My my, what an episode! "The Walking Dead" delivered an exceptional lead up to next week’s season finale. As we all know, every decision made in the TWD universe has the potential to make or break the whole group. This week exemplified that to the ultimate degree.

Carol’s decision to take off on her own backfired very quickly. Luckily, she brought along a few weapons for her journey, saving her from the most disappointing death ever. That truck full of men messed with the wrong person!

But it turns out that Carol’s emotional breakdown when she was captured by the Saviors wasn’t just for show – she really breaks down now every time she needs to kill someone. She begged them to just let her go, but the ugliness of living in a world full of death prevented them from showing mercy. In this world, it’s kill or be killed, and Carol beat them to the punch. She was forced to light them up with her hidden machine gun and, man, did my heart break watching her have to do it. To make matters worse, one of the bullets managed to miss killing one of the men, forcing Carol to get into a close encounter to finish the job. We know that Carol successfully shot the guy, but did he manage to stab her? To make matters even more complicated, one of the men inside the car survived the hand of Carol and limped off.

Meanwhile, Daryl rode off into the wild with a revenge-filled agenda. I thought that he was off to find his BFF Carol, but he’s more focused on killing Dwight. Why the hell is everyone splitting off when they know Negan is out for their blood? One would assume that it makes more sense to clear the threat as a unit, but apparently not everyone has that mindset. With both Carol and Daryl gone, search parties were dispatched right along with them. Rick and Morgan went after Carol, while Michonne, Glenn and Rosita went after Daryl.

Rick and Morgan took a tense car ride to find Carol and came across the bloody scene that she left behind. Rick and Morgan followed a trail of blood that they thought was Carol’s, only to find that the blood belonged to the lone survivor who tried to kill Carol. Naturally, Rick was about to shoot him down, but Morgan stopped him from doing it. Morgan has been Rick’s moral compass since he returned, and I’m glad he’s in that role. As much as Morgan annoys me, he’s a vital component to the group. He made the sacrifice to stay out and search for Carol while Rick heads back to Alexandria. At least somebody’s using their head this week!

Glenn, Michonne and Rosita journeyed off to find Daryl and found him near the spot where Denise met her end. Daryl’s ego wouldn’t allow him to let it go and focus on the bigger picture of taking Negan and the Saviors down, a decision that may have cost him his life. Rosita decided to go along with Daryl, whereas Glenn and Michonne started to head home. They didn’t get far; the Saviors captured them before they even left the woods. Daryl and Rosita tried to rescue them, but Dwight and the other Saviors outsmarted them. Then, it happened. Dwight shot Daryl point-blank, then said, "You’ll be alright." What? Don’t worry, Daryl! You just suffered a major gunshot wound. No biggie. If this is the way Daryl goes, I’ll be beyond pissed.

Back at Alexandria, Maggie (with her new haircut) is most likely in labor! What the hell is going on here?

After all is said and done, this was a good episode, but it was unnecessarily dramatic. Everyone was making too many sporadic decisions that felt like rookie mistakes. One thing’s for sure: Somebody is due to die next week. Get your tissue boxes ready folks!