No Way Out (TV Series)

"No Way Out" is the ninth episode and mid-season premiere of Season 6 of AMC's The Walking Dead. It aired on February 14, 2016 at 9/8c on AMC, and on February 15, 2016 at 9pm on Fox.

Plot Synopsis
As Daryl, Abraham and Sasha are driving back to Alexandria in the fuel truck, they are stopped by a group of armed men on motorcycles. The leader of the gang informs the trio that their guns and truck now belong to a man named Negan before taking their sidearms. He orders one of the men to take Daryl to the back of the truck and inspect its cargo while Sasha and Abraham stay behind. After some conversation between Abraham, Sasha and the leader of the gang, the whole group of bikers explodes. Daryl then comes out from behind the truck holding an RPG, having subdued and killed the biker who went to check cargo with him, and leaves with Abraham and Sasha.

In Alexandria, walkers swarm the streets. Rick's group, still covered in walker guts, makes its way toward the armory. Rick announces a plan to herd the walkers away from Alexandria using vehicles from the quarry. Gabriel offers to keep Judith safe in the church while the others go on. Jessie tries to send Sam with Gabriel, but Sam refuses to leave her side. Rick thanks Gabriel.

Inside the townhouse, Tara insists they rescue Denise from the W Man. Rosita points out they don’t have enough guns to fight walkers outside. Carol borrows Rosita’s gun to sweep the house.

On the street, the W Man holds Denise at gunpoint as they hide from walkers.

Meanwhile, Glenn and Enid search a church for supplies to rescue Maggie from the lookout tower. Enid opens up to Glenn about her dead parents. "They're still here because you're still here," Glenn tells her.

From their hiding spot, the W Man and Denise watch walkers stream down the street. The W Man tells Denise they'll make a run for a lookout tower as soon as a gap opens up in the herd.

Glenn orders Enid to stay at the church while he rescues Maggie, but Enid refuses. They find a gun inside of a box near the altar and piles of cloth that they can tie together to help Maggie climb off the platform.

Recalling an earlier exchange at the townhouse, the W Man admits to Denise that she was right: He wasn’t born this way. "I changed, and now I want to help you change," he says.

As Rick’s group quietly walks through the herd, (while a narration of what Carol said to Sam about the specifics of being killed by walkers plays) Sam spots a young boy who's turned. He panics and stops dead in his tracks. Jessie begs him to keep walking, but he won't move. Walkers attack and tear into Sam. Jessie goes into shock at the sight of her son being eaten alive, and does nothing to stop the walkers from devouring her as well. This causes Rick to flashback on memories of her while sobbing "No". As the walkers consume her, Jessie's hand remains firmly clasped around Carl's. Desperate to free his son, Rick hacks off Jessie's hand with a hatchet.

Amid the chaos, Ron picks up Jessie's dropped gun and aims it at Rick, ready to kill. Michonne's sword bursts through his chest and the gun goes off. Ron falls to his scapula upon the swords removal and is instantly engulfed by some of the herd, preoccupying many in close proximity to feed. "Dad?" Carl says weakly. Rick looks in horror as his son, who's been shot through the eye by the rogue bullet, collapses on the road. He scoops up Carl and sprints through the herd as Michonne clears a path with her katana.

Back in the townhouse, Eugene vows to Rosita they will fight their way out. "We will, not you," she says.

The W Man spots a gap in the herd and sprints to the tower with Denise. He defends Denise when walkers attack her but his arm gets bitten in the process. Denise urges him to come with her to the infirmary so she can save his life, presumably by amputating the limb.

In the townhouse, Carol unloads on Morgan for saving the W Man and putting Alexandria in danger. "I should've killed you," she tells him. Morgan replies that she can't, and then exits.

Denise and the W Man take refuge in a house, where she ties a belt around his arm. She points out that he saved her, indicating that maybe he really has changed.

Denise and the W Man run outside toward the infirmary. Carol sees them from the townhouse balcony and shoots the W Man in the chest. "Go!" he urges Denise as he tackles a walker and sacrifices himself.

Denise reaches the infirmary, where Heath, Spencer and Aaron are hiding out. Rick arrives with Carl and lays him on a gurney. Denise goes to work on Carl's wound. Rick, still shellshocked, strides outside with his hatchet and goes on a killing rampage. Michonne, Heath, Aaron and Spencer run outside to help Rick fight the walkers.

Alexandria residents watch from their homes as Rick’s group takes on the walkers. Many residents, including Eric, Olivia, Bruce, Francine, Kent, and Barbara, venture out and join the fight. “We can beat them!” Rick cries.

In the church, Gabriel watches the battle unfold. He hands Judith to one of his congregants and walks out with a machete. “God will save Alexandria because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves,” he proclaims and heads out to join the fight, followed by Tobin.

Carol tells the townhouse group that Rick is making a stand. Everyone – including Eugene -- joins the fight. Morgan finds the W Man, who is now a walker. "I'm sorry," Morgan says, before bashing the W walker's head in with his staff.

