The Walking Dead - S04-E16 - "A"

The Walking Dead

Season Four, Episode Sixteen.

"A"

A ringleader, an archer and a samurai walk into a cannibal colony…

Twitters;

@the_lazy_gamer

@BlairMFink

I'm going to preface this post with an apology. This one is super late and of no fault of Blair. I have had a busy week. We were broken into on the weekend, everyone is fine and the house is fine, but my Monday & Tuesday nights were spent installing new locks. Pile on a deadline at work and it hasn't left me with a lot of time or mental energy to sit down and write something witty, clever or crushing. So with that I give you Blair's post with my few comments included.

Thanks for a great season everyone, enjoy Game of Thrones. I'll work on my punctuation for next season.

FRESH MEAT

It’s a cookbook!

Okay, so it doesn’t explicitly tell us we’re dealing with a bunch of cannibals at Terminus, but there are some pretty obvious hints on display in this episode (the pile of large carcasses Rick and Co. run past being the big one).

I’m going to bypass the whole Rick’s Inner Struggle storyline that takes up the first chunk of this episode as I’ve stopped caring. I will say the sound of Rick continually stabbing the guy who was going to rape Carl was pretty stomach turning.

So. Terminus.

After being super sneaky and coming in the back door of Terminus, the gang runs into a man named Gareth, who is all “aw shucks, our security sure is sucky” and welcoming. Sweeney Todd Gareth then brings them to Mrs. Lovett Mary, who offers them a plate.

Now, I present a deleted (musical) scene that didn’t make the final cut:

A LITTLE GLENN

GARETH:
These are desperate times, Mary
and desperate measures are called for

MARY:
Here we are, now, hot off the grill

GARETH:
What is that?

MARY:

It’s Glenn, have a little Glenn.

GARETH:
Ooh, it’s really good!

MARY:
Why don’t you have it again?
Then again it’s only defined by its flame

So it’s pretty lame

GARETH:

Not a lot of fat

MARY:
Running and combat

GARETH:

Haven’t you got Daryl, or something like that?

MARY:

No, y’see the trouble with Daryl

Is it hung out with feral bad men. Try the Glenn.

Carl’s a nice meal

GARETH:

If you’re into veal

MARY:

Keep an eye though, for it strays

Which I dare say is in no way ideal

GARETH:

Is that Rosita, on a pita?

MARY:

No way, Glenn’s tail is waggy

It has to be Maggie

GARETH:

Looks kooky, like Bob Stookey

MARY:

No, it has to be Maggie, it’s Greene

And so on.

Before any of them can stuff their faces with Soylent Green food, however, Rick gets a case of the heebie jeebies and starts recognizing familiar articles of clothing on the Terminus citizens. Then Rick is all “WTF!?” and Gareth is all “Forget it, Rick. It’s Chinatown,” and Rick and company attempt to get the eff outta Dodge but are corralled into a corner before being rounded up little human cattle and put in a train car with Glenn, Maggie and their faithful companions. I actually almost laughed out loud at Rick’s final line that they “screwed with the wrong people.” Come on, let’s hear something slightly more original than that.

I hope Gareth proves to be a worthy villain next season. At the very least, I hope he’ll be a little more consistent than the Governor was.

Well, that’s it until the fall. In the meantime, if you want to watch a quality TV show filled with death, horror and cannibals, I would recommend Hannibal, which is partway through its second season right now. Possibly the most visually stunning show I’ve ever seen.

So, Steve? Did you eat this one up with some fava beans and a nice chianti?

I'm hoping Carl doesn't get too butt hurt (pun intended) about Rick and his whole going full zombie on Joe or all stabby stabby on Dan(?). Rick has been pushed to the edge so many times tying to keep everyone safe and if Carl decides that his dad has gone a little too far on the crazy train then I think I'll be done with Carl. The Carl/Michonne interaction had brought me back a little bit to caring about Carl but his back and forth BS needs to stop. 

So if you were in the small camp of people who were hoping for the best with Terminus let me remind you what show you are watching. There are no happy endings here, there maybe be happy interludes but that is about it.

On top of the bones there was the creepy seance room and the screams from the cargo containers. All lines lead to Crazy town. 

I was POSITIVE that Carl was going to be shot. That scene had me on the edge just waiting to hear the gun shot. The others were sent to the train and Carl is all alone, he's dead. No, phew. Ok he's walking towards them, he is going to get shot as he gets close to Rick. No! Phew. Ok, Rick has been told to go in the train, as soon as he is out of sight they are going to shoot Carl right? NO! Had me hooked.

I'm not sure I have ever heard a worse closing line ever, in anything. B R U T A L !

BURNING QUESTIONS/RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

-How are Carol, Tyreese and Judith going to factor into everything? I hope Judith saves the day by melting the cannibals’ hearts.

- Those 3 are still wild cards as well as Beth, assuming she's still alive...maybe Carol, Ty and Judy never ever make it to Terminus, maybe they leave and do their own thing.

-It was nice to see Hershel in the flashbacks.

-What would each of our protagonists be called on the Terminus Kill N Grill menu? Pickled Rick? A Dash of Sasha? Eugene Cuisine? Filet Michonne?

- Do Sasha and Bob taste like chicken? Are you hungry 30 minutes after eating Glenn? Is Rosita spicy?

Blair’s Episode MVP: Rick

Steve’s Episode MVP: Daryl
Blair’s Episode Grade: B

Steve’s Episode Grade: 90 (excluding Rick's closing line)

Blair’s Deadpool Pick: Beth

Steve’s Deadpool Pick: Beth