The Walking Dead made it’s long awaited return for Season 8, and it’s even longer return to something that resembles the show that we know and enjoyed in the first place. Rick found his voice, his backbone and started to put things back in motion. But before that, or perhaps after, we see Rick having a flash forward, or a dream looking old, in bed, we can see a cane against the wall. Back quickly to present day we see a lot of people working on cars and forging weapons at what I presume to be the Hilltop. Everyone is working together and seems to have a set understood goal.
At the Sanctuary, Dwight gets an arrow shot at him very closely that has a note wrapped around it, when he looks at it you can see it says “Tomorrow”. In jump cuts we see Dwight is writing something on paper, followed by shooting it back out of the Sanctuary with it wrapped around the arrow towards Daryl. With more jump cuts and what could be almost in a montage, we see Rick giving one of his patented inspirational speeches, while elsewhere we see Carol and Tara leading a large horde of walkers, back to the masses as Maggie and Ezekiel continue the speech.
Carl is out on his own searching for gas, while walking up to a station with lots of cars someone starts talking at Carl. This person DOES NOT STOP TALKING! Carl has a moment that is a throwback to season 1(which happened a few times) while looking under cars trying to find someone. Since the guy does not stop talking it was only a matter of time until Carl found him and put a gun on him, the guy puts his hand up and just says he wants food. Rick comes along and shoots in the direction of the man but above him naturally scaring him off. Rick warns it might be a spy and they need to be careful. Carl walks off and says, “that’s not enough”. Rick asks of what, and Carl says “hope”. Rick sees a walker and goes to shoot it, which was another little Easter egg, as that was the actress who played the teddy bear girl walker that Rick killed in episode one.
The paper that Dwight wrote on has list of all the lookout positions, Daryl starts going down the list killing and crossing them off the list. After Daryl kills one he gets his gun and sees it has 48 notches on it signifying killing 48 people. We see Morgan also killing a guard off the list, his transformation continuing. Back at Alexandria Michonne, Carl and Rosita stay back, Rosita because she was shot, Michonne is to sore to fight and she tells Carl she knows he wants to go but he is running things back here with protection and she will help him anyway she can.
Rick Grimes comes up on a Savior who has a walker tied to the pole. Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Rick stabs the guards who had his back turned. Rick starts looking through his supplies and the guard is asking why Rick is doing this, if he thinks he can win. He gets bored and cuts the walker loose to finish off the Savior and waves the cars onward. Members from all of the colonies converge, gear up and go over last minute strategy. They have a lot of cars and have had saved up a lot of gas which is impressive, they have the sides with panels as make shift shields. Ezekiel mentions that the Hilltop has lost their doctor and they can join in the Kingdom but Jesus says they will get their doctor back, Ezekiel says yes you will. Rick tells Maggie that the Hilltop is happy to have her, she says that he taught her how to be someone worth following. He said good, because after this fight is over he is going to be following her.
The walker horde gets bigger and closer to town from the highway. Tara, Carol, Morgan and Daryl all fall back to another spot. They blow up a car on the highway to keep the horde coming and to pull out some of the Saviors. The horde makes it closer to town, Morgan goes and kills a straggler that would set off a trap. The Saviors guards are charging fast in cars but hit a trip wire that blows up all of the Saviors vehicles. Meanwhile Rick and company rolls up to the Sanctuary, strategically placed cars with the shields facing the front, and everyone shoots three shots in the air to let the Saviors know they have arrived. Negan comes out and apologizes he didn’t realize he was having company he was in a meeting, not worried in the slightest. Rick tells Negan’s company if they surrender now they can survive. Negan asks Rick if he thinks they have enough people for this fight.
Simon goes inside and grabs Gregory, and says the Hilltop stands with the Saviors. Anyone that doesn’t go home now won’t have a home to go back to. Maggie says they do what they have to do, Jesus yells out that the Hilltop stands with Maggie. Jesus said all he had was some old books at Hilltop he can find a new home. Rick asks Negan if he is really going to make him count? He starts at 10 and starts raining bullets on 7 at Negan, Negan’s lackeys flee inside. Rick and the rest start lighting up the Sanctuary, Negan is pinned down and trying to stay behind cover.
After the walker horde gets closer to the last round of explosions the next phase of the plan continues. Tara and Morgan drive off, Carol walks off somewhere else, while Daryl smokes a cigarette and gets on his motorcycle. He drives it ahead of the pack shooting strategically placed boxes with explosives in it to keep luring the herd towards the Sanctuary. Back at the Sanctuary the group is starting to pull back knowing walkers are incoming, but Father Gabriel drives an RV with an armored front towards the fence and climbs out the back. When it gets close enough Rick hits the switch which explodes the RV and the fence. Rick uses the time to try to snipe Negan but he has an automatic weapon which is just spraying bullets with no accuracy. Rick is about to get over run by the walkers when Gabriel comes to get him, and says, “it’s not about you right?” Which snaps Rick from his blood lust and he pulls back. Gabriel is about to follow Rick out when he sees Gregory, he reluctantly goes and to get him and tells Gregory to wait for their moment and Gregory runs to the car and leaves Gabriel behind! Gabriel is being shot at by the Saviors and the walkers are closing in. Hundreds and thousands of walkers converge on the Sanctuary, father Gabriel finds an outside trailer to hide in. Sure as shit, Negan is inside and asks Gabriel if he has his shitting pants on. He hopes he does because he is about to shit his pants. Negan inside, walkers all around, Gabriel is in trouble!
Carl goes back to the site of the cars and the man who was hungry, Saddiq, and leaves some food and a note that says sorry. Saddiq is watching from bushes from afar and smiles at seeing Carl’s gesture. Back near the Sanctuary, Daryl says that they can wait some more, but Rick says they can’t, Gabriel stopped to get him, he was focused on Negan and Gabriel saved him, but he was reminded this isn’t about him. Rick and Daryl hit another guard tower, while Carol and Gabriel are going back to Paze Industrial Research spot, a spot that a guard was already killed earlier. Someone is there and threw a grenade at the group, it explodes, we see lots of smoke while hearing walkers.
We end with another flash forward, we see Michonne, Carl, and older Rick, and an older Judith, who tells Rick she wants to see the big owl outside being made for the party. Rick goes outside and it’s a bustling colony.
