interesting. Oh, and we also see that Daryl (Norman Reedus) is now living at the Hilltop as he continues hiding from the Saviors after his great escape.

It’s unclear if Maggie and the Hilltop folk are keeping their fight preparation from Gregory (Xander Berkeley), but when we do get to see him he is watching them through a window and obviously upset about it. That’s when we see Rosita arrive through his window, and we learn that everything we’ve seen was actually before Sasha agreed to help her. Ah, another time jump! Thankfully we already knows what happens here so… moving right along.

Sasha eavesdrops on Jesus and Maggie chatting, and he reveals that he grew up in a group home so he’s used to having lots of bodies around. Sasha starts listening just as Jesus admits he’s working hard to make sure both she and Maggie feel welcome and at home, and that he always had a hard time getting close to people — including boyfriends — before meeting them. Yes, Jesus just came out! Sasha waits until Maggie and Jesus head over to the group to do more prep work, then goes inside the trailer to do her own.

As she’s holding a book that’s been cut through the pages to store bullets, Jesus and Enid walk in. Sasha comes up with some excuse but Jesus isn’t upset and instead tells her she can have the bullets. That’s when she reveals she has a gun, thanks to Rosita, and Jesus puts their plan together before Sasha can even say anything. He begs her not to go, but Sasha brings up a good point: Rosita is going with or without her. Jesus and Enid offer to go with them, but Sasha refuses. Jesus knows he can’t convince her so he tells her she can take everything she needs, but that she and Rosita have to talk to Maggie before they go. He leaves, but Enid stays behind.

The Saviors Are Coming… Look Busy

Sasha tells Enid that she needs to protect Maggie because she’s the future of the Hilltop, and Enid agrees. Then she gives her a bracelet she’s been working on for the baby and asks her to finish it while she’s gone. Enid accepts the bracelet through tears, but then takes a breath and tells Sasha she’s got 10 minutes before she tells Maggie what’s going on. That’s a pretty small window. Enid leaves, and as Sasha puts on her jacket and prepares to make a quick getaway she hears a bell ring and a guard watching the gates yells, “The Saviors are coming!” Awkward timing, no?

Enid takes Daryl and runs to find Maggie, who Negan and the Saviors think is already dead. Rosita asks Sasha where they should hide but she says they aren’t, and instead leads her to an escape route that takes them under the fence. As for Maggie, Enid and Daryl, they just barely make it into the cellar under Gregory’s house as the Saviors drive through the gates. Enid locks the cellar door behind them and promises to keep them away, but it’s gonna be tough. After all, we’ve seen them turn Alexandria upside down more than once.

The Saviors flood the Barrington House, where Gregory is constantly hiding, and he welcomes Simon (Steven Ogg) with open arms. Simon is quick to let Gregory know that he’s here for one reason only: to find a “certain someone” we can only assume is Daryl. In the cellar we see Maggie move a shelf for her and Daryl to hide behind, then we see Rosita and Sasha making a run for it — literally — through the woods behind the Hilltop. Later while trying to jump start a car Rosita notices the necklace hanging off of her neck, which Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) gave to her before being killed by Negan. It’s an awkward moment between the two women, especially when Rosita tells her she’s the one who made the necklace. Woof.

Sasha tries to make small talk with Rosita but she isn’t having it. She only wants to talk about the mission, so Sasha tells her about the map and everything Jesus has told her. She even proposes that there’s a chance they’ll make it out alive, but Rosita isn’t interested in that, either. She’s worried if they don’t get close enough they’ll miss, or they won’t kill him just injure him, and that’s not good enough. Rosita’s rage is blinding her judgment. Sasha is trying to be logical, but Rosita only sees red.

Maggie Tells Daryl Exactly What He Needs To Hear

Back at the Hilltop, Enid is doing her best to keep the Saviors from finding Daryl and Maggie. When one makes his way near the cellar door, she runs up to him with a basket of vegetables to distract him. When she tries to pass the vegetables over to him he pushes them back and they fall on the ground, which obviously upsets him. He demands she pick them up and then demands she hand over her knife, which she does. Of course his next stop is the cellar, and he opens the door with ease as Enid watches in horror. In the basement all he finds is a basket of onions, but Maggie and Daryl watch him closely from behind their shelf — ready to strike if needed.

Once the guy takes a few baskets of food and leaves the cellar, Daryl and Maggie emerge. She’s upset because he almost killed the guy for no reason, but Daryl says he deserved to die. Maggie mentions that he hasn’t said more than a word to her since he got to the Hilltop and begs him to look at her, and that’s when Daryl looks up with tears in his eyes. He hesitates and then apologizes through tears, obviously because he’s feeling guilty about Glenn’s death, but Maggie tells him it’s not his fault. “You’re one of the good things in this world. That’s what Glenn thought,” she tells him, holding back her own tears. The two finally hug, and Maggie reminds him that they need to win — not just kill. Daryl agrees.

Elsewhere, Simon and Gregory show up to the doctor’s office — the same one that has been treating Maggie during her pregnancy — and reveal that Negan wants him to come live with them. So that’s who they are REALLY looking for! Dr. Carson puts up a bit of a fight and asks why they need two doctors, but Simon says they don’t. The doctor then reveals that the Sanctuary’s doctor, who was recently killed by being thrown in a fire by Negan, was actually his brother. He puts two-and-two together, then agrees to go. In place of the doctor Simon and the Saviors deliver a massive crate filled with aspirin, telling Gregory they aren’t leaving him “high and dry”. The Hilltop leader is obviously not happy about this and asks to speak with Simon privately, which is when he reveals that although he’s been cooperative with Negan there are other people who may not be. This peaks Simon’s interest, so he tells Gregory that if he is having problems with someone else to come to him so they can figure it out.

