The Walking Dead Recap: “Heads Up”
In which Walking Dead fans FINALLY get some answers...
Be sure to check out my other recaps of this season of The Walking Dead!
Spoilers ahead! Read on at your own risk!
Seriously. Big spoilers. Caution.
We’ve been waiting literally weeks to find out the fate of one of the fandom’s favorite characters. While the show runners have cruelly made us wait several weeks to see what actually happened to the one and only Glenn Rhee, they happily kicked off this week’s episode right where we left off with Glenn—underneath Nicholas’ dead body in the center of a giant walker herd.
I am incredibly happy to report that all of you who joined me in clinging to hope that Glenn survived were right all along. The intestines we saw being passed around the herd were, in fact, Nicholas’, and Glenn was able to scoot underneath the dumpster. After waiting for the herd to disperse, Glenn scooted back out from under the dumpster to find Enid on the roof of a nearby building. She tossed Glenn a bottle of water and, in standard Enid fashion, she immediately ran away.
Glenn chased down Enid, trying to get answers on what happened in Alexandria (Enid responded with super helpful answers like, “it’s what always happens”), and he eventually convinced her to accompany him back to Alexandria. Glenn immediately puts his dad hat on, not letting Enid sulk too far into angsty teen and pushing her to survive and connect with her home back in Alexandria. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t totally work. Enid pulls a gun on him, she whines a lot in the episode, and she spends a great deal of time rolling her eyes at Glenn, but ultimately they’re able to work together and send up a bunch of green balloons to let Alexandria know they’re safe. Sadly, we don’t get to see Glenn and Maggie reunite this episode, but we do get to see her see the balloons which is almost as good. Almost. I’m hoping we get to see them reunited next week for the mid-season finale.
Back at Alexandria, things are bubbling just under the surface. Ron is continuing to get his sketchy gun lessons from Rick and Carl. I don’t think there’s a soul in the fandom who thought Ron was learning to shoot to aid in home security and walker defense, and the fact that Ron stole ammo, followed Carl with a gun in hand, and appeared to have the intent to shoot Carl. Of course, there was a significant event that derailed Ron’s plans, but we’ll talk about that in a moment. Suffice it to say that it seems our worst fears about Ron were most certainly true. I’m incredibly concerned about Carl’s safety in the weeks to come, but I do think that Carl could certainly hold his own against Ron. We’ll have to see how that plays out.
Arguably the largest problem Alexandria was facing—apart from the inexperienced citizens, the naive leader, and their faulty walker defense plans—was Morgan and his insistence on upholding his “all life has value”. All life, including the lives of the Wolves who attacked Alexandria and killed countless citizens. All life, including the Wolf Morgan has imprisoned, who promised to kill every person in Alexandria should he survive. All life may have value, but the threads are starting to unravel in Morgan’s plan for pacifism. Is Morgan really valuing life by saving the lives of killers? Are you valuing life by keeping killers in the midst of your family and friends?
Rick approaches Morgan about the three Wolves who attacked and nearly killed him in the RV—Wolves that Morgan let escape from Alexandria. Morgan admits to letting them go, he admits the struggle behind his new world view, but he ultimately sticks to his convictions. Michonne, Rick, and Carol all push back, saying that such a black and white worldview can’t survive in this new world and that by valuing all life, Morgan is also endangering the lives of his loved ones at the same time. While they don’t decide to exile Morgan, it’s clear that Rick wants to continue the conversation with Morgan about valuing life—but most importantly, Morgan keeps his pet Wolf a secret. That is, until he approaches new Alexandria doctor, Denise, and asks her to help mend the wounds of his Wolfy prisoner. Carol sees Denise going to tend to the Wolf, and she confronts Morgan about who he is keeping prisoner.
However, their conversation is cut short when a building outside of the Alexandria walls collapses onto the wall. The wall does not only expose Alexandria to other threats like the Wolves, but also lets the enormous walker herd that Rick led to the city walls into the city. Of course that’s the moment the episode ends, setting us up for what will undoubtedly be an intense and action-packed mid-season finale.
What will become of Alexandria now that the walls are destroyed? Will Glenn and Maggie reunite (seriously, if they don’t I’m gonna freak out)? Is Ron going to shoot Carl? Also, it’s safe to say that, after this week’s episode, Glenn was not the voice we heard on Daryl’s walkie-talkie, so who was it? Ultimately, this first half of the season has only spanned about 24-48 hours, so it’s possible that it could be Rick—because we don’t know how he was able to escape from that walker-surrounded RV—but it could also be the survivors Daryl met last week. Either way, I think we’re in for an amazing finale and, most importantly, I’m thrilled that Glenn lives to fight another day—at least for now.
What did you think of the finale? What do you think is to come in the mid-season finale? Are you happy to see Glenn alive and well, or do you think it was a cheap publicity ploy? Let me know those thoughts and more on the episode in the comments!
(image via AMC)
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