The Walking Dead: Midseason Finale Review

The Walking Dead: "Start to Finish" Review

The Walking Dead / 29 Nov 2015

By Matt Fowler

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

I know The Walking Dead's dealt in cliffhangers before, but I feel like "Start to Finish" - the show's Season 6 midseason finale - was the most abrupt finale to date as far as "leaving us hanging" is concerned. Because, man, that was not satisfying. Literally, things started cooking right at the end. In the final few minutes. And then - boom. The end. See you in a few months.

I liked that Rick remembered the ol' guts trick (Finally right? After how many times that could have been useful?). And I also enjoyed how tense it was to watch them all, in a chain, walk through that herd. Because while there were a lot of walkers out on the streets of Atlanta when Rick and Glenn last used that trick, this was a tight squeeze. That front foyer was packed with zombies. And they were totally just rubbing up against them. I was afraid the brim of Carl's dumb oversized hat was going to catch one of them in the eye and set off a feeding frenzy. Actually, that would have been awesome.

No, what looked to be the group's undoing was Sam - Jessie's youngest who's now become a bit of a traumatized mush. Instead of hardening up because of Carol's tough talk, he regressed back into his room where he spent his time imagining himself tied to a tree (thanks to Carol, natch) and listening to that creepy "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" song. All while looking more and more like a ghost himself. Yeah, right at the end he started speaking up. That's.not gonna be good.

You know, when we finally see it get resolved in two months.

On top of leaving us with that whole mess, we also watched that Wolf guy walk out with Denise as a hostage. Ugh. Look, I have no problem with this predicament in general. Other than the fact that we have to wait in order to see it resolved. My beef is with the Carol/Morgan showdown. Because you knew it was a dumb idea all around. From both parties. For Carol to be so dead set on dealing with the Wolf right now (Morgan even brought this up) and Morgan still being so stubborn about not killing that he'd put everyone in danger by fighting with Carol. And - the worst part of it all - we all knew the Wolf would somehow get set free. Thankfully, he didn't kill Carol or Denise. I'd have be super-pissed. Because this was just a chain of bonehead decisions.

So why were there no huge deaths in this midseason finale? I mean, aside from Deanna. Who, I suppose, is a big name given that the only people Rick cares about on the Alexandria front are her and Jessie. But it still felt weird watching her rot away from that fever. I suppose she still had messages to deliver. That note to Spencer and her words of encouragement to Rick and Michonne. But - I don't know - unless I felt like I could still do something useful, or use my body to save others, what's the point of "letting the fever take you." You get bit, you have someone shoot you in the skull. It's simple. In fact, given that Deanna's reaction to getting bit was a sort of nonchalant "Awww s***," I thought she might actually go that route. And not just sit there and waste away. Heading over to Judith's room - looking SO MUCH LIKE A ZOMBIE ALREADY!

Oh, and I did take some exception to her words to Rick about protecting people just because. She said she didn't save Rick because she liked him or thought he was a good person. She just did it. Well, it was that thinking that allowed Pete to remain in Alexandria as an abusive husband. Because.he was just one of them. And that apparently gives one a pass to be an a***hole. I think you do have to consider who it is you're saving.

And thank you to Carl for finally just coming out and telling Ron his dead dad was a rotten a-hole. He stopped short though. He needed to also call Ron an a***hole. Because that kid is the freakin' pits. I KNEW HE'D MESS IT UP FOR EVERYONE. No, he didn't get anyone killed directly. But him trying to kill Carl led all the zombies to that house. So this is all on him. Whatever "this" is. We'll have to find out in February.

Speaking of teens, Glenn finally reached his breaking point with Enid. He was like "so go!" when she started wallowing in despair again. Good for him. Though the episode was paced strangely. It was fine when it came to everyone hiding in Jessie's house, but when it had to bring everyone else into the mix things got weird. Like, forty minutes between Glenn leaving Enid and then climbing up to see Maggie stuck on that platform. Twenty minutes between Eugene picking the lock and then them all busting in on the Wolf and Denise. I know commercials make everything feel longer, but Walking Dead's always had issues with big action pieces and its large ensemble. Except for "No Sanctuary" and most of "JSS."

On one hand, Alexandria's still standing and so that breaks up the gang's usual pattern of having to flee a ruined location. But on the other, this was obviously an encounter they knew they couldn't solve in one swoop so having it carry over the winter break was a bummer of an idea. Especially during a season that's been frustrating regarding long it takes to return to scenarios/characters and address dangling threads.

"Start to Finish" gets points for keeping Alexandria around and in the mix, but loses a bunch for dropping us right as things started to get exciting. Especially since the rest of the episode was filled with conflicts we hoped we wouldn't have to see in the midst of a giant walker invasion (Carl/Ron, Carol/Morgan).

In The Walking Dead's midseason finale, Rick and company sought shelter as Walkers flooded the streets of Alexandria. Rick and company covered in guts, walking through walkersCarl calling Ron's dad an a-holeDeanna deciding to use her bullets for walkersEnded when things got goodDumb confrontations you predicted would happen, happened

igndrones.async.push(function() {igndrones.fireBottom();});

View the original article here

.