So I went into tonight's episode knowing what happens in the comics during the Alexandria Walker invasion. I also went into tonight's episode telling myself not to panic because the show runners don't always follow those story lines. Consider me gutted....along with the other characters of the winter premiere's blood bath. As much as it pains me to tell you, here's what went down in "No Way Out."
Put On Your Best, Boys
The episode opens with Daryl, Sasha and Abraham meeting Negan's henchmen on the road back to Alexandria. Sure, they're driving a military vehicle and probably could have plowed right through the motorcycle brigade, but they exit their truck and hand over their weapons instead. Good grief. Negan's head douchebag tells one of his motorcycle buddies to accompany Daryl to the back of the truck to confiscate the remaining weapons because, you know, those belong to Negan now. Abraham asks what we're all wondering at this point: "who's Negan?" The head douchebag has already told the trio not to ask any questions and points his guns at Sasha and Abraham. I'm thinking he's going to fire...but then the entire motorcycle gang explodes. Turns out Daryl had a freaking rocket launcher in the back of the truck. Ha! He killed the guy who went back there with him and lit up Negan's numskulls just before the opening music begins to play. Fantastic.
Life Ain't Always What You Think It Ought To Be
Tara, Eugene and Smokin' Hot Rosita are tending to a pissed off Carol and a barely awake Morgan as they also assess their situation. They desperately want to find doctor Denise and The Wolf but they also know they are vastly outnumbered by the Walkers outside. Morgan is starting to realize he screwed up and tries to make amends with Carol and the others. Carol, however, is not interested. "I should have killed you." Damn straight.
The Wolf and Denise are 'hiding out' almost in plain site of the herd as they watch things play out from behind some bushes. Denise is starting to panic a bit but The Wolf reassures her that he needs her. He promises they are going to get out together as soon as there is a break in the parade of zombies. He wants to help Denise change the way that someone helped him change. Oh...so he wants to turn her into someone who kills innocent people too. Neat. Actually, I think he kind of likes her. Too bad the forehead tattoo and the junk on his teeth are a complete turn off.
As it grows darker The Wolf and Denise catch a break. Gunfire erupts on the other side of Alexandria and the Walkers are drawn to it. He tells her "it's safer out there than it is in here" and they start to run toward the open wall. Denise is held up by a Walker who doesn't quite bite her and The Wolf hesitates. He could leave her behind. He wants to leave her behind. But for some reason, he runs to her and saves her...but not before a Walker bites a chunk out of his arm. Denise grabs him and tells him they have to get to the infirmary right away (I guess she's thinking she'll perform an immediate amputation) and they're off and running again. I'm thinking they might make it and Denise may have turned this guy around, but then more gunshots ring out and The Wolf is done. Carol is up in a balcony holding her gun screaming at Denise to get away from The Wolf. Denise makes it to the infirmary unharmed.
The Sharp Knife Of A Short Knife
When we last saw Rick, Carl, Judith, Jessie, Ron, Sam, Michonne and Gabriel, they were covered in Walker guts and trying to slowly make their way through the heard as a human chain. The part of the mid-season finale where Sam was inexplicably trying to talk to his mother during the escape is not addressed, and the group makes it to an area where they can talk about what to do next. Rick says they need to get to the vehicles in the quarry so they can drive back and pick up their friends. Jessie points out that this will be difficult for Judith so Gabriel offers to take her to his church and keep her safe. I'm thinking "Gabriel can barely keep his collar from harm" but Rick agrees to this plan quickly. Jessie wants Sam to go with Gabriel as well (we all do) but he begs her to let him stay with the group. He doesn't want to leave his mother. Jessie reluctantly agrees and I'm waiting for someone to tell her she's insane. Rick, you know Sam is going to f*ck this up, so put your foot down! He doesn't though and Gabriel takes Judith under his Walker guts poncho and off they go.
