‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 finale Recap: “The Storm”

Caution: Spoilers from episode 9116 of The Walking Dead, “The Storm”.

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A voice comes over a microphone. “Finally broke, and we can’t fix it. We kept trying to hold on.” We see that the furnace finally broke and people got sick at The Kingdom. He says they need help and shelter.

We see Daryl hand Lydia a plate of food. They are leaving for Hilltop.

He says they will never forget the magic they felt in this place, or the love. Carol looks at past birthday cards. She finds a pin of a tiger that Henry had in his box. Ezekiel rolls up his charter and packs it in a tube.

Michonne and Aaron lead the caravan getting everyone out. Ezekiel gets on a horse and looks back at The Kingdom one more time.

 

The caravan walks down the highway, and everyone is bundled up. They see walkers in the field beside them. Alden looks at Lydia and asks why they are still watching them. He asks haven’t they done enough to us. Daryl sticks up for her. He says it’s their problem, not hers.

Daryl walks aside Carol. He says Henry wanted her here. He says she’s a good kid. Carol says every time she looks at her, all she sees is him. Daryl asks what she sees when she looks at him. “You.” She says. Jerry and Ezekiel notice a storm is coming.

 

Rosita and Gabriel share a sweet moment about their baby. Eugene comes in an interrupts it, telling them they need to figure out how to keep warm. They need more fire wood. Gabriel says they have to also let Negan out, or he’ll freeze down there.

Daryl and Carol shoot a few walkers in the frozen woods. Ezekiel tells them to stay back, that he and Daryl would catch up. They retrieve the arrows. Lydia seems to disappear among the caravan. Ezekiel says he thinks he and Carol need a fresh start without him. He wants him to live elsewhere. He says they need to get back what they lost and asks if he can give that to him. Daryl doesn’t respond.

Lydia walks alone through the woods in the snow. She comes across a walker frozen in a pond. She stares at it, as it tries to bite her. She rolls up her sleeve and holds out her wrist to the walker’s mouth. Carol emerges and Lydia pulls away from the walker. They re join the caravan.

Aaron says they need a place to get out of the snow and into shelter. They know the place and arrive at The Sanctuary.

Negan, now safe and warm by the fire indoors, says he’s memorized every inch of the room, but it still feels like a party. He jokes about the love triangle being entertainment. Judith tells him not to swear. He teases Gabriel about her medical appointments still with Siddiq. Judith is by the window, and they tell her to move.e Judith says Daryl had asked her to look after Dog, and she doesn’t know where he is now.

The fireplace explodes after they smell gas. Eugene says it doesn’t look good. People are bundled and not getting any warmer. Gabriel announces they all have to leave and go to Aaron’s house. It’s a raging blizzard outside.

At the Sanctuary, everyone tries to stay warm. Daryl sits next to Carol. Carol asks if something happened between him and Ezekiel back there. She says he only blames Daryl because he can’t let himself blame Carol. She says she feels that she is losing herself again, and having a hard time hanging on. He says he could take Lydia away, but then second guesses himself. She is listening below.

Ezekiel tells Michonne they won’t last a few days here. They look at a map, and think about sending a team to get supplies at a way station. Aaron says they wont make it, and that Rick’s bridge would have saved them. They say that the other way is through Alpha’s territory. They say that if they go through at night, they won’t know. Michonne says  the roads will be impassible for weeks after the storm. They either make it to the next way station, or die.

Michonne stands with Ezekiel and tells him she’s sorry. He says he just wants to do right by them , and wishes he had seen it coming sooner. Michonne says she thought all the time apart made them stronger but it didn’t. “That…woman was able to walk among us because we didn’t know each other.” She says. Ezekiel says if they see us crossing the border it could start something. Michonne says they make sure they don’t see. They approach the pikes again-now surrounded by snow.

Gabriel’s group, holding one rope, comes to a park, and the winds and snow blow colder. A dog barks. Judith runs into the snow yelling Dog’s name. They call after her. Negan chases after her.

Michonne and Daryl’s group come across figures in the snow. They are afraid it could be Whisperers. It’s just frozen walkers. They’ve made it across the border. They come to what looks like a frozen pond. Daryl notices Lydia is gone, Carol goes to finder her. Frozen walkers begin coming up from under the snow. More appear walking. They begin to fight as they appear. They determine it’s not The Whisperers yet. They ll make it across the ice.

Carol finds Lydia ad catches her. “What the hell are you doing?” She asks. Lydia says she doesn’t want to go, because her problems won’t go away. Lydia says she’s to blame for all the deaths. She says her son is dead because of her. She knows as long as she’s one of them, i’s not going to stop with her mom.She says there’s one way to fix this.

Daryl fights more walkers in the ice. he is tackled to the ground. He kills one with an icicle.

Lydia tells Carol to kill her and that everything will be better when she’s gone. She holds a knife to herself and asks her to kill her, for Henry. She says she’s weak, like her mother said. Carol has tears in her eyes. She goes to kill a walker, and says she isn’t weak. That they have to go. She takes her hand.

Negan calls for Judith. He is hit with shrapnel in the wind. He finds her with Dog. She’s cold and tired. Negan takes dog’s leash. He asks Judith if she’s okay. She sees that he’s cut. They start back, and take Dog with them.

The Kingdom group makes it to the Hilltop. Lydia looks at pictures on the wall of Glenn and Hershel. Jerry jokes about calling it Kingtop. Daryl tells Lydia they head to Alexandria in the morning. She asks why he left. He tells her to get some sleep.

Ezekiel finds Carol looking out the window. He says they made it, she asks if they really did. She tells him she’s going to Alexandria with the others. He says he know he has to do this, but he’ll never stop loving her. She takes her ring off, and says she’ll never regret the fairytale.

Michonne reunites with Judith. She is red and Michonne asks what happened. Judith says it’s cold. RJ plays in the snow. Daryl throws a snowball and a playful fight breaks out.

Michonne enters where Siddiq is helping Negan’s wound. She tells him thank you for saving Judith. It’s the same place Negan lie after Rick slit his throat in season 8. He says he knows what it’s like to lose a kingdom and see things fall apart. He says it was ballsy to cut through their territory. She says they don’t even know if they were there. He says nobody ever thinks they’re the evil one.

At the Whisperer camp, it isn’t snowing. Alpha says she made mistakes she can’t make again. She holds out her wrist and Beta gives her lashes with a tree branch.

Ezekiel talks into the microphone again. He says they will come back from this. He says who knows what glorious summer will bring. He’s speaking to Judith. She says she’ll tell her mom he said hello.

He steps away from the radio. An unknown voice comes through choppily, trying to make contact.

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The Walking Dead‘s 10th season will return at the end of 2019.