Now What?

"We'll survive, I'll show you how." — Rick, "The Walking Dead"

Well, that happened. After eight smoldering episodes, the back half of the season for "The Walking Dead" came last night. It was the culmination of a lot of slow-burning ideological battles, and it sets up the next challenge for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and our heroes.

But it's logical to wonder, now what?

Last night's episode brought the threat of death from the jump. Rick faced being banished for his fight. Glenn (Steven Yeun) faced a threat from Nicholas (Michael Traynor), Carol (Melissa McBride) preached revolution, and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) battled depression/PTSD/suicidal tendencies. But, ultimately, death was more scarce than that.

Glenn, despite being shot and left for dead by Nicholas, showed mercy. Sasha and Gabriel found solace in God — thanks in part to Maggie's (Lauren Cohan) timely arrival. Carol didn't get her revolution, because it turns out there was no need.

Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) came around to Rick's way of thinking, ordering him to shoot Pete in the chilling final minute. Rick obliged. It will be his way, and we're supposed to feel OK about that.

Rick did some soul searching, deciding he could help everyone to survive by doing it his way. He heard Bob's voice talking about the nightmare ending, and he took that to mean doing what needed to be done — doing the brutal and hard thing — to create a better life for everyone. It's interesting to consider what that means for the future, and what it means to the season-long rumination of whether our heroes have been on the road too long. The resounding answer seems to be no, or at least they have to help this new world order adjust to their way of thinking.

The stark contrast came just after the shot was fired, as a bloody Rick saw the face of Morgan (Lennie James). Morgan seems to be walking a different path. After rescuing Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Aaron (Ross Marquand), Morgan expressed a different view of the world. He said every life is precious.

Early in the episode, he was confronted by the Wolves. He beat them, but he didn't kill them. Instead he tucked them away safely. Later, we saw the Wolves kill and unsuspecting traveler and learned they were responsible for the trap that nearly took Daryl and Aaron. It's also clear they're now coming for Rick, our heroes, and Alexandria.

Once again, it seems "The Walking Dead" will be in an ideological battle between the old world order, which allowed for grace and felt every life mattered, and Rick's view of the world, that humanity is the greatest threat now.

Morgan spared the Wolves believing even their lives to be precious. Now it's logical to wonder what that act of grace will cost him.