This page contains spoilers for AMC’s The Walking Dead.
Season 6
“The Same Boat”
Donnie is a Savior with a relatively high proclivity for aggression under duress. He clearly does not follow Negan’s unspoken tenant on never striking a woman, as he does so viciously with Paula and Carol Peletier. In the beginning of “The Same Boat”, Carol shoots Donnie in the arm… Right as he’s about to shoot Maggie Greene from behind.
The other members of Donnie’s Savior group: Paula, Molly, and Michelle leap onto the scene and surround Carol & Maggie. Paula demands the duo’s immediate, unequivocal surrender. Outgunned, the two complied to forcefully be taken as hostages during Rick’s slaughter of Negan’s satellite outpost.
Donnie’s resulting festering wound later became the subject of great disarray within the Savior pack. Mostly due to a universal unsympathetic response about him losing his arm, and potentially his life without medical care.
This error in judgement as defacto leader on the part of Paula was fully exploited by Carol & Maggie for their freedom. The remnants of the Savior outpost would be dissolved from within. Essentially, over Donnie’s non-emergency treatment and spiraling rage from Donnie over it.
Alicia Witt as Paula, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene, and Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier – The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 13 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Strangely enough, Donnie calls Paula “Babe” when handing a walkie talkie to her early in the episode. “Babe, what’s happening?” This signals that either Donnie and Paula were romantically involved prior or that Donnie had a history of hitting on her. Whatever the case, there is tension over leadership direction between them. Donnie is adamant about getting Primo back to “patch him up” while Paula says Primo, “can take care of himself.”
He also comments that Paula should have shot “her (Carol) in the head so that they (Rick’s group) could hear her die.” Feeling Paula had lost her edge as a Savior. Molly tells Donnie to shut up, supporting Paula despite Donnie’s wounded state.Fellow Savior Michelle similarly remarked, “We have grind it out” while Donnie struggled with the thought of losing his arm. “I’m not losing it! Screw you ‘Chelle! We have to get him (Primo) back. He can fix it. We have to Paula.”
Donnie received a sharp “No!” from Paula in response, “I saw them, you didn’t. They took the place down, they got the guns, they’ll kill us too. I’m not going down like that.” Maggie tried to reason with the Savior group, “If he doesn’t get medical help, he’s going to lose his arm, maybe his life. I’m not a doctor but my dad lost his leg, and I know that much.”
Despite Donnie looking at Paula with worried child-like, puppy dog eyes, Paula still stuck to the plan to wait “30 minutes.” The line made Donnie lash out at Carol in response. “You know my problem?! She (Carol) did this to me. She did it and she’s just sitting there, right as rain, fully intact.”
Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier – The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 13 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Donnie wanted to take out both Carol & Maggie without a trade as an act of vengeance but Paula turned him down. “No, we wait for the others. We have to be smart. We need insurance.” Donnie tries to compromise by asking Paula to shoot her (Carol) in the arm too, which makes Paula laugh. Again, turning down the requests of a fuming Donnie. “You really gonna stick up for some gutless b**** over me?”
Donnie then appears to go into extreme pain, holding his arm, and is told to shut up about it repeatedly by Paula. “Don’t push me Paula!” One more instance of “Shut up!” occurs, and Donnie has enough, striking Paula clear across the face. Maggie yells, “Leave her alone!” and kicks Donnie from behind, tripping him.
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene and Rus Blackwell as Donnie – The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 13 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Donnie grasps Maggie’s hair, receiving a headbutt in return. Carol then grabs Donnie’s leg but the tactic backfires. Instead, Donnie gets the upper-hand and delivers several devastating kicks to Carol in the back. Paula knocks out Donnie with the butt of her gun. This would be the last time Donnie is still alive and speaking.
Later on “The Same Boat”, after Maggie is freed by Carol, she discovers Donnie had already passed on the floor. Maggie ties a rope from Donnie’s belt to the door knob of the room, rigging it. A Jigsaw-esque trap.
When Molly happens to enter the room in search of Maggie, “Where are ya, Magnolia?!” she is greeted by a zombified Donnie. Caught off guard, walker Donnie manages to bite right into Molly’s arm… Before he’s vanquished with a focused knife shot to the head.
Featured Conversation
![Donnie [Rus Blackwell] - Season 6, Episode 13 of The Walking Dead - (Cropped & Edited Convo Avatar) - Original Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC](https://thenaturalaristocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/donnie-the-walking-dead-database-613-convo-photo.jpg)
* Conversation avatar photos above are resized/cropped versions of original TWD promotional photos taken by Gene Page/AMC.
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Donnie Episode List
The Walking Dead
| wdt_ID | Season | Episode # | Episode Title | Air Date | Appears | TV Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6 |  |
The Same Boat | March 13, 2016 | Yes | 12.82 Source: TVByTheNumbers |
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