The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale "Start to Finish" Episode Discussion (SPOILER!)
SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched tonight's mid-season finale episode of The Walking Dead, don't read any further!
In the cold open of tonight's episode "Start to Finish" the viewers are taken into Sam's bedroom who still refuses to leave his house out of fear of the outside world. Opening the mid-season finale with Sam playing with his toys and listening to his music represents the innocence of not only a child but more broadly and symbolically the Alexandrians who up until now were living under false pretenses and illusion about the post-apocalypse. Right before the opening credits, we get an amazing close-up of ants crawling through the window in Sam's room to engulf a piece of leftover meat that Sam forgot was in his bedroom. That image was a perfect representation of the illusion that the Alexandrians were living. They were never safe from the outside world and just as the piece of meat was engulfed by the ants, so too will the Alexandrians by the walkers. It was inevitable.
After the opening credits, we are immediately thrown back into the chaos that is occurring right outside of Sam's bedroom. The tower comes crashing down, tearing down a wall and letting the horde of walkers in. Maggie narrowly escapes and once again sees the glimmer of hope in the green balloons released by Glenn in the episode prior, who in this episode made it back to the outskirts of Alexandria with Enid, just to see it collapse. Enid wants to run, claiming all is lost, but Glenn convinces her to stay and help save those they love, including his pregnant wife.
Back in Alexandria, Rick, Deanna, Michonne, Gabriel, Carl, and Ron race to find safety, killing walkers along the way. Deanna in her misguided attempt to be a hero, tries and fails horribly at killing several walkers and winds up falling on top of a still living walker who bites her before Rick is able to come to her rescue. The whole group is rescued by Jessie who brings them back to her house where Sam and Judith await. I love that Deanna was so resigned in going out in a blaze of glory and despite having Maggie as her companion throughout this season, it's Michonne she bonds with. Michonne has come a long way from her initial introduction in season three as a loner to someone who is willing to fight not only for herself but for those around her. She suffered so much loss in her life, including her own child. I liked how Deanna passed the torch over to her and told her to carry on the legacy of Alexandria. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Deanna and Rick in her last moments where she told him to look after her son like he was one of them. After a season and a half, Rick finally accepts the Alexandrians as his own and that's why Deanna came to his rescue that led to her walker bite.
After Ron stupidly attacks Carl and threatens to kill him, he makes enough noise that causes the walkers to break in sealing the fate of Rick's group. Rick comes to his son's defense and Carl covers for Ron, which I think will come back to bite him in the ass. Every time a character gives another person the benefit of the doubt they more than often wind up paying the price. Case in point Morgan vs. Carol and that issue with the wolf. In the previous episode, Carol was about to uncover Morgan's dirty little secret when the tower came crashing down. Carol unconvinced of Morgan's innocence fakes how bad her injury was, which she got trying to save herself from the onslaught of walkers and finds out that he had Dr. Denise treat a captured wolf. The two come to blows with Carol believing that the wolf needs to be killed, whereas Morgan wants to give him a chance. I was a bit letdown by their confrontation because the tensions between these two characters for the whole first half of this season only for them to get both knocked out. The wolf winds up escaping with Dr. Denise as Tara, Rosita, and Eugene watch helplessly in horror. I hope Denise makes it because Maggie is pregnant and she needs a doctor because the last person who gave birth in the post-apocalypse never had the chance to hold her baby.
The episode ends on a cliffhanger as Rick plans to use some of the dead walkers to cover themselves in blood in order to mask their scent and escape from Jessie's house. I thought it was such good writing to bookend the beginning and end of the episode with Sam who finally leaves the house into the chaos that he had feared the whole time. As the group escapes hand in hand, he begins to shout out "Mom" and the episodes goes down. Now we will have to wait until February 14th (eat your heart out, not literally) to find out the fates of Rick, Jessie, Gabriel, Michonne, Carl, Sam, and Ron. Alas, Deanna did not make it but instead of succumbing to her walker bite, she opened the door and shot a few walkers before going out in a blaze of glory.
There was also a post-credit 2-minute prologue scene where Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham are on the road after having received a mayday call (which was revealed to be Eugene in this episode) only to be stopped by a group of men on motorcycles who demand they turn over their belongings because they were no longer theirs. When questioned by our trio, who they belonged to, they responded with "Negan." Those of you who read the comic know that this guy, is as vile as they come, even more so than the governor. I bet the second half of the season will deal with his group and since he was just cast we will probably meet him by the season's end.
Well, what did you think of tonight's midseason finale? Talk the walk. It's going to be a cold winter without The Walking Dead...
SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched tonight's mid-season finale episode of The Walking Dead, don't read any further!
In the cold open of tonight's episode "Start to Finish" the viewers are taken into Sam's bedroom who still refuses to leave his house out of fear of the outside world. Opening the mid-season finale with Sam playing with his toys and listening to his music represents the innocence of not only a child but more broadly and symbolically the Alexandrians who up until now were living under false pretenses and illusion about the post-apocalypse. Right before the opening credits, we get an amazing close-up of ants crawling through the window in Sam's room to engulf a piece of leftover meat that Sam forgot was in his bedroom. That image was a perfect representation of the illusion that the Alexandrians were living. They were never safe from the outside world and just as the piece of meat was engulfed by the ants, so too will the Alexandrians by the walkers. It was inevitable.
After the opening credits, we are immediately thrown back into the chaos that is occurring right outside of Sam's bedroom. The tower comes crashing down, tearing down a wall and letting the horde of walkers in. Maggie narrowly escapes and once again sees the glimmer of hope in the green balloons released by Glenn in the episode prior, who in this episode made it back to the outskirts of Alexandria with Enid, just to see it collapse. Enid wants to run, claiming all is lost, but Glenn convinces her to stay and help save those they love, including his pregnant wife.
Back in Alexandria, Rick, Deanna, Michonne, Gabriel, Carl, and Ron race to find safety, killing walkers along the way. Deanna in her misguided attempt to be a hero, tries and fails horribly at killing several walkers and winds up falling on top of a still living walker who bites her before Rick is able to come to her rescue. The whole group is rescued by Jessie who brings them back to her house where Sam and Judith await. I love that Deanna was so resigned in going out in a blaze of glory and despite having Maggie as her companion throughout this season, it's Michonne she bonds with. Michonne has come a long way from her initial introduction in season three as a loner to someone who is willing to fight not only for herself but for those around her. She suffered so much loss in her life, including her own child. I liked how Deanna passed the torch over to her and told her to carry on the legacy of Alexandria. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Deanna and Rick in her last moments where she told him to look after her son like he was one of them. After a season and a half, Rick finally accepts the Alexandrians as his own and that's why Deanna came to his rescue that led to her walker bite.
After Ron stupidly attacks Carl and threatens to kill him, he makes enough noise that causes the walkers to break in sealing the fate of Rick's group. Rick comes to his son's defense and Carl covers for Ron, which I think will come back to bite him in the ass. Every time a character gives another person the benefit of the doubt they more than often wind up paying the price. Case in point Morgan vs. Carol and that issue with the wolf. In the previous episode, Carol was about to uncover Morgan's dirty little secret when the tower came crashing down. Carol unconvinced of Morgan's innocence fakes how bad her injury was, which she got trying to save herself from the onslaught of walkers and finds out that he had Dr. Denise treat a captured wolf. The two come to blows with Carol believing that the wolf needs to be killed, whereas Morgan wants to give him a chance. I was a bit letdown by their confrontation because the tensions between these two characters for the whole first half of this season only for them to get both knocked out. The wolf winds up escaping with Dr. Denise as Tara, Rosita, and Eugene watch helplessly in horror. I hope Denise makes it because Maggie is pregnant and she needs a doctor because the last person who gave birth in the post-apocalypse never had the chance to hold her baby.
The episode ends on a cliffhanger as Rick plans to use some of the dead walkers to cover themselves in blood in order to mask their scent and escape from Jessie's house. I thought it was such good writing to bookend the beginning and end of the episode with Sam who finally leaves the house into the chaos that he had feared the whole time. As the group escapes hand in hand, he begins to shout out "Mom" and the episodes goes down. Now we will have to wait until February 14th (eat your heart out, not literally) to find out the fates of Rick, Jessie, Gabriel, Michonne, Carl, Sam, and Ron. Alas, Deanna did not make it but instead of succumbing to her walker bite, she opened the door and shot a few walkers before going out in a blaze of glory.
There was also a post-credit 2-minute prologue scene where Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham are on the road after having received a mayday call (which was revealed to be Eugene in this episode) only to be stopped by a group of men on motorcycles who demand they turn over their belongings because they were no longer theirs. When questioned by our trio, who they belonged to, they responded with "Negan." Those of you who read the comic know that this guy, is as vile as they come, even more so than the governor. I bet the second half of the season will deal with his group and since he was just cast we will probably meet him by the season's end.
Well, what did you think of tonight's midseason finale? Talk the walk. It's going to be a cold winter without The Walking Dead...
