Tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead season 5 reminded us why we love this zombie drama so much.

Our recap of The Walking Dead season 5, episode 4 breaks down the fall of Gareth, the death of Bob, and much more.

“You join us, or feed us,” Gareth explains matter of fact-ly to Bob about his current, limbless situation at the start of the episode. Gareth also reveals that he prefers to eat women, and wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of Bob’s lady Sasha. (Looking at this scene in hindsight, what’s interesting about it is that both Bob and Gareth will be dead by the end of the hour.)

Bob starts crying, then laughing. “You idiots!” he says before revealing that he was bit by a zombie, so now they’re infected too. “TAINTED MEAT!” he yells, in what is a reference to the comics when the same situation happened to Dale. A couple of Gareth’s people begin purging in hopes they can save themselves.

We cut to Rick, Tyreese, and Sasha who are out looking for Bob. They’re concerned that whoever has Bob also has Carol and Daryl. They ask Father Gabriel if he’s the reason why three of their own are missing, but do they REALLY not even consider that Gareth could be involved with this? Come on guys. It’s here that Gabriel reveals the “dark” side we’ve all worried about: One time, numerous people tried to get into his church when walkers were closing in on them, but since he always locks the church doors, they weren’t able to get in. They all died.

Come on Father, that’s not something worth stressing over too much!

Gabriel collapses to the floor in disappointment, and suddenly everyone here’s someone whistling outside. Gareth has dropped Bob back off in front of the church and makes a quick escape. An “A” was also painted in red on the door (is this Pretty Little Liars?)

Bob explains what happened to him and also reveals he’s infected. Then, Abraham demands that they leave now because danger is clearly afoot. Rick of course is against this idea because Daryl and Carol are still away. Abraham almost leaves until Rick learns he wants to take the bus, and the two almost get into a fist fight until Glenn intervenes and buys them half a day’s time.

The gang decides to attack Gareth early so they catch him off guard.

Sadly, their smart plan wasn’t smart enough. As Rick and company leave, the camera stays trained on the church sign. Several seconds later we see Gareth and company approaching the church. One of them busts open the door (so much for those locks) and they enter.

Carl, Gabriel, Judith, Tyreese, Bob, Eugene, and Rosita are hiding in the office. Despite taunting from Gareth, they don’t say a word (and this scene for viewers is TERRIFYING)… until Judith begins to cry. “I’m starting to like this girl,” Gareth says.

We take a commercial break – so viewers are left assuming everyone is doomed for several minutes – but luckily Rick and the crew are already back in the church and take control of the situation. Rick asks Gareth and company to kneel (very appropriate considering they’re in a church).

After Gareth pleads for them to understand why they turned into cannibals, Rick reminds him that he already made a promise in episode 1: Gareth is going to die.

After the group brutally murders Gareth and his crew, Michonne finds her katana on one of the guys. We’re glad to see it’s back!

“This is the Lord’s house,” Gabriel says of the blood and tragedy that just took place in his church. “No, it’s just four walls and roof,” Maggie reminds him.

The next day, everyone is gathered to say bye to Bob. He has a one-on-one with Rick and thanks him for proving that there are still good people left in the world.

Wait – Bob’s talk with Rick was just a dream. He wakes up to see Sasha over top of him and gets a long-awaited smile out of her before closing his eyes for the last time. She’s about to stab him through the head when Tyreese offers to do it for her.

The clock runs out on Abraham’s extended stay. He, Glenn, Maggie, and Rosita hit the road for Washington D.C. in the newly-repaired church bus. They give Rick a map of their route. On it, Abraham left him a note. “The new world’s going to need Rick Grimes,” it says.

As Michonne sits out front on the church’s porch steps with Gabriel, Daryl comes out of the woods. “Where’s Carol?” Michonne asks. “Come on out,” Daryl yells into the woods. No! That’s a horrible cliffhanger.

What did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5, episode 4?

This was one of our favorite episodes of The Walking Dead in recent memory. What makes it even more impressive is that it’s largely missing two fan favorites, Daryl and Carol! Season 5 continues to be moving at a stellar pace and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

By the looks of it, Beth will be making an interesting return next week. Will the episode be entirely focused on Beth and where she’s been? If so, we hope the episode will conclude with Daryl saying “come on out” to Michonne again. Now seems like the right time to take a break from the current Rick storyline to catch up with Beth.

Two other thoughts…

1) RIP Bob and Gareth. We liked the character of Gareth and wouldn’t have minded seeing him as a threat for a couple more episodes.

2) We wonder… Would Gareth and his guys have died because of Bob’s infection if Rick didn’t kill them? We’ll never know.

The Walking Dead season 5, episode 4 airs Sunday, November 2 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on AMC.