The Walking Dead’s mid-season finale introduced the Whisperers in a suspenseful way that’s reminiscent of classic zombie movies.

“Evolution” reunited some OG faves for the first time since the major time jump and tensions were high leading up to the show’s official introduction of perhaps the scariest foe from the comics. A lot of new reveals and cliffhangers went down so here’s the breakdown of it all.

The leading ladies are at odds

Michonne, Siddiq, and Magna’s group made it to the Hilltop gates to check on Rosita and find the new crew a home. But, things got weird when Diane (who can’t decide if she wants to live at the Hilltop or at the Kingdom) held Michonne up at the gate with an ice cold stare.

For some reason, Michonne had to drop her weapon outside of the gate before being allowed to enter. And, Tara didn’t give Michonne the warmest welcome as she updated her about Eugene as well as Aaron, Jesus, and Daryl’s whereabouts.

Enid also seemed pretty distant as she stood in the background. What the HECK happened between these people?!

They used to be such a tight knit family and now Michonne is being treated like the enemy. Tara has always been the mostly loveable goofball, so it is jarring to see her have this cold demeanor.

Michonne and Carol had a slightly more amicable reunion, even though they disagreed about coming together for the fair. Michonne believes that it’s best for each community to worry about their own problems while Carol wants them to come together and help each other.

It’s an interesting POV for Michonne because it mirrors how Maggie was years prior with the Hilltop. And, their conversation hinted that Michonne made a tough call to save lives, even if it meant that others didn’t agree with her decision.

Oh, the pressures of being a leader. This entire exchange made me really curious about how the show will unfold the past events that led to this break between groups.

Right now, it seems the only person who isn’t anti-Michonne is Daryl, but it’s hard to tell because they barely interacted in this episode. There’s something going on with them and those mysterious Xs for sure.

Rosita and Eugene are SHOOK

Michonne and Siddiq are surprised when Rosita wakes up in a complete panic from her encounter with the Whisperers. She immediately wants to lead them to where she stashed Eugene in the prior episode and warns them over ridiculously cheesy “dun dun dun” music that Dog and his human crew have no idea what they are up against.

The fact that she hid a grown man with an injury in a safe space and still managed to escape while injured truly makes her a boss. I really hope Rosita doesn’t die any time soon because I don’t think she has ever gotten her full due as a character.

Eugene was also terrified when Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron found him in a random barn in a cellar. In true Walking Dead fashion, a bazillion hours had passed and it was pitch black dark outside and super foggy because those are the best conditions to conduct a missing person search.

He tried to tell them that the walkers were talking to each other, but they didn’t seem to take his words too seriously until things went completely down the drain. Honestly, Morgan tried to tell Rick about this back in season 3 but he was a little too loopy to be taken seriously.

I guess he will never get to hear about being right because who knows where he is at this point?!

Jesus is a goner and there’s a big cliffhanger

The hints about Jesus death have been pretty strong in the past couple of episodes. He trained Aaron to be a flying squirrel ninja so he can take his place, talked about bringing people together, and kept leaving the Hilltop for no reason at all except to get set up for death.

He tried to put himself in harms way by distracting the herd so Aaron and Daryl could get Eugene out of harm’s way, but Daryl and his plot armor delayed that death. Honestly, it would have felt too much like what Rick did a couple of episodes ago so it made sense to give him a different demise.

I believe Jesus was a character who was severely underutilized in previous seasons, which is something Tom Payne himself noted, despite his physical prowess and keen intelligence. He really didn’t get to show those skills nor play the type of role he should have and it’s a shame that his best scenes came right before his death.

Anyway, watching the guys surrounded by heavy fog, woods, walkers, and Whisperers was some seriously heart-pounding and solid action as Jesus went full combat mode to save his friends. And, his murder by a Whisperer was particularly chilling as the person whispered “you are where you do not belong.” It’s yet another departure from the comics, where Jesus is still alive to this day.

The group’s horrified reaction really set the moment off…I mean, just imagine seeing a walker react like that for the first time without any context. And the Whisperers apparently move like a serial killer because they caught up to the group super fast.

Yeah, Eugene was slowing them down but he wasn’t fatally injured and the walkers haven’t sprinted since season 1. But, it’s best to let some things slide on a show about the living dead.

It was also cool to see Michonne, Magna, Yumiko, and so many other characters come together for this epic scene that set up the big cliffhanger as they heard the Whisperers surround them in the dark. How will they get out of this and back to the Hilltop?

THIS is the Walking Dead that fans crave and I honestly didn’t think I would be this into the show after Rick’s exit. It’s going to be the first time that fans see them take on a major foe without his leadership, so the back half of season 9 will be worth the watch.

Henry, Negan, and Gabriel did things too

Oh Henry…you just couldn’t resist doing something dumb. Henry found himself locked up by the end of his first day because he went out after curfew and got drunk with delinquent Hilltop teens, who all happen to be White because Black kids didn’t make in the apocalypse I suppose. Go figure.

Peer pressure is a motha and Henry’s feelings were hurt by Enid being in love with Alden, so I’ll let the kid live. The delinquent crew’s little rendezvous did reveal that Oceanside still exists as a woman-centric community, but we have yet to see them in anything nor do we know who is alive in the group.

Right now, Henry is jail waiting for Jesus to decide his fate. Oh wait…that’s not happening now. It looks like Tara is going to really be in charge now until Maggie decides to come back. Because, she has to return after hearing about her right hand man’s passing, right?

Perhaps this lockup is a setup for Henry to meet Lydia, whom the group will surely capture and throw in a nearby Hilltop cell. It would make sense because he’s primed to take Carl’s comic storyline at this time.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has been left in charge of cleaning up Negan’s waste and giving him free therapy while other people are doing important things. Negan seemed to be turning a new leaf in prior episodes, but he’s back to being an annoying person who talks about poop again. Sigh.

Gabriel gets really angry when he finds out that Rosita is injured because he can’t leave Negan and even drops a few curses. I’m down with this spicy new attitude, but none of this would have happened if he hadn’t sent Rosita and Eugene on this dummy mission. See what happens when you don’t listen to Michonne?!

Gabriel’s little rage session resulted in him leaving the cell unlocked, which Negan didn’t notice until later that night. As expected, he casually bopped out of there and, based on previews, head back to the Sanctuary, so it feels like all the hard work to keep him alive and prove a point was for nothing.

It will be interesting to see what role he plays in this TV Whisperer stuff. Will he be able to fight on our group’s side or is he just going to add to their mounting problems? Who knows at this point.

The Walking Dead is on break until February 10, 2019, but until then fans can theorize about who will die in one infamous Whisperer scene and what went down to cause such friction between our main characters.