Warning: This episode airs Sunday, August 22nd, as you should know by now this is to be the last season of the flagship Walking Dead series, World Beyond is also supposed to end this year. We have not been given any word about Fear the Walking Dead (which timeline is currently years behind the Walking Dead), and we of course know that Walking Dead movies are happening with Rick, we might get minis series and other things, but this season is supposed to change the landscape completely.
Starting off this episode we see Daryl standing over what we learn is a Fort Collins military base, as can be expected at this time in the story things are focused on food. The communities have come together and the guys are at the top of the building as they repel the females into the building. The females who are hunting MRE’s are Maggie, Carol, Magna, Rosita, Kelly, and Lydia. This place is filled with dormant walkers mixed in with killed walkers. The females go super stealth as they make their way to a door and Magna is able to pick the lock. In the next room is a crate of MRE’s and they start filling backpacks that are then linked up and lifted up from the pulley system. One of the last ropes breaks and Daryl is able to grab it before it falls but he cuts his arm during the catch, and a drop of blood falls right onto a walker’s face.
This wakes him up, and it starts growling which wakes up all the other walkers. This forces all the women to start fighting the walkers, minus Magna and Kelly who are still in the other room gathering up MRE’s. Aldon, Daryl, and Jerry start firing down arrows at walkers from above as well. Maggie and Carol get some guns off of the dead bodies and fight back. Magna and Kelly get to the lines and are brought up to the top of the building with MRE-filled backpacks. Rosita, Maggie, and Lydia are the next group, which leaves Carol alone to fight off until another line is thrown down. Carol notices another box of MRE’s and leaves to fill up a backpack, everyone is running out of ammo that Daryl throws down two perfectly thrown knives at walkers to save Carol. She grabs one of the throwing knives and the backpack before heading back up. With all that said this base probably has about fifty active walkers down there in that one room.
Back at Alexandria some of Maggie’s old town folk from Meridian is there. Happy times as everyone is reunited. Inside the church for a catchup session on everything, Gabriel informs them that all of the MRE’s that they found is only a week’s worth of food for everyone there. Maggie suggests that they go back to where she was in Meridian, they got run out by a group of people, but they don’t have many people, she knows that they fight at night, and if you see them it’s too late you’re already dead. She says that the town has enough supplies and materials to keep this place alive they just need to go and take it back. The group is divided on the matter to go back and fight shadows at Meridian, Maggie’s group, Daryl, and Gabriel from the meeting decide to go. Daryl says if they don’t do anything the food will run out at Alexandria and it’s a moot point. When they set off Negan, Dog, Alden, and Gage are a part of the mission along with all of Maggie’s people. The weather is awful with a severe rain downpour so they look to the subway for shelter and to keep forward progress. Negan suggests that they stay put but everyone else wants to press on. Negan tries to say his piece but nobody wants to listen.
Meanwhile back at the commonwealth holding area, the group of four have been interrogated about stupid stuff over and over and over. The interviewers continue to try to slyly slip in where is the location of their settlement. Nobody breaks, Ezekiel finally talks to Mercer asking if he is in charge here, he has been standing there not saying a word for seven hours. Neither side breaks but it was nice for them to size each other up. After all of this, the four are holed back up in a cage. Princess flirts with Mercer who doesn’t flirt back and at this point, she wants to dip out. Eugene of course wants to stay, but all the others say that something isn’t right about this place. Eugene wants them to trust them through this and thinks this group can help everyone back home. Ezekiel asks if he is scared of them rolling up to Hilltop with their machine gun swords and Eugene seems to start to understand. Princess asks another couple how long they have been here, the guy says four months and the girl says no it’s been nine remember? The “Re-Processing” program has him all screwed up. While this is happening another person is grabbed for Re-Processing and you can see he is freaked out and absolutely does not want to go! After hearing and seeing this, Eugene agrees that it is time to go.
Back at the subway, all sorts of bodies are wrapped in plastic on the tracks. Maggie at first thinks they all died during the fall, Negan asks if she is sure because if not they are all walking through a mass grave. They see and hear some growling now so she advises them to go and kill all of the walkers making a path. Somehow they all miss the largest walker who gets loose and almost gets Gage until Negan jumps in and saves him, nobody else bothered to jump in at all. Maggie’s response to all of this is, “Pay attention so we don’t miss any more”. Negan snaps back at her about how are they supposed to do that, the kid almost died, Daryl says Negan doesn’t care about that kid. He says that Maggie has been a Dictator this entire time, and the only reason that Negan has to stay is that Maggie brought him out here to die. He says that he thought Daryl was in on it but by the glazed-over look in his eyes, he didn’t know. That if this mission is a success Maggie will find a way to kill him without the prying eyes of Alexandria. Negan says just do it right now, he won’t die like a dog like Glenn did, at this point Daryl cold cocks him. Maggie admits that killing him is always on her mind, she said he is right about her, that she is different than six years ago and the little bit of who she was when she left is the reason he is still alive today.
Jumping back to the Commonwealth, the group is trying to figure out how to escape, Princess is really good at picking up on things, she knows guards Levits and Zell are a thing. She picked up on things from conversations from the ride over and is also able to tell the guards apart, even though they all wear the same exact gear. She continues that the shifts change every six hours. When one goes on break the other one goes on break about three minutes after and is gone roughly an hour. She says that most of that time is probably spent taking off the armor, this revelation is what the group needed so they do indeed steal the armor while the two guards are doing the deed. Mike and Eugene and in the armor leading Princess and Ezekiel out when stopped by a guard, the guard wants to know where they are taking them and Miko says re-processing. They make their way out of the main hall to a side part of the building and Eugene sees they can make their escape. In a big container are all the dollar bills which they have marked that they have confiscated off newcomers, Princess had a $2 bill taken from her at the beginning. The guards also have a big board of pictures and names of residents looking for friends and loved ones and if someone comes through they are supposed to get to skip the interview process straight inside. Princess sees a picture of Miko and she goes to look and it is her sister. The note says, “Have you seen my sister Miko Contact Tomi at H”. Upon seeing this Miko says she has to stay.
We end up back at the subway, Gage, and Ray, one of Maggie’s men, have left with all the supplies after the previous attack. They took batteries, rations, gun clips, but they have no time to focus on that as a subway train has blocked the path, and a herd of walkers is coming at them from behind pinning them in. The group tries to lay out the herd while Negan, Gabriel, and Alden try to see if they can make it through the sides but the rocks have the path blocked, so they try to pry the back door open, but that also doesn’t work. On the front lines, Daryl tells everyone to fall back and tells them to climb to get on the top of the subway car. Everyone starts heading up when Daryl tries to get Dog and lift him to the top when he wiggles free, runs off, and crawls in a path or rocks under the subway car. Daryl goes after Dog and tells Maggie to meet him at the next platform.
Negan and Maggie are the last to get up the subway car, Maggie struggles and a walker grabs her leg, her grip starts to slip, and calls out for Negan, who just comes and peers over the edge, sees Maggie struggling, sees the walkers coming, and turns around. This episode ends with Maggie’s grip slipping as she falls to the ground around the walkers!
