Discussion Post: 'The Walking Dead' Season Finale Finally Nuts Up

If you want to complain about the direction of “The Walking Dead” this season, you’re more than welcome, but if you tune in specifically to see zombies and zombie kills, you can’t justifiably complain about last night’s bloodbath. The entire first half of the episode was Romero-style, brain-splattering, full-on zombie destruction, and it was phenomenal. Was it absolutely necessary to drag it out that long? Who cares? Zombies got their asses kicked until, of course, they overran the farm by sheer force of numbers.

The death count: Two. Jimmy and Patricia (Otis’ wife), the two least recognizable members of the cast. I had completely forgotten about them until last night, so their loss wasn’t exactly dramatic. I’m sure there’s some 16-year-old girl in Idaho who became fixated on Jimmy who was crushed by his death, but the reaction of most viewers was, “Jimmy? Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that guy.”

The Plot Developments: Once the survivors were overrun by the zombie horde, they reconvened at the highway, minus Andrea, and the truth about the zombie infection came out. Everyone is a carrier, news that Rick had procured from the CDC but kept from everyone. You die, you’re a walker.

Rick also revealed that he killed Shane, which is exactly what Lori wanted right up until that schizophrenic bitch didn’t want it anymore. She is the worst. So, Rick tore the head off the beast, and ultimately, he became the beast himself, forcefully taking leadership of the survivors and establishing a dictatorship, becoming the new Shane. Some stuck with Rick out of loyalty, while others stuck with Rick out of fear.

The two most exciting developments of the episode, however, came in the waning seconds. Just before Andrea was about to be taken down by walkers, a mysterious hooded figure with two armless zombies chained to her shows up and rescues Andrea. I’m not a reader of the graphic novels, so I don’t know what the story is, but her name is Michonne and she’s already my favorite character on the show.

She was onscreen for about 10 seconds, max, and it was like, OH SH*T WHO IS THE BADASS WITH THE JAPANESE SWORD AND CHAINED ZOMBIES? She’s already the reason I’m most excited about season three. That’s not to take anything away from Andrea, who put on a tour de force of zombie killing herself last night. She was a total boss.

The other development: As the episode ended, the camera zoomed out, and in the distance, we saw a prison, which we know will be the next destination for the survivors. Presumably, that’s where they’ll meet the Governor.

That caps season two of “The Walking Dead,” a season that started out sluggishly, shed a few impatient viewers, but then began to pick up momentum in the second half. Ultimately the season ended with an episode that represents everything many of us wanted out of “The Walking Dead,” namely a lot of zombie kills and a little batsh*ttery.

What’d you folks think? Favorite kill of the night? (I liked Glen’s deft use of a shotgun while riding shotgun). Did last night’s episode redeem the season? Are you in for season three?

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