The Walking Dead begins its midseason finale, appropriately titled “Coda,” with a lot of running. Officer Bob, last seen knocking Sasha unconscious, is now fleeing not only walkers steadily in pursuit but also Rick Grimes, hot on the heels of his presumed bargaining chip with Grady Memorial’s Oficer Dawn.

Unfortunately for Officer Bob, Rick doesn’t fuck around. Rick jumps in a police car and takes the chase from on-foot to on-wheels. After one warning, Rick violently plows into Bob, most likely breaking his spine and paralyzing him. Just before Rick shoots Bob in the head, Bob warns them they will all die.

“Shut up,” Rick eloquently responds. After a bullet to the brain.

If this setup didn’t tell you that the midseason finale meant business, then you’re not paying attention. They’re broadcasting it loud and proud.

Next, we return to Father Gabriel, last seen fleeing a religious zombie in the woods. Gabriel finds the abandoned, walker-filled elementary school last occupied by Gareth and his merry band of cannibals. We even get a glimpse of a (Bob’s?) severed leg roasting on a formerly open fire. Gabriel hangs out long enough to lure enough walkers and give them time to break through the glass door. He then (brilliantly) lures them back to the church where Michonne, CAR-UL, and baby Judith are holed up. Of course, they are no match for the roaming hoard, and they lose the only shelter they had. They do manage to trap the zombies in the church and escape through the hole Gabriel left in the floor.

The best sight gag in the episode happens here as the walkers saunter down the church’s aisle. Written above the alter just over the walkers is a Bible verse: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” Sometimes, it’s the small things in life that give me pleasure.

Waiting outside for a new plan, Father Gabriel and gang are saved by Abraham and his massive, bloody fire truck. They reunite, hug, and share the joy with Maggie that Beth is alive and holed-up in Grady Memorial.

Speaking of Grady Memorial, we get a couple of interspersed scenes back there of Beth chatting with her new BFF Officer Dawn, but these don’t (yet) have the gravitas and thrill of the others. They’re clearly trying to humanize Dawn as she struggles to maintain order and control over the hospital. Another cop eventually challenges Dawn, attacking her in a brutal fistfight. Beth steps in, and the two women overpower the attacking cop. Dawn allows Beth to push him down the open elevator shaft, making that a grand total of two cops that Beth has now killed. Remember, she let walker Keisha Castle-Hughes maul the rapey cop a few episodes back.

Carol and Michonne are not the only badass bitches on this show.

Ah, Carol. Just when I thought she was due another epic, “Grove”-level episode, we continue to be served a big plate of Carol’s unconscious and near-death. Beth still watches over her, but when Office Dawn comes in to continue their bonding experience, the dialogue alone would kill Carol if she weren’t already in a coma. Just as Dawn and Beth finish, though, Carol starts to stir, wincing in pain from the tortured exchange between Beth and Dawn.

Outside of the hospital, Rick approaches Grady Memorial to bargain for the exchange: Carol and Beth for the two captured officers. In case they didn’t take him seriously, a walker slowly approaches from behind only to be sniped by Sasha from her nearby perch.

Apparently, the ploy seems to work as our next scene involves the exchange inside the hospital. They start the exchange one for one, Carol first, then Beth. Things seem to move smoothly until Officer Dawn asks for Noah, which was against the original deal. There’s an increased tension until Noah agrees to go. Sweet Beth – sweet, sweet Beth – wants to say goodbye to Noah and give Officer Dawn a parting gift by stabbing her in the shoulder with a pair of scissors.

By instinct, Officer Dawn shoots Beth clean through the head, killing her instantly. Without a second thought, Daryl achieves retribution by shooting Officer Dawn in the head, thereby officially ending the Grady Memorial plotline with both a bang AND a whimper.

As a midseason finale, “Coda” wasn’t quite the shocker that season two’s midseason finale was (the second death of Sophia). Beth’s death is another in a now long-line of sad departures that have come to define the show. She was never really critical to the show – certainly not one of the seemingly untouchable core group that consists of Rick, Michonne, Daryl, or Carol. Nonetheless, it was a sad ending, one met with real tears by the tight-knit actors.

