‘The Walking Dead’ recap: Rick wears the scarlet letter

Rick hasn’t been in Alexandria for more than a week or so in “Forget” and already he’s set the table for royally screwing the entire place up. Though he hasn’t realized it yet.

Yes, he’s still plotting with Carol and Daryl in secret to form a kind of shadow government to secure the city from Deanna, its current leader. But that’s not the real problem. No, anyone who took a high school lit class will see the trouble printed squarely on Rick’s hand in a big red letter A. That stands for Alexandria, but it also stands for adultery. And though Jessie may be married, Rick decided to plant a kiss on her anyway. While she was holding the daughter his wife died delivering, no less! This really is a different Rick.

Later on, Rick gripped his hidden gun while watching Jessie traipse away with her husband, a sure sign that jealousy will soon trump logic in the constable’s increasingly unhinged mind.

But while a different guy may have dealt with his lustful urges by finding a different survivor to shack up with, our Rick instead shared an intimate moment with a walker banging away on the other side of the corrugated metal wall that serves as the town’s only protection. Rick seems to be well on his way to having the starring role in “50 Shades of The Governor.”

Sasha, meanwhile, seems to be cracking up in a much more straight-forward and honorable way. Uneased by the life of relative peace that the town of Alexandria has afforded her, she seems intent on getting back out into the world and continuing to shoot zombies. She even goes so far as calling out to them to come get her, just as they got her older brother, Tyreese.

Sasha certainly earned Deanna’s wrath with her GIF-ready outburst at the party -- “THAT’S what you worry about?!?” But her descent seems much more on the surface and therefore, easily fixable. It’s Rick that’s the real problem here, and will continue to be.

Speaking of the party, seeing our band of survivors cleaned up and wearing Saturday-afternoon suburban duds in a halfway civilized setting brought back intense “Lost” and The Others flashbacks. Perhaps intentional, perhaps coincidental, but it does seem that “The Walking Dead” writers are enjoying playing with our expectations of the residents of Alexandria.

Carol, with her ghoulish threats to a young boy who caught her sneaking around Deanna’s house, comes in as a close second. She and Rick seem to be egging each other on with their paranoia and ruthless desire to do what they see as right.

But Daryl, the stoic, good-hearted one, seems to be softening, thanks mostly to the hospitality of Aaron and Eric, who genuinely seem to be as pleasant as they seemed at first. Barring any horrific twists, it seems these two are as genuine as they come. As has happened a couple of times this season, it may come down once again to Daryl and Rick disagreeing. But while Rick has acceded to Daryl’s wishes in the past, it’s doubtful that will happen in this case. It seems Rick is only intent on listening to Rick.

Favorite new character has to be Olivia, the property manager of Alexandria whose love of prosciutto, pickles and coffee is an enthusiasm not seen enough in “Walking Dead” characters. Yes, everyone is bone-tired from killing zombies, but they have to get giddy about some things sometimes, don’t they? Perhaps Carl could open up a bit more about his love of chocolate pudding. Anything. Enthusiasm is infectious. Why does the zombie virus have to be the only thing passed around on this show?

And then there’s the Walker-killer with a habit of carving his initial in the foreheads of the dead. The only mistake Daryl made is seeing a “W” when it could actually be an “M.” It seems that Morgan, who has been on Rick’s trail for a long time now, may finally be rejoining the main narrative soon.

Quick, go back to “The Walking Dead” season three for the episode “Clear” for a refresher on where things with Morgan and Rick were last time they met.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday