Walking Dead S05E04 Recap: Slabtown

The guys in the black car with the cross finally get a storyline, as we find out what happened to Beth. Let the Beth-hour begin. Beth awakens clean in a room. It looks like she's back in Atlanta, locked in a hospital. She's all bandaged up, and even has an IV in her arm. Dr. Edwards, and Officer Dawn come to her banging. She was found the side of the road surrounded by walkers, with a fractured wrist. No mention of the whole trunk stuffing incident. She asks about the man she was with, but she was utterly alone they say, and Officer Dawn thinks she should be grateful.

The hospital is running off batteries, really anything they can get their hands on, and Beth isn't the only patient at the facility. Dr. Edwards takes her to see another patient, one who suffered a cardiac arrest, but he's not showing any signs of improvement, so he turns off the machines keeping him alive, and ensures the body will not rise again. Beth assists Dr. Edwards in wheeling the former patient out. There are others in the hospital as well, each with a job to do. Dr. Edwards takes a moment to talk to Officer Dawn, but the other patient she sees shuts the door in her face without a word. On Beth goes with Dr. Edwards to dump the body down the elevator shaft. Their floor is secure, but walkers have made it ino basement, where the body is headed.

Beth heads to the mess hall. One of the other officers remarks how she was looking better. Beth remembers that she was fighting a walker, but nothing more. He was the first one on the scene, and saved her. He wants her to show some appreciation, or he'll write down all the food that she's taking. Everything costs something. What a creeper. Beth turns and leaves. Officer Dawn is giving laundry orders as she works out, and Beth looks for a quiet place to eat. Dr. Edwards use to feel like he was drowning in research, and now he's dying of boredom. Beth thinks he's lucky if he feels safe enough to be bored. She delivers Dr. Edwards his meal, and he asks where hers is. She doesn't want to take more than she owes. He asks if she's ever tried anything, and she hasn't. Dr. Edward asks her to sit as he cuts into his food and offers her a taste. It's okay. She looks over the Caravaggio in his office, the symbolism for change. They're interrupted by a new patient.

The man fell from a window trying to escape. Dr. Edwards doesn't want to bother trying to save him. It's a losing battle, but Officer Dawn wants more effort. The man is practically drowning in his own blood. He releases some of the blood, giving the man's heart room to beat, but with all the internal injuries Dr. Edwards has no way of saving him. Dawn wants him saved, but Edwards insists that its a waste of resources. Dawn slaps Beth to prove what's at stake.

Dawn is always in full bitchmode, and Dr. Edwards suggests that Beth change her shirt. Officer Dawn likes things neat. A woman is dragged in. She's been bitten, and she does not want the help that Dawn insists on providing her. The woman tells them to go to hell when they try to administer an anesthetic. Beth is forced to help hold down the woman as Dr. Edwards saws off the woman's arm. What the heck is happening at this hospital where people would rather die than stay there.

Beth takes her new blood soaked clothes in to be washed, and runs into Dawn's orderly, Noah. He's friendly, and gives her some new clean clothes. She asks what happened to Joan, that if she had just stayed and worked for awhile, if she could have left. Noah has never seen it work that way yet. He shows her his own leg, he's missing one. They did it to him when arrived, they were only able to save one. He understands that that is not the case. He was better stronger, and they needed to make sure that he was never a threat. Noah had come to find his uncle, and when the opportunity arises he'll make a break for it. Things are bad, and they're getting worse.

Beth goes back to her chores. Dawn brings in breakfast. She knows that Beth skipped her meal, but Beth tells her that she doesn't eat much. It's girl talk time, and Dawn isn't taking no for an answer. Dawn knows that Beth sees her hospitality as a sentence, but Beth never asked for it. Dawn wants her to understand that they're doing a lot of good, and she should see that. Dawn knows that there are others like them trying to keep the world alive. If they take, they need to give back. She tells her to keep working to give back, and once she works off what she owes, if she still wants to leave she can. Dawn insists that she eat to keep up her strength, so that she can heal and be helpful. She knows that she didn't ask for this, but its what she has to deal with now. Beth takes a bite, and Dawn leaves her be.

In Joan's room, Beth hums as she mops. Joan appreciates the distraction. Beth is sorry for what they did. Joan knows that it wasnt' Beth's fault, but Dawn's fault. Dawn is nothing more than a coward, and a puppet.

Beth cleans up. She goes in search of her hidden lollypop, but officer creepster, Gorman, has it, and eats in front of her. He tries to feed it to her, but she doesn't want it. He forces it upon her, and Dr. Edwards comes in to rescue her. Gorman claims that Beth should have been his, but she isn't and Dr. Edwards plans to make sure he doesn't get Joan back either. So creepy bride kidnapping is underfoot? Officer Creepster knows that Dawn won't stop him, but Dr. Edwards will. Gorman thinks that he'll treat him if need be, but I wouldn't count on it. Dawn calls Gorman away before he can lay down too many threats, but not before he gives Beth another creepy once over. Beth doesn't understand why Edwards stays. He could leave. Tears in his eyes, he doesn't answer.

