‘The Walking Dead,’ Season 8 Midseason Finale Recap: ‘How It’s Gotta Be’

Shortly before episode 8 of this season of The Walking Dead aired, rumors began circulating that a major character would die, and some fans seemed to believe it would be Ezekiel.

The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 8 Recap

However, Sunday’s episode delivered a different twist.

After Negan escaped from the walker herd at the Sanctuary and put AHK into disaster, Rick rejoined his comrades in the sewers under an imploding Alexandria.

Carl shows both his parents the walker bite he has on his torso. Characters on the show have survived far worse than this, but executive producer Scott M. Gimple teased on Talking Dead that this will play out how walker bites typically play out.

Last week’s episode, of course, ended with Rick shuddering at the sight of a walker-less front yard at the Sanctuary. Nobody has responded to his walkie-talkie, and we know at this point that Eugene has some crazy plan up his sleeve.

As Rick is rushing toward the site with the Scavengers, we see a flashback to when Rick and Carl met that stranger by the gas station. We see Carl say it was enough after Rick scared off the young man with warning shots. Carl is then shown telling his father he’d learned to act when you care about something.

The Scavengers, meanwhile, abandon Rick. Nevertheless, Carol and Jerry arrive shortly afterwards to rescue Rick from the madness.

Aaron and Enid, for their part, are driving to Oceanside to recruit more forces. But these women have already been so hurt by AHK and Tara that one can’t expect the story to focus much more on them. Aaron turns the wheel over to Enid, and she makes a pit stop to accommodate a truck filled with alcohol from Roanoke Way Distillery to bring as a gift.

At Alexandria, Michonne is promising Judith she’ll bring back her dad. She sees Daryl, who claims his plan worked and the Saviors will have no option but to surrender.

Enid and Aaron find a spot by the edge of the woods near Oceanside. They see someone moving near the distillery truck. The attacker turns out to be Natania, Cyndie’s grandmother. She knocks over Aaron, but Enid shoots her dead.

At the Kingdom, Gavin speaks to the colony’s only inhabitants who have been captured and brought into the town square. He declares that because of their actions Negan claims total dominion over the Kingdom, which means the vast majority of their resources will now go to the Saviors and Gavin will be living at the Kingdom for the foreseeable future.

This monologue, however, is simply a distraction so Daryl, Michonne, and the others can drive a convoy through the back walls of Alexandria and onto the road. Negan orders his men to begin firebombing Alexandria.

Daryl tosses a smoke bomb into the road, and Laura warns it could be a trap. However, Dwight drives them straight toward the smoke. Daryl and the others open fire, and Dwight turns on his own people in the crossfire. Laura reacts quickly enough to shoot him in the arm.

Negan and his crew have reached Alexandria by this point. He orders his men to take Car alive while he waits in Rick’s home.

At the Sanctuary, Eugene wakes up Dr. Carson and Gabriel, and tells them he drugged one of the guards’ drinks to induce diarrhea and left them the keys to a car not far from the gate.

At the Kingdom, Ezekiel lights a trail of gasoline leading to a pileup of tanks, and the ensuing explosion repels most of the Saviors so he can drive up a bus and let his people escape.

As the Kingdom residents flee the colony, Carol is running up toward the gates when she sees Ezekiel locking himself in with Gavin. Before they close, he tells her to protect the people.

Gavin commands the Saviors to continue loading the trucks and to break Ezekiel’s arms if he tries anything.

Michonne leads Rick to the sewers where all the remaining Alexandrians — now including Dwight — have taken refuge. That’s when they encounter Carl and the traveler he saved. Rick’s son reveals the walker bite and mentions that he got it helping this man get to Alexandria. The camera pans away as Michonne and Rick fall on Carl and the scene fades to black.