Surprisingly unsurprised. If I were to sum up my thoughts on the season finale of
The Walking Dead as succinctly as possible, it would be with those two words. Like many, I left last week’s episode,
Us, with the impression that the show runner’s gloves were about to come off. A fair assumption, I thought, as all of the previous season finales ended with a crisis (Season 3 still managed to have an optimistic ending, I admit), and the way in which
A was promoted did nothing to dissuade me from believing it. And yes, while the revelation that the long-coveted sanctuary Terminus was in fact a rather macabre tourist trap easily qualifies as a crisis, it was ultimately a very safe crisis, in the sense that no major players were removed from the board, and that the episode followed the narrative of its comic book counterpart almost to a tee. On their own, these obviously aren’t even problems; character deaths don’t automatically raise the stakes, and
The Walking Dead has never been sold as anything other than a largely faithful adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s books. However with audience expectations arguably at their highest since the finale for Season Three, and the incredibly ominous question (“Who will arrive... who will survive?”) making its way through the promotional machine, it was inevitable that many (especially those who had read the comics) were going to feel somewhat disappointed at what came across as a defiantly inconclusive finale. Despite this,
A still managed to deliver a tense, meaningful and often visceral conclusion to the season, and I can’t seem to shake the feeling that the onus is on us, the audience, for expecting the show runners to alter their approach in its final 40 minutes.
If viewers gained nothing from Rick, Michonne and Carl’s brief appearance in last week’s episode, they were at least guaranteed to see more of them in the season finale. With all other characters surprisingly sidelined for this episode however (even the ones advertised on the posters!), there was plenty of time for some great character moments from each of them, particularly Rick. If it wasn’t already apparent after his violent turn in
Claimed, Rick has effectively given up on his hopes of pursuing a relatively sedentary lifestyle, and
A spared no expense in making this absolutely clear to the audience. Many were probably quite miffed to see some of the finale’s precious time used for flashbacks, but these scenes aptly demonstrated Rick’s season-long arc coming full circle, as the man who once despaired over the loss of his pigs simply looked on as another man was torn to pieces by walkers. It was sad to see Herschel’s ideals of placidity and optimism brought so low in light of events in the present, but as the writers have shown through characters such as Joe and The Governor, there is only so much time that a person can dedicate to such philosophies.
Anyone who has read the comics would have seen where Joe’s ambush was going early on, but that didn’t detract from the shocking brutality of the whole ordeal. For a moment or two I honestly thought Daryl wouldn’t make it to the end of the episode (though this was clearly the point), and Rick’s vicious retaliation carried the bitter yet satisfying feeling of justice that it needed, just as it did in the comics. Any relief from this escape was short-lived however, as the group now find themselves captives of the Terminus survivors, who I can only assume are the show’s adaptation of the cannibals. Again, I think most viewers saw this coming, and I am relieved that they didn’t spend too long trying to convince us that Rick and the others were finally safe. With all of Glenn and Abraham’s group seemingly alive and well (although reunited under rather unfavourable circumstances), it will be up to the new and improved (?) Rick to prove that they have “screwed with the wrong people”, while trying to maintain his image as a role model for his son. Only time will tell how far he will need to go to achieve the latter, but things will undoubtedly get bloody come October.
Given how closely
A followed the narrative of the comics, it isn’t surprising that the writers clearly took pains to mould their characters in a way that would be more familiar to Kirkman’s faithful readers. Character accuracy has been a frequent complaint among fans, even if only by a vocal minority, though it’s clear now that these developments have been a long time in the making. Take Carl, for instance. Season Three ended with his rather questionable handling of the teenager from Woodbury, which led Herschel to exclaim repeatedly about his need for a responsible father figure; one who could teach him how to exercise restraint, and to handle a crisis without resorting to violence. One season later it’s clear that Rick, despite his best efforts, has failed Carl. That may seem harsh, especially considering what the pair has been through, but you can’t leave an innocent man to die, or mutilate a man (no matter how despicable that man may be) in front of your own child and expect there to be no consequences for it. What we can expect is that Carl will leave Terminus with an even more cynical outlook on the world than he had before, though if the narrative continues to follow the comics as closely as it is now, he will probably be better off for it.
The person to echo Herchel’s concerns about Carl in the present day was of course Michonne, who seems to understand the boy better than his own father. She has come a long way from her sullen, zombie-dragging origins in Season Three, and for the first time we saw Michonne explain this change in her own words. It was already clear that Michonne’s partner and his friend must have done something particularly nasty to warrant becoming zombie pets, but as she said herself when referring to her son’s death, it helped to know why she had acted in such a manner. For Michonne (and by extension, the writers), this conversation served as a final farewell to her past self, in favour of a character that is already much more likeable and, probably not by coincidence, much more in line with her comic book counterpart.
As much as this episode was about three of the show’s most important characters, it was also a season finale, and was therefore obliged to answer some of the questions that the writers had been teasing audiences with since October last year. And while the biggest question on everybody’s mind (what the hell is Terminus?) was given a not-so-subtle answer, this only gave way to an even bigger question (how the hell do they get out of this mess?) that will obviously be the main draw for Season Five. Other questions, particularly regarding Beth, Carol and Tyreese’s current predicaments, went unanswered, all in favour of providing more time for Carl, Michonne and Rick. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for a finale to do, and it’s pretty clear now that the writers always intended for the second half of this season to play out as an extended epilogue to the prison storyline, allowing them to give each character relatively equal amounts of screen time. What did disappoint me however was the total lack of surprise surrounding the episode’s two antagonists. As you may have guessed, based on my now unfounded predictions regarding Joe’s group last week, this did not play out the way I had thought it would. This isn’t to say that I hadn’t considered Joe’s men to be the bloodthirsty bandits from the comics, but rather that this development seemed a little too obvious. Similarly, people were throwing around the possibility that Terminus would be full of survivors with a very particular palate as soon as the initial trailer for Season Four aired, which really undermined the ‘shock’ of this revelation coming almost ten months later.
That being said,
A made up for its rather predictable route by turning up the tension to levels higher than they have been this entire season. Placing the focus on Rick, Michonne and Carl made for a nicely paced, wholesome approach to the narrative, while neatly tying up the fates of numerous other characters. While this led to many other lingering questions being completely ignored, it allowed the Terminus storyline to play out in a uniquely interesting way, giving the audience (or myself, at least) more than enough reasons to tune in later this year.
8/10
Reviewer's Note: I know I have said this before, but I was rather disappointed to see that the writers are still treating extras like Storm Troopers in a firefight in order to serve the 'greater purpose' of the narrative. It's an appalling way to treat a human being, and I really don't see how hard it would be to put these poor people in a life or death situation that doesn't seem so contrived.
Enthusiastic Fan: Outrageous!
The Walking Dead has nothing but the utmost respect for its extras! Each person, be they walker or back ground survivor, is treated with nothing but dignity, and given the same care and attention that-
Poor, poor extra. Did he really need to look like Milhouse, though?