Ok, I'm in the middle of moving houses so I may have missed some details. This was pretty Rick centric. I cracked open my TWD compendium Vol2 because I had to know what's up with the mullet scientist and was surprised to see the scene where a gang attacked them and was trying to rape Carl. Rick had to bite the leader's throat to get away. Well, the Rick in the comic has only his left hand so he was easier to hold down.
Also some flashback scenes with Hershel about farming and bonding with Carl more.
Michonne also revealed to Carl the secret origins of her Zombie pets. She was in a refugee camp and her baby daddy and his friend got turned. She cut off their arms so they couldn't scratch and their bottom jaw so they couldn't bite. As a great side effect of dragging them along in chains other zombies left her alone.
The gang that attacked Rick was actually Daryl's gang. He tried to stop them but he broke the rule of "no lying" since Rick can't be good and yet strangled one of their guys in the house. They gave Daryl and nWo beat down and tried to rape Carl. Rick got free and murderized them.
Rick, Michonne, and Daryl make it to Terminus. They have their suspicions so they hid a cache of guns before sneaking in. Terminus looked like a weird call center. The guys took Rick out to meet Tasha Yar and her BBQ. Rick noticed one of them had a watch so the took that guy hostage. Turns out everyone had something from Maggie's group like her poncho and Glenn's riot gear. Turns out Terminus has a lot of armed guys and they herded the gang to an area that they were surrounded. They sent the ringleader, archer, and samurai into train "A". Rick insisted Carl comes with. Inside the train car they met up with Maggie, Glenn, Bob, Sasha, Abraham, Lara Croft, and Tara. Not dead! The season ends with Rick saying "They messed with the wrong people!" Uhm... WTF!
I loved this episode and thought it was an awesome season finale. It sets up Rick as a bad ass again and back to his spot as the rightful leader of the group.
The scene with the rednecks was terrifyingly awesome. The flashbacks set up everything for Rick's transformation back to leader and away from pacifist.
Terminus, and their eventually capture, is a great cliff hanger for season five. And the last scene was just awesome:
"They're going to feel pretty stupid when they find out," Rick says.
"Find out what?" Abraham asks.
"They're screwing with the wrong people," Rick answers.
Welcome back Rick, Man did I miss you and what a killer line. Season Five can't come fast enough.
Life is hilariously cruel.
It ain't the six minutes... it's what happens in that six minutes.
Originally posted by Amos CochranNo mention of the Terminus folks being very obviously cannibals?
Yup. My wife called it - let's give the lady a round of applause. Other thoughts on the episode: Joe and Co. were not as tough as advertised. Evidently we spent the whole half season making these guys look like a threat just so that Rick could annihilate them before we get to the real threat of Terminus. I thought it was a great cliffhanger, because all of Rick's prep before going in suggests that he has a plan to get free. My wife (again) pointed out that it's pretty dumb of the Terminus folk to put that many captives in one place, essentially free to conspire and plan. We've also still got Carol and Tyrese out in the wilderness, so we'll see if that plays into it as well.
The intensity of this episode was off the charts, even if it did go for the cheap heat of children in peril. I guess my wife and I were in the majority when we thought Rick's "They're screwing with the wrong people" line went over like a fart in church?
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoRick finally coming to terms with his surroundings and acting accordingly was a more satisfying moment than I would have thought.
I was one of those that thought they were going to kill him off. It felt like his character ran his course and it was time to pass the torch.
I agree, and we could weakly argue that the death of Rick many predicted (hi there) was the death of Farmer Rick, the Herschel disciple. I talked a lot about this season being about the gospel of Herschel carried into the world, and that seems now to be a hothouse philosophy. Out in the wild, it's a dangerous luxury. Rick tried it Herschel's way, and everyone enjoyed that mindset in the prison, but with that shelter gone for good, they had to adapt.
Michonne and Carl's scene nailed it: Sometimes you have to me a monster to survive. And if you remember what you truly want, you can exit that berserker Wolverine mode.
I mentioned a few weeks back the surprising precedent of Rick strangling Lou and leaving him to turn against his friends. Well, that Rick emerged fully last night. Maybe he rose from that death couch a new man just as Michonne left that walker horde and Carl established his new persona with 12 pounds of pudding.
Rick has come around to Carol's way of thinking. Carol, as always, is infallible. Love the Carol. Hail the Carol.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by kentishThe intensity of this episode was off the charts, even if it did go for the cheap heat of children in peril. I guess my wife and I were in the majority when we thought Rick's "They're screwing with the wrong people" line went over like a fart in church?
I wholeheartedly agree with this statement ... I almost think it would have been better if he said nothing.
The man saves his son from a child rapist by gnawing another man's neck apart and he still can't catch a break. I liked the last line, as it was finally a determined and focused Rick not really questioning what needed to be done, versus the confused, insane, not-so-sure-maybe-I-should-just-hand-over-Michonne Rick we've seen countless times before.
The show has taken some dark turns, but I think the demise of Lizzie and Mika, coupled with the attempted rape of Carl (really!!?!), kind of makes me wonder where the show isn't willing to go. It's like the whole Governor storyline was like a walk through a beautiful meadow compared to where we are now ('Just look at the flowers, Leroy...').
