Rick and Co. plotted to storm the castle this week, as extracting Beth and Carol was at the center of the plan that wasn’t without its share of impending obstacles.
A minor one was Tyreese, who has appeared weaker each week. He once was ruthless (see: destroying Walkers trapped under a car tire and ripping through the forest). But since the death of Lizzie and Mika he’s gone a little soft and this week he offered a bit of a challenge to Rick’s plan for an all-out attack, albeit “quietly.”
Rick assured Tyreese the plan was going to work. We trust Rick. Tyreese should trust Rick, too, but that goes without saying.
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This episode featured peeks into the three side stories: Rick and Co., Grady Memorial Hospital and pouty Abraham and the Disappointed Musketeers by the fire truck. It’s a natural progression until they all come together by the midseason finale next week.
Abraham didn’t say much, mostly because everyone was angry at him for beating Eugene unconscious. Maggie stayed to tend to Eugene and babysit Abraham, as Glenn, Rosita/Sarita and Tara made their way to find clean water and have deep conversations while fishing and such.
Beth hoped to save Carol and was feistier this week. Beth stood up to one of the officers, who said Carol should have been removed from the IV drip and whatever else was churning to heal her wounds. Beth pointed out his use of electricity to charge his DVD every day to which Dawn told him to unplug Carol’s room.
Dawn was impressed with Beth’s moxie and showed a glimmer of compassion when she gave the younger Greene the supply-room key for drugs. Beth went about her mission to save Carol.
The battle plan gave Rick more stuff and thangs to do, as we all know those are the two most important items for him in these times. The group ripped apart the church to fashion weapons for the assault on Grady Memorial while Michonne, Carl, Father Gabriel and crying Judith stayed behind. Gabriel took to polishing the floor hyper-OCD style to give himself something to think about other than the carnage that he found since being rescued.
Noah played the good little diversion to get the drop on two of Grady Memorial’s officers. Another group of officers rolled up and proceeded to engage in a shootout. Two escaped and three were captured.
One officer said they’d take care of Dawn and release Beth and Carol if Rick let them go. Another officer pleaded to let them help. I smell a double-cross coming from somewhere.
The officer told Rick that Dawn will claim to not want to compromise, but in the end she will relent. The officer, (New) Bob, felt a kinship with Rick, who he pegged as a cop right away. Noah called Bob “one of the good ones,” but we’ve heard about good people before and not all of them finish the same way.
New Bob showed his true intentions when he lured Sasha alone and escaped after he head-butted her into a window. Old (Dead) Bob would never have treated Sasha in such ways, hmph.
The stage was set for what should be a bloody and intense midseason finale. We all know that bad things happen in Episode 8s and a lot of people end up dead. Who among the main characters to go in Episode 9 is yet to be determined.
The brief preview for next week showed a deal being suggested by Rick. I’m guessing that comes early in the episode and likely after Dawn is tipped off by New Bob. Then we get the fireworks.
Quick thoughts:
This week’s show was another in the slow build to the midseason finale. There was more momentum last season before Episode 8 and hopefully they’ll make up for it next week…
Daryl wins the award for best improvisation, when he used a Walker head like a bowling ball to beat off one of the cops while being strangled. I don’t know about you, but there’s a little humiliation when you have to explain where you received THAT bruise…
Also, Daryl wins quote of the week. Gabriel asked if they’d take apart the cross, too. Daryl said they would if they needed to…
Judith has a lot of hair. She takes after he brother…
Life lesson: Not even FEMA can save you from becoming a Walker…
Beth hates DVD players…
Gabriel hates violence, or so it seems. His floor shining was interrupted by Carl, who said the Man of God needed to learn how to defend himself. Gabriel picked up a machete, became queasy and locked himself in a room because he wasn’t “feeling good.” Michonne told him in a nice way that he needed to suck it up…
Meantime, Gabriel was working on an escape from the church. Either that or he had some Twinkies stored in the floorboards…
No matter how soft Tyreese has become, he’s still a good voice of reason. He told Sasha she needed to deal with Bob’s death. He said she didn’t need to distract herself and that he was there for her. Awwww…
Maggie held a gun to Abraham earlier in the show and told him to “sit down or I’ll put you down.” She asked him if he really wanted her to shoot him. He replied “I thought I did, but I didn’t.” Nice to see Abraham has some hope again…
Speaking of hope, Eugene woke from his punchy slumber...
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