The mesmerized townspeople stare at the Angel statue, and Pop runs away from the statue. He goes to the Emporium and takes a bundle of Alan's letters from Dale Lacy out of his desk drawer. Pop goes through them and finds one letter with a sketch of The Kid, and stares in shock as he recognizes him.
Lacy's blind wife Martha makes her way to her room and realizes that someone is there. It's Clay, who kills her.
Pop drives through the empty streets of Castle Rock
At the Marsten House, Ace looks at a wanted poster of The Kid, and Pinto tells him that she's awake. Martha comes in and the now-Converted says that her vessel was blind, and Ace figures that what's left of Martha has received a gift... and he needs something in return.
Pop arrives at the hospital, and hears Nadia scream. She aims her revolver at him.
Ace tells Martha that he needs a memory of her vessel, of how Dale kept a man in a secret cage beneath the prison. He figures that the man was their angel.
Nadia cries over Chris' body, and Pop joins her.
Ace explains that he needs to know if The Kid was the Angel and where he is now. Martha says that Dale sent letters about The Kid to Alan, and the Collector--Pop--has them now.
Pop carries Chris' body out and Nadia follows him. They put Chris in a bed and then Nadia calls Abdi. Chance rides up on her motorcycle and tells them that she saw their truck and they have to leave because it's not safe because the Converted are killing everyone who's left. A SUV comes down the drive, and Pop, Nadia, and Chance get in Pop's truck and he drives off. The Converted in the SUV pursue them and then take a right at the next intersection to get ahead of the fleeing group.
The Converted shoot at the pickup, hitting a tire, and they park their SUV in front of the Emporium. Nadia returns fire, and Pop gets out of the truck and shoots back. A construction truck slams into the SUV and Abdi shoots the Converted dead. He then gets out and hugs Nadia when she comes over, and Pop leads them all into the Emporium and closes the window shutters.
As night falls, Pop explains that he bought all of Alan's things, including the letters Dale sent him. Dale was a historian and knew about Jerusalem's Lot's first settlers, that supposedly died in their first bad winter. Dale figured that they never really left, and now Pop knows. The lights flicker, and Pop figures that the Emporium is the safest place. He has homemade bombs in case someone came for him, and has Albi and Chase put them near the windows. Pop goes with them and they daisy-chain the bombs together, while Nadia cleans their guns and remembers watching Chris die until Albi approaches her.
Chance takes a bomb to the basement and breaks the wire off the bomb. She goes to get a new one.
Pop tells Nadia that he didn't want any of it for her, and he brought her to a bad place.
Something breaks through the basement door near the bomb.
Nadia and Pop hear the door alarm go off, grab their shotguns, and go to investigate. Albi and Chance join them, and they see someone running between the shelves. They find the intruder: Annie, Evelyn, and Jamal.
Upstairs, Pop spits up blood as his cancer advances. Nadia figures that the newcomers are with the Converted, and Annie tells her to focus on the Converted and warns that they have Joy. Pop asks Annie how she got out of the House and got to Emporium, and Annie says that she killed people. Annie vows to get her daughter back and asks for a gun so she can go find her.
Nadia questions Evelyn about what happened to her. The nurse describes how she was at the Mellow Tiger when everyone heard the ringing noise but her.
Albi questions Jamal, who says that he was at the Somali Mall when the same thing happened to him.
Pop and Chase continue the interrogations, and Jamal says that the three of them found each other. Annie tells Pop that she didn't hear the sound but Joy did, and insists that she killed Ace and dumped him in the construction site. She explains that there's tunnels underneath, and Pop has her draw a map.
Jamal tells Pop that Annie is bipolar and not one of the Converted. Pop notices that Jamal's earring is gone, and there's not even a dent in Jamal's earlobe because it's healed. He wonders why the Converted sneaked Jamal in there, and when he coughs Jamal jumps him. Jamal slams Pop into a cabinet and grabs a hammer, and Nadia arrives and shoots Jamal in the shoulder.
Upstairs, Nadia takes out the Haldol and explains that it flips the Converted back to their human vessels but only for a time. Pop figures that Jamal is back to normal, he can tell them the Converted's weaknesses. Jamal wakes up and tells them that it's over. Tomorrow at dusk, "she" returns.
Chance loads up her gun and tells Evelyn that "Jamal" isn't the real Jamal. Annie and Chance notice bugs flying in through the cracks.
Jamal says that Amity is heading for Castle Rock and they can't stop her. Pop figures that Ace had a reason for sending an assassin to kill him rather than breaking down the door: he needs something that only Pop has. Jamal remains silent, and dozens of bugs come in through the vent and fly near the ceiling light. Their prisoner says that "he" is there, and Ace calls Pop on the walkie-talkie. Ace, who is outside with the other Converted, suggests that they make a deal.
Pop looks out the window and tells Ace that he's older than Pop is. Ace says that his "real" name is Augustin, and Pop tells him that he has Lacy's correspondence and figures that's what Ace is there for. The Converted human offers to let Nadia, Abdi, and everyone else go in return for the letters, and Ace tells him that he has bombs on every door and window.
Nadia finds a train schedule on the wall and shows it to Abdi, asking if he remembers their game from Somalia. She says that they need extra time to get out.
Pop wonders why Ace would let the others go when the Converted are killing everyone else. The older man chokes, and Chance, Annie, and Evelyn come up to the office and tell Nadia and Abdi that they're surrounded. Annie goes to the tied-up Jamal, while Nadia tells Chance and Evelyn that as children, they used to run in front of the train going through the center of town to the other side to get away from Ace. Pop warns that he might not be able to make it, but Nadia refuses to leave him behind.
