The Walking Dead: Did Maggie and Carol Make It Out Alive?

Carol (Melissa McBride) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) got captured by members of the Saviors, and we now know this splinter group was led by Paula (Justified's Alicia Witt), and from there, a good old-fashioned hostage episode unfolded (and I love me a good hostage episode of TV!).

The opening minutes set the stage for total paranoia brilliantly, thanks to some great choices by longtime Walking Dead director Billy Gierhart.

[...] when Paula ordered Maggie and Carol to have their jackets pulled over their heads like hoods, the P.O.V. moved to Carol and Maggie's limited view of everything, while Paula chatted (in military jargon) over walkie-talkies in highly coordinated communication with whoever was on the other line.

Going into this episode, we didn't know who the Saviors were, really, except for a bunch of greasy dudes on bikes who tried to bully some of our survivors and were stealing resources from the Hilltoppers in exchange for not beating them up.

Additionally, Rick's assault, even though it caught the Saviors by surprise, was an entirely lopsided affair, in the same league as the Harlem Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals, as indicated by the shutout that Rick's team pitched.

[...] it helped that they had control over Maggie and Carol, but Paula and her goons made the Saviors credible and competent threats before our two favorite survivor ladies were tied up on the killing floor of the Saviors' stash house.

All of a sudden these people were an experienced organization, and near mirror images of Rick's group --sometimes down to the individual, as I'll discuss later -- in that they were regular people who found a way to survive.

Maggie also had an interesting conversation with one of the Saviors, a woman named 'Chelle (Jeananne Goossen), who seemed somewhat protective of Maggie after finding out she was pregnant (i.e., telling another Savior to stop smoking around her).

Paula's metaphor about boili