The Walking Dead S5E14: Spend
Original Airdate: March 15, 2015
Recap by Sarabeth Pollock
Tonight’s episode starts out with Gabriel and a Bible. He’s in his priest’s uniform again, but he’s agitated. Gabriel walks into the church while the town is quiet. He goes to the makeshift pulpit and sees that someone brought him a bowl of strawberries. His Bible is ripped so he prepares to fix it, and then he stops. He tears a page from the Bible, and then he tears another and another until he finally rips a whole section out, then he slams the book closed and fights his tears.
Daryl is back on a motorcycle, and he rides out the gate, followed by a car.
Reggie apologizes to Noah for being late to their early morning meeting. The power is out. Noah wants to start meeting in the mornings so that Reggie can teach him. He doesn’t want to just be an architect; he wants to make sure the walls stay up. He’s afraid that they’ll fall in someday. Noah wants to learn how to keep houses functioning, and how to build buildings. Reggie pulls out a notebook that he uses to document things that are noteworthy. He pulls out a few pages, and then he hands it to Noah and says he should start doing the same, because there will be a new start and it should be recorded. That, and he needs to write down all that Reggie will teach him.
Abraham looks at his reflection in the mirror. He’s pensive this morning.
Noah hands Eugene a gun, but Eugene doesn’t want to take it. He tells him that the items he needs are the same everywhere, and he’ll install them and get the power grid operational again. Noah makes him take the gun. Evidently he’s not exempt from this little trip. Aidan says goodbye to his parents, who clearly love him despite his cockiness. Maggie gives Glenn a goodbye kiss. Deanna thanks Glenn for everything he’s doing to keep her son in line. Tara wants to know the story with the girl that Noah was talking to. Just then, Aidan starts the van and a techno beat fills the cab. Even Glenn has to laugh.
Rick finds Jesse cleaning up her sculpture in the garage. Evidently someone destroyed her owl. Rick promises to keep an eye out for her. He tells her about the “broken window theory” that keeps society in check.
The team arrives at the warehouse. Glenn proposes that they scout the perimeter just in case. A Walker approaches and Noah efficiently shoots it. Nicholas scoffs, but Aidan agrees with Glenn. Eugene and Tara walk around the building and Eugene says that he got them to Alexandria, that without him and “his vision” they never would have gone there. Tara calls him a coward, which he agrees with.
Glenn praises Noah’s aim. They come across a huge herd of Walkers in the front of the building, so the front exit is not an option.
The group reconvenes and enters the warehouse. Glenn and Aidan lead the way. They can hear Walkers in the distance, and Glenn surmises that they’re being blocked by something. They find the Walkers behind a chain-link fence. Other than that, the warehouse is full of supplies. Eugene and Tara find what they’re looking for. Aidan is off on his own when an armor-wearing Walker approaches. Aidan shoots at him until he falls down, but he fails to notice the grenades on its suit. Glenn shouts out a warning but it too late. The place blows up.
Glenn gets to his feet. He finds Aidan impaled on the shelf. Noah finds Glenn, and Eugene cries out for them. He’s with Tara, but she’s horribly wounded. A Walker approaches Eugene but he’s too afraid to shoot it. He gets an assist from Noah and Glenn, and then they rush off to help Tara before the escaping Walkers can get to them.
Carol finds Sam rifling through the pantry looking for cookies. His power is out and someone destroyed his owl statue, so he came to Carol’s. He’s proud that he hasn’t told anyone about the guns. Carol shakes him and says that none of these are actual problems. She doesn’t want to make cookies for him, so he asks if she’ll teach him how to do it himself. This catches her off guard, so she tells him to steal the chocolate from Olivia as a start. What is her game?
Eugene says that Tara is losing a lot of blood. They need to get her back to Alexandria. That’s when they hear the cries, and it turns out that Aidan is alive. He’s impaled, but he’s alive. Eugene tells the three men to go save him, because that’s what Tara would do. They leave, and Eugene stays to protect her.
Abraham and some townsfolk go out to get supplies to make the walls stronger. There is a whole construction site for their use. Abraham is struggling with his demons and he takes a moment to collect himself before helping out. One of the townsfolk runs back, trailed by dozens of Walkers. In the melee, Francine, who had been up in a forklift as a lookout, falls from her perch when someone lets go of the lever. She falls into the herd, and everyone is about to abandon her when Abraham rushes in to save her. They’re surrounded, so he puts her in the cab of one of the big machines and then faces the Walkers. “Mother dick,” he says.