The generator stutters, and Nadia, Chance, and Evelyn go to check on it. The three women go to the basement and Nadia notices that Annie is missing.
Annie tells Jamal that she needs to know which room Joy is in the House. He wonders why he should tell her, and Annie sits down and points out that she's killed a lot of Jamal's brothers and sisters. Jamal just stares at her, and Annie picks up a hammer and says that she has experience with pain. Annie explains that she's spent time in the House and the Converted don't seem reasonable. As Annie goes the Haldol syringes, Jamal asks her if she thinks Joy is better off with her. He says that even if Annie finds Joy, Joy will never be the same. Annie jams two of the syringes into Jamal's eyes and injects the Haldol. Nadia and the others hear Jamal's screams and run in, and Pop restrains Nadia as she yells at Annie. Abdi and Chance take Annie out, and Pop grabs two vials and syringes.
Downstairs, Pop takes a remote out of a box, replaces the batteries, and looks at his "Caveat Emptor" sign. He then goes back upstairs, pausing halfway as his cancer weakness overcomes him.
Ace calls Pop on the radio, and Pop reaches his office. His nephew says that he thought he'd try a deal one last time, and admits that Pop's bombs will slow them down but not stop them. Pop dismisses Ace as a "hitchhiker in borrowed clothing", and he knows who he is. Ace chuckles and says that Pop doesn't, and he's empty of destiny. That's why Pop will die in a castle of shit and a tomb of crash. Ace describes how his human host felt love for Pop underneath it all, but Pop hit the real Ace a lot when he was small. Pop says that Ace was bad a lot, like his father, and Ace knew the rules. Ace notes that Pop has destroyed four children, and Pop figures that Ace and the others are trying to find The Kid. He says that he burned the letters. After a moment, Ace says that he doesn't care about the letters because he has Pop. Since Pop read them, Ace will take Pop, make him one of them, and tell him everything.
Later, Albi tells Pop not to let Ace into his head. Pop tells Albi to be honest, and Albi admits that Pop fucked them up. The older man says that he did everything for them even when he didn't feel like it, and most of the time he did feel like it. Unimpressed, Albi sarcastically thanks Pop for liberating him and walks out.
Nadia finds her old pair of sneakers and puts them on, and Pop comes over and asks if they still fit. He warns that the Converted will come soon and coughs, and Nadia tells him to breathe. Pop tells her that he'll slow her down when she heads for the train, and tells her that if he doesn't make it, all that she's done has meant a lot to him. Nadia doesn't want to hear it, insisting there won't be a time for them in the future. She tells him that he doesn't get to make his peace and she won't be mad at him forever. If Nadia lives through the night, she's going to leave Castle Rock and never think of Pop again. Albi comes over and asks if they're done, and Nadia says they're as done as they're going to be and leaves.
Pop burns Dale's correspondence and then rigs up an explosives vest. Ace calls and says that they'll give Pop a quiet end entombed in one of them. Pop tells him that he's wearing a C4 vest, and Ace orders the Converted in figuring Pop won't blow himself up while the others are inside. The Converted hook up chains from their trucks to the window shutters.
Nadia and the others prepare to leave, and Albi stays with Pop.
The Converted pull off the shutters and run in. The first ones in trigger the bomb, blowing themselves up. Pop tells the others to go down the back stairway.
The other Converted enter the building, and Pop waits for them at the top of the stairs to his office.
A Converted Timothy grabs Chance, and Annie shoots him dead.
When two of the Converted enter Pop's office, Pop and Albi kill them.
Annie and Chance find Nadia and Evelyn, and Albi and Pop find all of them. The Converted approach and Pop and Albi fire at them and then Pop tells Albi to go. When Albi goes through the next door, Pop locks it and tells him through the window that they need more time. As Albi reluctantly goes on, Pop injects himself with Haldol before shooting a Converted. He then draws his revolvers and continues firing.
Nadia opens fire on more Converted ahead, and the group continues through the basement. Albi kills one of the Converted behind them. Heather grabs Nadia and they struggle, Annie unable to get a clear shot but hitting a steam pipe. Nadia knocks Heather into the steam, and the others run on as the Converted screams in pain. Before he goes, Albi shoots Heather dead, putting her out of her misery.
Ace and Clay enter the Emporium.
Pop checks his pocket watch and hears the train in the distance.
Evelyn hears the train and runs, and a Converted shoots her dead.
Pop takes the batteries out of the remote.
Ace enters Pop's office.
Nadia shoots a bomb near the Converted, blowing it up and killing him.
Pop steps out, arms up, and shows the armed Ace that he's holding the remote.
Chance tosses a Molotov cocktail, killing the Converted guarding the door out.
Pop hears the train and figures that if he blows up the explosives, he'll destroy Ace's body and leave Augustin with nowhere to go. Ace tells him not to trigger the bomb, and Pop points out that Ace spent the last hour telling him he's a piece of shit. The Converted tells Pop that he's not a good man, but he is dying.
Annie steps out and fires her revolver at the Converted. Once the way is cleared, she and the others go out and head for the train tracks.
Ace says that Pop has nothing while he has forever, and offers Pop a trade. Pop says "no deal" and hits the trigger... and nothing happens. Laughing, Ace lowers the remote.
Nadia and the others reach the tracks and cross to the other side.
Pop sits down and lights his pipe.
The train passes, cutting off Nadia's group from the remaining Converted chasing them.
Ace tells Pop that he'll see, and shoots him dead.
Nadia calls Pop on the radio and gets no answer.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 5, 2019