The Walking Dead 815 recap: Worth

The penultimate episode of The Walking Dead set up the season 8 finale nicely as the groups head to the end of the war. Here’s your recap of The Walking Dead “Worth.”

We start out this week with Rick reading Carl’s letter. He looks outside and sees Judith playing with Michonne. Carl reads the letter, sharing his memories of his life with his family and the world before things went wrong. He’s surprised how much he remembers himself, and how he felt holding his dad’s hand. He felt safe. (Jerry walks by with Gracie in his arms) Carl notes that things were bad when he was shot, and now he wants to make his dad feel safe. He wanted to kill Negan, and maybe he should have. He tells his dad about the workers who shouldn’t die inside the Sanctuary. They have friends now and they are so close to rebuilding. He implores Rick to find a way to make peace with Negan. Start over and make people feel safe again. He wants his dad to go on walks with Judith the way Rick did with Carl.

As Carl reads, we see the Hilltop and all the people working together. They’re so close to building the community Carl envisions, but peace is critical to the ideal.

When Rick finishes, he nods at Michonne, who smiles at him. Later, Michonne goes to the drawer and finds the letter to Negan. She takes it out.

Gregory tells Simon he came back to make amends, but Simon is more concerned about how bad he made him look. Gregory says his intel was bad. Margaret, he says, made them look bad. Gregory wants to talk to Negan but Simon says he’s the Negan now. Gregory smiles and says he knew Simon could do it. Simon agrees that Negan pulled his punches. But optics are the reason Simon can’t go easy on Gregory now, which is why he has to go. Gregory pleads his case and says he’s the only one who can help advise him. He says he’s the one who makes things happen. He tells Simon he is the juice, and Simon flips him onto the ground. He was going to kill him but now he wants him to make coffee.

Cyndie and her team scout the woods. They come upon a Walker, and Aaron kills it. They know he hasn’t eaten, but Cyndie says he made his choice.

Eugene’s helpers make him some macaroni and cheese supplemented with sardines for protein. It’s what will be on the menu until they’re done. Later, Eugene tells his people that with Simon in control he wants more bullets made, so they have to work harder and faster and hopefully they will be able to make due, even though the odds are stacked against them. On the line, Gabriel coughs and takes off his mask and Eugene says he needs to keep the mask on at all times so as to not infect everyone. He gives Gabriel a bullet and shows him that it’s not made correctly and could misfire. Gabriel admits he doesn’t want his people to die, and he doesn’t want to help Eugene, but he fears death so much he will keep going. Gabriel thinks that this might be God’s way of proving he hasn’t changed. Eugene says they haven’t got a guarantee on life so he sends Gabriel away for the rest of the shift.

Outside, Eugene goes to test the bullets when Daryl and Rosita arrive and kill the guards.

Dwight goes out for a smoke when Negan whistles at him. Negan wonders if he’s surprised to see him. Negan asks for a hand with pushing the trash in place. Negan wants to know what Dwight was thinking, not what Simon said. Dwight says that Simon was his number two and he thought Negan wanted Simon gone. Negan tells him to stop smoking and says that when the time comes he should remember this moment and what they can still do together.

Simon tells Negan he thought he was dead. Negan oils his bat as Simon keeps talking. He made a decision to move to extermination at the Hilltop. The other lieutenants listen as he owns his mistakes and asks for a pass. Negan says he remembers when Simon helped him take the Sanctuary, and wasn’t sure if he should keep him. He remembers when Simon killed all of the men and boys at the settlement, and lots of people would find that psychotic. Negan only kept him around because he wanted to keep him close. Until now. He tells Simon to get on his knees. Simon obliges, but Negan wonders if he’s going to make a move. “All is forgiven,” Negan says. “We’re good.” Simon gets up and tells Negan he won’t let him down.

Together they look at a map and find a new outpost. They won’t take the Hilltop but they will keep them locked in. Negan will personally lead a mission to a different spot. Every day they will send snipers until the Hilltop is obedient. He dismisses everyone except for Dwight. Negan tells Dwight he’s smart for going about his business. Nothing shakes him except his quest for survival. He tells him to keep going with that.

Daryl and Rosita walk along with Eugene, who is tied up. He thinks they are keeping him alive because they still like him, and his incessant talking annoys Daryl, but Rosita reminds him that they have to keep going. Eugene reminds Rosita that he told Negan he made the bullet to save her life, and he thought he would die but they ended up giving him a chance to live. Rosita blames him for their escape from the Sanctuary. Eugene blames Rick for getting them into this mess, which makes Rosita put a gun to his head and remind him that they need his bullet making. He’ll live, but he’ll be forced to work.

