The Walking Dead Awards: “I get it now”

Season 5, Episode 8: We wouldn’t be here without Grady
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Photograph courtesy AMC

(Spoilers ahead)

Each week, we comb through the guts of The Walking Dead, much like a horde of hungry walkers, to bring you the episode’s best moments, surprises, and other post-apocalyptic curiosities. This week: Maggie has a long-lost sister, Rick goes on trial for vehicular manslaughter, and a shocking twist that will blow your hair back.

Season 5, Episode 8: “Coda”

Best fake magazines: The Rock&Roll and Breakbeats magazines that Gabriel found at the Bob-B-Q. Yeah, those are okay, but will they tell you what’s the Best of Atlanta? *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*

Best preview for the rest of the season: Want to know what’s going to happen to the gang next February? Fr. Gabriel Stokes has got you covered. He just happened to open that Bible to 2 Chronicles 8-11. Reading these chapters will mention a walled fortress city, great wealth, and rebellion. In short, it’s perfectly foreshadowing the Alexandria safe zone plot.

Biggest dose of karma: Gabriel’s demons came back to bite at him, literally, when he found himself locked outside the church, begging to get back in, just like his parishioners.

Best muscle memory: It’s been a couple of years since Rick’s been inside a police cruiser. But not a second into it and he’s all over that loudspeaker like it’s the last day to get his ticket quota met.

Cutest couple: Aww, aren’t Noah and Beth so sweet? You know, for that whole two seconds until . . .

Worst luck: Maggie, finally reminded that she has a sister, found out that Beth was alive and arrived to Grady just in time to see her lifeless body being carried out by a tearful Daryl. This all after learning that there is no cure, watching her dad lose his head, and escaping the family farm as it went up in flames. Makes you wonder how long Glenn is for this world.

Biggest question: A few months ago, we saw the husk of a burned out church on set in Senoia. Yet when the group left, the church was still standing. There’s nobody left to solve this mystery . . . unless . . .

Best surprise: We guess they had to give us something after killing Beth, the Walking Dead equivalent to a kitten, so the producers gave us a bonus Morgan clip after the credits! He’s made it from Terminus to the church and could easily be the one to burn it down.

Best kill: Michonne’s samurai attack on the walkers invading the church. Remember when we said we were sick of her being delegated to babysitter? Well, we’re a lot cooler with it when she’s kicking butt with the baby strapped to her back.

Best dialogue:

Officer Franco: Where are your people?
*gunshot*
Rick: They’re close.

Most disturbing image: Beth’s murder. We didn’t see it coming. We assumed Carol wouldn’t survive and that at the worst, Beth would stay at Grady, possibly spinning-off into a new show: Beth Greene, M.D.

Episode MVP: Beth, for sacrificing herself to free the Grady wards. We’re gonna miss this kid. She really came full circle from wanting to kill herself in the second season to giving up her life to help others. Now she’s drinking moonshine with Hershel up in Walking Dead heaven. (Or crying on Talking Dead.)

And once again, where exactly does Rick fall this week on the special holiday edition calm/crazy scale?

Illustration by Matt Walljasper; photographs courtesy AMC
Illustration by Matt Walljasper; photographs courtesy AMC

We’ll see you all in February!

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