He takes Beth down to the ground floor of the hospital. There's no way out. The entry way is blocked off, but looks seemingly safe. Edwards makes a little noise, and soon the tunnel is covered with walkers. Whenever he thinks of leaving he goes down there to remind himself why he can't. The pair head up to open roof. When the entire apocalypse started Dawn answered to Hansen. They had no clue how bad things were until they came upstairs. The city evacuated, and they were left behind. They stuck to themselves until the food ran out and they were forced to venture outside. They found people in worse situations than they were. They struck a deal with Hansen. He would get resources, and Edwards would use his skill to heal them. Hansen fell, and Dawn took care of things. She held things together, kept them alive. They're alive, but not really living. Edwards thinks that as bad as it is on the inside, outside is worse. Beth thinks she should get back, Edwards cuts her duties for the day, to give her a break.

Beth mixes some meds for her patient and injects him. Noah sees that she's still at it. The patient begins to convulse. Dawn jabs her scissor's through his head. She questions Beth and Noah. The patient was fine until the two of them were alone with him, and she wants answer. Noah takes the blame. He says that he tripped on the ventilation plug, and it took him a moment to get it back up. Dawn has Noah taken away. Edwards tries to get some leniency for Noah, due to the accident. Beth tells Edwards that Noah lied, that the man started seizing. Edwards verifies the medication that Beth gave him, she gave the wrong one. Noah is violently beaten, and Edwards stops her from intervening. They can't stop them, and they have work to do.

Dawn pays Beth a little visit. She knows. Noah is smart, her best worker, and he would never be so clumsy. If she knew why didn't she do something about it. She felt she had to, a good man's mistakes once almost ended them and she doesn't plan on letting that happen again. Every sacrifice they make needs to be made for the greater good she tells Beth, and Dawn doesn't think that she's the greater good. Too many lives were risked to save her life. The wards keep her officers happy, and the happier her officers are, the harder they work to keep everyone alive. Dawn tells her that it hasn't been easy, that compromises have been made. Once the world is back together, they'll be needed more than ever. Dawn is firmly in crazytown. She thinks Beth was nothing out there, nothing more than someone's burden. She points out the scar that mars Beth's wrist, telling her that some people were not meant for this life, which is fine so long as they don't take advantage as those who are.

Noah shows Beth that he's okay. Some bumps and bruises, but nothing more. Noah knows Beth made a mistake, but he insists that Dawn is trapped in her role too. They aren't trapped though, Beth is planning on escaping with Noah. They need to be pretty soundless when escaping, and its up to Beth to find the key to the elevator shaft. Noah goes to work, and Beth waits for his signal. Once she has it, she goes in search of the key in Dawn's office. Beth finds a card, and a pool of blood. It's Joan, she killed herself. Her body is on the floor. Beth finds the key she was searching for when Gorman walks in, and catches her. He's looking for a reason to keep quiet, and he's hoping Beth will give it to him. Beth spies Joan twitching, and waits for her chance to get away. He thinks he's finally about to get what he desires, when Beth hits him over the head, and Joan attacks. Joan gets lunch, and Beth gets rid of her creepster.

Beth walks the hall, blood all over her shoes. She passes Dawn in the hallway, who asks if she's okay. Beth tells her that Gorman and Joan are looking for her, and they were headed to the office. Noah and Beth make their move. Noah ties the sheets around Beth and lowers her down. He slips, and she slides, but he catches her before she hits the ground. Noah tosses the rest of the sheets down, and begins his own climb down. A walker on one of the other floors grabs him, and he falls onto the bodies below. He's fine, but a silent entrance they did not make. Beth shoots their way out of the basement, and they reach the outside. The parking lot is also full of walkers, and Noah is slow behind her. Beth smashes the head of one ground walker, and takes aim some of the others as she tries to get free. Noah makes it outside of the gates, but Beth is apprehended by the other officers who've come to her rescue/to take her back. She smiles as Noah runs off, free.

Dawn is not pleased with any of Beth's actions. Gorman attacked her, and Joan, and Dawn is letting it all happen. Dawn is holding out hope that some one is coming to save them, but Beth delivers the hard truth. No one is coming. They're all going to die, and she let it happen. Dawn knocks Beth out.

Dr. Edwards patches Beth up. She's healing nicely and will be back in action in a few days. Beth asks how he knew the guy she killed was a doctor. That was the reason she figures he told her the wrong meds to give him. If he had lived there would be another doctor, and then Dawn wouldn't need him, wouldn't protect him. Trevor was an oncologist at a nearby hospital. They would have kicked him out, killed him. Edwards didn't have a choice. He's no better than Judas, who also didn't have a choice. Edwards looks in on a patient, and Beth stalks close ready to end Dr. Edwards with a scapel when a new patient comes in. It's Carol.