Let's just get this spoiler out of the way right now: Noah dies tonight, a horrible, awful, gruesome zombie death, probably the most nasty zombie kill this show has done to date. It's pretty shocking, especially for something on television.
As Darryl and Aaron head out of town on a recruiting trip, Noah meets with Deanna' husband, Whatsisname Architect Guy: Noah wants to learn how to build things, preparing for the future, in it for the long haul. Later, the crew is gearing up for a supply/scavenging run. Eugene needs some converter something or other to fix the solar power grid; he doesn't want to go on the run but they - Glen, Aiden, Noah, Tara and Nicholas - insist that he come along so they pick up the right parts. Glen and Aiden seem to have resolved their differences - in fact, Glen seems to be the de facto leader of this run, something that Aiden seems completely comfortable with. Tara presses Noah to find out what he learned about some Alexandrian girl - seems like they each might be kind of interested in her. They all pile into a van and drive off, godawful techno music blasting for some reason. In another part of town, Rick is being all constable-y when he stops by Jessie's house to find her picking up after someone has vandalized an art project/sculpture she'd been working on with her kids. He is acting slightly less creepy but still. She tries to shrug it off, saying it isn't important, but he just smiles, saying he needs something to do today.
The supply crew checks out the warehouse, relaxed but wary. A lone walker approaches and Noah takes it down. "Nice shot," Glen says ... and this is where it becomes clear that Noah will not survive the episode: connecting with people, earning their respect, becoming friends, planning for the future? You just can't do that on TWD or you'll get killed off. Anyway, they scout for exits to the warehouse - there is only one, with the back door surrounded by swarming walkers, held in check by a chainlink fence. One way in, one way out. They go in cautiously, checking for zombies. They find some behind another chainlink fence but deem it safe enough to search for what they need. They spread out, two people to an aisle, looking for the converters. Tara and Eugene find crates of the equipment but a walker creeps up on the group, unnoticed at first. This walker is wearing armor and a helmet, a former soldier apparently. Aiden starts shooting at it, not noticing that there is a grenade attached to its vest. Glen notices and shouts for Aiden to stop but it is too late: one more shot pierces the grenade. BOOM.
In the aftermath, Glen, Noah, Eugene and Nicholas are okay, shaken and cut but not badly injured. Tara is unconscious with a bad head wound, however. And Aiden, Aiden is stuck to the shelving, impaled on a couple of pieces of steel. Nicholas says he's dead and their attention turns to the approaching zombies who have gotten out of the cage. They narrowly escape the walkers, collect the limp Tara and take refuge in a nearby office. Tara is in bad shape and they realize they need to get back home soon. Then, horribly, they hear cries and moans from out in the warehouse: it's Aiden and he's still alive. Nicholas waffles, suggesting that they abandon him, but Eugene insists: he will take care of Tara while Glen, Noah and Nicholas go fetch Aiden. Wow, Eugene, manning up!
Back in Alexandria, little Sam knocks on Carol's door, looking for more cookies. She is very brusque with him - having lost her daughter, Mika and Lizzie, she is not at all inclined to befriend another child. She tells him that she'll show him how to make the cookies but he'll have to steal a bar of chocolate for the recipe, and another bar for her. She shoves him out the door, not expecting to see him again.
Out in the field, Abraham is part of a salvage crew collecting sheet metal from a construction site so they can expand/reinforce the walls around Alexandria. The crew gets interrupted by a small herd of walkers. The Alexandrians are, generally speaking, terrible shots. Francine, the lookout, falls out of the front loader bucket when someone shoots out the bucket's hydraulic hose [I'm not mechanical, don't really know what it is]. As walkers swarm her, the crew chief orders the crew to back off to safety, abandoning her. Abraham is all, WTF? He runs forward and grabs Francine. Their retreat to the rest of the crew is cut off by zombies so he shoves her into the cab of the front loader and then crawls underneath the machine himself. As the zombies move forward, Francine shoots the ones further out while Abraham makes like a lumberjack and hacks up "the uglies in the front."
Back in town, Dr. Pete stops by Rick's house, seemingly three sheets to the wind and offering beers to the new constable. Rick is nonplussed, apologizing for not having found out who vandalized the artwork. After some awkward, "Let's be friends, man, we kinda have to be," Pete leaves. Rick stares after him, rubbing the wedding ring on his finger.
