(All the spoilers for the Nov. 12 episode of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” are ahead.
When we last left off with “The Walking Dead” we were treated to a pretty wild cliffhanger — the machine guns Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) spent the entire episode looking for were actually already at the place that King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Carol (Melissa McBride) and the gang of Kingdommers were about to raid. And said machine guns completely took the group apart, with several of them throwing themselves on top of Ezekiel to shield him.
The fourth episode of Season 8, “Some Guy,” is all about Ezekiel and what happens after that, and it takes place almost entirely around and inside the outpost they were about to attack. Finally, an Ezekiel-centric episode. Unfortunately, it’s all about him struggling to deal with most of his friends being killed. But, anyway, let’s get to recappin’.
“Some Guy” does not immediately pick up where last week left off. Instead, we start with a look at Ezekiel before he took his posse out to war — meaning, this opening bit takes place before Season 8 began.
After Ezekiel gets dressed, we cut to various members of that posse saying goodbye to loved ones as they get ready to head out. Then Ezekiel goes outside to rally the troops with one of his speeches.
This speech happens to be the one AMC used in the promo for this episode. “We face dire challenge and chance. Our lives, our way of life, it hangs in the balance. A fragile glass standing on a wire, high above the asphalt, as we pray for not one drop of rain under an overcast sky. And yet I smile. We will fight, and we will bleed, and yet I smile.” It goes on but you get the picture. The speech ends with an echoing cry of, “We are one!”
It’s important here to remember another thing Ezekiel was harping on last week, about how the goal is to get through this whole deal without losing anyone and how, through most of three episodes, they had succeeded in that endeavor.
Back to the present, where Ezekiel’s team is scattered all over the field they were standing in when the machine guns opened fire. And by “scattered” I mean many of the individuals are in multiple pieces now. It’s very gross.
Ezekiel, however, survived because members of his team sacrificed themselves to save him, and we see him crawl out from under the pile of bodies. Unfortunately, Ezekiel did not come out unscathed — his leg is injured, and he can’t walk on his own. So Ezekiel walks around on his hands and knees looking for survivors, but he finds none. And he screams.
And since this is “The Walking Dead,” it’s not long before his teammates come back and go after him. It’s quite a pickle — he can’t walk and there’s dozens of them. Cue the opening credits.
Ezekiel keeps trying to crawl away, at one point attempting to use an assault rifle as a crutch, but that doesn’t last long, and things are starting to look extra bleak. But then we discover that at least one member of the team survived. It’s Alvaro (Carlos Navarro), and he shoots several zombies to save Ezekiel — one of those zombies was Daniel, a familiar face among the Kingdommers. Sad. Alvaro then props up Ezekiel, and they limp off together. “Do not endanger yourself for me!” Ezekiel says. But Alvaro insists.
Inside the outpost, the Saviors who shot up the Kingdommers are taking down and packing up the machine guns — they’re gonna drive them to Sanctuary so Negan can use them. Now is a good time to mention that we don’t actually know what happened at Sanctuary since it was overrun by walkers in the Season 8 premiere. Presumably they want to use the machine guns to clear out the zombies.
Carol (Melissa McBride) was not with the group when it got shot up in the field, because she went on alone and has been sneaking around the outpost. She finds a good hiding spot near where the baddies are packing up the guns and shoots five of them to death, as they carry the gun crate past her. Nice.
Unfortunately, there are other Saviors nearby. Presumably hearing Carol’s gunshots, they charge in and chase her off. So the machine guns remain in the possession of the Saviors.
Meanwhile, Alvaro and Ezekiel are still hobbling away… until they find another group of walkers and pause briefly. And then Alvaro gets shot by a lone Savior who looks like a nerd from an ’80s movie, ready to take Ezekiel to Negan for some glory. This Savior takes away Ezekiel’s hidden blade inside his cane. He’s, at least, slightly smart.
Of course, Ezekiel doesn’t make it far without having another person to lean on. The guy tries pushing him at gunpoint as he hobbles on his cane, but that doesn’t work too well. Ezekiel doesn’t care too much because he’s sad and wants to die. The Savior nerd berates him, making fun of his kingship, claiming he swindled all his followers. Calling him “a con man in a costume.”
