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So, in case I haven’t mentioned it, I have had an extreme “love/hate relationship” with The Walking Dead‘s fourth season. And at this moment, after having a spell to sit back and process everything I just saw; the overwhelming feeling I’ve got is liquid-hot loathing. Seriously; my hate-fire is raging.
This was not a finale-caliber episode. It was slow; it was boring; there were no major deaths; and nothing all that exciting happened. Sure it got a little tense for a while there while Rick, Michonne and Carl were seemingly goners when Joe’s merry band of misfits had them cornered. They were about to just take Rick out when Daryl showed up and vouched for them; telling Joe that they were good people. Joe insisted that, since Rick killed his friend Lou (the dude in the bathroom that Rick garroted in the house several episodes ago), Daryl must be lying.
Well, we know Joe doesn’t take too kindly to lies being told, so he had his meat heads rough Daryl up. Joe then told Rick that they were going have their way with Michonne AND Carl, and then shoot Rick while the thugs let their feet and fists do the talking for Daryl. Rick starts a scuffle that results in him getting positioned to where he rips Joe’s throat out with his teeth. Yes. His teeth. Daryl then takes care of the thugs on him, Michonne does the same for the guy on her, and then they all go over to take care of the man trying to rape Carl. Rick makes quick work of him (well, by stabbing him over and over) and just like that; Joe’s gang is no more.
Courtesy of Lightcommasticks
Courtesy of Lightcommasticks
And then they make it to Terminus. It was obvious, to me, last week that this place was bad news bears. Mary and her grill were far too chipper for any kind of positive scenario to unfold. Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Carl find their way in through a back route and circumvent the typical welcome committee. The residents of Terminus appear to actually be impressed by this and give them a quick rundown before-yep, you guessed it- take them to Mary for some grub.
Everything seems hunky-dory around the grill-yard when we see Rick catch a glimpse of their guide’s pocket. Hanging out of it is the chain attached to the pocket watch that Hershel gave to Glenn as a gift. Rick acts quickly and grabs the guide and points his gun at his throat. We see other recognizable garments and accessories and the Terminus residents swear they were all found items from the dead and abandoned clothes lines. The leader pops up and tells Rick that they may as well just lower their weapons, as they are surrounded and outnumbered. He also tells Rick that it’s over, saying “You don’t trust us anymore.”
The foursome lower their weapons and they escape the initial group and run through bits of Terminus. We see a fenced-off area that is clearly littered with blood, flesh, muscle and bones. We see a weird culty room with affirmations painted from floor to ceiling and hundreds of lit candles. We hear as the group is running cries for help, seemingly coming out of train cars.
The group is finally cornered and made to march, in an unnecessarily dramatic fashion, into a train car of their own. When they enter the car they are reunited with Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Bob, Sasha, Abraham, Eugene and Rosita. They reunite and Rick grumbles something about how the Terminus residents decided to screw with the wrong people. AND THAT’S IT! No seriously, that was it.
I gotta say, I really don’t feel like I’m being unreasonable here. I don’t think that it’s TOO much to ask to expect at least ONE story line to have, if not an ending, at least a bit of an explanation. At this point, the group isn’t fully reunited (Tyrese, Carol and Judith are still wandering somewhere); we have no idea what these cannibals (my guess) at Terminus have in store; and Eugene is being rendered completely useless imprisoned in the train car with the others like a goddamned end-of-the-world Boxcar Kid.
Look, I get that not EVERY episode can be chock full of intense and compelling television. Sometimes you have to have a little filler. But this was the season finale of the most watched show in the world, and that’s the best these asshats running the show can come up with? I expect more from this show, I just do. I KNOW how great it CAN be. What I don’t understand is why Robert Kirkman and the Powers-That-Be insist on only making it great part of the time. You’ve got the talent, the subject-matter, the actors/characters and just a zombie apocalypse in general at your disposal: use those advantages to make quality television and layoff all of the back story and sentimental drivel.
Courtesy of Lydiasgotstiles
Courtesy of Lydiasgotstiles
The finale was basically one big flash back. Why? Why did they choose the final episode of what has been for all intents and purposes a decent season with flashbacks of Hershel showing Rick how to farm? Why not focus on the myriad plot lines that are happening NOW instead of focusing on the past?
Ugh. I’m going to stop now before this turns into more of a hate-filled diatribe. But before I sign off, I’m going to share this little tidbit that I happened to come across on IMDb: “Rick and the group are heading to Washington D.C., where they meet new danger and a new enemy. Once again, Rick must do whatever it takes to keep the rest of the group safe.”
That is the synopsis from 5X1, according to IMDb. Sooooo, I guess they make it out of Terminus? But since is the apparently from the first episode of next season, I bet we’ll either catch up with them after they’ve already done it and we’ll see how they escaped via flashback; or they’ll gloss over it and hope we forgot about Terminus all together.
At this point, all I know is that I am one very dissatisfied Deadhead.
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