OK, first off, this season finale raised more questions than it answered. What is up with the Terminans? Where is Beth? Why didn't we see Carol, Tyreese, and Lil' Asskicker? What was with that creepy candle room?
So, the episode opens with a flashback (one of many) of the gap between seasons 3 and 4, where Hershel is trying to get Rick to learn to farm in order to save himself and Carl from the people they're becoming. I liked these flashbacks, because they show how much Rick has gone back to his bad ass self.
The whole episode focuses on Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl, once the two groups meet, resulting in a big fight scene, my favorite of the episode, and ending in Rick biting off a piece of Joe's shoulder and brutally stabbing another man from Joe's group. After, they are unsure of Terminus, and rightly so, given the shows track record.
So, they sneak around to the back of Terminus through the woods, where Michonne tells Carl about what happened to her son, Andre, and how she ended up with her first pair of walker pets. It's nice to finally find out what happened with Michonne. The four of them sneak in the back way and find a woman speaking into a microphone, reading the "Those who arrive, survive" stuff from the episode's trailer, and about 6-8 guys doing something in a warehouse-looking room. The leader of Terminus is a man named Gareth, and he asks the group to place their weapons on the floor, which they do. They then get searched for any other weapons, and when none are found, they are taken to the courtyard we saw Glenn and the others go into last week.
Several new faces are seen, but not the ones we know and love. Rick notices one Terminan's pocket is sagging, so he reaches into it, puts a gun to the man's head, and finds Glenn's watch. Michonne, Daryl, and Carl raise their weapons, and we have another hostage situation. A sniper on the roof shoots the hostage in the back of the head, and the four run around Terminus, apparently being guided by the sniper's gunshots, as they are all aimed at their feet. During the running, we see a pile of what appears to contain a rib cage, and hear some shouts coming from a train car.
Rick and the others find then enter a room that is filled with candles and what appears to be names written on the floor. The only other door in that room is shut as they approach it, so they exit the way they entered to find a line of people with guns. Gareth tells Rick, whom he calls "Ringleader," to go to the train car, followed by Daryl ("Archer") and Michonne ("Samurai"), or Carl dies. They follow his instructions, and the four of them enter the train car, which happens to contain Glenn's group. After another flashback, Rick says "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out" to which Abraham replies "Find out what?" And the season ends with Rick saying "They're screwing with the wrong people."
Really? That's how the freaking season ends?! That would've made for a fantastic MID-season finale, but so few questions were answered, and so many new questions arose. It seems like the writers are suffering from "Breaking Bad syndrome," where they're thinking of the story in the "big picture" rather than season to season. The past 3 season finales had a sense of closure to them, leaving the CDC, escaping Hershel's farm and finding each other, welcoming the Woodbury residents into the prison, but this one feels like there should be an episode following it the following week. The only closure this provided was killing off Joe's group. We still hardly know anything about Terminus. Maybe my disappointment comes from my high expectations of this episode, but it just didn't feel satisfying.
So, the episode opens with a flashback (one of many) of the gap between seasons 3 and 4, where Hershel is trying to get Rick to learn to farm in order to save himself and Carl from the people they're becoming. I liked these flashbacks, because they show how much Rick has gone back to his bad ass self.
The whole episode focuses on Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl, once the two groups meet, resulting in a big fight scene, my favorite of the episode, and ending in Rick biting off a piece of Joe's shoulder and brutally stabbing another man from Joe's group. After, they are unsure of Terminus, and rightly so, given the shows track record.
So, they sneak around to the back of Terminus through the woods, where Michonne tells Carl about what happened to her son, Andre, and how she ended up with her first pair of walker pets. It's nice to finally find out what happened with Michonne. The four of them sneak in the back way and find a woman speaking into a microphone, reading the "Those who arrive, survive" stuff from the episode's trailer, and about 6-8 guys doing something in a warehouse-looking room. The leader of Terminus is a man named Gareth, and he asks the group to place their weapons on the floor, which they do. They then get searched for any other weapons, and when none are found, they are taken to the courtyard we saw Glenn and the others go into last week.
Several new faces are seen, but not the ones we know and love. Rick notices one Terminan's pocket is sagging, so he reaches into it, puts a gun to the man's head, and finds Glenn's watch. Michonne, Daryl, and Carl raise their weapons, and we have another hostage situation. A sniper on the roof shoots the hostage in the back of the head, and the four run around Terminus, apparently being guided by the sniper's gunshots, as they are all aimed at their feet. During the running, we see a pile of what appears to contain a rib cage, and hear some shouts coming from a train car.
Rick and the others find then enter a room that is filled with candles and what appears to be names written on the floor. The only other door in that room is shut as they approach it, so they exit the way they entered to find a line of people with guns. Gareth tells Rick, whom he calls "Ringleader," to go to the train car, followed by Daryl ("Archer") and Michonne ("Samurai"), or Carl dies. They follow his instructions, and the four of them enter the train car, which happens to contain Glenn's group. After another flashback, Rick says "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out" to which Abraham replies "Find out what?" And the season ends with Rick saying "They're screwing with the wrong people."
Really? That's how the freaking season ends?! That would've made for a fantastic MID-season finale, but so few questions were answered, and so many new questions arose. It seems like the writers are suffering from "Breaking Bad syndrome," where they're thinking of the story in the "big picture" rather than season to season. The past 3 season finales had a sense of closure to them, leaving the CDC, escaping Hershel's farm and finding each other, welcoming the Woodbury residents into the prison, but this one feels like there should be an episode following it the following week. The only closure this provided was killing off Joe's group. We still hardly know anything about Terminus. Maybe my disappointment comes from my high expectations of this episode, but it just didn't feel satisfying.