By Aitch Cee

 

**WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HUGE ENOUGH TO DRIVE A FIRE TRUCK THROUGH. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE FINALE OR THE ENTIRE SEASON BUT PLAN TO, THEN AVOID THIS POST ENTIRELY**

 

I will be honest with you; I was calling this season to be my last season of watching.   Reason being was that with watching Rick and company making their way to Terminus last season was an exercise in complete boredom. Sure a few things happened, what happened to Carol and Tyrese was resolved and of course Beth got kidnapped.   Then Rick and company get snatched up at Terminus and we find out we have a case of cannibals happening.

This season was very well paced and it’s really starting to show the even with the divergence from the book, Robert Kirkman has enough elements from the book that will keep this series from being like Game of Thrones. Although I, like most comic readers are far ahead in the comics, there are still many surprises to be had by watching this show. Also, depending on how you look at it, along with Bob, there has been a sloughing off of characters than in some respects was holding the group back. The pace of this show in my opinion was so swift this season that it seems like just a week ago, Bob was off the board and then before you know it, Eugene was down. This season gave viewers a lot to work with as we learned more about Noah and the residents of Grady Memorial Hospital and also of Father Gabriel.

All of the above was the best part of the season as far as keeping multiple plot lines rolling with the big question of if Carol and Darryl can find Beth.   While this was going on, we also learned that Rick’s attitude was changing with how he approached meeting other survivors as his execution of Officer Bob showed.   Rick seems like he is finally learning his lesson from the Governor that some people cannot be trusted no matter what but he won’t spill blood needlessly if he doesn’t have to. We also finally learned more about Abraham and his group and saw how heartbroken he was to find out his purpose in life was for naught based on a lie as told by Eugene. And through all of these things, we got to see some of the older cast members grow. Glenn and Maggie’s relationship got deeper and both had to grow a pair in dealing with Abraham and Eugene. Beth learned how resourceful and ruthless she could be in dealing with the Grady residents.   Even Rick learned to let go and forgive Carol as his own worldview of people was changing if he was going to protect his group especially since it was Carol who wound up saving them. Carol and her involvement with keeping everyone alive has seen her grow by leaps and bounds since season one.

All of this boils down to last night’s episode. Yes, I was disappointed with how people spoiled that Beth was the one who would die. Even AMC was guilty of spoiling it but, the manner of her death was still a shot to me. Maggie was ready to go back and help save her sister only to find her dead at the hands of Grady residents. It was heartbreaking and it was sad and truth be told, one of the saddest scenes since finding out Sophie was a zombie all the time Rick stayed with Herschel and his family.

As the credits rolled, while there was no big cliffhanger, it’s just a matter of what’s next? Will Kirkman stay close to the source and have them push on to DC? Will we see Negan? Also what roll does Morgan still have in all of this since he is still out and about and still looking a little crazy?   Also, is this the last of the Grady residents and who ultimately joins?

We have to wait until February 2015 to find out.

This first 1/2 of the season was a B+