Spoilers below for The Walking Dead's "The Lost and the Plunderers," so be sure to watch before reading on.
Whenever Jadis and her junkyard crew first creeped up on The Walking Dead, I was pumped to see how this non-comic community would affect the overall narrative. Unfortunately, their effect had been largely negligible, with Jadis just lying to everyone about working with them. That all changed upon Simon's big visit, however. Sporting a bruised ego that Jadis did not coddle, the Savior enforcer demanded the entire group be gunned down in cold blood after their weapons had been taken from them. That bloody encounter, along with Jadis' later situation with Rick and Michonne, could lead to three potentially big payoffs. Let's break them down.
The Junkyard May Actually Hold Big Secrets
"The Lost and the Plunderers" added some contextual backstory to the nudity-embracing Jadis and her refuse-laden community. Before the zombie outbreak, it was apparently a flatter and messier area where Jadis would find items to use as art canvasses, and she later transformed the landfill to "become something new." (We got to see several of Jadis' more artistic creations within the junkyard's walls, further strengthening her bond to the location.) More interesting than her origin story, though, were Simon's questions about the helipad and the solar panels, which Jadis bemusedly sidestepped. Since few lines on this show are intentionally meaningless, we can only assume that Simon's curiosity has some narrative weight.
We know there's a rogue helicopter flying around at different times that almost definitely isn't in Rick's imagination, and we've been waiting for that junkyard helipad to get properly introduced. When we take that and the solar panels into account with the box of apple sauce cans that Jadis pulled out, it hinted at a fallout shelter, or a similarly protective bunker, possibly being nearby. That would partially explain how the group maintained itself outside of looting, but does that mean someone from Jadis' crew was flying the helicopter, or are they connected in some other way? And where is the helicopter now? And why did Simon have to ask that?!?
Jadis Is a Lone Wolf Now
To intentionally reference The Walking Dead's most bizarrely unenjoyable offshoot villains, the Wolves, Jadis is now alone and harbors exactly zero reasons to side with either the Saviors, who killed her followers, or Rick, who forced her to face off against the walkers alone. As Pollyanna McIntosh told us last year, adapting is Jadis' greatest strength, and after she's done getting her tummy full of apple sauce, she will likely consider every other survivor a target upon which to wreak vengeful havoc.
After her emotion-less outer shell cracked upon Simon murdering Brion and Tamiel, Jadis will probably be unable to return to anything resembling a placid headspace for a while. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and unbathed and probably housing a stash of weapons somewhere. Throwing a ruthless Jadis into the middle of the All Out War's second act could cause enough unpredictable mayhem to make it worth our time. Particularly if she decides to start up another more comic-friendly group of villains.
*Negan Is Gonna Be Pissed *
Viewers don't really see much of Negan and Simon's dynamic together, so when they had their chat about Jadis' group, it was clear how important the conversation was. Negan was unambiguous about how important survivors are, even duplicitous backstabbers, and as soon as he forbade Simon from killing more than one person, everyone likely knew something much worse would happen. And sure enough, Jadis was the only one left alive after the slaughtering, which means Negan is going to be beyond rankled about his orders being ignored.
Of course, Simon didn't exactly help his own long-term cause by lying to Negan's face about how the meet-up went. Plus, he essentially got everyone else who was there to also agree to lie to Negan through their silence. So that doesn't bode well for a slew of Saviors beyond just the mustachioed second banana, which could possibly (and interestingly) lead to the TV show's take on the comics' Saviors in the post-War years, with Simon possibly taking on Sherry's eventual arc. But that's all for later, and for now, we're wondering exactly how Negan will learn of Simon's misinformation, and whether Simon will even survive long enough to adapt future comic arcs.
What will Jadis' next move be, and where is that helicopter? Find out (maybe) when The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC. While waiting, check out what Steven Ogg told us about the back half of the season, and head to our midseason premiere schedule to see what other shows will be debuting and returning in the near future.
