The Walking Dead - Recap: Locked Out of Heaven

In a general sense, the episode has a fairly straightforward plot. Bob (Larry Gilliard Jr.) reveals to the Terminians that he's been bitten, essentially meaning they've been eating tainted meat all this time. Never mind that it strains credulity that no one would check for a gaping shoulder wound (or a wound of any kind) before cooking Bob, it works as a springboard into the action of the episode, as Gareth (Andrew J. West) and his crew drop Bob back off at the church in an attempt to lure Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his strongest allies away from the group so they can sneak in and finish the job they started back at Terminus. Of course, the episode then subverts expectations by having Rick and co. anticipate Gareth's plan, ambushing the Terminians just as they think they have things under control. What follows is a grim epilogue to the season premiere -- every bit as violent, but far more final, as Rick, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) downright bludgeon and eviscerate Gareth and his crew. On the one hand, this horrifies Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan); on the other hand, it's illustrated as being kind of necessary. You could argue that Gareth may have been sincere in his promises to never harass Rick's group again, but Rick is just as spot-on in his observation that if it isn't his group Gareth harasses, it'll be someone else. In Rick's mind, purging this world of Gareth and his group is a public service, regardless of whatever atrocities they endured that made them the cannibals they were.

With that threat out of the way, the episode is able to then focus on some of the more insightful character stories of the episode. For example, we learn the secret that Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) has been hiding, his greatest sin: when the outbreak first occurred, he locked himself inside the church and refused to open the doors for his congregation, listening to their horrified screams and pleas for help as they were devoured by walkers. For Father Gabriel, this is interesting in that we see his process of dealing with what he's done. He still feels guilty, and even believes Rick's group has been sent by God to kill him, in retribution for what he's done. So how does he repent and make amends for what he's done? By opening the church doors to Rick's group and offering them the shelter and amenities he failed to offer his congregation. And he's met by hostility for it, initially, because -- well, this is what happens when you hole yourself up in a church. People suspect there's more to you than there appears to be, that there's something sinister beneath whatever facade you're trying to present. By locking out his congregation, he reaps the distrust and fear he'd sown. And although Father Gabriel is still anguished by his actions, even confiding in Michonne (Danai Gurira) about reliving that horrific day, there seems to be at least some part of him that sees this as just. He moves on with his life by clinging closer to religion and the own certainty of his damnation, which provides a contrast to how characters like Sasha deal with moving on.

For Sasha, her method seems to be to get on with it already, to move past the horror of what's happening so you can begin the process of forgetting. Naturally, this is easier said than done, since Sasha actually does care about Bob (despite how little we've actually seen of that relationship, relative to everything else). Bob, who was bitten in the food bank last week, spends the better part of the episode slowly wasting away, which wouldn't be affecting in the least if Larry Gilliard, Jr. weren't so great in the role. Seriously, he made me feel for a character I hadn't been all that invested in, prior to this point. His speech to Rick about discovering there were still good people in the world, and his assertion that Judith represents a bright future for the world ("Just look at her, and tell me the world isn't going to change.") is beautiful. As are his final moments with Sasha. The emotional struggle of the episode rests with Sasha. She wants to do right by Bob, to be there for him in his final moments, but she doesn't feel she can move on from having to put a knife in Bob's head.

Although these last moments are lovely, with Bob happily recalling a dream in which Sasha is smiling at him, it also makes the necessity of what comes next all the harder. Normally, the cliche is to have the one who loves that person the most insist on being the one to do the deed, to put their loved one out of his or her misery. Whether it's Travis Coates being forced to shoot Old Yeller, or Michonne putting the bullet in Andrea, this is how it tends to be. Which is why it was so compelling for Sasha to resist that responsibility, initially fleeing with Rick and Abraham to hunt Gareth, leaving the responsibility in the hands of Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman). Later, when Bob finally passes away, she comes to realize that she'll have to stick the knife in his temple to keep him from turning. And, not unsurprisingly, she struggles with having to do it. Moving on, for Sasha, means clinging on to the memory of who that person was, not the memory of your last moment with them, shoving a knife in their temple after they've died. So you can imagine the relief on her face when Tyreese steps up to free her from the responsibility. Watching the relief wash over her face is an outstanding moment from Sonequa Martin-Green, and one of my favorite moments of this season so far...

He sticks the knife in Bob's temple, and that's that. Bob is buried, and the process of moving on can begin. It's a heartbreaking moment precisely because you can feel Sasha's relief, even as Tyreese feels a certain burden himself. He still isn't over the losses of Lizzie and Mika, but he can try to be strong -- both for himself and for the others. But, when Tyreese tells Rick that getting to Terminus killed him, Rick's response is so simplistically poignant that it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the episode: "No it didn't."

And so we're left with two splintered groups, as Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, Glenn and Maggie head for Washington D.C., while the others stay behind to wait for Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol to return from chasing after Beth. However, Daryl does return, but with a grim look on his face. When Michonne asks where Carol is, he motions to the woods behind him and says, "Come on out." What mystery is waiting on the other side? It's the perfect hook for next week, and a hell of a cliffhanger to round out what ended up being a pretty stellar conclusion to the loose trilogy that began with the season premiere, documenting the end of the Terminus threat and the start of a new goal for our survivors. Get to Washington D.C. and restart civilization. After all, like Abraham writes on the map to D.C., "The new world's gonna need Rick Grimes."