The closing of one door on “The Walking Dead”
invariably results in the opening of an unsettling new
storyline.
The fourth-season wrapup of AMC’s apocalyptic
zombie drama series provided a strangely satisfying
conclusion without really wrapping up anything.
And in a Walking Dead first, there were hardly any
walkers killed in the season closer. Instead, most of
the on-screen violence was human on human.
All spoiler alerts apply from this point onward.
The entire fourth campaign of The Walking Dead has
focused on character-building, starting with the
season-opener that found the once strong and united
group of survivors lead by sheriff Rick Grimes
(Andrew Lincoln) separated and cast to the wind
following the attack on their prison sanctuary.
Last night’s finale began with a flashback to the good
ol’ days back at the prison, with the sage – and since
decapitated – Hershel (Scott Wilson) dispensing
some of his trademark wisdom to Rick.
Cut to Rick sitting on the hood of a car, covered in
blood and clearly shocked at something horrible he
has just done.
The timeline then shifts backward slightly to show
Rick, son Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Michonne (Dani
Gurira) trudging along a country road en route to the
supposed survivor Shangri-La known as Terminus.
Out of the blue, Carl asks his father, “Who are we?”
As in: Are we the good guys now or the bad guys?
Soon after, the trio is ambushed by a group of thugs
that have been tracking Rick since he strangled one
of them in abandoned house three episodes before.
As it happens, the marauders have Rick’s former
compadre Daryl (Norman Reedus) among their ranks.
Daryl pleads for his friends’ lives, but receives only a
beating for his efforts. Rick goes all in and goes
berserk against the marauders, biting out a junk of
their leader’s neck and spitting it out in disgust.
Daryl and Michonne dispatch the rest.
As often happens on The Walking Dead, the shocking
brutality is immediately followed with a greeting
card-like moment: Rick tells Daryl that he is his
brother, thereby filling some sort of void that Daryl
has felt since his real brother Merle’s death.
Later in the episode, Michonne reveals to Carl the
reason why she originally dragged her child’s father
and his friend around as armless, jaw-less zombie
walkers: As it turns out, the two men had smoked
marijuana and in their incapacitated state had
allowed her son to be killed.
Carl responds by telling Michonne that there’s a
monster inside of him as well.
More flashbacks are thrown into the mix.
Viewers learn that it was originally Hershel’s idea for Rick to
abandon violence and become a farmer.
From there, Rick leads the group to Terminus and
realizes the compound isn’t quite the safe place it
promised to be after he spots one of the guides
wearing Glenn’s watch and riot gear.
Rick, Carl, Michonne and Daryl attempt to escape but
are immediately surrounded by the Terminus leader
Gareth and his goons. Gareth orders the newcomers
be put into a train car, where, in a fleeting moment of
joy, Rick is reunited with Glenn (Steven Yuen),
Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and other members of the
former prison survivors.
Still missing in action: Beth, Tyreese, Carol and Rick’s
baby daughter Judith.
And since viewers now have to wait at least six
months until the next new episode of The Walking
Dead, the season finale wrapped with a grim
declaration by Rick: “They’re messing with the wrong
people.”
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