The Cell (The Walking Dead)

Plot

In the midst of the Saviors' home, the Sanctuary, Dwight (Austin Amelio) serves Daryl (Norman Reedus) dog food sandwiches inside a dark cell he's being kept in as prisoner, under Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) order. In addition to being tormented by repetitively playing the song "Easy Street" by The Collapsable Hearts Club, Dwight shows Daryl the fate of other captives and warns Daryl that his fate could be the same if he doesn't join the Saviors. The other prisoners have all become walkers, who are just aimlessly walking around in a walker-encrusted fenced off area while others have reanimated as walkers after being gored through poles.

Back in his cell, Daryl is fed by Fat Joey (Joshua Hoover), but he leaves the cell door unlocked when he leaves. Daryl sneaks out and creeps down the hallway. Down a corridor, he is stopped by Sherry (Christine Evangelista), who urges Daryl not to be foolish or risk getting captured and suffering worse consequences; Daryl ignores her. Daryl makes his way outside the courtyard, only to be caught by Saviors, who anticipated his escape. Surrounded, Daryl is approached by Negan, who orchestrated the escape as a test to see if Daryl can prove himself to him. After giving Daryl options, Negan swings Lucille at him, stopping just short of hitting him; Daryl doesn't flinch. Negan admires Daryl's reaction. Feeling disrespected by Daryl for not quivering, Negan tells him that he is lucky that Lucille isn't thirsty. Negan leaves; Daryl is beaten up by the circle of Saviors.

Negan taunts Dwight about his relationship with Sherry, tests his loyalty, and undermines his ability to perform sexually. When word gets out that a Savior has fled, Dwight goes on a mission to bring them back in order to get back in good graces with Negan. When Dwight finally finds the man, Gordon (Michael Scialabba), he is forced to walk back to the Sanctuary, but he begs to be killed instead, due to the miserable life that awaits him. After some hesitation, Dwight shoots him dead. Once Dwight is back at the compound, he finds Sherry in a stairwell and they smoke cigarettes together. After, Dwight returns to Daryl's cell and tapes a gruesome Polaroid photo of Glenn's mutilated body on the wall, blaming Daryl for his friend's death. Due to feeling responsible for Glenn's death, the photo haunts Daryl as he breaks down in guilt and sorrow, while the song "Crying", by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, plays in the background.

Thinking he has broken Daryl to obedience, Dwight brings him to an efficiency apartment where Negan awaits. Daryl stands in silence as Negan explains to him how Dwight became one of his top men. Dwight, Sherry, and her sister Tina used to work for "points", but Tina was suffering from diabetes and fell behind on points on account of her costly medication. As a trade off to ensure a constant supply of medicine, Negan asked Tina to marry him to which she reluctantly agreed. Eventually, Dwight, Sherry and Tina stole the medicine and ran away, but returned after Tina's death. Dwight asked for forgiveness and begged Negan, who appreciated their repentance, not to kill Sherry. Interjecting, Sherry offered to marry Negan if he spared Dwight's life. Negan agreed — after burning the right side of Dwight's face with an iron as punishment.

Negan tells Daryl that he can be one of his top men and live a better life if he answers one simple question: "Who are you?". After a long silence, Daryl responds with his own name. Concluding that Daryl has made a choice, Negan asks Dwight to take him back to his cell. Back in Daryl's cell, Dwight yells at him for jeopardizing his own life. Daryl tells Dwight that he cannot join the Saviors because he, just as Dwight, was thinking of someone other than himself.

Critical reception

"The Cell" received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 74% rating average with a score of 7.1 out of 10, based on 31 reviews. The site's consensus reads "The Walking Dead delivers another character-driven episode in 'The Cell,' which successfully delves deeper into the world of Negan and his cronies, even if its attempts to humanize a villain achieve somewhat mixed results."

Critic Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph praised the episode: "along comes an episode such as The Cell and you are reminded that at its finest the Walking Dead is one of the most quietly dazzling things on television.". Kelly Lawler of USA Today reviewed the episode negatively, saying, "The Walking Dead spent its third episode physically and psychologically torturing yet another of its best and most beloved characters. And why did they do it? Because they had nothing else to do to push this tired and pointless Negan storyline along."

Ratings

The episode received a 5.7 rating in the key 18-49 demographic with 11.72 million total viewers. It is at the time the lowest rating the show has had since "Dead Weight" from season four.

Music

The song featured on the episode "Easy Street" by The Collapsable Hearts Club charted at number 92 on the UK Singles Chart a week after the episode aired. In The US, the song charted at number 50 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, selling 21,000 copies as of November 22, 2016.