Each episode of The Walking Dead gives me mixed feelings. I am happy to see where the story heads, but I’m also sad because I know the ending is rapidly approaching. This episode focused on two of the three current storylines. We will start with what has been happening back home in Alexandria, where the storm is still fierce, rain, thunder, and lightning! Our main characters are all holed up in one particular house, the wind blows part of a tree and breaks a window and when they look outside they notice part of the wall blowing down the street which means the wall is broken and walkers can be inside at any time.
Everyone gathers to figure out what they need to do, because the obstacles are multileveled. The windmill is on fire and that is drawing walkers from around the area to Alexandria. They have at least one wall break, and they need to protect people in the building. Aaron and Magna go towards the windmill, while Carol, Connie and Kelly head to the wall. Lastly Rosita and Virgil will stay in the house for defense. Judith wanted to go with Carol, but she asked Judith to stay for the kids. While waiting Judith tells Gracie she gets scared sometimes, and she used it to make her stronger. Gracie goes off to practice her sword skills while Virgil notices and begins to talk to Judith.
He says that he doesn’t know where her mom went, but he sees her here in Judith. The way she holds her sword, the way she was willing to run into the storm, to the way she talks with the kids. He says that her mom would be proud of her, Judith notices that Gracie is to close to the boarded broken window and tells her to be careful. A walker reaches in and grabs hold of Gracie, Judith and Virgil kill the walkers that were close to the window. Walkers have surrounded the house and have almost broken through the weakened front door. Rosita wants someone to message Carol to let her know that there must be a second breach in the wall.
The walkers aren’t stopping so Rosita has decided it’s time to go out and fight walkers too by the time. Rosita gears up and goes outside, These walkers are able to navigate steps fairly easily it seems, but Rosita slashes and punches and annihilates a lot of walkers. She knocks on the door to come back inside and with lightning right behind her she looks amazing! She asks everyone to stay away from the windows. A little more time passes and the walkers aren’t letting up.
The new plan is to try to draw the walkers off of the first floor by heading upstairs to the second floor. Everyone starts heading upstairs in stages. While only two others are still downstairs Judith goes looking for Gracie. Gracie is downstairs in the basement. Gracie was looking for a weapon for some reason. The basement is flooding at a rapid pace! Judith gets a mop, and breaks it to a sharp stick, and hands it to Gracie. They head back to the first floor but by this time everyone else has gone upstairs and the floor is filled with walkers! The duo headed back down to the basement locked the door, and are staying on the stairs. The pair are pinned between a houseful of walkers and a rapidly flooding basement!
We now move to all of the action at Meridian. A bunch of walkers is all piled up outside of Meridian. Pope asks if Dixon has seen something like this before, and Dixon says he has. He says he could lead them two miles away and double back he has done it before. Pope declines and sends one of his men Wells out to do it himself. Wells is doing it and is having an easy time of it until the trap is set and other walkers converge. Negan and Maggie stab him and the walkers kill him and Maggie grabs the Reaper’s walkie.
Pope takes this news that his enemy is in with the walkers and killed Wells. He continues and says that God decided it was Wells time to fall, but Shaw said that God didn’t send him out there alone, Pope did. Pope was asking Dixon where to look for the walkers since they left, Dixon said they should use the trees. He seems very skeptical but someone on watch tells them the walkers have returned. All the Reapers go on watch, while Pope is impressed that his enemy uses the dead against the living. Dixon asks how well the wall will hold up, but Pope said it’s not necessary. That is because they have planted a bunch of mines in the field the walkers are in and they start blowing up immediately.
Daryl knows his people are inside the horde, and he notices two walkers diverging off to the side of all the others. Dixon heads to the area that they are going and he distracts the guard on watch by offering him a smoke. When the guy is getting the matches Dixon kills him and throws him over the wall. Dixon tells Maggie and Gabriel where to go to get inside. He destroys the lock on the food storage before he heads back to the others. Negan and one of the others get some shrapnel damage from an explosion from inside the horde. The walkers are getting very close to the gates, so Pope says prepare the Hwacha. Daryl wants to know what that is, and Shaw says this is how they end this.
Maggie and Gabriel enter Meridian through the garbage. Maggie makes sure Gabriel knows which building, floor, and room to go to. He says he knows and he heads on his way waiting for Maggie’s signal. Back with Shaw, they unveil the Hwacha which is a contraption with tons of projectiles! Daryl waits until he and Shaw are by themselves and he comes clean. He says that people are in with the walkers, his people. They can’t die like this. They are good people with families who are just here to get the food the Reapers stole from them. Shaw is gutted that Daryl lied. Daryl tries to get Shaw to join him, he has to stop Pope and wants her to help him. Pope comes in before Shaw can answer. Pope tells Daryl he wants him to bring his enemy when things are all over.
Maggie makes her way to a truck and hot wires it and drives it straight towards the front gate breaking it down so the walkers can get inside. Pope’s soldiers are fighting off the walkers in hand-to-hand combat in an attempt to get the gate secured. Pope wants to have the Hwacha redirected towards everything in the courtyard inside the gate. Shaw and the man operating the Hwacha don’t like that idea at all because their people are there. Pope says God will protect them, and Shaw says what if he doesn’t? He says that would mean it’s their time, God speaks through him. You don’t question the lord and you don’t question him. He tells the man to light up the Hwacha which he does. Daryl pulls out his knives and Pope hears that and turns around and Shaw stabs Pope from behind. The man at Hwacha heads towards Shaw and Daryl and Daryl throws his knife and hits the man in the chest killing him. Daryl runs and cuts the fuse so the Hwacha won’t fire.
Gabriel gets what Maggie sent him for which is a sniper rifle that is lethal for protecting his family on the ground. Meanwhile, Daryl tries to get Shaw to join him, but she looks at the downed soldier. She gets on her walkie and says Pope is dead. Daryl killed him and he is with the enemy. Daryl asks why she would do that, and she says you would do anything for your family. Well so would I. Some of the other Reapers go to Shaw, Shaw tells them that they need to go and close the gates and kill everything that is inside.
She then calls back all the other Reapers and sets the Hwacha down on the walkers and all the survivors alike as projectiles fly as this first half-season closes!
