In The Walking Dead recap for the mid-season finale, Rick and the rest of Alexandria try to survive as walkers storm the community….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The walls are crumbling down in Alexandria and Rick and the others are fighting to survive, but the best moment of the entire mid-season finale of The Walking Dead came 10 minutes after the show ended with the preview for the next episode debuting in February 2016.
The scene saw Daryl, Sasha and Abraham making their way back to Alexandria but they were stopped in the middle of the road by a gun toting, motorcycle riding group who you will soon know as The Saviors.
The group leader cordially welcomed the trio out of the truck and then politely commanded that they hand over everything they own — from guns, to the truck, to the fuel in the truck, and even the coins hiding under the seat.
When Sasha and the others asked curiously why they were just going to surrender everything in their possession, the man answered back with a name that will soon send shivers down the spines of every Walking Dead fan on Earth.
“Your property now belongs to Negan”
The character — who will be played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan — is probably the most highly anticipated addition to the cast since The Governor first debuted on the show. We will have an in depth look at Negan a little later this week, but fans of the comic book already know that this is a game changer when it comes to The Walking Dead and his arrival will send shockwaves through every person on this show.
With that said, let’s recap the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead titled ‘Start to Finish’…
The Wall is Crumbling
The episode this week picks up just seconds after the last ended as the tower in the church came crumbling to the ground and the walkers poured in like the doors were opened up at an all you can eat buffet. Rick and the rest of the people in Alexandria scattered for shelter while trying to kill as many walkers as possible along the way.
Maggie narrowly escaped the herd bearing down on her as she finally climbed to the top of one of the watchtowers just inches away from being bitten. If there was a happy ending for Maggie it’s the fact that Glenn is alive and he spotted her as he climbed over the wall after telling Enid that they needed to help their friends, who were very clearly in serious trouble. It’s unclear if Maggie spotted Glenn, but there’s no doubt he spotted her and there aren’t enough zombies in the world to keep him from saving his wife and his unborn baby.
Meanwhile, Deanna proved that she’s just about the worst shot in the world while firing her gun and hitting every part of the walkers except the head and it cost her in the end.
Deanna got overwhelmed by walkers as Rick tried to get to her and in the process she took a bite to the stomach that will bring her leadership of Alexandria to an end.
Rick picked Deanna up and along with Carl, Ron, Father Gabriel and Michonne made a mad dash to Jessie’s house to get out of the fray. Rosita, Tara and Eugene got into a garage just in the nick of time to avoid the walker attack while Morgan had to help Carol into a house after she tripped and smacked her head on the pavement while trying to escape. Rosita and Tara rescued Eugene — who was just barely able to utter the word ‘help’ on a walkie talkie before he was shuffled safely into a garage and the door locked behind him. Now we know who said ‘help’ on the other end as Daryl, Sasha and Abraham made their way back to town.
It seemed like everybody was able to get indoors but now they are all separated with no plan to survive this onslaught.
Tiptoe Through the Tulips
Rick, Jessie and the others are barricaded inside her home while Deanna is tended to upstairs. Sam is still trying to wrap his little head around all this insanity while a copy of Tiny Tim’s ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulip’s plays on vinyl for the entirety of the episode. It’s a little maddening but apparently it makes this kid feel better.
Rick has a moment alone with Deanna as she creeps closer and closer to death and she asks him to take a letter she wrote to her son Spencer. Deanna also asks Rick to look out for Spencer as one of his own because ultimately he is one of them now.
“Guess what? They’re all your people, Rick. They are. But that’s how it is. I didn’t run over to help you out there cause I like you or because I think you’re a good man or good father or that you can grown one hell of a beard. I ran over to help because you are one of us. That’s the right answer.”
~ Deanna
Rick believes they are safe for the time being, but what he didn’t count on was Ron going psycho and trying to kill Carl for taking his girlfriend.
Ron lures Carl into the garage where he drones on and on about how the world is already over and everybody is dead, they just don’t know it yet. We’ve heard this all before, but as Ron locks the door and reaches for his gun, Carl realizes what’s about to happen. He quickly charges Ron and they struggle for the gun but a moment later both of them crash into a window that shatters, which alerts the walkers outside that there’s fresh meat in this particular house.
Rick breaks down the door after hearing the fight from upstairs as Carl and Ron both make it inside just before the zombies storm through the garage. The group is able to hold off the walkers momentarily with a couch and some other furniture, but it’s only a matter of time before they crash through and take over the house.
Carl lies and says that he and Ron were just talking when the walkers tried to break through the garage door, but he finally confronts the mini-psycho once they are safely back upstairs. Carl takes Ron’s gun away and then tries to calm the situation by saying he understands why the boy wants revenge. Of course he also points out the hard truth, which is something Ron has refused to look at ever since his dad was killed at the end of least season.
“Look man, I get it, my dad killed your dad but you need to know something — your dad was an asshole.”
