An excellent finale.
That attack on the barn was utter brilliance; a thrilling and tension-drenched sequence that gripped me from beginning to end. My favorite scene had to have been Rick opening the doors of the barn to a horde of Walkers as Carl set the entire place on fire. It was visually breathtaking and undeniably thrilling.
Furthermore, it was absolutely heartwarming to see our favorite band of survivors reunite on the highway after being separated. The writers didn’t develop many characters as much as they should have this season but I still felt a family vibe among them which is a definite plus and cements this season’s purpose as accomplished.
Rick has had quite a journey this year and I was pretty fascinated by his guilt over killing Shane and his declaration at the end that “this isn’t a democracy.” Extremely intriguing stuff for sure. However, why are Carol and T-Dog so useless? They pissed me off in this episode and NOT in a good way. As far as I’m concerned, the writers could have killed them off and we would truly never miss their useless characters. I’d ask that Lori be killed as well but of course that can’t happen. Still, she was quite irritating in her response to Rick’s confession. Wasn’t it just a few episodes go that she was whispering into his ear trying to brainwash him into “taking care” of Shane? This made her reaction in this hour particularly unlikeable.
Andrea in particular had a badass storyline in the finale. I was thrilled to see her fight for her life and annihilate hordes of Walkers using everything in sight. I have a feeling she’s going to be an even more integral part of season 3 which really excites me. Moreover, I loved her being saved by a masked woman with a samurai sword and zombies in chains (apparently she’s a big part of the comics which intrigues me).
Finally, I quite liked Rick’s reveal from the season 1 finale that EVERYONE is infected. It was an interesting little nugget of mythology that I can’t wait to see explored further.
Ultimately, this was a very strong finale that set up season 3 beautifully and I for one can not wait as I have a feeling it just might be the show’s best season yet. Wonderful.
Nad Rating
A
I agree with what you said about the reaction to Rick's confession about Shane. It's frustrating seeing as how it was SELF DEFENSE, but anyway….
I like Carol, but T-Dog should have bit it, I'm assuming there's something else being planned for him later on, maybe a personality? I don't know…
Great review, you enjoyed this season a lot more than I did, but it's definitely off my danger list. I'll be sticking with it for a long time. Can't wait till season 3, such a long wait though =(