Last week’s episode ended with Daryl stumbling out of the woods with someone unknown behind him, could this be a precursor to what could be the outcome of what Beth is experiencing. We begin this episode with us finally getting a glimpse into what Beth is dealing with as she wakes up in Saint Ignatius Hospital. When she looks outside, it shows the city of Atlanta..that we know was overrun from the first season. The city is still in shambles and there was definitely some sort of bombing that went on. However, she is surrounded with normality..which is rather reminiscent of when Rick first awakes. It would seem that even in the city, there has been order established within certain small sectors and there are people/police actively bringing injured people back to the hospital for treatment.

The episode really takes its time setting up the situation that Beth is currently in. She learns how hospital is set up, who was in charge, and how your life was dependent on your worth. If you were considered a waste of resources to save, you were killed via brain stabbing and your body was quickly taken to the elevator shaft, where it was thrown down. Apparently, the hospital has been using bodies to sort of satiate some of the walkers that are on the ground floor.

At this point, we can see how tentative the situation is for everyone inside the hospital. They were only able to secure everything around the hospital but around it was still filled with wandering hoards that know there are tasty morsels inside. We see why the “wards” are kept around and why there are staff working throughout the building, performing tasks such as mopping floors and performing routine checkups. There does not seem to be too much other explanation as to what happened to Beth aside from her being saved from a walker after she blacked out.

Beth also learns that “everything costs something” where she was from a policeman who went by Gorman that sets off all sorts of rape-y vibes..Beth quickly takes some food and brings it to Doctor Edwards. They begin to discuss the ethics of the world ending and it would see the Doctor would be someone Beth could count on.

Dawn brings in a man with a punctured lung that fell from a building and while there really seems no hope for him, she continues to push Dr. Edwards to save him. When he explains the extent of his damages, the police lady slaps Beth because they really need this guy. WHAT. THE. HELL. I seriously want this woman as my leader.

They also bring in a bitten woman (Joan) who needs her arm amputated in which Beth is forced to stay and hold her down for the cutting. She wants nothing to do with the group and is determined to stop everyone from saving her life. It would seem that Joan purposely placed herself in a place where she would be bitten.

We meet Noah when Beth goes to get new clothes (she is seriously running through them), who is responsible for keeping things neatly in order and does all the laundry. He is sassy and has been plotting his escape from the hospital. We find out just how particular Dawn is about keeping everything which is why Noah is so valuable to her.

Noah explains how he ended up at the hospital and why he has been there for the past year. Noah plus his father were brought back. Unfortunately, they were given a choice, only one could survive. Noah said that he could see now why they chose him, because he was smaller and would require less resources. We see how disillusioned Noah has become, and despite his injury, is ready to make his escape at a moment’s notice. He is seriously growing on me despite his short appearances until now, and I really do not want to see him eaten.

Beth is cleaning up more blood as Dawn enters to bring her food. Dawn is trying to justify why the infrastructure is set up the way it is. She explains that she is only trying to keep the world running in hopes that someone will be coming to reestablish the former order prior to its collapse. Dawn calls Beth weak and tells her how useless she would be if she was left outside of the hospital.

Beth is cleaning up the blood leftover from the amputation and is humming, the sound of which wakes up Joan. They have a conversation and we can conclude that Joan was trying to escape from Gorman or committing suicide after something he did to her. He was probably really pissed she tried to run away from him or her not accepting his affections because..let’s be honest, he is way too creepy to get laid in a normal situation.

Gorman begins to make really awkward and terrible advances onto Beth, thankfully interrupted by the good doctor. We see again how precarious Dawn’s control over everyone was despite their sense of order. Doctor Edwards takes Beth up to the roof where we see roof gardens and their guinea pig farm going. We see what Atlanta looks like now and how different it is from the dark hospital. Beth really wants to leave at this point but Doctor Edwards is focused on convincing her otherwise, saying that “as bad as it gets, its still better than down there.”

Another interesting point is when they discuss how Dawn came into power because their former head, Hanson had begun to lose his marbles. Hanson was supposed to clear the hospital and evacuate everyone to higher ground. That was when the bombing started and when shit escalated, Hanson made a lot of bad calls. He was killed by Dawn in order to keep everyone alive because “a good man’s mistakes almost ended” them.

The hospital group started out as only small crews who were off searching for food..when the world ends, everyone is going to hole up in their homes until they run out of food, that is when the second wave of human deaths would begin because it always seems to come down to the food and survival. The hospital groups that ventured outside also saw how there were little pockets of survivors who were barely hanging on. It is at this point where this system of compensation for service started, that escalated into a way of holding a person in the hospital.

