The Walking Dead - What Does Come After?

I am the first to admit that after the first season of The Walking Dead, I felt a lot of positive confidence in the show's direction and potential for great storytelling going forward. But during the second season and start of the third I lost my interest. That said, I would indeed like to get my shit together and provide thoughts to go with those feelings. Every time I start to write about the show I once again find myself losing the drive to continue. The fourth season I started to follow, as an example, but Hershel's overkill sort of rattled me. I went away from the show again. Like a lot of horror fans who still follow the show, even if I admittedly don't invest in it like I used to, it was hard not to be reminded over and over of Rick's "final episodes" and Andrew Lincoln's eventual exit from The Walking Dead. What Comes After is that final episode, and I was interested enough to see how the show would "send him off". If anything, I was wondering if he'd get the slow-moving honorable death. The explosion at the end certainly would have indicated he was hit by the aftermath, the impact of the whiplash or flames from the dynamite that blows a large gap in a bridge as the dead cross it. But, sure enough, contrived as it might be (how much blood can one man lose before he succumbs to the injury?), he still has a little life left in him when Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) negotiates with a voice from a helicopter his pickup. So with all the death, the beloved cast members whose loss caused major outrage and disappointment, vocal rejection and in some cases exodus in viewership, those behind the creative process of The Walking Dead threw the fans a bone this go-around. Rick Grimes is impaled on rebar, bleeds and bleeds, barely can stay awake while trying to remain on his dutiful white horse (perhaps a nod to the first season of the show), often unconscious as he envisions conversations with dead characters like Shane, Sasha, and Hershel...and even himself. Hershel's scene with Rick left me a bit misty-eyed, I won't lie. Scott Wilson, sigh. What a great actor. His loss certainly added some emotional resonance to the conversation where Rick contemplates death and relief from the fatigue of so much drama he's been through. Each dead character tells Rick to 'wake up". Out of the three conversations, Shane is more about convincing Rick to forgive himself and tell his former friend (this is in the cop car while eating french fries before all the outcome when it turns out Rick was alive and Shane had slept with his wife) he's sorry regarding how their falling out eventually resulted. Sasha is more about empowering him to remember he's a fighter. That vision, as Rick walks among a sea of dead bodies, is an incredible visual, with Sasha reminding him that he's not lost and that all those taken before him didn't die in vain. Hershel was about convincing Rick that his daughter was strong and his granddaughter would be strong because of her and that he shouldn't worry about them. But all of this episode is about Rick "letting go" ("I must find my family") and allowing others to replace him. So the detonation of dynamite on the bridge was the way out for him, in a sense. His serious injury, passing out, the slow horse ride, stops along the way; it all stretches credibility to the max. He's always one step, a slight distance, away from a mass of the dead pursuing him. Amazing how he suffers from a "through and through" thanks to the rebar and yet withstands the injury all the way to the end. So those who watch this will definitely have to give those responsible for the plot development some leeway. Still Lincoln is very good (always tired, in full beard, eyes remaining with bulging tears, weathered and worn), and I think those who have been critical of the character shifts perhaps at least could put those aside because of the actor's dedication to the episode. I think because this was it, for a while, Lincoln wasn't about to hold back anything. Physically and emotionally drained, Rick garners up just enough to keep himself alive until he can commit to one last effort to help those he loves. There was a lot dead folks walking, too. Just this far-as-the-eyes-can-see snarling dead en masse, dragging themselves towards Rick and his horse. Of course, he eventually loses his horse.

Subplots include Maggie being allowed to confront Negan while he's in his cell after this rather intense exchange with Michonne. I kind of brushed this off because I figured Negan would be granted a reprieve. It sure as hell looks like they plan to provide him a redemption story! His shriveling, groveling, weeping pathetic presence begging for Maggie to just end his misery left me rather amused because this is quite a clear case of building a horrible monster who deserves a terrible fate into a reclamation project. Maggie doesn't end him...surprise, right? Michonne is convinced by Maggie that it would be no different if Negan had killed those she loves. Sure enough, though, Maggie is side-by-side with the likes of Michonne, Carol, and Daryl when running to the aid of Rick.

Rick airlifted to "freedom", granted an exit that isn't the dead biting him or feeding from him, gives those involved in the show the ability to work him back in sometime if they so choose. Despite all the hubbub, this might not actually be Rick's final episode. Strength in advertising.

Hate not to mention Daryl having to take the loss of Rick, despite incredible crossbow effort to keep him alive, and that reaction of devastation was heartbreaking. Well done piece of acting.