~ Carl
Rick and Michonne are at a loss for where to go next with the walkers piling into the house and their escape options are narrowing down to just one — capture a couple of the dead bodies and cover themselves in gunk just like the group has been forced to do previously to walk through the zombies without being detected. It’s nasty business but it seems like the only sure way out of this mess but it’s not as easy as you might think.
Live Free or Die
Morgan helped to rescue Carol and ends up pulling her into the same house where he has the Wolf stashed in the basement along with Denise, who was recruited to help patch him up from an injury he sustained. Carol is showing all the signs of a concussion and barely able to walk so Morgan tries to get her to table their conversation about his prisoner until a later and more appropriate time.
Downstairs, Denise attempts to reason with the Wolf while also patching him up. He’s still spouting off his insane rhetoric about freeing people from this new world while she’s attempting to reach him on any human level whatsoever. Don’t forget, Denise is playing doctor but she’s actually a psychiatrist by trade.
Meanwhile, Carol is nearly passed out from her head wound and rather than urge her to stay away like you should for anyone with a concussion, Morgan decides to take this opportunity to check on his prisoner downstairs. But much to his surprise, Carol was faking the severity of her concussion as she is able to push past him, steal the keys and run to the basement with the sole purpose of killing the lone Wolf still alive downstairs.
Carol rushes in with her knife drawn but Morgan is able to get there just in time to step in front of her blade to stop her. Morgan pleads with her to leave this man alive while the Wolf tells her that they really should kill him. Carol is shaking while holding her knife, but it’s not because she’s still wobbly from the concussion — it’s because she knows deep down that if need be, she could slice through Morgan and the Wolf if that’s what has to be done. It scares her to know just how far she’s willing to go to protect the group, but that’s the nature of this new world and why Carol is the truest definition of a survivor.
Unfortunately, Carol hesitates for a moment and that allows Morgan to knock her to the ground and render her unconscious. Morgan then pays for his own hubris as the Wolf grabs the bo staff and knocks him out as well. The Wolf grabs a knife and quickly points at Denise as she begins to wonder if this is really how it’s all going to end.
Break on Through to the Other Side
Tara and Rosita share a conversation in the garage that sounds similar to the one Maggie had earlier this season after Glenn disappeared. Rosita is resigned in her belief that Abraham is probably dead and never coming back, but Tara tries to restore a bit of hope by saying that until they know for sure, there’s no reason to dwell on the possibility that he’s dead. He could just as easily be alive.
Finally, Rosita and Tara decide to break through the door into the house where they are trapped to see if there’s anybody else alive or at least a way out. Eugene finally makes himself useful by picking the lock, but little did they know that this house was the same one where Morgan, Carol and Denise were currently being held captive by a rogue Wolf.
The Wolf puts his knife to Denise’s throat and demands everyone surrenders their weapons. Rosita and Tara comply (why I don’t know) and the Wolf picks up one of the guns and holds it to Denise’s head as he wiggles by the group and makes his way to the outside. The interesting part — the Wolf holds onto a hostage as he goes out the back door but he doesn’t kill Morgan or Carol, who are both unconscious, and he doesn’t even attempt to strike back at Rosita, Eugene or Tara, who are all defenseless at this point.
For a guy hell bent on the death of humanity, the Wolf is more concerned about his own survival. Did Morgan get through to him? Will he use Denise as a sacrifice to escape? We’ll have to wait until February to find out.
Becoming the Monsters
Rick and Michonne explain to Jessie and the others that the only way to get out of here is to cover themselves in walker guts and then slowly move through the crowds of the undead to safety again. Father Gabriel stops Rick at one point and promises that he’s done running and will stand with him side by side. On a side note, Father Gabriel in the comics is a solid character so I’m hoping this is a chance for his redemption on the show after a very rough start.
Sam is the person having the most trouble with this whole situation because traumatized doesn’t even begin to describe what this poor kid is going through, but Jessie tries to convince him that he needs to pretend to be ‘one of the monsters’ so they can escape. Rick leaves Deanna with a gun to end her own life, but rather than use one bullet to stop her own suffering, she unloads six shots taking out six walkers before they converge on her.
With zombie innards dripping down bed sheets, wrapped around all of them — even baby Judith — Rick and the rest of the group begin walking down stairs and outside the house. The walkers barely notice them and the group clasps hands together as they slowly but surely get through the herd collecting at the front steps of the house.
But as soon as they hit the pavement, with a sea of walkers all around, Sam decides this is the moment he needs to call for his mother. Obviously the kid is scared out of his mind, but Jessie tries to quiet him down as the zombies start to twitch and take notice that there’s a voice amongst this crowd and it’s not one of them.
It seems almost certain that someone in this group won’t make it, but no one will find out for sure until The Walking Dead returns for the second half of season six on February 14, 2016. With Negan about to knock on Alexandria’s front door as well, things are going to get very interested in these last eight episodes!