The order of the human chain has changed now with Rick leading Sam, Jessie, Carl, Ron and Michonne walking hand and hand through the dark streets of Alexandria. My heart is pounding. As they walk, Sam hears Carol's voice in his head. He is reliving the conversation they had back when he caught her in the armory....when she told him about the monsters that will get him, tear him apart, and eat him alive. He stops walking. Shit. Jessie and Rick try to pull him along but he starts to cry. Then he starts to get eaten by Walkers. SHIT. Jessie is still holding his hand as he's pulled away from her and then she starts to scream. I'm yelling "just let him go!" from my couch and Carl does his damnedest to pull her away from the bloodbath, but she's still staring at Sam. The Walkers then attack her as well. Nooooo! Jessie won't let go of Carl's hand and the Walkers are closing in on all of them now. Rick is crying. He knows Jessie is a goner so he does what he has to do....he takes the hatchet he's carrying and chops her hand off. OH MY GOD. Carl falls to the ground and drops his gun, which Ron quickly picks up and aims at the Grimes boys. For the only time ever, I kind of agree with Ron and the "you got my entire family killed" look he has on his face. I still want him gone though. If I can't have Jessie then I sure as hell can't deal with an orphaned Ron pouting for the rest of the season. Michonne reads my mind. We see her sword come right through Ron's chest and dude goes down...but not before SHOOTING CARL IN THE EYE.
Rick lifts Carl off the ground and he and Michonne take off running. They make it to the infirmary and doctor Denise gets right to work. Rick, however, is pretty much batshit crazy at this point. He looks out the window at the many Walkers overrunning the town and he heads out there with his hatchet. Sure Rick is taking out some of the zombies but he is also completely surrounded. He is suddenly joined by Michonne, Keith, Aaron, and Spencer and things are looking up. Several other Alexandrian's join in. Gabriel sees what's happening and hands Judith off to one of the women in the church with him. He takes a machete and joins in. Carol, Tara, Smokin' Hot Rosita, Morgan and Eugene(!) jump in too. The fight sequence here is amazing. Morgan comes across The Wolf as a Walker and kills him. Better late than never?
Sink Me In A River
Glenn and Enid have made their way inside the not so protective walls of Alexandria and they are trying to find a way to safely get Maggie off the platform she's cornered into. It's shaky as hell and she's not going to last much longer. Glenn creates a distraction as Enid climbs the tower and Glenn is having another "oh shit look at all these Walkers" moments. Once again it looks like Glenn has reached his end on The Walking Dead but Abraham and Sasha arrive and save his ass. Maggie is safe and he jumps in the truck with Daryl to come up with a plan to lead the Walkers away. Daryl has a better idea. They head to the river nearby and unleash a ton of gasoline in the water. Daryl shows sheer badassery again when he uses the rocket launcher to set the river ablaze. The Walkers are of course drawn to the commotion and wander into the flames in droves. Alexandria is safe for the time being.
As morning approaches, Rick is sitting with a bandaged and seemingly comatose Carl. He tells Carl all about how they took back the town and how the Alexandrians stepped up and showed what they were made of. Rick seems to be letting go of the "us" and "them" and says everything Deanna wanted to accomplish is still possible. He cries and says "I want to show you the new world, Carl. I want to make it a reality for you." The episode ends with Carl squeezing his father's hand.
Whew. I am totally spent. In this hour I've shed tears, I've screamed at my television so loud that I worried about my neighbors, and I've paused many, many times while trying to type what I was seeing on screen. It's impossible to fully capture the suspense and emotion that filled "No Way Out." The Jessie/Sam/Ron demise will stay with me for a long time. My hat's off to those actors in their final scene, though I'm holding out hope that we'll see ghost Jessie in the coming weeks the way ghost Lori hung out at the prison for a while. It's a damn shame. I reallllly liked Jessie and I realllllly liked that Rick had another love interest. She had come such a long way in such a short time...but she sealed her fate when she didn't send Sam with Gabriel. The kid didn't leave the second floor of their house after the Wolves attacked so really there was no way he was making it to the quarry through the massive group of "monsters." And Rick? I don't blame him for chopping her hand off while she was still alive. As brutal as it was, she was already zombie food.
Next week we'll see how the community recovers from all of this trauma. Will Rick embrace Spencer, Keith, Aaron and others as part of his family? Will they take Deanna's plans for expanding Alexandria and make them a reality? Will the group have another run in with Negan's followers? Will Carl look like The Governor from now on? I know one thing for sure...without Jessie I can give up all hope of him getting a damn haircut.
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