The Walking Dead season 5 finale brought virtually all of the season’s plot points to a close while leaving viewers on an exciting cliffhanger.

From Morgan to Pete to the Wolves, the 90-minute Walking Dead finale brought much-needed closure in several areas while keeping viewers enthralled.

Morgan’s return

The episode begins with Morgan camping out in the woods at the start of a new day. The peaceful moment is interrupted by a member of the Wolves — our first look at anyone involved in the seemingly horrible group. The Wolf points a gun at Morgan and tells him he’ll be taking his body and belongings, but Rick’s old friend politely refuses. Just then, another Wolf pops up from behind to kill him, but Morgan springs into action and takes them both down. The gun, as it turns out, was empty. It was an interesting twist — why would someone who’s such a threat not carry a loaded weapon? Are they that loyal to their knives, which they also use for carving the letter “W” into victims?

Daryl and Aaron

Daryl and Aaron head out on another recruiting mission when we first see them in the finale. They come across a man in a red jacket, but eventually lose him. Without anything accomplished this trip, they decide to refresh their food supply so they don’t return to Alexandria empty handed. Unfortunately, upon opening a food truck, they activate a trap set up by the Wolves that opens up several other food trucks — and unleashes hordes of zombies waiting within. Daryl and Aaron fight back (cool kill of the day: Death by Alaska state license plate) then hide in a car.

Trapped because their vehicle is completely surrounded by zombies, they decide to break out of the car together and make a run for it. Just as they’re about to bust out, a hero busts in: Morgan! The trio take out the zombies and manage to escape.

Well, it looks like they’ve found a new person for Alexandria! Morgan turns down the invitation to go back to Alexandria and asks for help with a map — Abraham’s map. Daryl sees Abraham’s note left for Rick and makes the connection.

May the truth set Rick free

Rick is recovering from his Pete/Michonne wounds when we first see him this episode. Michonne is waiting there when he wakes up and asks him to explain his actions. Glenn, Carol, and Abraham also drop in to ask about the gun he had, and Carol acts like she wasn’t aware of their hidden gun supply. They also prep him with a safe story for tonight’s town hall, where Alexandria will discuss his actions and what becomes of him. And if Deanna still wants to throw out Rick? They agree to hold several of Alexandria’s leaders hostage.

Later, Carol heads to Pete’s house to deliver a casserole — and puts a knife to the abuser’s throat, threatening to kill him if he makes the wrong move. She advises him to play his cards right, or else he’ll die. It was a beautiful moment in which Carol was surely thinking about her horrible husband.

Judgement day comes. Before Michonne escorts Rick to the meeting, he comes clean about the weapons he, Carol, and Daryl have been hiding. He tries to offer her a gun, but she refuses because she’s determined to find peace in Alexandria. “And if we don’t? I’m still with you,” she tells Rick. “Something’s going to happen. Just don’t make something happen.”

Just as Rick prepares to leave for the meeting, he notices that Alexandria’s gate has been opened (by Father Gabriel, who appears to have left it open in a daze after trying to let himself get eaten by a zombie). Mr. Grimes springs into action to save the day.

Elsewhere…

The 90-minute episode had many things going on as showrunners wrapped up various arcs. Let’s get to them before we hit the ending.

– Glenn is shot by Nicholas out in the woods in a moment of revenge. Later they catch up to one another and begin duking it out.

– Sasha is still not doing well. She’s started burying dead zombies in a big hole. As if that weren’t weird enough, she lies on the pile of zombies, perhaps feeling like she’s become one herself. Later she summons Gabriel to the church to ask for help. “I’m losing my head. Can you help me?” she asks. “No,” the dick replies.

Undeterred by his remarks, she continues speaking. “I think I want to die,” she tells him.

– Abraham and Eugene begin to patch things up while they watch Tara recover in Rosita’s recovery room. Things are finally getting better between these two after Eugene’s big lie earlier in the season.

Night falls, and the main event begins

The meeting to decide Rick’s fate starts without Glenn or Grimes. The latter finds the zombies who broke into the premises and begins to kill them one by one.

At the meeting, Michonne, Carol, Maggie, and Abraham sing Rick’s praises while they wait for him to show up. Grossed out by all the nice thoughts about Rick, Deanna tells the town about Gabriel’s message to her. “Not one day later, Rick seemed to demonstrate all the things Gabriel said.” The sad truth in this moment is that Gabriel is not at the meeting because he’s being a bad guy, while Rick is not at the meeting because he’s being a good guy.

Speaking of the hero, Rick shows up to the meeting with a bloody face and a dead zombie in tow. He relays the news that someone left the gate open. “You’re going to change,” he tells them about the way they manage Alexandria and its people.

His point is emphasized by what happens next: Pete shows up with Michonne’s sword and slits the throat of Deanna’s husband Reg. Shocked, Deanna drops to her knees and breaks down over her dying husband’s body. She looks up at Rick. “Do it,” she tells him. Rick quickly turns and kills Pete with the weapon he’s again hiding.

“Rick?” a voice says. Morgan, Aaron, and Daryl are back.

Moments before this scene occurred, Glenn got close to killing Nicholas but decided against it. Similarly, Sasha got close to killing Gabriel but couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger. Instead, a prayer circle of healing begins between Maggie, Sasha, and Gabriel.

In these final few minutes we learned that all of them (except Gabriel and Pete) are good people. Deep down, despite their words, they are all good.

What did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 finale?

It’s a shame that Deanna wanted Pete to die only after he did something that affected her personal life. A little selfish, isn’t she? Rick’s point was certainly proven in these final moments.

The Walking Dead season 6 premieres October 2015. Before then, AMC will debut the companion series Fear The Walking Dead. Check out the first teaser trailer!