The Walking Dead season 5, episode 15 found Rick reaching his breaking point.

An action-packed penultimate episode has set up a situation where Deanna will be deciding what to do with Rick in the season 5 finale. It’s a rough situation for viewers to watch, because we know Rick is truly trying to look out for everyone.

Deanna

The episode opened with Carol baking a sympathy casserole for Deanna and her family in light of Aiden’s death, but the Alexandria leader burns her apologetic note and leaves the food outside (Has she tasted Carol’s cooking before? It’s probably pretty good).

Deanna is suspicious of how her son died — and Carol’s sympathy by extension — because Nicholas is lying about what happened. Glenn, who tells Rick the honest truth, correctly points out to Mr. Grimes that they need to make Alexandria work for them — this is their best opportunity.

Later, with anger still lingering after their big fight last episode, Glenn advises Nicholas to not leave Alexandria again (“Are you threatening me?” “No, I’m saving you.”). Not long after, Nicholas digs up a gun to protect himself.

As we find later in the episode, Glenn’s messages to Rick and Nicholas fall on death ears.

Rick v Pete

Carol learns more about Pete from Sam and relays it to Rick, essentially confirming hubby is abusive. Carol reminds Rick that Pete is just like her dead husband, who was abusive towards her while he was alive.

Now that he has his proof, Rick goes to Deanna. We learn that she’s aware of the situation, but there are two problems with making him leave: 1) He’s a surgeon, which is an important job at Alexandria, and 2) Deanna doesn’t want to kill anyone — ever. She says they’ll exile him if they need to, but Rick rightly points out this’ll make them vulnerable to his return.

With dwindling options, Rick goes to Jessie, but she quickly grows upset at the idea of trying to fix the situation. He leaves the house but goes back in to ask again, because the idea of letting this continue drives him nuts. She agrees to accept his help just as Pete walks in the room. After she asks Pete to leave, a great fistfight ensues, with Rick at one point throwing Pete out the window.

With the fight now out on the street, everyone runs to the bloody scene. Deanna tells them to stop. Livid, Rick attempts to launch his new “Ricktatorship” — “starting now, we have to live in the real world!” He makes a few more big statements about how they need to be managing Alexandria before Michonne suddenly knocks him out cold.

We think Rick was right to yell about Deanna’s management because the Pete problem could only be the beginning of situations that need remedying. While we don’t know for sure why Michonne wanted to shut Rick up, presumably she thought it best if they worked things out in a calmer way. Also, it doesn’t make Rick look like a smart leader if he’s yelling at everyone while blood is dripping all over his face.

One thing seems certain: Rick is losing his policing duties for the time being. It doesn’t look good when the cop is thrown in jail.

A new romance brewing?

Carl tracks down Enid in the forest, and the two run off together for something resembling fun (Though it seems like a good way to run into a zombie). After finishing their playful jog, Enid and Carl chat about life. They jump into a tree to hide from the zombies and get very close to kissing. So why is she afraid of him? For the same reason he is: They’re developing feelings for one another.

The Wolves

Out on a recruiting mission, Daryl and Aaron spot someone in the distance. When they get down to the scene they see a body cut into multiple parts. Further down the road a body is tied to a tree ,and a human has decided to eat the guts.

Like we saw on a zombie a couple weeks ago, a “W” is etched on the forehead of the victim. The group behind these attacks is named the Wolves, who may be a play on the comic series’ Scavengers.

Sasha hits the dumps

Sasha is up in the watchtower at the start of the episode but runs off in another one of her depressed states. Rosita and Michonne track her down just as she begins taking on a herd of zombies. While she shoots at them rapidly, Michonne begins flashing back to her katana days (notably it’s still checked in at Alexandria) and begins to fight with Sasha using a gun. “You can’t help me!” Sasha screams after, seemingly going crazy. Although she’s lost her brother and boyfriend, Sasha is in desperate need of some help.

What did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ 5×15?

The 90-minute season 5 The Walking Dead finale airs next Sunday, March 29 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on AMC.

Related: Five big moments we need in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 finale