They continue on.
Back at the outpost, Carol continues stalking the baddies with the machine guns, but they discover her, and they briefly have a shootout.
Ezekiel then makes a move for his cane blade, but the nerd Savior knocks him over. The nerd paints something on Ezekiel’s face with blood and says, “delusions of grandeur.”
They arrive at the gate to the outpost, but it’s locked. The nerd finally gives up his quest to deliver Ezekiel alive. Unfortunately for him, he gives a big speech before killing Ezekiel and ends up being cut in half longways by Jerry’s (Cooper Andrews) axe. Surprise! Another Kingdommer survived.
Inside the outpost Carol realizes her situation is desperate, so she gives herself up, claiming she’ll tell them where the rest of her people are if they let her live.
Outside, Jerry kills some zombies and then tries to use his axe to break the chains on the gate. He calls Ezekiel “your majesty.”
“You don’t need to call me that,” Ezekiel says.
“Dude, yeah I do,” Jerry replies.
Carol was obviously doing a ruse, and nabs the Savior nearest her for a hostage. The others decide to shoot them both, but they’ve given Carol the opening she needed to open one of the gates to the compound (though not the one that Ezekiel and Jerry are at. But, hey, it does let some walkers in, and they take care of several other Saviors).
At the locked gate, Jerry only succeeds at breaking his axe, and they’re stuck. Inside, Carol has the last two bad guys cornered next to the truck where the machine guns are loaded. But now Carol catches Jerry and Ezekiel in her line of sight at the edge of the compound.
Cue a flashback in which Carol and Ezekiel talk about the upcoming battle. Ezekiel reflects on his own past transformation from regular dude to a king who has a loyal tiger friend. Specifically, he discusses what was going through his head before making the fateful decision to save Shiva from zombies.
Ezekiel asks Carol if she was always this strong or if she, like he, had to make a decision to change. “I decided,” Carol says.
Back in the present, Carol mows down the walkers threatening Ezekiel and Jerry, and the bad guys get away with the guns. Carol opens the lock so they can get inside to safety.
“We have to get word to Rick,” Ezekiel says. Those guns are a threat so long as they’re in the wild.
But then Carol hears a distinctive noise off in the distance, and knows the situation is being handled — that noise being Daryl’s motorcycle.
Car chase time! Daryl is on his motorcycle and Rick is in a Jeep chasing after the bad guys. The Saviors, noticing our heroes in their rear-view, fire up a machine gun in the back of the truck, seemingly knocking Daryl off his bike. Rick persists, slowly catching up, but his car is taking damage from the gun, and the situation is not looking good — until Daryl, back on his bike, catches up and shoots the Savior in the back of the truck manning the gun. Rick jumps from his Jeep into the Savior truck and kicks the driver out before crashing the thing. Rick manages to survive, as he does. Gun situation handled.
Ezekiel, Carol and Jerry, meanwhile, are hiking back to the Kingdom, dealing with lots of walkers on their way. Ezekiel falls over and demands that they leave him. They don’t, obviously. But the situation is starting to look dire. Zombies closing in and they need to pass through a creek bed that Ezekiel struggles with what with his bad leg. Ezekiel again demands they leave him.
“You’re my king!” Jerry says.
“No I’m not! I’m not your king! I’m not your majesty!” Ezekiel replies. “I ain’t no king. I’m just some guy.” And that’s where the episode title comes from.
But in the midst of his despair, the missing Shiva enters the fray, attacking the walkers. It doesn’t go well for her, though, as there are just too many. They swarm her and take her down. Everybody is sad, and Shiva’s death does not exactly ease Ezekiel’s personal crisis.
It does, however, take them out of immediate danger because the walkers are occupied and they get away.
Ezekiel, Carol and Jerry arrive at the Kingdom in silence. Those who stay behind look horrified that no one else returns. Ezekiel says nothing, wanders through the crowd and walks off.
And that’s the end.