Synopsis of 8×13: Did you love the flu subplot from season four? Remember when Glenn almost died of that? Then boy, do we have a familiar feeling episode for you — this time with more biological warfare!
At the Hilltop, Henry asks for a gun, but Ezekiel tells him that he needs to stay inside — which is the same thing Carol tells him when he blatantly asks her. Doctor Dana gives Siddiq a bunch of shit for being the new guy in town, but he valiantly stands up for himself and she’ll be dead by the end of the episode, so you don’t really need her name. Maggie readies herself as the Saviors reach the gates.
Simon begins barking orders and ignores Maggie’s threat that she’ll kill the captured Saviors if they don’t stand down. He reminds everyone that the goal isn’t infection, it’s conclusion, even as Dwight tries to reason with him about what Negan would have wanted. Negan might still be alive out there, but Simon will beg forgiveness if that’s the case. Just before they can charge forward, Daryl comes riding in on his motorcycle with his automatic rifle and starts shooting people.
As they follow him into the Hilltop, the Saviors are ambushed by everyone else with guns. They fire back with arrows as Al offers the captors to fight alongside Maggie and the Hilltop. She ignores him and he’s dragged away by Diane in the chaos. Tobin gets injured by one of the Saviors and Carol, quickly followed by Siddiq, moves to help him.
It’s a massive firefight full of mayhem and Simon and Dwight are still alive despite taking cover in a truck that was pumped full of lead. The pair of them happen to see Tara shooting at Saviors, but she doesn’t see them. Daryl does see them sneaking up behind her though. Before Simon can hurt her, Dwight shoots her in the shoulder with an arrow. They run off as someone helps Tara and Michonne comes to collect Daryl.
All of the lights in the Hilltop go out and the Saviors regroup under Simon’s direction. His plan includes standing everyone together and whistling, which really only makes them the target of more gunfire from the mansion, as well as the lookouts and Rick who come rushing in behind them.
Rick runs out of bullets almost immediately and starts hacking away with his ax, almost killing Siddiq in the process. Morgan is with him, still hallucinating Gavin following him around. The surviving Saviors manage to flee in a few cars, while Rick and Maggie stand at the gate shooting at them. He reveals to her that Negan wasn’t there because he’d already chased him off earlier.
Daryl and Tara argue about Dwight’s presence at the fight and which side he wants to be on. Suddenly, she’s decided she’s fine with Dwight after Daryl asks her if they’re square. Her answer just makes him more upset. Inside the house, Rick is pulling boards off of windows and declining Michonne’s food and offer to help clean his wounds after the fight. He at least tells her about Negan too.
Maggie lets Al bury his people outside of the gates and he’s just pleased to hear that they’re thought of as people for once. Diane tries to comfort Maggie about the outcome of the fight, but she admits that she wanted Negan to see Glenn’s grave as his last sight and that she lured the Saviors to the Hilltop deliberately. Tobin and Carol have a moment in the infirmary where she gets a nice monologue about what whether the fighting will ever stop.
Jesus ensures the captive Saviors are locked up, while Henry ominously picks up a gun. Elsewhere, Siddiq also offers to treat Rick’s injuries and tries to talk to him about Carl, which he refuses to do. A Hilltop survivor heaps praise on Maggie for being unlike Gregory, which is only twisting the metaphorical knife into her side as everyone beds down on the mansion floor for the night.
Sometime in the night, Tobin dies in the infirmary. When someone wakes up to get Doctor Dana, he’s attacked from behind by walker Tobin and thus the suddenly silent assault begins. Doctor Dana finds a bloody trailer and is also taken down by Tobin before they all slowly shuffle towards the main house. The injured man from earlier who praised Maggie also turned at some point and falls down the stairs without waking anyone.
Out at the Saviors’ pen, Henry asks Gregory for whoever killed his brother. Gregory begs to be let out as Al tries to talk Henry down from shooting any of them. Shouts from the main house wake the rest of the Saviors, as Henry opens the cage because he’s an idiot. Once inside, he asks Gavin if it was him (it was), but before he gets an answer one of the injured Saviors reanimates and starts attacking people in the pen. The confusion allows Gavin to tackle Henry for his gun and they all escape.
In the main house, Siddiq is trying to do triage and Rick nonchalantly amputates an arm in the disarray around him. They manage to contain the problem, only to question what happened since no one was bitten and all of the walkers were their own people. One of the injured, but not-yet-dead, people think it must be the fever brought on by the wounds they all got and Rick makes the huge logical leap from Lucille being covered in gore. Rick goes on to tell other people about his great detective work and Daryl and Tara have another fight about Dwight.
Outside, Siddiq is fighting off walkers when Al rushes to his aid. Maggie finds him and Al’s quick to point out that he and some others stayed to help, showing her that they’re trying to shut the main gates instead of running off. He tells her about Henry opening the pen and, in the morning, Carol and Ezekiel can’t find him anywhere. Morgan feels guilty as Gavin taunts him and Maggie has to preside over even more graves as the episode ends.
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