Lastly, I think they need to be very careful as to who they kill off from now on. Granted, not everyone should be safe, but if they don't carefully think through the demise of the characters whose time has come, then they really do risk having the audienice feel like we're investing in these archs for no good reason. I'm not saying they should keep everyone alive, but the original group now has 5 seasons (4 for Herschel's group) of us following them along - and that's a lot of time to just whack someone needlessly.
All in all, I think this was a pretty entertaining season.
I've read the comics, but usually don't remember much (also because the tv-show strays a lot) But the moment I saw Rick sit there at the side of the car, hands bloodied I knew what it was about and that he was going to kill some people to protect Carl. Wow. That was..intense. The look that Carl had when his dad gutted the guy was very scary too. They -are- monsters. Both of them.
Terminus was interesting. They have to be a cannibal cult group, right? Rick must have a contingency plan if he is so sure they can escape from a dark cell without any weapons or gear or anything.
The show has taken some dark turns, but I think the demise of Lizzie and Mika, coupled with the attempted rape of Carl (really!!?!), kind of makes me wonder where the show isn't willing to go. It's like the whole Governor storyline was like a walk through a beautiful meadow compared to where we are now ('Just look at the flowers, Leroy...').
I kind of like the show more because Robert Kirkman is kind of nuts in the comics. He seems to write a lot of rapes and suicide/attempted suicide. Like in the comics the Governor rapes Michonne frequently. I knew he wouldn't do that on TV. The Lizzie and Mika incident was in the comic, as Ben and Billy who Andrea and Dale adopted after their parents died. But in the comics, Carl ends up executing the crazy boy. I don't think that would fly on TV.
The whole timeline with the flashbacks was off, tho. This whole thing was about Rick learning how to farm, but during one of them, Hershel mentioned to Rick how Carl shot that kid without needing to. I'm assuming he was talking about the Woodbury kid Hershel and Carl ran into in the woods. Wasn't that during the Governor's first raid? Wasn't the garden well established by then?
Originally posted by JimBob SkeeterThe wife and I liked the ending.
The whole timeline with the flashbacks was off, tho. This whole thing was about Rick learning how to farm, but during one of them, Hershel mentioned to Rick how Carl shot that kid without needing to. I'm assuming he was talking about the Woodbury kid Hershel and Carl ran into in the woods. Wasn't that during the Governor's first raid? Wasn't the garden well established by then?
Hm. I can't remember.
I liked the parallelism of Prison Rick planting a garden for the future, and Current Rick burying the weapons outside Terminus for the future.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by kentishRegarding the cannibals theory: how does one eat a person fast enough before they turn into a zombie?
Uhhh... you stab them in the brain so they don't turn?
This was bugging me as well, even though I try not to overthink a show that includes the premise of re-animated corpses...but...
I'm sure there has to be some line of thinking about killing them before they turn...some kind of "enzyme" perhaps that is what makes the zombie bites lethal?
I am hoping that they at least give a throw away line to who was the first person to risk it.
Originally posted by JimBob SkeeterThe wife and I liked the ending.
The whole timeline with the flashbacks was off, tho. This whole thing was about Rick learning how to farm, but during one of them, Hershel mentioned to Rick how Carl shot that kid without needing to. I'm assuming he was talking about the Woodbury kid Hershel and Carl ran into in the woods. Wasn't that during the Governor's first raid? Wasn't the garden well established by then?
I went back to Netflix. There may have been a small garden somewhere on the compound but it was nowhere near the size of the garden that we saw this season. The last episode of season 3 there was nothing but dry overgrown grass in the prison fields.
In 4-1 (not on Netflix yet), the show opens with Rick tending to the much larger garden and animals.
Originally posted by kentishRegarding the cannibals theory: how does one eat a person fast enough before they turn into a zombie?
Uhhh... you stab them in the brain so they don't turn?
This was bugging me as well, even though I try not to overthink a show that includes the premise of re-animated corpses...but...
I'm sure there has to be some line of thinking about killing them before they turn...some kind of "enzyme" perhaps that is what makes the zombie bites lethal?
I am hoping that they at least give a throw away line to who was the first person to risk it.
The zombie bites don't infect you into a zombie. It's just that a bite from a human mouth is swimming in disease in the first place, and one that's rotting is hardly going to be better.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoI was one of those that thought they were going to kill him off. It felt like his character ran his course and it was time to pass the torch.
I didn't think there was any way this was going to happen, but Andrew Lincoln being scheduled on talking dead did make me a little nervous.
How in the world did Rick not think it would be a good idea for only some people to go inside?
Cannibals don't really make sense to me. In the comic, they were scavengers, like a lot of people. Once you've got a city like Terminus, wouldn't it be just as easy to get a couple head of cattle, or some other animals? deer?
Originally posted by thereminHow in the world did Rick not think it would be a good idea for only some people to go inside?
Well, there were only four of them, and one of them is Carl. Splitting up would have been just about as dangerous as going in together, really.
Originally posted by thereminCannibals don't really make sense to me. In the comic, they were scavengers, like a lot of people. Once you've got a city like Terminus, wouldn't it be just as easy to get a couple head of cattle, or some other animals? deer?
But we did see a giant pile of deboned corpses while Rick and Co. were running around Terminus. Plus, while you're right about domesticating animals, did you see any animals, or animal pens, or hear any animals at any point on our quick tour of the place? That BBQ's got to come from somewhere.
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Ah. Thanks. I was still away at the time so I didn't see your post. But now I understand why we didn't download the first Fringe before I left--it only aired around the time I left.