As for pacing, this is exactly what happened at the end of season 4. In March, our people are stuck in a train car butchering iconic dialogue. Next October, there are blown up propane tanks and chaos in the season 5 MSP and 15 minutes later everyone’s free and safe. But Tyreese left behind a loose end, which comes back to haunt them later. (Saviors, Daryl, Sasha & Abe = loose end.) This isn’t a new storytelling technique we’re seeing here. Keeping with this theme, I think we should expect a rocket launcher in episode 9, too.