Before we get started, there are a few interesting details to note. In the cold open, we see close-ups of a car wreck, blood, weapons, and Carol shouting “Come out.”
In the morning, before everyone knows Carol is gone, Carl finds a gun with a doodle etched into the handle. For comic fans, it is Lucille. For everyone else, you will know soon. Things are moving along sweetly and awkwardly for Sasha and Abraham. While showering together, Glenn is concerned when he sees big bruises on Maggie’s back. Michonne and Rick are spooning contentedly. In other words, things are fairly normal in Alexandria.
Daryl suddenly roars out of the compound on his bike. He is angry and looking for revenge for Denise. No one can stop him, so Michonne and Glenn follow him in a van. Rosita goes with them because she knows where he is going. Tobin brings Carol’s note to Rick, who is alarmed. No one saw her sneak out. Morgan and Rick go out to find her. With two search groups on different tasks, let’s follow the Carol group first.
Carol has taken a car that was covered with spikes and left as a zombie deterrent outside the Alexandria gates. She sees a truck approaching, and they open fire, taking out her tires and gas tank. She gets herself ready, steadies herself, and makes sure her rosary is dripping visibly from her sleeve. She surrenders, begging the men (two in the cab, three in the bed) not to hurt her. Hiro seems to be the leader of this group, and he thinks she is from Alexandria, which is where they are headed. She insists she is Nancy from Montclair. She works herself up, hyperventilating, shaking, crying, and begs the men to let her go. As the driver insists they just grab her, gunfire erupts and kills most of the men. Carol had a gun hidden in her non-rosary sleeve, and she took them out, at least three of them. The guy who was riding shotgun didn’t die; he jumps out and fires at Carol. She hides and stabs him on one of the car spikes. She knows that Hiro is alive and warns him to come out. He charges her with a knife. Shots are fired off-screen.
Morgan and Rick think Carol went east, which is good, because the Savior compound is west. They arrive at the car fight to a massacre. It turns out, the driver of the truck was injured, but played dead. As soon as Carol left, he abandoned the truck. When Rick and Morgan arrive, the only one left alive is Hiro. He is grievously injured and when Rick realizes he can’t talk, stabs him in the forehead. The guys examine the clues and make their assessment. Rick is certain the Saviors did this. This was definitely Carol’s car, and she is not here. She probably got away, and they start following a blood trail into an overgrown field. As they follow the blood, Rick realizes that there are more Saviors. They didn’t end it; they started something.
After Rick and Morgan have left, the driver comes out of the bushes. He heard everything and follows the men into the fields.
Morgan and Rick begin to worry. They are still following a blood trail, which means Carol has lost a fair amount. Rick says he is out here, looking for Carol, because she is family. Morgan knows what happened at the prison, how he banished Carol, and Rick says, looking back, she was right to do it. He would have done the same, knowing what he knows now. Morgan’s point is that he sent Carol away, but she came back and saved everyone. “People can come back.” They walk more and find a walker, fearing it is Carol. It is not, but she couldn’t have died more than a day ago.
They continue on and find a ranch. A human is killing a walker, and Rick instantly pulls out his gun. The human ducks out of view, begging him to drop his weapon, claiming he is just looking for his horse. “They are coming!” The “they” he means is zombies. A few trickle forward and the guy uses them as cover to run. Rick fires, aiming for the man, but Morgan knocks him off course, and the bullet misses. The chance to kill this man – who Rick thinks is a Savior because of the spear he was using – is over, so Rick helps Morgan kill the walkers. When they are safe, Rick is annoyed by Morgan’s actions, so Morgan tells him about the Wolf he saved, kept locked up in one of the houses, hoping to reform him. He admits the Wolf escaped, which infuriates Rick, but then he says that the Wolf saved Denise’s life by sacrificing his own. Denise, in turn, saved Carl’s life. Cue the Elton John music as Morgan points out that “life is all a circle.” Morgan insists Rick goes home; he is needed there. He promises he will find Carol, but if he doesn’t come back, he doesn’t want them to come looking for him. Rick agrees, but leaves Morgan with a gun. He takes it.
Back at Alexandria, Rick stands at the gate like a sad puppy, waiting for Michonne to come home. Abraham stands beside him. Elsewhere, Enid goes to Maggie’s house to help her. Maggie wants a haircut and Enid chops it all off, similar to Maggie’s comic book hairstyle. She says it is because she has to keep going and doesn’t want anything in her way. Pain causes Maggie to double over and she falls to the floor, screaming and clutching her belly.
Checking in with Michonne’s team, they end up at the spot where Denise died. They find Daryl’s bike stashed beneath some bushes and head into the woods. Daryl is tracking something silently and shoots his crossbow, nearly taking out Rosita. He is pissed that they came after him. He insists he is there to do what he should have done before. Glenn points out that he is doing this for himself, not for Denise, and wants Daryl to come home. Michonne promises they will square it, but they need to think it through. Daryl won’t and he storms off. Rosita follows. Glenn and Michonne head back the way they came.
Glenn realizes the world is bigger than they once thought. The Hilltop, the Saviors… he wants to find a Savior they can keep alive, in order to find out more about them. Suddenly there is a low whistle, followed by another and another. Men appear from behind the trees, and they soon find themselves surrounded by Saviors. Dwight reveals himself last. Glenn lowers his gun. He knows when he is beat.
Daryl and Rosita find Glenn and Michonne bound and gagged in the woods. Glenn shakes his head, urging them to leave. He can’t speak around his gag, so he grunts, trying to warn them away. Too late. Dwight and another guy come up behind them, and Dwight blasts his gun. Blood sprays on the camera, the screen goes black and we hear, “You’ll be all right.”
And… That’s it. That’s where those bastards left us. I feel like the “you’ll be all right” line is meant sarcastically. Whoever Dwight shot may survive, but they will be hideously scarred if they do. I think it is probably Rosita. Daryl is just way too big of a fan favorite – an obsession, really – and having a badly injured Rosita would send Abraham back to her, creating tension and distrust among Alexandria (or at least, between Rosita, Abraham, and Sasha). I guess we will have to wait until next week’s 90 minute season finale.
You can watch previews for the season finale, titled “Last Day on Earth,” by clicking here.
