The Walking Dead: Not Quite a Cannibal Holocaust
For the last few weeks at work I’ve been taunting… Er, “actively hypothesizing” with my co-workers about how the season finale to “The Walking Dead” would play out. My scenario involved Rick’s crew meeting up with the other refugees from the prison at Terminus and having what passes for a nice reunion scene in this show. Then, they find out that these great people at this place are cannibals because Beth has replaced Dale in the TV series as it’s answer for who will be TAINTED MEAT! This happens just in time for the crew Darryl was running with to happen upon Terminus and start an effective siege against all those inside. So you’ve got Rick and everyone else trapped between a rock and a hard place with plenty of moral ambiguity to charge a season finale with.
If you’ve seen the season finale, then you know this isn’t how things played out AT ALL. I was entertained by it, and thought its use of flashbacks was particularly effective. However, it was probably the least suspenseful cliffhanger finale of the series so far. What follows after the break are more of my thoughts about the final episode, and full spoilers for it as well.
1. The pre-credits sequence at the prison with Herschel? Effectively disorienting in getting me to think about whether or not it was a flashback or a dream sequence. Also effective? That scene of a bloody shell-shocked Rick sitting next to the car. It made you wonder how he got that way, and why this scene wasn’t taking place at Terminus as you’d expect all of the action in this episode to go down at.
2. We got to see Rick trying to teach Carl more stuff in this episode. From how to track and trap animals to the appropriate time to let someone die. I was fully expecting them to run in and save the random guy who got eaten by zombies, though I could understand why they let him die like that. It turned out to be ultimately fruitless as the zombies came after them. Then again, I probably would’ve rushed into the fray to save the guy because of my videogame mentality when it comes to zombies in this series. Every one you kill now means one you won’t have to deal with later. This likely means that I’d be one of the first ones to go when the zombie apocalypse hits, so you’re probably better off not being part of my group when that happens.
3. Nor are you better off being part of the group Darryl was running with as their encounter with Rick, Michonne and Carl really drove home the fact that they were BAD, BAD MEN. I mean, the fat balding guy was all about raping Carl — there’s no moral ambiguity there. Still liked seeing Darryl stand up for Rick and co. and for the former cop’s way of breaking the stalemate with the gun to his head. The disorientation from having the gun fired in his ear was communicated well, and seeing Rick rip out Joe’s throat was genuinely shocking yet completely understandable. Rick was going to do whatever it took in order to keep his family and friends safe and this was it at that moment.
5. Still, living with the aftermath is another thing. Even though Rick objected to Darryl offering him a water-soaked cloth to clean himself, the latter’s reasoning of, “You can’t see yourself, [Carl] can,” was resonant. It also gave you a feeling of optimism when Rick said that Darryl was his brother after all they’d been through. Makes you wonder what kind of path Darryl will be on after hearing those words.
6. Michonne and Carl have really bonded over the season, so it wasn’t surprising that she decided to explain to him about what happened to her son, his father and their friend. Not having read that story yet, I can only imagine that the episode’s co-writer (and series showrunner) Scott Gimple decided to pluck that particular detail from the “Michonne Special” that was published a while back. It was still a compelling monologue from actress Danai Gurira and a sad moment in the sense that it was her character that helped Carl come to grips with the events of the previous night than Rick himself.
7. I was impressed that the Terminus crew accepted Rick’s group after they snuck in through the back way. You have to wonder if events had played out differently that they would’ve been able to live with the group in blissful ignorance indefinitely. Is displaying outside-the-box-cleverness a requirement to living in this community without getting eaten, or were the inhabitants of this place just trying to get our protagonists to drop their guard?
8. Now, the inhabitants of Terminus haven’t been outed as cannibals yet, but we got some pretty significant hints last night. That line from the person giving Rick’s group the tour about, “The more people become part of us, the stronger we get.” That’s what’s called FORESHADOWING. As is the brief glimpse we got of the human-shaped remains as Rick and co. ran right past as they were being herded by gunfire.
9. I’m assuming they were being herded by gunfire. Even if these people are the bad guys, they would have to be terrible, terrible shots to not kill the series regulars with the angles and distance they had on them.
10. We did get that inevitable reunion at the end when Rick and co. were forced to march into the train car with Glenn, Maggie, and everyone else. Still, Rick’s statement that the Terminus crew was going to be sorry because, “They’re screwing with the wrong people,” rang a little hollow. This was a line that was paraphrased from vol. 11, “Fear the Hunters,” and it signified a real gamechanging moment in the arc and the series as its protagonists broke from convention and went from being the victims to the victimizers in this instance. Given the size of Terminus and its inhabitants, I’m wondering how Rick’s going to turn the tables on them. It’ll happen, to be sure, but I sure can’t see it right now. That may be good for the overall story, not so much for generating drama from the cliffhanger.
11. Of course, Tyrese, Carol and Judith are still unaccounted for and headed to Terminus. It would appear likely that they’ll assimilate once they arrive and eventually become the “people on the inside” to help with the breakout. I can only imagine that they’re going to have to eat some meat in order to fit in. While Tyrese may not have the stomach for it, I can easily see Carol doing it just to maintain their cover after all of the other things she’s done this season. She’s done a lot of bad things over these past sixteen episodes; yet, I get the feeling that it’s been building to this point and everything she’s done will be justified. Moral superiority will not be part of this equation, though.
12. Or maybe Carol and Tyrese will storm the prison Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer-style with guns blazing and Judith will be on hand to provide covering fire with a sniper rifle. Why a sniper rifle? Because it would be UNREALISTIC for an infant like her to charge the prison with an assault rifle. That’s why!
So in the end, the TV series continues its trend of borrowing liberally from the comics and reconfiguring its source material into new and equally interesting scenarios. The last moments of the finale may not have delivered a gripping cliffhanger to tide us over until season five kicks off in the Fall, yet there was still a lot to think about and take in with this particular episode. Much like its source, “The Walking Dead” TV series has remained consistently entertaining and unpredictable. I look forward to its return, as well as the spinoff they have planned.