We've reached the mid-season finale on The Walking Dead and it was a heartbreaking episode for sure. Granted, I didn't expect to go into the holiday break without the death of another character, but "Coda" just about destroyed me in the final 10 minutes. Here's where we are by the end of the hour...
Yup, We're Still Doing This.
The episode opens with Officer Bob running from the building Rick and company had been using to plot their hospital invasion. Sasha let her guard down a bit and has one hell of a headache because of it. Girl, just because his name is Bob doesn't mean he's your next boyfriend. Anyway, Rick jumps into a police car and follows Officer Bob, yelling for him to stop running. Bob just keeps going as if he can outrun a vehicle with his arms bound behind his back. Rick runs him over, gets out of the car, and tells a mostly broken Bob "you just had to stop." He then shoots him in the head. See ya, Bob.
The other two cops Rick is holding agree to lie about Officer Bob and tell Dawn he'd been killed by Walkers. The group decides to stick with the original plan of doing a prisoner trade "so no one has to die." Well, that didn't work out so well for Officer Bob...pretty sure it's not going to go smoothly for everyone else either.
Sasha is feeling pretty stupid about the whole thing and Tyreese tries to get her focused on the task at hand. He chooses now to tell her about the Terminus douchebag that he had claimed to kill but actually didn't. Tyreese reveals that the dude's name was Martin and Sasha was actually the one to kill him in the church slaughter. I'm watching this, hoping that the realization of "I should have killed someone but didn't" would cause one of them to say "hey, maybe we should just attack the hospital because the element of surprise is really key here." Nope. Prisoner swap it is.
And The Biggest Liability Ever Award Goes To...
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| No really - Lizzie was less dangerous to have around. |
Father Gabriel is still bumbling around on his own for reasons I don't understand, and he finds himself at a nearby school. Scavenging (?) near a tether ball, he picks up a bible in a backpack near a rotting human leg. Well OF COURSE he cries. Pretty sure it's in his contract to cry at least twice per episode. Gabriel's presence and emotions draw a whole bunch of Walkers out of the building and this idiot has to hobble back to the church with the Walkers right behind him. Now, the church had been completely boarded up and secured before Rick's group left for the hospital. The building was totally a safe place for Gabriel, Michonne, Carl and baby Judith. He just went and effed all of that up though. Gabriel is scratching at the door, begging to be let in the same way his parishioners did the morning they were all slaughtered. He's damn lucky Carl and Michonne take pity on his ass and tear the door apart so he can get in. Now the church is overrun though...and they escape via the floor boards Gabriel used earlier. I'm so over this guy.
As Carl, Michonne, and Gabriel try to figure out what their next move is (since, you know, they now have no shelter), Abraham and the get Eugene to Washington group arrive just in time. Glenn tells Michonne that Eugene is a total liar, and Michonne tells Maggie that Beth is alive and the rest of the gang went to go save her. Well, at least someone was able to share some good news. Since there's really no reason to stay at the church, everyone piles back into the firetruck and heads for the hospital as well. Yay! Reunion!
Respect Mah Authoritaaaay!
Back at the hospital, Beth is doing her awkward lingering wherever Dawn is thing and she overhears Dawn radioing for her missing officers. She can't get a response from the people who went to check on the gunfire they heard. Dawn is struggling to maintain her authority, and the other officers at the hospital are becoming real assholes. O'Donnell in particular thinks it's time for a change in leadership and has no probably saying this to Dawn's face. She draws her gun, there's a brief standoff, he tackles her, and Beth saves the day by pushing his ass through the open elevator doors.
Having killed two cops intentionally and one patient unintentionally, Beth is at a point where she needs to do some soul searching. She sits in Carol's room and Dawn walks in with some liquor hoping for more bonding time. Dawn says she's well aware that Beth knows whoever the woman is in the hospital bed. She tells Beth that Beth and Carol should stay and be a part of making the hospital better. "This is important....maybe the most important thing you do with your life." We see Carol start to stir in the bed as Dawn finishes her speech.
And It All Goes Downhill From Here
Two other officers meet Rick outside of the building. He explains the situation to them and so far so good. Rick, Daryl, Tyreese, Sasha and Noah gain entry to the hospital with their two hostages. Whoa. Wait. Why is Noah there? I understand that he wanted to help, but he got his job done when he lured the hostages out to begin with. Who thought this was a good idea? Now I'm anxious. They make their way to a hall where Dawn and a handful of officers wait with Beth and Carol. It's tough to describe the suspense in these last minutes of the episode. The initial trade goes fine. First the male officer for Carol, then the female officer for Beth. The group turns to leave and Dawn says Noah has to stay.
The officers standing behind Dawn are not happy. They just want this to be over. Dawn, however, is in total bitch mode now, and because Officer Bob was "killed by Walkers" trying to locate Noah, it's only fair for Noah to remain in the hospital. Noah reluctantly agrees and I'm honestly okay with all of this. Just GO for crying out loud! But Beth won't stand for it. She hugs Noah and approaches Dawn with tears in her eyes. She says "I get it now" and stabs Dawn with a pair of hospital scissors. Dawn is startled and her gun goes off....blowing out the back of Beth's head. NOOOOO! Damn it! We can see Dawn immediately freak out because it was an accident but Daryl puts a bullet in her head anyway. Everyone draws their weapons now, but the female cop/hostage tells the other officers to stand down. Daryl starts crying, Carol grabs his shoulder from behind and starts crying, Rick's eyes well up and I'm a total mess sitting on my couch.
The hospital employees tell Rick that his group can stay there if they want to but Rick says they're leaving and will take anyone who wants to go with them. Abraham's firetruck pulls up to the hospital just as the rest of the group is leaving. We see Daryl exiting the building...carrying Beth. The reactions are gut wrenching. Maggie falls to the ground screaming. Glenn sort of half collapses behind her. Michonne cries. Daryl is sobbing at this point...and I'm spent.
The episode is not quite over, as Morgan is hot on the trail of the Grimes group. I'm looking forward to seeing what his story line has in store for 2015, but for now, I'm very broken up about Beth. We saw her become so strong in her time since they had to flee the prison, and she was thisclose to being out of that hospital and back with her loved ones. And poor Maggie. "Your sister is alive and we're going to save her! Just kidding. She's actually dead now." Beth did change the hospital for the better though. Dawn had no idea that her speech to Beth would motivate her to take an action that would put Dawn on the floor with a hole in her head. I'm not sure if we'll ever see or hear about the hospital people again, but in my world, that twisted community can thrive a little better now.
The show will return in the new year and it already feels like a long wait. Will the group just head to Washington now anyway? Will they leave Gabriel's ass at the hospital? He can stay and bless everyone and be a total nuisance there. And now that the supposed love triangle between Carol, Daryl, and Beth has been eliminated, can Carol and Daryl finally get together? I'll hold out hope during this long break. Til then, have a safe and happy holiday season.
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