Abraham leads the Walkers under the tractor and shoots them, then he grabs a hammer and starts swinging. Francine helps shoot Walkers as well. The townsfolk are amazed that Abraham is still alive, and one of them hurries to help even though his other neighbors don’t.
Rick gets a visit from the good doctor, who brings beer as a thank you for helping Jesse earlier. Pete’s already drunk and teases Rick for always being on duty, though he saw Rick drinking at the party. Pete’s not upset about the owl, and he transitions from the owl to Rick losing his wife. Pete says that they have lost things as well, even if Rick’s group doesn’t see that. Then he tells Rick to bring the kids in for a check-up. And then he wants to be friends with Rick. And then…Pete has left the building. Rick watches him leave. He’s suspicious.
Eugene tells the unconscious Tara that he told them what he was, but no one listened. The lights go out, so Eugene picks her up and runs.
Glenn and company reach Aidan and try to pry him from the bars. He screams. He’s impaled in two spots and it’s impossible to free him. Nicholas says something in Aidan’s ear before running off, then Aidan grabs Glenn and tells him that there were people there before, but then they did it. It was a very important message, but it was jumbled given Aidan’s blood loss. He tells Glenn to go, and then Aidan is eaten by Walkers. It’s an incredibly prolonged death scene, where we see Aidan’s agony as his innards are liberated from his stomach cavity.
Abraham has beef with the guy who was going to leave them behind. He punches him, as does Francine. Abraham takes over the job site, and the people jump to attention.
Nicholas runs for the front door, but we already know that the front door isn’t an option. Glenn and Noah are close behind but Glenn is out of ammo, so they barricade themselves in the revolving door. Walkers surround them on both sides.
Deanna and Reggie listen to the defunct job site leader who says that Abraham’s actions saved Francine, and that he’s a better leader than he is. Maggie looks on with a hint of pride in her eyes. Deanna listens and decides that she’ll approach Abraham about being in charge. The man knows she won’t regret it. Deanna reflects that she has put another one of Rick’s group in a position of power, and Maggie says that’s why she brought them there.
Sam returns with the two chocolate bars. She says that she won’t do this for him again. He wants to know if she was always a good cook, but she says they aren’t talking. He says they don’t have to be friends, but it doesn’t have to be quiet. Carol reveals that cooking helped her forget bad things. Sam says that he breaks things when he’s sad. Carol asks if he broke his owl, and he did. He asks why she stole the guns, and she says it was to protect herself. Sam wants a gun, which makes Carol stop when she sees the haunted look on his face. She wants to know who the gun is for, but he runs off before he tells her.
Glenn and company are stuck. Miraculously, Eugene pulls up and distracts them with the music from the van. Glenn tells Nicholas that he’s going to break the glass. Nicholas has his own plans and runs from the revolving door, allowing Noah to be grabbed by the Walkers on the other side. “Don’t let go!” Noah screams, but Glenn can’t hold on. Noah is thrust against the door and he stares at Glenn as he’s eaten alive.
Eugene stops when Nicholas runs up to the van. He says they’re leaving, but Eugene refuses to get out. Nicholas pulls him out and tries to start the van, and Glenn arrives and pulls him out and punches him several times. Eugene asks about Noah, but Glenn shakes his head and says that they need to get Nicholas in the van.
Carol knocks on Pete and Jesse’s door. Pete answers and is acting very suspiciously. Jesse is in the background, telling him “don’t.” Carol knows what’s happening.
Glenn drives the van while Eugene rides shotgun and keeps his attention on the back of the van, on injured Tara and unconscious Nicholas. He has his gun drawn.
Deanna answers her door. It’s Gabriel. He comes inside and tells Deanna that Satan disguises himself as angels of light. He tells Deanna that Rick’s group is evil, and that they’ve done bad things to get where they are. Deanna says that they’re survivors, and that they had to do things to survive. Gabriel doesn’t relent, and though she tries to get him out, he keeps talking about Satan. Maggie has come upstairs and hears the whole conversation. Deanna closes the door, looking lost in thought.
Carol goes to Rick’s house and tells him that Pete is hitting Jesse. Rick wants to know how she knows, but Sam didn’t have to tell her. She can see it. She says that there’s only one way this can go down—Rick has to kill him. Okay…
Clearly, Gabriel is losing his mind. If only Deanna knew what Gabriel did to his parishioners.
Well, we have two weeks left, which is plenty of time for things to go south in Alexandria….
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