Friday, April 11, 2014

The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 16: A

Flashback to the prison. Carl and some other dude open the gate and let a car in. Rick, Sasha, Glenn, and Maggie get out of the car. Maggie says hi to Hershel.  Rick asks Carl if there was any trouble. Carl says no but that Rick had some trouble since Rick is covered in blood. Back to the present we see Rick sitting on the road by a car his hands and face are covered in blood. He is alone.

Rick, Carl, and Michonne are in the woods at their campsite. Rick asks how hungry they are on a scale of 1 to 10. Carl is a 15 and Michonne 28. They all go together to check the snares. Carl asks if they are close to Terminus. Carl asks if they are going to tell the people at Terminus everything that has happened to them and all that they've done. Rick says they will tell them who they are. Carl asks, "Who are we?" A zombie approaches them and they kill it. They reach their snare. Rick shows them how to make a snare. They have caught a rabbit. They hear a man calling for help. Carl immediately runs to help and Rick chases after him. A man is surrounded by zombies. Carl pulls out his gun to help but Rick stops him. The man gets mobbed by the zombies and killed. Some of the zombies notice them and start to follow them. They stumble upon a few zombies eating something by the tracks and Rick stabs one.

We flashback to the prison. Hershel needs Rick's help. He tells Rick he doesn't need his gun. It will just get in the way. Back to the present, Rick and Michonne kill some zombies while a larger group of zombies follows them. They walk down a road and find the car we saw Rick sitting in front of at the beginning of the episode. Michonne kills a zombie lying by the road. Rick mentions how small the rabbit was they caught. He mentions the only thing they talk about is food. Michonne hopes they get to Terminus soon. She wonders if the whole thing is legit. Good question Michonne. They worry about this place being like Woodbury. Joe puts a gun to Rick's head. The rest of his gang surround them. But no Daryl in sight.

Rick shakes as the gun is held to his head. Joe says today is the day of retribution. He counts down to ten. Daryl comes out of the woods. He tells Joe to hold up. Daryl says they are good people and they are going to let them go. Daryl understands that they want blood.  So he volunteers himself. Joe says that Rick killed his friend and is not a good person. That's a lie. Joe tells them to teach Daryl a lesson (remember that lying is against the rules). The others start beating him. One of the men pulls Carl out of the car. Rick says it was just him that did it. Joe says first they will beat Daryl to death, then the boy, then the girl, and then they will shoot Rick.  Rick tells him to let them go. Rick knocks his head back headbutting Joe.  Joe's gun goes off. Then Rick and Joe start fighting. Carl fights one of the men. Michonne tries to attack the man nearest to her. Rick is on the floor. He gets up and bites Joe's neck. Joe bleeds out. Everyone watches in shock. Michonne takes the opportunity to grab the gun from the man nearest her and shoots a few men. Daryl fights off the men beating him. Rick stabs the man that had Carl over and over again. Michonne holds Carl in her arms. He is in shock.

Hershel points to the ground.  He tells Rick it will be easy to domesticate the wild pigs and horses that live in the woods. They have seeds and it is time to start planting. He will teach Rick and Rick will teach Carl. Rick says he needs to go on runs. Hershel tells him that Carl needs his father to show him the way. What way will he show him? Carl already knows how to shoot. He is saying this because he owes Rick. Rick says changing things in the prison won't change things out there. Hershel says it is a good place to start. He tells Rick he doesn't have to go on the run. We are back to the beginning of the episode with Rick shaking by the car. Michonne is inside the car with Carl asleep on her lap. Daryl offers Rick a rag with water on it to clean himself. He tells Rick he didn't know what that group was. He was with Beth for a while. Rick asks if she is dead. Daryl says she is just gone. Then the group found him. He knew they were bad but they had a code. It was something. It was enough. They told him they were looking for some guy. When they told him that they found the man they were looking for he was hanging back and was going to leave but he stayed. That's when he saw they three of them. He didn't know what they would do. Rick says, "It's not on you, Daryl. You being back with us now is everything. You're my brother." Aw, tear. Daryl says that anybody would have done what Rick did last night. Rick says not anybody. Daryl tells Rick, "That ain't you." Rick says it is him. That is why he is still alive. He just wanted to keep Carl safe. That's all that matters.

They make their way down the tracks. Rick asks Michonne if she is okay and tells her he is okay. She says she knows. They find a sign for Terminus on the tracks. Daryl says they will be there before sundown.  Rick says they will go through the woods because they don't know who the people at Terminus are. They find a gate where they can see Terminus. Rick tells them to spread out and see what they see. He asks Carl if he wants to go with him but Carl says sorry. Carl goes with Michonne instead. She asks why he didn't go with Rick. She mentions that Carl never asked her how her son died.  She says that how Andre died is important. Mike, Andre, Terri, and herMichonne were at a refugee camp. She was coming back from a run and saw the fences were down, heard the moans. Mike and Terri were high when it happened. She let them turn. She descries to Carl how she made them into her walker pets. It was insane and sick. It felt like what she deserved. The pets hid her from the walkers. She was just another monster. She was gone for a long time. But then Andrea brought her back and Rick and Carl. She's noticed how he's been looking at Rick. He doesn't need to be afraid of Michonne or Rick.Carl says that Rick told him he was a good man. He shares that he still has these thoughts. He's not what Rick thinks he is. He is just a monster too.

