Suffer the Children (Grimes)

"Suffer the Children" is the fifth episode, and mid-season finale, of the first season of HBO's Grimes. It is the fifth episode of the series. It was released in May 2028 and was written by Angela Kang, with Michael Cudlitz directing it.

Plot
When The Delta arrive, it is up to Reece and Broady to defend the school from those who wish to destroy everything.

Synopsis
A loud bang is heard while Lillian's voice calls out to Adrian and Clementine. Reece and Broady stare her down from the watchtower.

The group all sit together in the Admin buildings common room. No one really knows what to say so Broady begins to tell a story that the carers used to tell them but Willie interrupts her saying they're not kids anymore, Reece then replies to him that there are kids here.

Reece then asks Willie to speak to him privately, he asks Willie to stay in the basement with the younger ones and Scott, when the raiders arrive, to protect them. Willie begrudgingly agrees. Suddenly, a loud bang and Lillian's voice is heard. Reece tells the younger kids and Scott to follow Willie. Broady joins Reece as he walks to the watchtower.

Willie ushers the kids into the basement and pulls the door closed. He holds up his blade shaking, Judith draws her sword as well and assures him that he will be okay.

Reece and Lillian stare each other down, she asks where Adrian is. He doesn't respond. Lillian demands they come peacefully, stating there won't be any bloodshed. Reece asks if she said that to Adrian about Bonnie. She glares at him.

Reece glares back before imagining Rick is standing in front of him, he urges him to talk Lillian down in order to protect everyone, Negan also appears and urges him to take action and shoot first to protect those he loves.

Back in the real world, Reece attempts to defuse the situation, he tells her that they don't have to be enemies and is shocked when she agrees. She then demands he open the gate, he shoots her one last glare before agreeing, shocking everyone.

Reece and Broady both climb down, she grabs him and tries to stop him but he asks her to trust him, she looks worried, he holds her hand before placing a bomb in it, he then tells her to throw it at the battering ram they have. Reece swings the gate open and Broady launches it at the battering ram, damaging it and killing two Delta soldiers. Reece then swings it shut again and locks it.

They gather in the square, Reece is about to issue words of encouragement before a shot fires and kills Omar. They all turn in terror as Louis notices a sniper in a tree, Reece and Broady dart behind a table as everyone scatters. Reece runs for Adrian's bow and flips the table it is on for cover. Molotovs fly over the wall and begin to burn down the reinforcement on the gate, they finally bash it open.

The Delta enter, Lillian calls out to Adrian, then Clementine and finally Reece, he rises from the table aiming at her. She laughs and orders her men to turn on him, all guns are pointed in his direction. She asks him where Clementine and Adrian are, he tells her that she can take him and lead her to Clementine, if the others are spared. She considers this before ordering the others to fan out and find the others. Reece threatens her, as she is about to reply a bomb goes off destroying one of the carts they have. Jason charges for Lillian and knocks her off her feet, he swings a brick down at her but Abel shoves him before stomping down on his head several times.

A fight begins and Reece fires at Ben who dives into cover, this gives the group enough time to retreat inside. They slam the door closed and charge upstairs preparing the traps. They watch from the top as the Delta enter, when two of their soldiers move into position, Louis sets it off and kills them. Abel and Roseline are furious, she charges up towards them but is met by Broady and Grace slamming a couch down at her. Abel throws a molotov at them which separates Reece from the group, he urges them away and escapes into the office.

Judith and Willie hear the fighting going on above them, they try to peer through the gap in the door before they hear the other door open, two Delta soldiers stalk down into the basement as Judith cuts out the candle light.

In the office, Reece chokes from the smoke and forgets to close the door, he them begins to feel shaky as he hasn't fully recovered yet. Abel charges in and slams his head of the table, he is about to kill him when suddenly, Adrian leaps onto his back, both of them fight Abel before he kills Adrian by stabbing him in the throat. Reece charges at Abel, pushing him off the balcony, but he drags Reece down as well.

The two soldiers walk among the maze of shelves, one of them hears something and turns his flashlight on, when he does he sees Scott holding Taron but suddenly, Judith impales his head with her sword. The other comes running by as Judith and Willie fight him, a panicked Scott runs out the basement with Taron in his arms still. Abi and Sam follow them.

