The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale Claims One Life & Leaves Many More in the Balance

Who didn't survive the AMC thriller's mid-season finale?

By Billy Nilles Nov 30, 2015 4:16 AMTags
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Excuse us as we borrow from Deanna, but tonight's mid-season finale of The Walking Dead had us saying only one thing: "Well, s--t."

Seriously, that was one intense hour of television that claimed one life, left many more in the balance, and left us wondering just how the heck our heroes are going to stay alive until the show returns next year. But before we dig into the meat of the episode, here's your last warning: There be spoilers ahead, so turn back now if you haven't tuned in yet!

So, who didn't make it out alive? Well, that would be the aforementioned Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh), who took a bite to the belly while trying to help Rick (Andrew Lincoln) during the Great Steeple Crash of 2015, which sent all of our heroes into far-flung corners of Alexandria to wait out the infestation. Deanna and Rick wound up in Jessie's (Alexandra Breckenridge) house with Michonne (Dania Gurira), Carl (Chandler Riggs), Father Gabriel, and Jessie's awful sons Ron and Sam. (Seriously, is there anything worse on this show currently than those two little turds? I don't think so.)

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) found herself up a ladder on some shaky scaffolding, out of ammo and out of options. Rosita (Christian Serratos), Tara (Alanna Masterson), and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) barricaded themselves in a garage/Alexandria's make-shift classroom. And Morgan (Lennie James) and Carol (Melissa McBride) locked themselves in the empty house Morgan was housing the wounder Wolf, with Dr. Denise (Merritt Wever) hanging out in the basement with the bleeding SOB.

From there, the episode was largely a waiting game. Waiting for Deanna to die. (She did, but not before taking out a few walkers in a blaze of glory.) Wait for Morgan's pet Wolf to get lose. (He did, after Morgan and Carol went to war over him, knocking each other out cold, leaving poor Denise to probably die when he took her outside as a helpless Tara, Rosita, and Eugene looked on in horror.)

Wait for Ron to screw everything up. (He did, when he decided now was the best time to fight Carl, thereby luring the Walkers to the house, forcing everyone upstairs to ward the never-ending stream of zombies off.) Wait for Rick to remember the zombie guts trick from season one. (Which he did finally, using two dead walkers to cover his whole gang in guts, so they could get to the armory undetected.) And, finally, wait for Sam to screw everything up even further. (Which he did when he couldn't pretend to be brave and instead started saying, "Mom! Mom!" right as they were in the middle of the walkers.)

And the last waiting game? Ours, as we must wait until February to find out what happens next and who makes it out alive. You can bet not everyone's surviving Sam's screw-up. And even if they do, there'll soon be even bigger fish to try. Because, like the sneak peek after the episode made clear, Negan's coming.

What did you think of tonight's mid-season finale? Are you bummed Deanna bit the dust? Are Jessie's kids just the worst? Sound off in the comments below.

The Walking Dead returns Sunday, February 14 at 9 p.m. on AMC.

Watch: How Have "The Walking Dead" Stars Changed?