The Walking Dead midseason finale promised to be an explosive one, and it did not disappoint. With the Governor discovering the prison where Rick and the others are holed up, battle lines will be drawn and blood will flow.

In the episode leading up to the Walking Dead midseason finale, viewers watch as the Governor, a.k.a. Brian, slowly but surely climbs to the position of de facto leader of his new camp. While Brian was shown as a changed man when he met Megan and Lily, audiences find him up to his old tricks. Determined to keep his new family alive, Brian kills and threatens the leaders of the camp and positions himself at the helm of the group.

Brian's next step? Taking over the prison. When an encounter with a Biter almost kills Megan, the Governor becomes even more obsessed with finding a better place for them. He comes across the prison and finds Rick, Carl, Hershel and Michonne having a grand old time. The prison's high walls, fences, land and supplies are too much temptation he acts, not as the mild mannered Brian, but as the cold-blooded Governor.

What follows is an hour of tension, action and grief, all the makings of a great Walking Dead episode. Fans of the show are treated to brutal killings, heart wrenching deaths and a satisfying end, at least for one of the characters. On the whole, the whole gang is once again shaken and pushed right out of their comfort zone.

Andrew Lincoln delivers a great performance as Rick Grimes coming face-to-face with an old rival and yet forced to act for the best of his charges. With the fates of the characters uncertain, one thing is for sure: viewers will be on the edge of their seats from the beginning of the episode until Walking Dead returns in February.