Because we need to remember that Father Gabriel is truly losing his faith “Spend” opens with him, in the middle of a perceived sanctuary he rips page after page out of the bible before looking up with (almost) tears in his eyes. This is The Walking Dead reminding us as viewers that characters take weeks to get over their arcs, even if those arcs no longer make sense given the new context of the situation. Routinely the show has no hope, and now that hope has been renewed Gabriel can’t seem to find it for himself.

Noah has found purpose. And Reg is impressed he’s in it for the long haul. This being The Walking Dead Reg must have written in his journal that Noah now outlived his role as a colored member of the male cast. Silly casting choices aside, the moment was touching all the same. Especially given the later twist.

Eugene is afraid of guns, and expanding his vocabulary. He managed to use “shit” three times in 1 minute. That wasn’t even the most jarring part of the scene as we piled into the van to track down supplies we’re treated to the most jarring musical transition the show put up.

Rick continues to flirt with the idea of breaking up a marriage. Although it seemed fairly clear the husband was responsible for tearing down that beloved owl statue, it turns out to be his cookie craving son. At least Eugene has admitted to being a coward. But when we headed into that dark factory floor, I wasn’t prepared for a reality where he didn’t make the stupidest choice in there.

That was left to the explosion of the grenade. But, I mean how could he have known? Luckily the idiot son died pretty damn quickly, and after the last two weeks it’s almost a breath of fresh air to see the hot head killed.  I wish I could say the same for Eugene.

The cookie kid is really starting to get on my nerves. Carol’s short temper embodied exactly how I felt about Sam hiding in her house. But, it’s almost as if Carol’s becoming more of a cold bitch as time goes on. I understand the scenes with Sam were to broaden her back to the women who she used to be, but I don’t buy this kid being that brave. Everything about these scenes felt forced, even if it implied that his father was an asshole. Carol looking further into the life of a kid she scared half to death. The idiot father, Pete opens the door and we now know he’s a bad dude.

I’m happy to see Abraham getting his own job in expanding the wall. Something I’m sure fans of the comics are happy to see him doing. The character has felt more than a little aimless after his whole Washington trip went down the drain, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the deep musty breath scene was.

His run for Francine was the best character moment he’s had this year. And his one liner as he’s cornered on every side made me far too pleased. It gave me hope for his character. He’s routinely felt lost in the weekly proceedings, so it’s great to see him have a noble steak in a hopeless situation. And, better yet he’s an inspiration. I’m happy to see Abraham in control after that little struggle. He deserves the purpose.

Sharing beers with the Sherriff sounds like a good idea on paper. But a drunk and a hardened badass don’t generally make for good company together. The discussion of loss, is something I was hoping to have addressed. But, it felt super awkward. Which was in the intention. Even though Pete is a drunk it feels like we’re setting Rick up for failure here.

Eugene’s moment of redemption was something I needed to see from the character.  And what about that death scene that followed! Man, that was painful. His screams into the air reminded me of Rhodes’ death from Day of the Dead. Maybe it was just because the actors looked similar, but there were even similarities in the framing of the shots. Whether or not it was on purpose, I loved it.

Glenn and Noah stuck inside the revolving door was a living nightmare. I had no idea how the hell the writers were going to get them out of that situation. But, hell, it was that horrendous music from earlier, some clever payoff there. Except they hardly got out clean, with Noah’s insanely brutal death against the glass, this episode had some of the best moments of violence this year.

I was happy to see Maggie have at least a little purpose this week. But, there was a moment in the commercial breaks that showed Maggie outside the jail nailing a armored zombie. And, fuck I missed her, the old her. I don’t need her sitting in a chair offering insight about how awesome her group is.

Gabriel ranting about the false light was a great way to undo everything the group has fought to gain in Alexandria. Proving he’s a damn scourge to the group because they fought to survive. He’s putting doubt against the group, in the guise of Satan, because they don’t deserve paradise.

Despite everything with Carol, her push to get Rick to kill Pete was a nice way to end the episode. So with a couple great deaths, and a few seeds of doubt The Walking Dead had its best episode of 2015.

I wrote this review as I watched the episode live, so the format may be much more steam of consciousness, do you guys like that better? Or would you prefer the old style of doing things? Let me know in the comments.

Are you looking forward to the final two episodes? What did you think of Noah’s death?