Over a period of 48 hours, several hordes of walkers appear against the Alexandria community from several approaches, exhausting the communities as they deal with them. Lydia tells the others that this is not Alpha's normal strategy: she would drown the community with a massive horde instead of these smaller attacks. During a lull, Gamma approaches the Alexandrians and instructs them to meet Alpha at the line of posts delineating their territory to the north. Michonne, Daryl, and Carol go to meet Alpha, while other groups work to try to stop the advancing hordes from other directions. Aaron is instructed to take Negan, one of the few people left capable of fighting, to stop a horde coming from the south. Aaron, still bitter at the loss of his boyfriend during the battle with the Saviors, detests Negan and forces him to only fight with a wooden stake rather than a crowbar. After Negan and Aaron taunt each other about failing their late loved ones, they are attacked by a walker covered in hogweed, which falls on Aaron, causing him to get a rash on his face and temporarily go blind. With no sign of Negan around, Aaron finds a house and takes shelter there, but the walkers soon arrive. Negan, who had been silently following Aaron, arrives to finish off the walkers and save Aaron to prove his loyalty to Alexandria. At the border, Alpha tells the group that she knows they have crossed into Whisperer territory three times since the line was set, but rather than bloodshed, she asserts they will simply extend their territory to include most of the hunting grounds near Alexandria. When Alpha boasts to Carol about Henry's death, Carol attempts to shoot her but Michonne knocks the gun out of her hand and bargains about Carol's actions, deeming her as a grieving mother, and claiming that Alpha could understand. Alpha allows them to leave without punishment, and tells Michonne's group to run. As they flee, Carol sees Whisperers chasing them along with the walkers. They attack those they can and take shelter in an abandoned school. It is shown Carol has been taking a prescription medication that keeps her awake to avoid dreaming about Henry's death, which has caused her to see hallucinations, including the Whisperers chasing them. While searching again for Whisperers inside the school gym, Carol gets caught in a trap that leaves her hanging upside down while being taunted by a Whisperer, before said Whisperer brings out a small horde of walkers, but Carol manages to kill them all, before the rest of the group arrives. Daryl and Michonne help Carol get back to Alexandria to patch up her injuries caused by the trap, where she considers not taking the medication any further. Back where they attacked the walkers, a Whisperer suddenly wakes up, having been reanimated after getting killed by Carol.
"Ghosts" received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 88% with an average score of 6.96 out of 10, based on 15 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Opening with some of TWDs most unsettling imagery to date, 'Ghosts' ratchets up the tension with a heady, psychologically-driven story."
Ratings
"Ghosts" drew 3.48 million viewers and was the most-watched cable show of the night.
