To many fans dismay, The Walking Dead has a “mid-season break”, which means that the show has a two month gap half-way through the season.  However, this “mid-season finale” did not disappoint.  Similar to last season, where there were multiple tragic deaths that really shook up the show’s plot, this mid-season finale did not fall short of that same sense of loss.

Previously, in 507 “Crossed”, Rick and the group took a couple of the Hospitals people hostage to try to exchange them for Beth and Carol, who were being held at the hospital against their own will.  After intense negotiations, the trade goes down as planned; however, just as Ricks group is walking out of the hospital with Beth and Carol, the deal changes.  Dawn, the leader of the people from the hospital, wants to acquire Noah, the kid who Beth originally helped escape from the Hospital, in the trade too.  Noah was willing to go, in order to let everything finish peacefully; however, Beth protests this decision.  In probably the saddest moment of the season, Beth stabs Dawn in the chest with a pair of scissors and gets shot in the head.  This causes Daryl to instantly shoot Dawn, and the rest of the people at the hospital stand down.  As they carry Beth out of the Hospital, Maggie arrives to meet them outside, excited to see everyone, especially her sister, Beth.  At the sight of Daryl carrying Beth’s body out of the Hospital, she breaks down into tears along with most everyone.

In a very sad and emotional episode, The Walking Dead shows us again why it is such a great show.  The level of empathy the viewer feels towards the characters and the struggles they face are immense.  It will be a long two months until February, when The Walking Dead returns.