The Walking Dead: Remember when ‘A’ had Rick in beast mode?

The Walking Dead has never shied away from brutality, so what set the season 4 finale apart? Let’s take a fresh look back at Rick’s pivotal moment.

Season 4 of The Walking Dead had our survivors facing an uncertain future. With the prison out of the picture, Rick and crew no longer had an obvious, secure location. They became scattered to the four winds. Also, as always, they’d potentially be at odds with each other. With his daughter Judith missing, Rick sees Carl as even more important than before. Also, with Michonne being the only other member of his group, any threat to her would also effectively destroy the man he once was.

As they head to Terminus, it seems like a new hope for Rick, and for The Walking Dead story in general. Of course, this show was never like that, so most of us knew they were heading down a dark road.

Still, when Rick bites out Joe’s throat to save Carl, it’s a bit of an unexpected transformation. It’s definitely not the act of the peaceful man Rick wanted to be. It was the sort of behavior we’d seen by walkers, or maybe the Governor (who had bitten off Merle’s fingers). It wasn’t the Rick who was a Hershel in training. In fact, it’s more plainly bestial than the previous standards of the so-called “Ricktatorship.” However, this isn’t about acceptability, or good manners. It’s about a man doing whatever he can to save the few people left. How powerful is the madness of that moment?

Even the pedophile freak attacking Carl was dumbfounded, and distracted long enough to be taken out as well. As brutal as the scene is, few but the most pacifist-leaning among us would condemn Rick’s behavior (and if you’re such a squeamish person, why are you watching The Walking Dead anyway?)

The bloody road to Terminus

This experience was a tremendous mental preparation for their struggles at Terminus. Rick gets there with this brutality fresh on his mind. In fact, he has some of the blood still on him, and noticeably so. When Gareth, Alex and Mary end up putting Rick in a cattle car filled with The Walking Dead regulars, we already know that Rick has the capacity for extreme retaliation. Sure, viewers are left guessing at the future, but they know Rick doesn’t easily go without a fight.

There are other dark aspects to this episode, of course. The whole cattle car thing is very Nazi-like. Still, one wonders why the roof snipers don’t just take Rick and crew out. Maybe it’s bad for the meat? (Yes, that’s where this show ends up going, so get out your barbecue sauce and bib when we flashback to season 5).  One thing slightly disappointing about ‘A’:  It doesn’t reveal more about what happened to Beth, whose lackluster fate in season 5 poorly pays off her recent bonding moments with Daryl, and her place among the other survivors.

That being said, it is nice to see some of the survivors reunited, and with renewed conviction to turn the tables on their captors.  In fact, it’s almost a forgone conclusion that there will be hell to pay.  However, this is a show that likes to keep things complicated, so we know not to get too emotionally attached to any characters.  Poor Hershel!

What are your thoughts on this epic episode of The Walking Dead? Let us know in the comments!