But they also appear in Revelations, emerging from the abyss to punish and torture the non-believers - this grim reference seems more fitting for the matters at hand, as Lance decides that it’s now his way or the highway to hell. Lest we wonder about the bugs for long, the timeline shifts to “19 hours and one act of God ago.” Of course, there are plenty of biblical references to locusts, most notably in Exodus, as God sends a swarm to blanket all of Egypt. Lance looks displeased as he gazes upward, where loud insects are buzzing about. Arrows are on the ground, though that surely can’t be Daryl’s body. The opening sequence is promising, perhaps a little too much so: With Hilltop in flames, Lance steps in something gooey, which appears to be what’s left of a fresh, unidentified corpse. But even with two deaths and Hornsby’s full transformation from slimy bureaucrat to psycho rogue warlord, nothing that transpired here will keep me in delightfully painful suspense until part three arrives later this year. From the mysterious opener with Lance at a Hilltop in ruins to the ominous closing montage, the stakes can’t be much higher now - it’s the Coalition (or what’s left of it) versus the Commonwealth to determine the future of roughly 50,000 souls, including the handful that we still (mostly) care about. The last three episodes have been good or even great, and expectations are high as we round the final turn toward the series finish line. To call this episode “anticlimactic” is perhaps a bit too strong, but I can’t help but feel like I expected more from the conclusion of this part two.