Dwight marks a map with the location of the outposts and a message to end this. Simon arrives and wants to know what Dwight discussed with Negan. Simon wants to bring together their cohorts and stage a mutiny. Negan hasn’t delivered and his time has come. He wants to do what needs to be done with other people who think they way they do. Simon says they will start as soon as rounds are over. Simon is happy to have Dwight’s support.

Daryl and Rosita encounter a small herd around their car. Daryl tells Rosita to watch Eugene while he takes care of it. Eugene pukes all over Rosita and runs away while she’s distracted. He manages to hide in a pile of ashes as they run past him.

Aaron wakes up in a rainstorm and finds that he’s not alone. There are Walkers nearby and he kills one but trips when another attacks him. He drops his knife into the mud and then he’s quickly surrounded. He grabs a stick and starts fighting, but the lack of food has made him weak. He manages to kill the rest.

Later, the women find him. He wakes up, surrounded by them, and accuses them of blaming him for what the Saviors did to them. The Saviors hurt them and they won’t stop unless they fight back. He passes out and they look at each other.

Dwight returns to the spot where he smoked his cigarette while the men come out for rounds. Gregory is there, and so is Simon. Simon addresses the men and says that the men gathered there are “in” and from there they can figure things out. Simon wants to take out Negan respectfully, and he offers the kill to Dwight because of the personal nature of their vendetta. After they kill Negan, then they will kill the people at the Hilltop to start the healing, and then they will get on with their lives. There’s a whistle, and Negan emerges from behind the dumpster. He thanks Dwight. He counts backwards from 3 and all of the men are killed except for Dwight, Simon and Gregory. Arat runs out and they grab Simon. Simon wants to know why Dwight would comply, and he says it’s because Negan would win. Negan confronts him about the garbage people after he asked him not to do it. He’s still going to give Simon a shot to beat him, though.

Inside the Sanctuary everyone gathers to watch. Simon addresses the crowd and tells them they will get to work. The Sanctuary must stand. He punches Negan without warning, in a rage, but Negan recovers and knows how to hold him off. It’s an epic fistfight, but Simon isn’t thinking. That’s his downfall. Negan throws him to the ground. While they’re fighting, Gregory slips away and Dwight finds him. He tells Gregory to take the map and the car and get the message to Rick. Gregory complies.

Negan is furious that he has to kill so many more people because of what Simon did. And so now he has to kill Simon. He chokes Simon to death. “What an asshole,” he says before walking away.

Gregory finds himself back at the Hilltop’s prison. Maggie takes the message to Rick and they look at it. Maggie wants to know their move.

Negan and Dwight walk along, and Negan says that he has always counted on Dwight so he’s the new right hand man. Dwight accepts and promises to help finish this thing with Rick. Negan says not to sell himself short. He walks into his room and there is Laura, who told Negan how Dwight turned on him. Now Negan knows how Rick was so successful. Negan thinks Dwight even lied about killing Sherry. Now he’s in over his head, but he came in for him because he gave the wrong plan to Rick. Negan knows he sent Gregory to deliver the message. Negan was going to kill him, but he still has plans for him.

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Eugene returns to the factory and tells them to protect the factory. His people already know that Negan is back and they need the bullets. He promises that they will have the bullets Negan needs. They will be responsible for changing Savior history. Eugene tells Gabriel they need him, or he will be killed. Eugene sits down and they get to work.

Walker Simon is introduced to the cage.

Negan gets a message from Michonne. He asks if Rick is there but she says this is about Carl. She tells Negan about the letter and she’s going to deliver it. She starts to read. Negan listens to how he got bit while trying to help someone. Carl says he thinks Negan is looking for a way out. He wonders if this is what Negan wanted and wishes he could have asked at some point. The way out, he says, is working together and forgiveness. There doesn’t have to be a fight, and he hopes Rick offers him peace. He wants change. He wants to start over. Negan says there is no getting out of this now, and he wouldn’t accept their surrender. Winning is about killing all of them now. He didn’t want this to happen, but Rick made it happen. “No more talk.”

Negan crushes the walkie talkie.

The Walking Dead season 8 finale airs Sunday, April 15 at 9pm on AMC.

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