Enid rescues Maggie while Glenn distracts walkers away from the tower. Maggie cries out as walkers surround Glenn. Abraham and Sasha suddenly appear. Standing on top of the fuel truck, they’re able to gun down the walkers and save Glenn.

Safely inside the truck, Glenn proposes to Daryl that they use the vehicle to lead the walkers away. But Daryl suggests an alternate plan.

As the fighting intensifies, Daryl dumps fuel from the truck into the pond in the middle of Alexandria, then launches an RPG into the water. A ball of fire erupts in the sky. Rick’s group and all the Alexandrians keep killing and killing as the walkers flock to the fire, going up in flames as they stumble into the lake.

The next morning, the street is littered with walker corpses. A group stands quietly outside the infirmary, holding vigil. Michonne holds Judith inside, while Denise stitches Daryl's back, where he received a cut while fighting with one of Negan's men.

Carl lies unconscious in bed with Rick at his side. Rick tells Carl that he underestimated the Alexandrians and vows to rebuild the community, just like Deanna planned. Rick adds that for the first time since before waking up in the hospital in King County, he feels truly hopeful for the future. "I want to show you the new world," he says, crying. Carl’s fingers grip Rick’s hand.

Co-Stars

 * Vanessa Cloke as Anna
 * Ted Huckabee as Bruce
 * Mandi Christine Kerr as Barbara
 * Dahlia Legault as Francine
 * Brody Rose as "Young Boy"
 * David Marshall Silverman as Kent
 * Jordan Woods-Robinson as Eric Raleigh

Uncredited

 * Chloe & Sophia Garcia-Frizzi as Judith Grimes
 * Curtis Jackson as Bob Miller
 * Jennifer Davis Brennan as "Alexandria Resident".
 * Unknown as T.

Deaths

 * At least 8 unnamed Saviors
 * Bud
 * T.
 * Sam Anderson
 * Jessie Anderson
 * Ron Anderson
 * Wolves Leader (Alive and Zombified)

Trivia

 * Last appearance of Jessie Anderson.
 * Alexandra Breckenridge is the fourth regular to be written off the show whilst credited as "Also Starring" and the thirteenth main character to die.
 * Jessie is the second main character after Tyreese to be killed in a mid-season premiere.
 * Last appearance of Ron Anderson.
 * Last appearance of Sam Anderson.
 * Last appearance of the Wolves Leader.
 * Last appearance of Bud.
 * Last appearance of T..
 * The title "No Way Out" comes from Tara mentioning "there's No Way Out of the house".
 * This is the fifth episode to share its name with a comic volume, after "Days Gone Bye", "Made to Suffer, "This Sorrowful Life", and "Too Far Gone".
 * This and "Days Gone Bye" are the only episodes to be adapted from the respective comic volumes of the same name.
 * This episode marks Alanna Masterson's 25th appearance on the show.
 * This episode marks the first time that a child character has been seen devoured alive in the TV Series.
 * Unlike Meghan, who was simply bitten and put down before reanimating, or Sophia, who was bit and then turned.
 * This episode also marks the fifth midseason episode (opening or finale) where a child character has been killed.
 * A zombified Sophia was killed by Rick in the season 2 midseason finale, a zombified Penny was killed by Michonne in the season 3 midseason finale, Meghan was killed before reanimating by The Governor in the season 4 midseason finale, Noah's unnamed younger brother, who was killed as a walker by Noah in the season 5 midseason opening, and Sam was eaten alive by walkers in the season 6 midseason opening.
 * This is the first episode of Season 6 that Glenn, Abraham, Sasha and Daryl officially appear in Alexandria (since the scenes featuring them at Alexandria in the season premiere are all flashbacks).
 * This is the first episode since "First Time Again" that all of the credited actors appeared.
 * With the deaths of Sam, Jessie, and Ron, all of the members of the Anderson family are now deceased.
 * With the death of the Wolves Leader, all the Wolves are now presumed dead.
 * Katelyn Nacon (Enid) is upgraded from Co-Starring to Also Starring in this episode.
 * The scenes where the Anderson family is devoured by walkers, Rick cuts Jessie's hand and Carl gets shot in the eye are adapted from Issue 83 of the comics.
 * The scenes where Rick rushes to the infirmary and begs Denise to save Carl's life, the Alexandrians get out to the street and fight back the walkers and Rick talks to an unconscious Carl are adapted from Issue 84 of the comics.
 * Excluding walkers, there were two characters that became amputees in this episode
 * Jessie Anderson got her hand chopped off by Rick Grimes.
 * Carl Grimes got his right eye shot out by Ron Anderson.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Rick walks out of the door (and pulls out his hatchet), his hatchet appears to be clean even though he previously used it to chop off Jessie's arm, and there was no seen point where he could have cleaned it.
 * After Eric and Olivia came out of the house to help Rick and the others, Rosita and Carol could be seen fighting walkers behind them, while in fact at that moment, they were still with Morgan, Tara and Eugene.
 * When Abraham and Sasha appear on the wall and save Glenn with machine gun fire, their stances are flipped with Abraham using his rifle right handed and Sasha using hers left handed. In the next shot of Abraham, he returns to using his left hand.