The Walking Dead Recap: Heads Up

By The Lady Cocotte

The Walking Dead is back with another amazing episode. Alexandria is still recovering from the wolves. Now all they have to deal with is a horde of walkers surrounding their gate. Daryl has reunited with Sasha and Abraham and they are on their way home. Not only that, but they’re bringing a gas truck and several big ass grenades. Will they make it back in time to help chase away the walkers at the gates? Is Morgan going to be exiled for his “do no harm” policy? Is Spencer still drunk? Let’s find out.

We start with a black screen. We hear Nicholas say “Thank you” and a shot. We’re back with Glenn! I didn’t think we’d get resolution to this storyline until after the mid-season break but they took pity on us. Once again, we get to see Glenn and Nicholas fall into the sea of walkers. This time the angle shows us that Nicholas fell on top of Glenn and it’s his guts that the walkers are eating. Glenn climbs under the dumpster while they’re busy eating Nicholas and the mystery is solved: Glenn didn’t die. The walkers closest to Glenn reach under the dumpster, trying to get him but he pulls out his knife and kills them. At a certain point the dead walkers create a barrier around the dumpster and Glenn is finally able to relax (well, as much as one can relax under s dumpster surrounded by dead walkers).

After a night under the dumpster, Glenn emerges, covered in Nicholas’ blood but alive. As he’s checking the dead walkers for water and weapons he hears, “Hey, heads up!” Enid is on the roof of a nearby building and she tosses Glenn a bottle of water. She misses, curses, and runs away. Glenn is stunned to see her but quickly gets his wits back and chases after her. She tells him where there’s more water. “Take it and go.” Glenn wants to know what happened in Alexandria. The last he knows, there was a loud horn blaring, pulling walkers off course. He has no idea about the wolf attack. “What happened is what always happens. People died.” Enid is blunt but not quite straightforward. All Glenn cares about is knowing what happened to his family. He asks about Maggie but gets no response. Instead, he sees Enid running away. He chases after her because he’s Glenn and Glenn takes care of people, even if they don’t want him to.

Rick tells Morgan they need to talk. Later. First he has to deal with the bleeding wall. I’m still not sure what that is. I assume there are so many walkers trying to get in that the ones at the front are getting squashed… He notices Maggie standing guard on top of the wall. Man, Rick has his hands full. Maggie’s waiting for a signal from Glenn. Rick reminds her that they’ve come back from harder fights than this. If I didn’t know that Glenn was alive I’d be a little annoyed that Rick’s getting her hopes up. But he’s right. They’re all coming back. He suggests using their waiting time to come up with a plan to clear the walkers so Daryl, Sasha, Abraham and Glenn can just walk right in.

Rick and Carl give Porch Dick’s son Ron shooting lessons. I just don’t trust that kid. Luckily they’re not using bullets. Rick tells Ron to keep the gun for practice so he can get comfortable with it. Ron wants to shoot real bullets. He asks to shoot walkers and Carl gets a little nervous. That’s our boy. He doesn’t trust Ron either. When he gets turned down, Ron asks to do target practice in the middle of town. Why is he so anxious to get his hands on bullets? Rick gives him the look and he drops it. That boy is trouble with a capital T.

Rick, Carol and Michonne sit Morgan down for a little talk. Rick tells his story about fighting wolves at the RV. Carol asks Morgan if he let any wolves go. He admits he did and even Michonne (the gentlest of the bunch) gets upset. Morgan tries to justify his no-kill policy. “All life is precious. And that idea, that idea changed me. It brought me back and keeps me living.” Michonne isn’t having it. “Things aren’t as simple as four words.” Morgan asks if there’s a place for him at Alexandria. Rick doesn’t answer. Instead, he asks, “Making it now… Do you really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands?” Morgan is honest. “I don’t know.”

Outside the gates, we see the damage done by the wolves’ truck. The tower it ran into, which is right next to the wall, is cracking and creaking. Rick and Michonne work on a plan to get the horde away from the gates. Rick only wants his crew involved. Michonne is surprised. “We’re in here together… Anything else is excuses.” Deanna arrives with plans for the expansion. She’s manic but at least she’s looking towards the future. Rosita gives a group of Alexandrians, and Eugene, lessons on killing walkers. Eugene can barely concentrate. He admits he’s scared of dying. “Dying is simple. It all just stops. You’re dead. The people around you dying, that’s the hard part.”

Glenn finds Enid in a burned out diner. He tells her he’s taking her home. “I don’t even know you.” Sorry, sweetie, but that’s not going to stop Glenn. Enid starts to walk away. Glenn grabs her so she pulls a gun on him. Yeah, that might do the job. They stare each other down. Glenn demands she give him the gun. When she won’t, he just takes it. “Asshole,” she mutters. “You point a gun at me and I’m the asshole?” Glenn asks. On their way back, Glenn and Enid come across the green balloons that were supposed to mark the meet-up spot for the original quarry plan. Enid takes them, explaining they can use them to distract walkers. Glenn points out there’s a tank and more balloons hidden in the bushes. Enid talks about being orphaned by the walkers and Glenn tells her he was too. “It’s just what happens,” she explains. They’re bonding. Over balloons and death.

The pantry lady hears a noise and finds a bunch of food lying on the floor. Is Spencer stealing food again? No. It’s Ron, distracting her so he can break into the armory and steal bullets. I told you not to trust that kid!

Glenn and Enid arrive at the wall. They see all of the walkers. They’re shocked and scared. Enid starts to leave but Glenn won’t let her. “The world is trying to die. We’re supposed to just let it.” Glenn disagrees. “The walls are still up. The houses are still up. We’ll find out the rest.”

Rick hears a strange noise. Spencer has set up a wire over the walkers and is shimmying across. Rick is pissed. Spencer’s hook breaks and he falls into the walkers. Tara is shooting walkers while Rick holds one end of the rope and tries to pull Spencer up. The walkers are grabbing his feet and he’s fighting his way up the wall. They pull Spencer up and Rick tears into Tara for risking her life for “these people.” She flips him off. Spencer explains he wanted to get past the walkers, find a car and lead them away. “You want to help? Don’t make us come running to save you.” Rick is fed up with the Alexandrians.

Morgan visits Dr Denise in the hospital. He asks her the signs of infection. She wants to see it and he admits it’s not his wound. “It’s a secret.” Carol sees him heading to the jail, followed closely by Dr Denise. She’s suspicious because, Carol. She gets Jessie to watch Judith so she can investigate. While she’s there, Jessie’s youngest son Sam asks her if you turn into a monster by killing people. She distractedly answers, “The only thing that keeps you from becoming a monster is killing.” While I normally agree with Carol’s kill-em-all philosophy, I’m not sure that’s the right thing to tell a future serial killer. Just saying. But Carol is on a mission so she dumps Judith and heads to the jail. She opens the door and is greeted by Morgan. “Who the hell do you have in that cell?”

Carl is walking along, minding his own business. He doesn’t realize that Ron is following him. Ron pulls out his newly loaded gun. Goddammit! Not Carl! What the hell is Ron’s problem? Suddenly everyone is looking up. A big bunch of green balloons blows into sight. Maggie runs to Rick. “That’s Glenn!” She got her sign. Before they can celebrate, they hear a loud crack. The tower the wolves ran into falls, bringing the wall down with it. And there goes their safety.

Next week: The mid-season finale. Walkers invade Alexandria. Everyone is running, hiding, killing. Is this the end of Alexandria? Prepare for a huge cliffhanger…