At the warehouse, Eugene is getting nervous that the guys haven't come back yet. He steels himself, hoists Tara to his shoulder and makes his way out of the warehouse, shooting zombies with relatively good aim. Meanwhile, as Noah keeps watch, Glen and Nicholas try to pull Aiden off the steel beams. He screams horribly, drawing the attention of the walkers. They can't pull him free. Nicholas leans in and whispers in Aiden's ear, "You left them. We both did. That is who we are. I'm sorry." Noah begins firing at the approaching walkers, muttering at the others to hurry. Nicholas bolts, leaving Glen to try to free Aiden himself. Aiden clutches at Glen and confesses that the four people on his last crew, the ones who died, had been left to die by him and Nicholas. Glen looks at him in horror and then Noah shouts, "They're here!" and hauls Glen away. The walkers converge on the impaled Aiden, going straight for the intestines. He screams and screams until he dies. And I thought THAT was going to be the most awful scene of the episode.
Over at the construction site, Abraham gets in the crew chief's face: "That's how it is with you people? You leave people to die?" Crew chief: "We have a system! Tell 'em, Francine." Francine: "Screw you, asshole" and punches the asshole in the face. The crew chief is all, well, let's call it a day but Abraham is all, we've got four hours of light left - you good with that, Francine? She is and the crew gets back to work as Abraham designates two lookouts. The crew chief goes back to Alexandria and tells Deanna what happens. To his credit, he says that Francine would have died if Abraham hadn't taken charge, plus Abraham is now leading the crew better than he ever has. There is no bitterness or rancor: he simply realizes that Abraham is a better man for the job. After he leaves, Deanna muses to Maggie that once again, one of Maggie's group has been placed in a position of power. Maggie simply says you need us, we're good at this.
To Carol's surprise and annoyance, Sam comes back with the chocolate. They make the cookies and Sam tries to ask her questions. She resists and he says, "We don't have to be friends. But it doesn't have to be quiet." She is taken aback by this and begrudgingly answers some of his questions. When he asks her why she stole the guns, she says it's because you sometimes have to protect yourself. He asks if he can have a gun - but it's not for him. Carol, concerned, wants to know who it's for. Sam takes off running. Carol's like, oh shit, Dr. Pete is beating on his family.
At the warehouse, Glen and Noah catch up to Nicholas as he tries to leave via the other exit. It's a revolving door and there are lots of walkers waiting outside ... and approaching from the inside too. The men end up barricaded inside the revolving door, Nicholas in one section, Glen and Noah in another. They have to coordinate pushing evenly so the door doesn't turn and open enough to let the walkers in. Suddenly, wonderfully, that terrible techno music sounds as Eugene drives up in the van, music blaring. He yells at the walkers to get their attention, drawing most of the outside ones off. Still, at least a dozen are pawing at the revolving door. It's close and scary and very tense. Nicholas starts to panic and pushes the door open enough to get to the outside. But this turns the door enough for the inside walkers to reach in and grab Noah's leg. He screams, clutching at Glen, but the zombies are too much and he is dragged out of the door, eyes wide. Glen wedges himself in the door and, screaming and crying, is forced to watch as his friend is quite literally pulled apart. Like, the zombies press Noah up against the glass, tear into his belly and pull his face from his skull. Right there on television. Yeesh.
Minutes or moments later, Nicholas runs up to Eugene in the van. "We're leaving!" he shouts. Eugene is all, where are my friends? They tussle and Nicholas throws Eugene to the ground and dives into the van. But Glen is there, and he hauls Nicholas out of the van and bludgeons him into unconsciousness. He helps Eugene up and mutters, "Help me get [Nicholas] in the van." Eugene: "Where's Noah?" Glen: *sad face.*
In Alexandria, Carol knocks on Jessie and Pete's door. A drunken Pete answers, not that happy to see her. She asks if Sam is okay and Pete is all, why wouldn't he be? She asks to speak with Jessie and Pete says that it isn't a good time, closing the door in her face. Carol marches herself right over to Rick's and tells him that Pete is hitting Jessie, and maybe Sam too. When he asks how she knows, she just knows. Carol: "I know how this is gonna go with Pete. There's only one way it can go. You're gonna have to kill him." Rick just stares at her, creepy and bug-eyed.
Father Gabriel comes to Deanna's house. He tells her that he is grateful to be in Alexandria but she has made a mistake in letting in the others: Rick, his group, they're not good people - they've done unspeakable things. As a concerned but stealthy Maggie eavesdrops from around the corner, Deanna says, Rick told me that they had to do some hard things when they were on the outside. But Gabriel insists that Rick et als. will only look out for themselves. They're dangerous and they will destroy what she's built. He rants a little about fallen angels and false light and not deserving Paradise and Deanna thanks him for coming. She shows him out and leans against the wall, mind churning. And from outside, you can hear the van pull up and Glen screaming for Maggie, screaming for help.
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