When the show returns in February, we will most likely miss the innocence and positivity that Beth provided. The remaining crew… well… they’re all dead inside anyway.

The Walking Dead episode seven, “Crossed,” starts with multiple characters dealing with grief and loss. I know, that’s not exactly a revolutionary way to describe an episode of the series considering how often it explores that theme, but this beginning was exceptionally telling.

With the exception of Father Gabriel Stokes and Sasha, Rick and company are up to their usual routine, fortifying Gabriel’s church against potential intruders using pipe organs and wood cut from the pews. Sasha intensely cuts into the pews, chopping through her grief with a focused intensity. Father Gabriel, the seemingly sane one of the group, tours through the construction and wonders if they would repurpose the church’s cross.

“If we need it,” Daryl ominously replies.

Back inside, Gabriel notices the dried blood from the fight with Gareth’s cannibals. Echoing Lady Macbeth, he tries to clear a spot, scratching on the floor with his fingernails. Sanity is but an illusion, I suppose.

A few scenes later, Carl (CAR-UL) engages Gabriel and tries to teach him the benefit of knowing self-defense with Michonne watching carefully. Gabriel can’t handle it, further demonstrating his prolific weakness. Or so we think…

We briefly return to the Abraham / Eugene scene where Eugene remains unconscious, and Abraham remains near catatonic, his sole reason for living now gone. There is a nice scene where Maggie shows she’s not afraid to “put him down” if he falls out of line. She later continues to provoke him, urging him to get over himself because it won’t get any better than what they have at that moment. Other than that, it was a throwaway moment. We did discover that the gang refers to themselves as GREATM using the first letters of each name to distinguish their water bottles. Kinda cute.

Rick takes a small band of his group to Atlanta to rescue Beth and Carol, who remains unconscious in Grady Memorial. Officer Dawn and the officers holding court there have proclaimed Carol all but dead, leaving instructions to remove her from life support. For vague reasons dedicated only to furthering the plot, Officer Dawn gives Beth the key to the drugs and puts her in charge of saving Carol’s life.

Outside, Noah draws two officers outside into a trap. Rick and company are about to work a deal when another car ambushes them and rescues the captured cops. That victory is short lived when the getaway car plows into a field of zombies in various states of decay. The Most Gruesome Moment of the Episode award goes to Daryl who uses the head of a snarling zombie to bash an attacking cop in the head.

Capturing the three cops for leverage, Rick intends to bargain for Carol and Beth. The cops, however, quickly reveal that Dawn is “on her way out.” One of the officers – a more reasonable, less rapey (hollaback to the first Grady Memorial episode) cop – indicates there’s another way, and he’s willing to help them find it. This cop, however, manages to talk Sasha into freeing him long enough to overpower her and escape by the end of the episode.

Wrapping up other events, Father Gabriel uses the machete CAR-UL gave him to break his way out of the church through the floorboards. After stepping on a nail, he wanders through the woods until he’s attacked by a snarling female walker. He manages to free himself, pushing her down on a tree limb, but cannot smash her head in with a large stone because she’s wearing a cross. Clearly, suffering on the forest floor with her intestines hanging out is justifiable if she’s wearing religious iconography. I know a little about Father Gabriel from spoilery reading on the internet, but I’m not a huge fan of his. It’s a realistic and legit interpretation of the character, but I do find it slightly annoying.

We return once more to the Maggie / Abraham intervention scene where Abraham finally starts coming out of his state. Eugene regains consciousness, and Glenn and others return from their completely uninteresting side journey to look for water. They find something hidden in a backpack, but we’ll have to wait until next week to figure that one out.

This sets the stage for yet another presumable Battle Royale during next week’s midseason finale. I dunno, maybe it’s the weather or maybe it’s just me, but I’m feeling a little fatigued with all of the wars these people keep waging. It’s almost as if it would be more surprising if the various survivors didn’t actually just shoot each other to claim supremacy in this zombie apocalypse.

Five seasons in, just blowing everybody away is getting a little passé.