Sniff, the finale is finally here and we have no more Walking Dead until October. That's an eternity from now! At least they left us with some good stuff. Without further ado, here's the recap:
In some amazing news, I didn't want to slap Carl this episode. I'm not sure if I should thank the writers or the actor or both, but thanks.
Rick teaches Carl and Michonne about snares but what he's really doing is foreshadowing what's going to happen at Ominous. You see, with a bunny snare you find a path they already take (though I think the set designer could have used a little help - this path practically had a white picket fence around it) and set the snare in the middle so that the unsuspecting bunnies run right through it and get caught. Better than being murdered by Lizzie, I suppose.
Rick and Michonne are camping in the street while Carl sleeps in a truck, when Joe and the Creepsters show up lookin' for some revenge. They hold guns to Rick and Michonne's heads, and some super creepy guy corners Carl in the truck. Who thinks something bad is going to happen here?
Daryl shows up and valiantly tries to be killed in Rick's place. Sweet move but does he really think something like that is going to fly with this group? I'm not sure murderers and rapists are the most reasonable people. He gets an ass-whoopin' for his efforts.
Rick tries to keep his cool, which must be tough when a d-bag like Joe has a gun to your head. Joe narrates his plans, which include raping Michonne, then Carl, then killing Rick. Well that doesn't sound very fun. Papa Bear can no longer handle the threat to his son, so he backwards head butts Joe, knocking the gun out of his hand and then goes all zombie on Joe and RIPS HIS THROAT OUT WITH HIS TEETH. Damn!
Side note: One time when I was 12 and my brother was 10 we got into a massive food fight. No jar of condiments in the house was safe. I was scooping mayo with my hands and throwing it at him, but that only enraged the beast. Somehow he backed me up against the stove, his back to me, and we were deadlocked there for a second while we each tried to figure out our next move. He backwards headbutted me and I'm pretty sure I've never felt more pain than that (and I had an 18-hour labor with my son, most of which was unmedicated). So, props to Rick for pulling out a great move, and then following it up with an even better final blow.
But he's not done! He and the rest of the gang finish off every last one of those no-good bastards and our gang of four gets battered and bruised, but alive.
We have a sweet moment the next morning where Daryl explains why he was with those losers and Rick says it's OK and calls him his "brother". Sounds good, just don't get in a food fight with him.
Then the gang heads to Ominous, and Rick shows us he's still got his mad cop skills by doing several intelligent things that none of the other arrivals before them thought to do:
1. Get off the tracks and approach Ominous from a different side so they can scope it out first.
2. Bury most of their guns outside the fence so that just in case they have to hand over all their weapons once inside, they still have a stash.
3. Jump the fence and enter Ominous through the back door, catching the weirdo hippie residents off-guard.
The crew at Ominous seems nice enough but so did Woodbury at first. Gareth, their leader, takes them out to the grill for lunch and Detective Rick recognizes the yellow backpack (see, there was a point to that storyline!), the poncho, Glenn's riot gear, and the pocketwatch Hershel gave to Glenn. Rick takes Pocketwatch Guy hostage and demands answers. Shots fly and chaos ensues, and our little bunnies get herded right where this group of weirdoes wants them. Rick is smart enough to realize that's what's happening - the marksmen are aiming at their feet not their bodies - but it doesn't change the outcome.
They run past some train cars with people screaming to be let out. Then they come across a creepy-ass room with a bundle of lit candles (I so called that there would be more pointless burning in this episode, though at least candles are supposed to be burned, albeit it preferably not unattended) and people's names chalked on the floor, as if in memorial. Our gang also runs past a tarp covered in human skeletons. Methinks Ominous is not the dreamland everyone was hoping for.
Our gang finally stops and Gareth shouts orders from the rooftop, directing them into a train car. Chilling Holocaust imagery. Me no likey. At least in the train car they find Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Tara, Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita. Everyone is instant buddies and they vow to do some major ass-kicking next season.
Odds and ends:
We had quite a few flashbacks to Farmer Rick and they all included Hershel. I hate the expression "too soon" because it's like, stop being such a baby you baby. But I felt like it was too soon. I had finally maybe sort of started to get used to a life without Hershel and then they show me scenes with him? Lovely, optimistic, hopeful scenes? How many times do they want to rip that band-aid off?
We didn't see Beth, Tyrese, Carol, or Judith, so that leaves a little suspense for next season. Hopefully Tyrese and Carol can save the day and not just hop into Ominous like so many of the bunnies before them. See you in October!
Hungry for more (brains)? Check out all my recaps:
Episode 1: "30 Days Without an Accident"
Episode 2: "Infected"
Episode 3: "Isolation"
Episode 4: "Indifference"
Episode 5: "Internment"
Episode 6: "Live Bait"
Episode 7: "Dead Weight"
Episode 8: "Too Far Gone"
Episode 9: "After"
Episode 10: "Inmates"
Episode 11: "Claimed"
Episode 12: "Still"
Episode 13: "Alone"
Episode 14: "The Grove"
Episode 15: "Us"
Episode 16: "A"