So this is a first. Beth and Darryl end up right back as they were at episode's beginning; wandering the woods with few supplies and filthy clothes. They have advanced no closer to any other survivors, and even left the railroad tracks where they might have found the way to Terminus. Beth and Darryl spend the episode bickering about Beth's need for help surviving, about Darryl's unwillingness to lead or even care about more than breathing and eating (and pissing). The episode served only one purpose: for Beth and Darryl to say goodbye to their old lives.
All that separates them from death is the bandanna he tied the trunk shut with.
Beth has always been under her father and Maggie's protection. Hershel, for all his rules, was a loving father, and happy to show his daughters he cared every day. Maggie is always protective of her sister- she left the bus at the prison to look for Beth- and happy to seek solace and comfort when her father or Glenn aren't available. Beth has never lived out from under their shadows.
There's nothing to be embarrassed about... it happens to all men sometime.
Darryl and Beth spend a night hiding from zombies we don't see, we just hear them banging on the car trunk as they pass by, with Beth and Darryl focused on the sliver of moon light through which they can only get glimpses of the danger outside. The next day, we see Beth gather the remains of the car together, which she'll use to make a camp and a fire. Darryl non-chalantly gathers food while Beth gets domestic in the dirt clearing they find in the woods. But the happy home life doesn't last. Beth decides that she'll do what her father would never let her: have a drink. Darryl follows her as she almost stumbles on zombies, and then through more woods until they reach .... Caddyshack.
As they stumble through the decrepit, half undead remains of the wealthy people who took refuge there, one can't help wondering what went wrong. The ground floor windows are covered, and the place is filled with people, making it obviously a refuge for some wealthy people for a while, right when things turned. But something went horribly wrong, with at least one body mutilated for being that of a wealthy woman. Bolsheviks? Zombies have typically been used as horror movie stand-ins for whatever the wealthy fear, and the show's makers certainly know that. Were some residents hung for being part of the 5%, with the rest being put down? Were the ones upstairs just lucky enough to be killed there? The place was still secure when Darryl and Beth walked in, meaning no one stormed the place. Was the menace from the inside? We'll never know. Dead bodies, strewn wherever they want to walk or find something that could be really dead or just about to grab them, provide most of the tension of the scene. The rest comes from Darryl bashing in the heads of the zombies upstairs, which ruins Beth's brand new clothes. And, not a little tension comes from Beth trying to be in charge since Darryl doesn't seem to want to do anything except live through the day, play darts, and bag up some money and jewelry. Beth examines a spoon engraved with "Washington D.C.", reminding us of Abraham's quest. The clubhouse is relatively secure, but there's nothing left to eat, and Darryl reacts violently to the thought of anyone's first drink being peach Schnapps. He and Beth stroll out, hopefully away from the crowd at the back doors.
I ordered... a fucking.... Appletini
Their next stop is an old double-wide with attached shed, a spot Michonne and Darryl found months ago, with nothing remaining except debris, a really tacky planter, and moonshine. Beth starts down the rocky path to drunkenness under Darryl's supervision, with them talking a bit as they scavenge amongst the house's debris. Darryl confides that the place is a dead ringer for his dad's old house, right down to the bra planter. They decide to let the walker outside be, as long as he's not too loud. A drinking game Beth has always wanted to try leads to Darryl being insulted, pissing inside the house, and then demanding that Beth clumsily try his crossbow. Darryl, for all his tough guy act, is insulted when Beth assumes he's been in jail. Look, dude, if your whole persona is that you don't give a shit, don't be surprised when people think you did jail time. Darryl angrily reminds Beth of her weaknesses- her suicide attempt, that she was a babysitter while others defended the prison, that she's too innocent, and a dreamer. Darryl's hissyfit leads to him grabbing Beth and trying to force his crossbow into her hands. She stabs the poor zombie in the head to end their fight. And she lets Darryl have it. No, she's not a zombie-destroying-fan-fave. In a speech meant more for the audience than Darryl, she tells Darryl that she's survived, despite NOT being a badass, and maybe that deserves some respect. She then blames Darryl's apathy towards others on the discovery of Sophia, who Beth only knows as the "girl that came out of the barn". You and I have been aware for a while of how hard that death was on him, and despite Carol's work with him, Darryl has never really recovered, or wanted to act as if he cares about anyone since then.
You suck! No, you suck! No, you suck!
Turns out, Darryl blames himself for the loss of the prison. He stopped hunting for the Governor. He thought the trail was cold. Instead, the guy was close enough to come back and ruin the prison and kill his friends. For the first time since Sophia came out of the barn, Darryl expresses an emotion. It's not pretty.
Done fighting, Darryl and Beth sit outside like college kids on break, continuing to sip booze and bond over their past lives. Beth bemoans the fact that her childhood didn't prepare her for managing through bare survival and the violence needed to defeat zombies. She tells Darryl that he'll be the last human left on earth, and warns him that he'll miss her when he is. Darryl tells the story of an incident in the not too distant past of a drug-dealing houseguest holding a gun to his head, then punching him while his own big brother laughed at him. Darryl then drops the bomb we've been dying for. He confides in Beth what he did before the world turned: nothing. He followed Merle around, did whatever Merle told him to do, and got high. He was just a useless redneck. He still thinks he is. Does Darryl know he has a fan club? Is this a parallel with Michonne's telling Carl about her son? Is this season about badasses revealing themselves to be human?
Beth, being a helper who actually likes people, decides to help Darryl say goodbye, once and for all to his old life. In true my-Dad-is-dead-so-let's-get-crazy fashion, she suggests burning the house that reminds Darryl of his childhood down. Well, they certainly have enough high-alcohol-content liquid, plus they can start a fire, plus Darryl still has some dollar bills they can use as kindling. The Mountain Goats start playing a song. Darryl and Beth watch the house quickly being engulfed by flames. Beth, the good girl who you trust with your infant daughter, gives the house the finger, still wearing her blood-stained yellow polo shirt. She nods to Darryl, who joins her in the one-finger-salute. But soon enough, there's movement in the distance. They've been joined by zombies, so it's time to go, right back into the forest they bounced from in the first scene. Only this time, they're not looking to get out. They've let go of it all- their past lives, their losses at the prison, their desire to do all that much. Survival, for now, is enough for them.
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