Wow, life sure is fun as a member of The Commonwealth!

I just hope those Alexandrians don’t screw everything up!

Actually, we already know that life is not as perfect in The Commonwealth as the community’s leaders claim.  And we know that eventually, there will be a conflict between the Alexandrians and The Commonwealth, with Daryl apparently on the side of The Commonwealth.  We know all of that but, at the same time, it’s hard not to be impressed by the effort the Commonwealth put into giving everyone a happy Halloween.

Costumes?  You bet.

Haunted houses full of real walkers?  Okay, that seems hella dangerous but then again, it’s still better than anything Rick ever did for Halloween.

A masquerade ball?  Oh Hell yes!

The Commonwealth understand that importance of tradition as a way to tie a community together.  By putting on a traditional holiday, the Commonwealth allows its citizens to feel as if everything can somehow be normal once again.  There’s something to be said for that.  When the whole world is collapsing around you, it’s important to have some sliver of normalcy to hang onto.  That’s one thing that I don’t think Rick Grimes every truly understood and I’m not sure that Maggie gets it either.  It is, however, something that I think that Daryl understands.

Daryl obviously enjoyed Halloween with the Commonwealth.  He also enjoyed training with Mercer, even if he did disagree with some of Mercer’s decisions.  Mercer and Daryl are kindred souls and watching the two of them together, one could see how Daryl could potentially be drawn to choose the Commonwealth over the Alexandrians.  At the same time, Mercer’s attempts to keep Daryl and Rosita separated showed that Mercer understood that the best way to win Daryl’s loyalty was to isolate him.  In many ways, Daryl is still looking for a replacement for Merle and Mercer seems to fit the bill.

Meanwhile, Carol discovered that Elijah is closer to death than he’s admitted and that he probably won’t live long enough to receive the operation that he’s been promised.  Whether or not Carol is going to keep that a secret is an open question.  I have a hard time imagining that Carol won’t tell Elijah.  Knowing Carol, there’s always a chance she might take every doctor in the Commonwealth hostage and kill one every hour until they operate on Elijah.  I could see the idea forming in Carol’s head as the Commonwealth doctor explained to her that Elijah was too far down on the list.  I imagine that, at some point, Carol will discover that the Commonwealth leaders get preferential treatment under the Commonwealth medical system and that will probably drive her over the edge.  That’s just my prediction.

There is definitely a caste system in the Commonwealth and, as we discovered at the Masquerade Ball, not all of the citizens of The Commonwealth are as happy as they initially seem.  Then again, the same can be said of every community that’s sprung up in the world of The Walking Dead and that includes the Alexandrians.  If anything, the collapse of society has made the world even more hierarchal than it was before.  In many ways, of course, humanity continues to be in denial, even during the apocalypse.  Regardless of class, wealth, or power, everyone’s story reaches the same ending.  Everyone dies and everyone ends up as one of the Walking Dead.

Anyway, New Haunts was a nicely-done episode that allowed us a chance to see a bit more of life in the Commonwealth.  Right now, it looks like a nice way to live but I’m sure that will change over the upcoming few weeks.

Happy Halloween!