When the Saviors finally leave and take Dr. Carson with them, the entire Hilltop community watches while Gregory does nothing. It’s clear that he’s uncomfortable by the way they are all staring, but in this case he’s a coward for a reason — if he fights back, he’s dead. No question.

Sasha Gets Rosita To Crack

Still looking for a car, Rosita and Sasha come across a parking lot filled with them that is overrun by walkers. They create a pretty cool diversion by setting one of the cars on fire, but it only distracts the walkers for so long as the two women check for a working vehicle. Rosita finally gets a car to start and once Sasha jumps inside they make a pretty cool getaway. Rosita floors the car in reverse to knock over some walkers, including one that rolls completely over the car, then goes straight through a chain link fence to get out of the lot. Who taught you how to drive like that?!

The next time we see Sasha and Rosita they are in a building close enough to the Sanctuary that they can see right into the yard of walkers protecting it. Sasha watches Eugene (Josh McDermitt) directing some of the “slaves” around the walkers, looking even less like a hostage and/or prisoner than the last time we saw him. During their downtime Sasha is still trying to appeal to Rosita’s humanity, if it even exists anymore. She asks her to teach her the knots she’s doing, but Rosita reminds her it “won’t matter” soon enough. Eventually Sasha convinces her, and soon enough Sasha is practicing the knots. Whether or not they came here to die, it’s a pretty good way to pass the time while they wait for Negan to come outside.

Out of nowhere Sasha, again trying to appeal to Rosita’s humanity, tells her that they “got lucky” to have her in their group. It works, and now Rosita is opening up to Sasha about a guy, Johnny, who taught her what she knows about bombs. Marcus taught her about cars, Chaser taught the knot tying, and she admits there were “others” after that. Rosita admits that although she learned everything she knows from guys who didn’t think she could protect herself, she paid very close attention and picked up on everything they did. For the first time this episode, Rosita says Abraham’s name. The entire time they’ve been referring to him as, well, “him”. She says that she got involved with him because he liked that she could handle herself, so he was the first guy in the post-apocalyptic world not trying to coddle her.

“I thought I hated you,” Rosita admits to Sasha, who silently takes in everything she’s saying. But the tears start flowing when Rosita admits she was “stupid” not to tell Abraham that she was happy he was actually happy, which she was even despite him leaving her for Sasha. The two women then agree that Abraham didn’t deserve to go out the way he did, that he deserved to go out the way he wanted to: fighting. Sasha tells Rosita that no matter what happens, she has her back, and Rosita confirms the feeling is mutual.

When they hear the trucks returning from the Hilltop Sasha quickly spots that Dr. Carson is with them. That’s when Negan finally emerges from the Sanctuary to greet the new doctor, and you can see the tension rise in Sasha as she does everything in her power not to start shooting the second she sees him. There isn’t one single clean shot of Negan the entire time he’s outside, but when he goes back inside it’s Eugene’s voice that comes over the walkie Rosita and Sasha have.

Eugene tells the Saviors they need more walkers to expand their barricade around the Sanctuary, and he instructs them, per Negan, to start searching nearby areas and buildings to find them. This is NOT good for Rosita and Sasha, who are entirely too close to the Sanctuary right now. As if that weren’t enough, they also have to listen to Eugene refer to himself as “Negan”, something that has to really burn their behinds considering how close he was to Abraham. Once he’s done talking, Rosita says it’s time to “go in”.

Sasha Sacrifices Herself To Save Rosita

That night, in the Hilltop, Gregory calls Jesus into his office for a meeting. He seems upset that Jesus has been “slacking” on scavenging and recruiting, but then offers to let the people from Alexandria come and reside inside Barrington House. He’s also assigned them jobs, which Jesus sees as him trying to split everyone up. When Jesus calls Gregory out on it he uses the Saviors to threaten him, which Jesus does not respond well to. As he’s leaving Gregory’s office Daryl barges in and demands to know where Sasha and Rosita are. Uh oh.

Back at the Sanctuary, Eugene steps outside with a Savior to explain why they are expanding the walker barricade. Just as they reach the fence the Savior is shot dead, causing Eugene to fall to the floor and cower. Rosita and Sasha then reveal themselves and demand he get up so he can escape, but he refuses. He tells them no, that he doesn’t want to go with them, and tells them to run because others will be coming. When Eugene goes back inside, Rosita starts cutting through the fence so she can get inside before anyone else comes. Sasha finishes the job and tells Rosita to keep a lookout for others, only to trick Rosita into looking away as she goes through the fence and secures it so Rosita can’t follow her. Rosita is pissed, but Sasha tells her it’s not her time and that “they” need her back home. On her way inside the Sanctuary another Savior comes out but Sasha pops him in the head before he can even blink.

Rosita desperately tries to break her way through the fence but fails, and when Saviors come swarming out she finally makes a run for it. Once she thinks she’s far enough away she stops to cry, though it’s unclear if she’s crying because she won’t be the one to kill Negan, she won’t be the one to die, or because she just lost Sasha. But as she is crying she sees a shadow lurking not too far away, watching her. It looks like it could be Daryl due to the long hair and the crossbow, but given her proximity to the Sanctuary? It’s probably Dwight.

Tell us, HollywoodLifers — What did YOU think of this intense new episode? Do you think Sasha can survive