Reece raises his head, he is extremely dizzy before he comes to, Abel is lying beneath him, extremely injured. Lillian appears and raises her gun to his head, she is extremely frustrated with how much of a failure this mission has been. Reece demands she shoot him, he taunts her before she raises it again. Louis leaps in and wrestles her to the ground, Reece tries to retreive the bow before Abel grabs his leg and drags him back, Reece kicks him in the nose, breaking it.

Rising from the ground, Reece sees Louis being dragged away but also sees Judith fighting with someone, he fires at the person Judith is fighting while Louis is thrown in the cage with Scott, Sam, Abi and finally Reece sees Taron with Scott. Lillian sends the horses running with the cage as Reece runs towards her. She blocks the gate with a molotv before escaping. The remaining group fight off the walkers which have been attracted. Once they are dead, Reece collapses to the ground in defeat.

Starring

 * Calum Kelmer as Reece Grimes
 * Dove Cameron as Grace
 * Leon Thomas III as Louis
 * Cailey Fleming as Judith Grimes
 * Felix Drake as Scott**
 * Adam Thomas as Adrian
 * with Zendaya as Clementine*
 * and Stephanie Breatiz as Lillian

Also Starring

 * Lucy Tate as Broady
 * Andrew Oran as Taron Grimes
 * Cameron Olsen as Willie
 * Ricci Guarnaccio as Ben
 * Maria Decantor as Katy
 * Issac Ryan Brown as Alivin Jr.*
 * Yvonne Marsh as Ruby

Special Guest Stars

 * Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes (Hallucination)
 * Jeffery Dean-Morgan as Neil Aegan (Hallucination)

Co-Stars

 * Diego Sanchez as Omar
 * Mitchel McKinnon as Jason
 * Peter Vindikar as Samuel
 * Freeya McCarr as Abi
 * Callum Yon as Abel
 * Mary Wheters as Roseline
 * Suma Peeve as Armando

Deaths

 * Omar
 * Jason
 * Adrian (Alive)
 * Armando
 * 3 Unnamed Delta Soldiers

Trivia

 * First (and Last) Appearance of Armando.
 * First Appearance of Roseline.
 * Last Appearance of Jason (Alive)
 * Last Appearance of Adrian (Alive).
 * Last Appearance of Omar (Alive).
 * Last Appearance of Rosie (Unknown).
 * Due to Rosie's actor, the Dog Dixie, passing away during filming for this season, Rosie disappears after this episode as it was the final episode to be filmed. In The Talking Dead, it is revealed that she ran away due to the fire and did not perish during the battle.
 * There are deleted scenes from the episodes "Morning Star" and "No Turning Back" which include Dixie, although these were cut or re-shot to accommodate for the Dog's passing.
 * Cameron Olsen (Willie) is upgraded to a Series Regular as of this episode and is now credited in the 'Also Starring' section, rather than 'Co-Starring'.
 * This episode is similar to that of Season Four's "Too Far Gone" with Reece's speech to Lillian mirroring Rick's speech to The Governor.
 * Coincidentally, this episode and Too Far Gone are both Mid-Season Finales which the characters home is destroyed.
 * The way in which Lillian kills Adrian is similar to Mitch's death in the Telltale episode of the same name.
 * This is ironic considering Adrian is actually based on Marlon as opposed to Mitch.
 * This episode's title is based on the Telltale episode of the same name.
 * The episodes plot is also adapted from the Telltale episode of the same name, making it, "In Harms Way" and "No Turning Back" the only episodes of the season which have a plot adapted from the episode the name is taken from.
 * "Suffer the Children" is the fifth highest rated episode of The Walking Dead brand on IMDB and the third highest rated episode of Season One. It holds a rating of 9.3 on the IMDB Scale.
 * "Morning Star", "What We Become", "The Heart's Desire" and "The Tower" are the episodes rated higher than it.
 * "The Tower" occasionally swaps places with this episode as it has a rating of 9.4 and new critical reviews change its place all the time.