We’re still shaking after the surprisingly rousing end of “The Walking Dead” fourth season finale, as ***SPOILER*** we said goodbye to… Nobody! Nobody died!
But other than that, here’s everything that had us scraping our jaws off the floor at the end of “A”:
Joe vs. The Rick-cano
Let’s cut to the chase, so to speak, shall we? Joe and the Claimers catch up with Rick, Michonne and Carl, who they blame for killing one of their former Claimers. Daryl proceeds to talk Joe down, leading to a look of total sadness and betrayal from Joe. That leads to the following classic line:
“First we’re going to beat Daryl to death. Then we’ll have the girl. Then the boy. Then we’ll shoot you. Then we’ll be square.”
Rick breaks. Like, seriously breaks. He bites Joe’s neck, ripping it and spitting it out. He guts a guy who was going to rape Carl. And other than a short case of the shakes the next morning, and worry about Carl, Rick is fine. More than fine, he’s becoming the leader he’s needed to be since the very first episode.
Hey, you gotta bite a few necks to make a neck omlette. Or something.
Hershel Returns
Throughout the episode, we saw flashbacks to a simpler life at the prison, and most notably the return of Scot Wilson as Hershel Greene. The idea was to contrast the relative hopefulness in setting up a farm with the grim reality of being on the road.
But the main takeaway? Hershel suggested getting pigs, which led to the infection, which led to his eventual demise. IRONY!!!
Terminus Is People! Or Maybe Not!
Now with more Daryl than usual, Rick’s group makes an actually smart move by entering Terminus from the back. It doesn’t matter, though, as we don’t actually find out the big secret of the sanctuary this episode. Instead, as Rick is about to be handed a disturbing looking piece of meat — given the lack of animals in the surrounding area — he notices Glenn’s riot gear, Maggie’s poncho and Hershel’s watch (via Glenn). And freaks out.
Slipknot’s Ears Are Burning
Early in the episode Rick explains to Carl how a slipknot trap works. See, you give the sense of creating a home for the animal you want to eat, drive them down the trap until there’s no escape and it’s too late. And then you kill them.
Then to the shock of everyone who has no idea what foreshadowing is, the same thing happens to Rick and company. They’re forced by some “bad shots” into a snare with no way out. Despite its peaceful outer appearance, there are a lot of guns at Terminus.
The Yellow King
While running away from the “bad shots” Rick and crew pass through a room worthy of The Yellow King, filled with candles, weird maxims painted on the walls and floors and general strangeness. We imagine we’ll be exploring what this means in just a few months, but right now we’re just hoping Rust Cohle survived the zombie apocalypse to help our group out.
Come On Ride The Train
Rick’s people are forced onto a train car, where we meet… Everyone else! Everyone is still alive, and has all of their limbs, which is the most shocking thing the show could have ever done. We haven’t seen Tyreese/Carol/Judith yet, and Beth is still in some dude’s car. But otherwise everyone is alive, and Rick is ready for a fight.
“They’re going to feel pretty stupid when they find out,” Rick says, looking out of the car.
“Find out what?” Abraham asks, setting Rick up for a super cool line.
“They’re screwing with the wrong people,” Rick answers.
Cut to the long wait until next season.
What did you think of “The Walking Dead” season finale? Did it live up to your expectations?
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