Tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead delivered a significant amount of compelling character development thanks to one awkward party.

Sasha kicks off the episode with an early morning hunting session after getting her weapon from Julie, Alexandria’s weapon keeper. The new character is recognizable to comic readers — she was ripped straight from The Walking Dead comic series.

Her “hunting” turns out to be shooting practice — a skill she’s very good at. Sasha takes aim at several family portraits she brought with her and nails them perfectly. “Come and get me,” she says to the forest and nearby zombies. She’s clearly eager for a challenge, like the one she gets offered later in this episode.

Later that morning Carol, Rick, and Daryl meet at a small home outside of Alexandria to set up a safe house packed with weaponry should they need to make a run for it. While there they encounter a zombie with a ‘W’ etched into its forehead — a possible reference to the “Wolves not far” line we saw in a previous episode written on a wall? This is a threat to keep an eye on, Rick!

Protect and serve

Now that Rick and Michonne are officially the police of Alexandria, Rick’s first order of business is to prevent people from being able to break into the compound by scaling the walls. And speaking of security, Deanna breaks the news that no one is manning the lookout tower. Sasha volunteers to take on the primary lookout position because she’s a great shot, but Deanna wants something in return: her presence at her home for a welcoming party! An easy deal, right? Not so much — Sasha ends up hating the party and struggles to assimilate.

Rick and Carol love the idea of a party because the whole town will be there — it’s the perfect time to steal some of the weapons and place them in the nearby safe house. “You know what’s great about this place? I get to be invisible again,” Carol says to Rick with a smile after making small talk with the housewives.

Later, Carol uses light banter about applesauce to talk her way into Julie’s gun room to prepare for the heist. While she’s there she meets a nice man named Tobin who offers to give her a gun lesson. How kind! If only he knew how quickly she could kill him with any weapon.

Daryl and Aaron — new best friends

Daryl separates from Rick and Carol after the safe house meeting and goes hunting on his own when he notices Aaron following him. Daryl is pissed and still very skeptical about Alexandria on a whole, but despite this, he lets Aaron go hunting with him. They come across a horse named Buttons, and Daryl tries to capture him until zombies scare the four legged fellow away. The two continue on their travels while Aaron bonds with Daryl over being an outsider (Aaron because he’s gay, Daryl because he’s the only one who doesn’t like to shower).

Later, Buttons gets eaten by zombies. RIP Buttons.

Party time

At the party (A party on The Walking Dead! This feels like some alternate reality/flashback sequence), Rick and company make their arrivals dressed in the best clothing they can find in Alexandria. Rick meets Deanna’s husband Reg, who seems quite kind!

Carol heads to the gun room once they see Julie’s arrived at the party. Rick offers to go with her, but he’s not invisible like Carol is. Case and point: Jessie and her jealous hubby approach Rick at the party. Their son Sam comes up a few moments later and offers him an “A” stamp to make him a part of the family. Later, Jessie walks up to Rick with his own child in her hands. In case that wasn’t foreshadowing a potential relationship, Rick sneaks Jessie a kiss on the cheek! Wow — who would’ve thought it’d be Rick who makes the first move? That haircut must’ve made him feel great.

Meanwhile, Aaron sits the party out and invites Daryl over for dinner. Unfortunately, the invitation doesn’t turn into a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy makeover. Instead, Aaron asks Daryl if he’ll become the town’s second recruiter. He’ll get to use their motorcycle on the job! Aaron extends the invitation because A) he doesn’t want Eric in danger anymore, and B) thinks Daryl is good at telling the difference between a good and bad person. Even though Daryl doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve, you could tell he was pleased by the offer.

Unfortunately, not all of the news out of the party is good. Carol’s heist is thwarted by Jessie’s son Sam after he follows her to the gun room and threatens to tell his parents about Carol’s whereabouts. In response she jumps into Dark Carol mode and threatens to take him far away from Alexandria if he rats her out (She is SO GOOD with kids). And if he doesn’t tell his parents? COOKIES! Lots of cookies. Kid, let your stomach make the decision for you.

Character development

The end of the episode finds Rick, Carol, and Daryl at the safe house reviewing the weapons Carol swiped. Daryl, in a moment of clarity, decides to not take a weapon in light of his new friendship with Aaron and his promise to try to fit in. That’s fine and all, but we can’t give him a ton of credit because that crossbow is still permanently attached to his back. Give THAT up, then we’ll talk about how much you trust everyone!

Once the trio returns to town, Rick sees Jessie and her husband taking an afternoon stroll. Rick, apparently bothered by their relationship, stares at hubby and puts his hand around his weapon — are you telling us he wanted to shoot him!?

Easter egg: Rick walks by a street named “Morgan” — is this a subtle way for the show to remind viewers that the character is still lurking?

What did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ 5×13?

Dark Carol, Rick’s interest in Jessie, and Daryl’s friendship with Aaron were just a few of several highlights on tonight’s episode. We’re loving all this character development and it’s all thanks to the (seemingly good) people of Alexandria!