Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What I’m Watching: The Walking Dead (Season Finale)


The Walking Dead: Season 4, Episode 16 “A” (B)

As an episode, this wasn’t necessarily bad, but as a season finale, it was a sincere letdown. Following all of the splintered plotlines throughout the season, it might have been nice to see more than two of them come together before the closing moments of the hour. Instead, we got flashbacks to Hershel teaching Rick how to teach Carl to live off the land at the prison, a seemingly late homage to a departed character and a time far more serene than the present. In line with this season’s most disturbing elements, we got to see Joe and his buddies come across Rick ready to kill Michonne and Carl before killing him just to torment him as much as possible as revenge for killing one of his crew. Since the walkers doing it wasn’t enough, Rick had to go ahead and pretend to be one of them and bite his neck to get out of the situation, letting some intense rage out in the process. Unfortunately, Rick’s quick instincts kicked in too late to save the crew from their current fate, which has reunited them with everyone but Beth, Tyreese, Carol, and Judith. Not being a reader of the comic books, I have no clue what’s coming next, but it does seem that the back half of this season proceeded at a glacial pace, accomplishing so little only to find everyone imprisoned in this bizarre and mysterious entity that is Terminus. I’m hopeful that, starting with almost everyone in one place, next season can be off to a livelier and less fragmented start.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Danai Gurira as Michonne

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