As Beth and Doctor Edwards head downstairs, he tells her to please attend to Trevitt (the guy who fell off the building) and tells her to give him a certain prescription of clozapine. When she does, he begins to seizure and dies. Dawn is super pissed and punches Beth after having them hall off Noah to be beaten up as punishment for Trevitt’s death. Dawn needed Trevitt for something and she seems to think his death was a conspiracy between the Doctor and Beth. Beth keeps trying to insist that it was her who had caused Trevitt’s death. When she confronts Doctor Edwards, he stoically states that she had heard him wrong…GODDAMN IT. ARE THERE NO GOOD PEOPLE? I think at this point, Beth begins to really focus on why Trevitt was so important to Dawn and why his death was on her hands.

Beth and Dawn has a small confrontation where we hear the words “all for the greater good,” which should tell us just how far gone Dawn is in terms of her morals. She explains why even though Dawn knew Beth had caused Trevitt’s death, Noah still had to be punished, why Joan’s abuse was allowed to continue and how it was part of the system that has kept the hospital running up to this point. Dawn tells her that the wards are there to keep officers happy and if they were not fulfilling it, there was no reason to keep them around. Dawn also seems to blame Beth for her having to punish Noah. She seems obsessed with maintaining order and to keep it in place for whatever governmental force she has diluted into thinking was going to save them. Beth pops that bubble and we see our golden girl’s determination to escape strengthen further.

Noah and Beth begin to plan their escape and of course it would have to be the most dangerous, walker-filled escape. First, Beth has to find the spare key to the elevator bank where they will apparently slide down (NOT CAUSING ANY NOISE AT ALL). Beth walks in and begins to look around, she looks up and spots a blood stain. It leads to poor Joan who is dead whether by her own device or from the corner of the desk, thanks to Gorman. Beth continues on her search, only slightly perturbed by the scene when a couple of years ago, she would’ve been crying like a little baby. GODDAMN creepy Gorman finds her inside as soon as Beth busts into the drawer holding the key they need to escape with. While he is feeling up Beth, Joan goes full walker and eats Gorman. Ironically, she hits Gorman with a jar of lollypops which drops him down as a feast for walker Joan.

As Beth is walking away, she is stopped by Dawn and two other officers. Beth directs Dawn towards her office where Joan and Gorman are “waiting” for her. Her and Noah rush away towards the elevator shaft and you cannot help but feel that Noah is so good..he is going to be eaten for sure.

Beth makes it down relatively safe and we hold our breaths as Noah drops down. He is stopped by a walker that somehow pushes a lower floor’s door open, and although he is able to get out of its grasps, he drops into the basement pit and has further aggravated his leg injury. They walk through the dark basement where Beth displays some impressive marksmanship. Noah and Beth make it outside where they make a run for it. At this point, it is discovered what the two escapees intended to do and they make the choice to keep running.

Beth stomps out a walker like a badass, trying to make room for Noah to run. He makes it even though Beth is “saved” and handcuffed by Dawn and Grady as more walkers close in on them.

Beth is dragged backed to the office where Dawn confronts her about what is going on inside of the hospital. Beth gets really real with her about what Dawn is fighting for and is whacked on the head by Dawn to the point where she blacks out.

We black back in to Doctor Edwards administering aid onto several of Beth’s facial injuries…(which may suggest that she has had other abusive interactions with Dawn). Beth also confronts him about Trevor’s death and how Dr. Edwards figured out that Trevor was another doctor. The doctor explains that they were passing acquaintances and that he knew if Trevor survived, he would no longer hold his position of value. Dr. Edwards would’ve been kicked out or killed because his worth would have been greatly diminished, making him extremely vulnerable. I also do not think this is the first time the doctor has done something like this..Dawn’s reaction to Dr. Edwards asking Beth for a hollow needle to ease the pressure of blood building up in Trevitt’s lungs, showed how afraid that they would lose another potential and valuable member of the hospital community.

Beth seems to be hardened by this incident even further and merely scoffs, we hear the words “use everything you can use” again but in an entirely different context. Instead of helping to keep the people inside the hospital safe, this “use” was for personal gain and actually probably harmed them by killing Trevitt. Trevitt, who was an orthopedic, would have been able to help set bones and dealt with tough surgical situations.

The scene ends with her seemingly about to stab Dr. Edwards in the neck with a sharp object, however changes her mind when…CAROL IS BROUGHT IN ON A STRETCHER.

Is Carol there on purpose?! Did something terrible happen to the group?!?!

This episode is all about the greater good and what we do when we think there is really no choice. People are allowed to be raped to keep the officers under control, doctors going back on their vows to protect life, and a person’s value being evaluated as their life’s blood leaked out of their body. We are left feeling super jittery and feeling completely uncertain about Beth (AND CAROL’S) fate!