Rick loads a gun and puts his pistol away in a bag with some other weapons. He buries the bag just in case. They climb over the fence into Terminus. They make their way in with weapons at the ready. A voice can be heard. They find a woman talking over the radio giving the message that Daryl heard over the radio a few episodes back. There are other people in the room. Rick says hello. One of the men asks if they are here to rob them. Rick says they wanted to see them before they were seen. The man welcomes them and introduces himself as Gary. Rick introduces his group. Gary says he understands that they are nervous. He asks if they are here for sanctuary. He says a man Alex will take them to the welcome area but they first have to show them all their weapons and place them on the ground. Alex frisks them. He notices the bruises and blood on everyone. He asks if the other guys deserved it. Gary tells them they are not stupid people. And they shouldn't try anything stupid. Alex gives them back their weapons. Alex tells them to follow him. Daryl asks how long Terminus has been around.  Alex says it has been here from the beginning of the zombiepocalypse. Mary is back at the grill and tells them they will fit right in. Michonne asks why they invite people in. He says people make them strong. That is how they survive.  Rick notices a chain in Alex's pocket. He pulls a gun on Alex and pulls the chain to reveal a pocket watch. He asks where he got the watch.  Is it perhaps Hershel's watch?

A child plays with Lego. It is Patrick. He thanks Rick for getting them. Rick says he got them for Carl. Patrick says he is not ashamed that they are for ages 4-12. Rick says he shouldn't be ashamed. Carl is reassembling his gun. Rick gets Carl's attention and says he needs Carl's help with something. He tells Carl to leave his gun behind. Rick asks Alex where he got the watch. Alex tells one of his people to put his gun down. He says he got it from a dead man. Rick asks about the riot gear and the poncho. Gary comes up and has an answer for everything. Rick asks where are his people. Guns go off. They make a run for it. Gun fire surrounds them. They try to leave but a door is closed blocking their way. They makes their way out another door. The gun fire follows them. They run past skeletons. People are calling for help from inside storage containers. The find a room filled with candles where it says “NEVER AGAIN,” “NEVER TRUST,” and “WE, FIRST, ALWAYS” on the walls and people's names written on the floor. They run back outside but are surrounded by armed people.  They have been corralled exactly to the location the Terminus group wanted them to be.

Rick looks at Carl.  A man yells at them to drop their weapons. They drop their weapons. Gary tells Rick to go to the train car on his left. If he doesn't do what they say Carl will die. Now he tells Daryl to do the same. Then Michonne. Carl is left alone. Rick yells for his son. Gary tells Carl to join the others. Gary tells Rick to go in the train car. He wants to go in with Carl but Gary says he must go in alone first or Carl dies. They all go in. The door is closed behind them. They are now in the dark. Glenn walks towards them from the other end of the car. Maggie and the others are there too. Maggie says the new people are their friends. Daryl says now they are friends of ours. Abraham adds, "For however long that will be."

Flashback to the prison. Hershel, Rick , and Carl are digging in the field. Carl's hat falls off and Rick tells Carl he will have to get him a farmer's hat. He puts his deputy hat on Beth. Hershel says it can be like this for a long time. Rick says it is enough that it is like this now.

Rick says, "They are going to feel pretty stupid . . . when they find out they screwed with the wrong people." No truer words were ever spoken.  I think Joe would agree.



Final Thoughts
- The theme of this episode was Who Am I?  Rick is officially bad ass/fight to the death Rick (so long farmer Rick).  Daryl is a good man, a hero, and brother. I'm glad he is back with his family.  Carl realizes he is not a monster but just doing what needs to be done in this new world to survive.
- In the prison flashback Hershel mentions his inability to know what time it is since he gave his pocket watch to Glenn.  This clue was set up for the viewers so we would instantly recognize the watch Alex had at Terminus at the same time as Rick.
- I seriously think that we have a soylent green situation with the "barbecue" served up at Terminus.
- What is the purpose of the creepy candle room?
- Was I the only one that thought that creepy Dan was going to rape Carl in front of Rick?
- Did anyone from Rick's group recognize Tara?
- Where is Beth?  Who has her?
- Did Tyreese, Carol, and Judith make it to Terminus? Or will they be the ones to rescue Rick and the gang?
- EW writer Maricela Gonzalez  wrote this about the traps in this episode: "Rick collects a small rabbit and explains how the snare works. He places the snare in front of a funnel-like trail, leading unsuspecting prey into the trap. What else has resembled a trail leading to a trap throughout the back half of this season? Hmm..."