The Walking Dead mid-season 5 finale found one of the show’s big characters biting the dust.

Before we address Beth’s death on The Walking Dead mid-season finale, let’s start at the top.

The Walking Dead season 5, episode 8 wasted no time starting the show off on an action-packed foot. Officer Bob, who knocked out Sasha at the end of last episode, starts running towards the hospital – but Rick promptly catches up to him and drives a cop car into his rear when he refuses to stop running. Bob pleads with Rick to be taken back to the hospital, but Mr. Grimes isn’t messing around at all – he shoots him in the head and then tells him to shut up. One would think that this would suggest mayhem would be occurring later in the episode, but it was surprisingly calm.

The Church

Meanwhile, Father Gabriel has run off to the school where he finds Bob’s foot and a bible belonging to Mary. With zombies closing in on him and a lack of mobility thanks to messing up his leg last episode, Gabriel runs back to the church and pleads to be let in. Carl and Michonne let him in… but zombies quickly come inside behind him.

They escape the church through the same exit Gabriel took last week and lock the zombies in from the outside. Time leads the undead to start breaking through – just as Abraham rolls in with his firetruck and blocks the doorway. Perfect (and funny) timing!

With Abraham’s group back, Michonne quickly breaks the news to Maggie that Beth is alive, and finally we see her react to the fact that her sister has been missing for weeks. It’s about time! The show had forgotten in recent weeks to address the fact that Beth and Maggie are sisters.

The Hospital

Rick, Daryl, Tyreese, and Sasha are speaking to the two cops they kidnapped about a potential trade when we first see these characters. At the same time, Officer Dawn is doing her usual guilt tripping of Beth and accuses her of being a cop killer. Can we be honest? The scenes between the cops, and to some extent Beth, bore us. We don’t care about them because we know this storyline is about to be over very soon.

Anyway, Beth and Dawn chat in Carol’s room (who, by the way, is still knocked out) later on. Beth tells Dawn she understands that she was always just trying to protect herself and vows to leave the hospital. Dawn, however, thinks that she and Noah will just end up back here. Their heart to heart appears to establish a special connection between the two women – just as Carol begins to stir.

Meanwhile, Rick’s team – with their cop bait in tow – have positioned themselves on top of a building near the hospital. Rick is downstairs, in sight of the snipers, and speaks to two of the arriving cops and offers his proposal.

The plan works – for now. Rick and company are brought into the hospital with the officer bait. They’re greeted by Officer Dawn, her fellow cops, and Carol and Beth.

The exchange goes smoothly – until Dawn demands Noah since she’s losing Beth. Upset by this surprise turn, Beth tells Dawn that she gets it now.

And then, Beth stabs Dawn with a pair of scissors – just as Dawn shoots Beth through the head.

Daryl, in tears, delivers a fatal shot at Dawn in response. Everyone draws their weapons, but an officer tells everyone to stand down. No one else wants to make any trouble.

Abraham and company catch up with everyone at the hospital and we watch Maggie discover that her sister has died. This was a horrible shot to watch because, obviously, it’s really sad to watch someone realize that their sister has been killed.

The credits begin to roll, but in a post-credits scene we see Morgan arriving at the school that Gabriel was at earlier in the episode. He’s been tracking the group using tree markings. He makes his way to the church and begins to pray, then laughs a bit – at his actions? The closing shot shows him reading Abraham’s note to Rick on the map, revealing that he now knows he’s very close to his old friend. But will Morgan head to D.C. and completely miss Rick? We’re hoping they bump into each other soon.

Your ‘Walking Dead’ recap: What’d you think of the mid-season 5 finale?

We thought tonight’s episode had a nice amount of action, and we were happy with how the final moments played out. We didn’t need a big fight sequence – we needed closure. We got that and a whole lot more.

We expect that Maggie will be dealing with the loss of her sister in the mid-season premiere. Check out this sneak peek at what’s ahead in 2015:

The Walking Dead season 5 resumes on Sunday, February 8 followed by the premiere of the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul.