Carol and Daryl are forced to go for Lance’s help when the Coalition gets rounded up one-by-one.
Adaptation Deviation: Yumiko’s dilemma is reminiscent of Michonne’s but distinct enough to accommodate the different cast and context.
In the comics, Michonne was demanded by Lance to defend a Commonwealth trooper who mercilessly beat to death a citizen named Anthony Keith, with Lance making it clear that regardless of the trooper’s Police Brutality, she is expected to get him off free. Michonne ultimately agreed, being unwilling to risk the political upheaval of not complying with Lance, which drove a wedge between her and Rick.
In the show, Yumiko almost goes through with prosecuting Eugene - and paving the way for Pamela to execute him out of petty revenge for her son under the pretense of justice - but out of desperation since Pamela is actively holding her entire community hostage. She courts some public approval thanks to her and Tomi’s good deeds, and decides to serve as Eugene’s defense. This also removes the target from Tomi’s back since he is publicly applauded for his service to the community, meaning Pamela cannot touch him due to her precarious situation.
Adaptational Villainy: Pamela crosses into villainy that her comic counterpart never engaged in - namely, holding hundreds of people’s lives hostage just so she can get revenge on the man she blames directly for her son’s death.
And Then What?: Lance asks what’s to become of the Commonwealth civilians if the Coalition triumphs against Pamela’s forces and toppling her regime, given civilians usually suffer the worst during times of political upheaval.
Armor-Piercing Question: Lance’s And Then What? does make Carol pause when he points out that thousands of people’s lives will be in the air if Pamela falls.
A Death in the Limelight: Lance gets to tell some more of his backstory and explain his motivations only to end up dead by the end of the episode.
Desecrating the Dead: Before Lance escapes with Daryl and Carol, he smashes open Sebastian's skull, and leaves his lucky coin in the mess as a calling card to Pamela.
Even Evil Has Standards: Lance admits being forced to feed Roman’s corpse to Sebastian messed him up pretty badly.
Fatal Flaw: Lance recognizes that he won’t survive on his own outside the Commonwealth and is effectively being sentenced to death by exile by Daryl and Carol. This is the antithesis to his pride, lust for power, and desire to make a name for himself since he would die a nobody in the woods, and leads to him making the fatal mistake of trying to kill Daryl and Carol, despite the pair visibly anticipating such a move and immediately retaliating.
I Have Your Wife: Pamela pulls this on a massive scale, successfully capturing the 100+ members of the Coalition. She does this solely so that she can force Yumiko to serve as the prosecution in Eugene’s show trial just so she can get revenge for Sebastian’s death.
Judith says Michonne told her the only thing more dangerous than the dead is the living - a reference to the famous Tag Line for Season 3, “Fight the dead, fear the living.”
Eugene refers to Pamela, the villain, as “the Governor”. Ironically, neither his comic or show counterpart ever met The Governor, aka Phillip Blake.
Lance asks Carol “what comes after”, the title of Season 9’s fifth episode that saw Rick’s departure from the show and comic volume #18.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: The armed, combat-capable members of the Commonwealth to date have never come across as particularly dangerous and frequently fall victim to poor marksmanship. Then it turns out that most of the Coalition’s people were successfully abducted by the black ops agents Pamela has at her disposal.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yumiko, who is normally take-charge and always figures out what to do, is distraught and outright asks her less survival-experienced brother what to do.
Sanity Slippage: Being forced to feed Sebastian’s corpse and staying in the same bloody cell with it has caused Lance’s sanity to take a hit.
Smug Snake: Pamela is right into this territory, assuring Yumiko she will not refuse to prosecute Eugene or her people will die.
Threat Backfire: Pamela threatened Tomi’s life if Yumiko didn’t proceed with her show trial for Eugene. However, Yumiko turns the tables by having Tomi publicly recognized for his service as a surgeon, affirming that Pamela cannot afford to have something happen to him due to being beloved by the community.
Throwing Out the Script: Yumiko initially sticks to Pamela’s speech, but goes off script, thanks Tomi to ensure she has some public support, and declares she will serve as Eugene’s defense. She even throws the speech at Pamela’s feet afterwards.
Tranquil Fury: Pamela goes from quiet grief at seeing Sebastian finally put down to just as quiet rage when she realizes Lance is the one who desecrated his corpse and is at large.
Villain Has a Point: Lance points out that the Coalition isn’t just fighting another villain this time, but are actively battling Pamela whose downfall could negatively affect thousands of innocent people.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Mercer is conspicuously absent throughout the episode, with Daryl suggesting they go to him for help only for Carol to discourage it.
Who Dares?: Pamela is enraged when Yumiko manages to get back in the game by courting some public favor for her and her brother before declaring she will instead serve as Eugene’s defense.
The Worf Effect: The very best men in the Commonwealth were sent after the group, as evidenced by how one of the pair sent after Daryl comes perilously close to choking him out. Not a single group member besides Daryl, Carol, and Connie manage to escape the strikes, and Connie herself ends up getting caught anyway.
Would Hurt a Child: The children of the Coalition were also captured, and evidently also drugged if the end of the episode is any indication.
You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness: After Lance tells Carol and Daryl about the trains and how they can use it to find their friends, they declare they have no more use for him and exile him so they won't need to deal with him or his attempts to manipulate them anymore. He ends up getting killed anyway when he tries to pull a gun on them in retaliation, and Carol shoots him in the neck with an arrow, and she and Daryl leave him to choke to death on his own blood.
