The Walking Dead: Spend (5x14)

Yikes. Well then. That was... gross. I wasn't expecting that. I also didn't realize there were only two more episodes of this season left! Crazy! Let's get started.

It seems that there's a problem with the power grid in Alexandria, so a group goes out to get supplies to fix it. Glenn, Eugene, Tara, Noah, Aiden, and Nicholas comprise the party. Noah, out of everybody in the gang, seems really excited about Alexandria as a place where he can start over. He asks Reg to teach him about architecture and how to build, so that he can help maintain the wall that protects the community.

The group goes to get supplies to repair the solar panels. Everything goes fine, until they come across a Walker in riot gear. Aiden shoots at it and accidentally hits a grenade on its suit. The explosion injures Tara, knocking her unconscious, and pins Aiden to a wall. Eugene finally decides to be brave, and he carries Tara back to the van. The others try to save Aiden, but he is pinned to the wall and they can't free him. Nicholas reminds Aiden that the two of them left their friends behind and got them killed, and now he's going to do the same to Aiden. Unfortunately, they have to leave Aiden behind.

Eugene uses the van to herd some of the Walkers away from the entrance so that Glenn, Noah, and Nicholas can get out. However, Nicholas freaks out and pushes his way to freedom, trapping Glenn and Noah. Glenn is safe, but he watches, horrified, as Noah is devoured by a hoard of Walkers. Nicholas tries to make Eugene leave without the others, but Eugene won't. Nicholas overpowers Eugene, but Glenn shows up and knocks Nicholas out. They put him in the back of the van. Two people down, Eugene, Glenn, and the unconscious Nicholas and Tara make their way back to Alexandria.

Meanwhile, Abraham joins several members of the Alexandria community in a construction project to expand the wall. While outside the wall, some Walkers turn up. Tobin tells everybody to fall back, but Abraham saves Francine, a lookout for the crew who would have been killed by the Walkers if everybody had followed Tobin's instructions. Tobin tells Deanna that Abraham should be in charge of the crew, and Deanna agrees to let Tobin step down. Deanna expresses some discomfort to Maggie about how many of Rick's people are getting positions of power. Maggie reminds Deanna that they know what they're doing, and that it'll be okay.

Father Gabriel comes to Deanna and tells her that Rick and the rest of the group are trouble, and that they'll do everything in their own best interests. Maggie overhears this exchange. Deanna says she has some things to think about.

Sam, the son of Jessie and Pete, comes to talk to Carol (despite Carol's threats from last week). Carol tries to rebuff Sam, but Sam wants to make cookies, and Carol caves. Based on a couple of remarks from Sam, Carol begins to get the idea that Pete is abusive. When she tries to go to their house to talk to Jessie, Pete won't let her in. Carol is sure now - she tells Rick that Pete hits Jessie, and maybe Sam. She tells Rick that he'll have to kill Pete in order to protect Jessie and Sam.

Complaints? I thought Gabriel's speech about Rick being the devil was a tad hokey. If he wanted Deanna to take him seriously, shouldn't he have been a little bit less extreme with the way he was talking? I don't know... it just irked me.

Also, I knew from the very beginning of this episode that Noah was going to die. How? Well, they haven't done anything with his character since we got back from the hiatus, and suddenly he started having lines and screen time again. A surefire sign he was done for. I'll talk in a minute about the fact that his death was done well, but the fact remains: they introduced Noah, then sidelined him for several episodes, then brought him back into the story proper just in time to kill him. It felt sloppy.

Finally, I thought that Sam's behavior was a bit unbelievable. I mean, Carol scared the crap out of him last week, and this week he's trying to be her friend and make cookies with her? And even when Carol continued to be cold, Sam just kept talking to her like it was nothing. I'm not sure I believe any child would truly act that way.

However, despite the fact that I have a few complaints about this episode, I ultimately thought it was really strong. We only have two more weeks of the season, so while I wish we could have had some more establishing of the Alexandria plot line before things go straight to hell, it makes sense for everything to start escalating now.

Eugene may have been my favorite part of this episode. It's strange, because I've never really thought much of him as a character. He's always been more of a plot device. But here, as we see him admit his cowardice and then later save Tara's life with his bravery, I felt a real connection to him. The best part was when he tried to stand up to Nicholas for the sake of Glenn and Noah, even knowing that he wouldn't be able to win.

I know this makes me a terrible person, but I'm really excited to see everybody's reactions to Aiden's death. Deanna is going to fall apart, I can just tell. I don't think things will continue on status quo after that. Even though Gabriel's warning to Deanna was silly, it was another way of suggesting unease into Deanna's brain. She gives Abraham power, she listens to Gabriel's warning, and then next thing she knows, she's going to find out her son is dead. It's going to be deliciously angst-y.

I can't figure out what I think is going on with this whole Pete thing. It would be the easy answer to say that he's hitting his wife and kid, but somehow I think there must be something else to it. They're being so careful to construct Rick and everybody else as the bad guys, while the Alexandria people are flawed, but yet ultimately set up as victims. If Pete really is an abuser, it makes things a bit more black and white. In any case, I'm interested to see what the creators have got up their sleeves.

Noah. Noooo! Ahhhhh! (See what I did there?) I'm annoyed that they shoved him aside just to bring him back for his death, but I was actually totally devastated when it happened. They did a good job in a few brief moments of establishing him as part of the group. He and Tara goofed around, and he and Glenn had some moments of bonding. Props to Steven Yeun (Glenn) for his acting when Noah was ripped to piece right in front of him. He was totally deranged with grief and horror. Nicely done.

We saw Daryl only briefly, as he sets off on his recruiting mission. I wonder what's going to happen in his absence? When he gets back, what will the state of Alexandria be? I can't wait to find out!

8.5/10