Note: Major spoilers for the episode of The Walking Dead, you have been warned.
As things are looking to intensify quickly for the Alexandria group, I came into this episode expecting some big things to happen, and I can certainly say that the episode did not disappoint. The episode started off a little bit slow, but then picked up the pace the further along it went all the way up to the climactic ending, which puts the group in a very precarious position. I knew that something was going to go wrong right from the beginning, but I can honestly say that the ending caught me a little off guard, as I was expecting something different.
We start off with Carol at Alexandria, making cookies for the townsfolk, and especially for Tobin, whom we get a hint that maybe there is something going on between them. This gets proven true a little further into the episode, as they share a cigarette and a kiss, and we are led to believe a little bit more than that after the cameras stop rolling. But before all that, Rick and the group return to Alexandria and call a town meeting to discuss what took place at the Hilltop community.
Rick tells everyone about the plan, that they are going to go kill the Saviors and then they will get enough food from Hilltop for them to all survive. The only person that objects to this is of course Morgan, who says that they should give the Saviors the chance to surrender before just going in and killing all of them. Rick says that this will give up their advantage, and so the rest of the group agrees. Morgan looks dejected and doesn't go with the group the next day.
Most of our main cast of characters go on the trip to attack the Saviors at their home base. The form a plan, using what knowledge they have of the Saviors compound, and they find a walker that looks like Gregory from Hilltop, so that they can bring the severed head to the compound as was requested. The plan seems to be going off without a hitch, as they make their way inside the compound and begin killing the Saviors as they sleep.
Earlier in the episode, we see Glenn and Heath talking about how neither one of them has ever killed a living person before. I thought Glenn did a really good job in this scene of capturing what he thought it would be like when he had to do it. This comes up later as the two men sneak up on a couple of sleeping Saviors. Glenn hesitates, but then puts the knife into the head of one of the men. As Heath goes to do the same, Glenn comes over and stops him, doing the deed himself to spare Heath from having to do it.
As well as the plan is going, something of course has to go wrong, and so one of the Saviors wanders in on Abraham and Sasha trying to get into a locked room, and cuts Abraham's arm. Sasha stabs the man, but not before he can pull the alarm, waking up the remaining men in the compound. At this, a large gunfight breaks out between the Saviors and Rick's group, but they still have the upper hand and they continue to slaughter the Saviors, not losing a single member of their group.
As the alarm is going off, those that didn't go into the compound and were watching the perimeter hear the commotion and decide they have to step in and help. This results in the best scene that Gabriel has had in the entire series. I have never liked Gabriel. He is a coward, and he has caused much more trouble than he has been worth, but he finally got to have a good scene. As some of the men try to escape the compound, our group starts picking them off. One man gets injured, but isn't dead. Gabriel walks up to him with his rifle drawn and tells the man to drop his gun. The man says that Gabriel is a priest and won't kill him, but it doesn't matter anyway, because of what they have done, Negan will come for them. Gabriel reads some scripture to the man before pulling the trigger and killing him.
We also see Carol arguing with Maggie about how she shouldn't be out there, since she is pregnant. Maggie argues back and says she is going to help the group since the alarms are going off, but Carol tries to convince her to stay where she is. This will become important the next morning, as the group finishes off the remaining Saviors and they all walk outside as the sun comes up.
It looks as though the group has succeeded, all of the Saviors appear to be dead. All of a sudden, someone comes riding out of the compound on Daryl's motorcycle, and he flips out and shoots the man. He goes over and asks where he got the motorcycle, before punching the guy repeatedly in the face. Rick comes over and puts a gun to the man's head before a walkie-talkie that he man was carrying says to drop their weapons. The group looks around, trying to figure out what is going on, but it appears that someone is watching them from a short distance away. Rick tells them to come out and talk, and the voice on the walkie-talkie says that they have taken Maggie and Carol, and so they assume the group does want to talk.
Pretty intense episode starting about halfway through, and a really good cliffhanger ending. I was not expecting Carol and Maggie to get taken, I was thinking it was going to be someone else, maybe Glenn and Heath, or maybe even Abraham and Sasha. But by taking Carol and Maggie, it really amps up the stakes for the next episode, as the group, especially Glenn, is going to do everything in their power to get them back. And it also adds the dynamic that the Saviors have two women, so they probably think they have a couple of weak bargaining chips, but they may be in for a big surprise with Carol if she can find the opportunity.
I felt that this was a nice build up episode to the things that are on the horizon. They have now made Negan and his Saviors more angry, and I think our group has severely underestimated what they are getting themselves into. I think when we finally get to see Negan and Rick come face to face, it is going to be an epic moment, I just wish it wasn't still three episodes away or so. I'm assuming we will not actually get to see the face to face confrontation until the season finale, and that is when things are really going to hit the fan. I like what they have done with the back half of this season up to this point, and I think they are really doing this slow build very well, and I'm hopeful that this is going to lead to possibly the biggest moment in the series to date when we finally get to the season finale and everything finally comes to a head.
My rating for the episode is 8.5/10
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