Walking Dead history: Four Walls & a Roof 9 years ago plus deleted scene

One of the best episodes of The Walking Dead is the season 5 episode “Four Walls and a Roof.” This episode gave the fandom the quote “Tainted meat” and sawRick (Andrew Lincoln) follow through on a promise he made to Gareth (Andrew J. West), one of the cannibalistic members of Terminus.

The episode premiered on AMC on October 26, 2014, and was written by Angela Kang and Corey Reed and directed by Jeffrey January. The title comes from a comment Maggie (Lauren Cohan) made when Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) objected to violence in the House of the Lord. Her reply, “No, it’s just four walls and a roof.”

The episode begins with the Terminites eating the leg of Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.), who then reveals that he is “tainted meat” due to a walker bite. Gareth assures them they will be fine since they cooked his leg first.

They return him to the church, where Rick, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), and the others find him and bring him inside. He tells them what has happened, and they plan to retaliate.

Eventually, the Terminaties gain entrance to the church, where they know only a few people remain, including children, as they watched Rick and the others leave to hunt them down. But the underestimated Rick who returns to honor the promise he made to Gareth back at Terminus.

The Walking Dead – Four Walls and a Roof

Rick forces Gareth to kneel, and Gareth says, there got to be a reason you didn’t kill us when you entered; in true Rick Grimes form, Rick replies, “We didn’t want to waste the bullets.” Gareth then begs for their lives, but Rick takes the red machete and proceeds to kill Gareth, as he promised he would, and Sasha, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Michonne (Danai Gurira) kill the remaining members of Terminus. Maggie, Glenn (Steven Yeun), Tara (Alanna Masterson), and Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) watch in horror at the massacre.

The following day, everyone says their goodbyes to Bob, who is slowly dying from the walker bite and blood loss from losing his leg. After they bury Bob, Abraham gives Rick a map of their route to Washington, D.C., with the words, “Sorry, I was an asshole. Come to Washington. The new world’s gonna need RICK GRIMES.” The group splits as Abraham and his group head to D.C. because, at this point, everyone still believes Eugene’s story. Rick and the others stay back to await the return of Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) before following them.

At night, Michonne hears rustling in the trees. When she inspects, she smiles as she sees that Daryl has returned. He pauses when she asks about Carol and tells someone they can come out from the tree line.

One scene deleted from the episode would have been interesting to include. It would have given viewers a different view of Gabriel’s actions and relationship with Rick. It was also interesting to hear Rick’s reply to Gabriel’s question.

This episode ends the threat of the people from Terminus, but the world of Rick and company is about to become a whole lot larger as the story progresses, but not before they encounter a lot of hardship.

Here are two BTS photos of the episode.

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