Blown away by both of their performances, and Melissa McBride was her epic actress self, showing her Motherly side (the immediate kill upon threatening Maggie's baby via that cut), while still mixing her ruses (acting "pathetic") and genuine crying for fear of herself, crisis of conscience and trying to prioritize Maggie.

Lauren Cohan (Maggie), then went full Mama Carol (that Tobin talked about) - but in Terminus style - on the Saviors by taking them all out like Rambo. When she killed the bleeding walker guy and then the other two, she looked ice cold and in super survival mode. Cohan nailed her transformation as a character into part-Carol as beautifully as Melissa McBride nailed her intricate balance of motherhood, guilt, killing and deception.

I'm too excited form this episode to say it all correctly, but in essence, they both blew my mind, and in an escape where they both needed each other equally to complement the ways they expressed their motherhood. It was badass, convincing, beautiful and the music at the end, and Carol's emotion, as well as Maggie's was stunning. It was the ultimate self-reliant, survivalist plan with two seemingly different characters thus far on the show, with the perfect presence of ethos, pathos and logos in the course of their escape.

And an extraordinary end to the motif of smoking "killing you", from the beginning with the wolves, to the end, in which it was the very tool to set that room afire. For Carol to go full Carol again was also a revolutionary moment of realizing she must do what's necessary to protect everyone, and to make best use of that killer cigarette.

So much to say, but this is all for now. Your thoughts on these two playing an amazing chess game with so much raw, brilliant acting by both... and lastly accompanied by some thrilling music to bring it all home.

Your thoughts on the above, the role of motherhood, how it affects killing, the actresses performances, the tier movement of Maggie, cigarettes around pregnant mom backfiring in the most awesomely literal way... go ahead. Do your worst!

 

Thanks. But often, the forum gets off to a slow start post-episode, partly because air times vary around the world. That said, these gals deserved a thread for their collective badassery, and remarkable acting. Here are some pics to add to the above (more coming soon, e.g. of Carol's last "cigarette" and Maggie's fighting):