The Walking Dead: You Better, You Better, You Beth


Unfortunately not you, Beth.
"Thank you very much sir! But I'm afraid you have to go to prison." - Selina Meyer, Veep, S03E02
With not one, but two women being blasted in the head by pistols, The Walking Dead season 5A ends. The midseason finale on paper had everything a viewer could want.

Big character death? Check.
Villain being defeated? Check.
Rick being a total badass (albeit a bit psychotic)? Check.
All characters having a bit of screentime? Check.
Father Gabriel fucking everything up yet again? Check... although maybe this isn't what every viewer wants.

Although, all of this being included, something about this episode just fell flat. Even more so, something about all of the episodes about Grady Memorial Hospital just fell flat. Thus far, season five hasn't had any particularly terrible episodes (except for maybe "Slabtown,") yet everything still just seems rushed. I touched upon this point in an earlier blog post about The Walking Dead, but it still holds true after the midseason finale. Before going onto that particular episode, let's backtrack a bit and talk about this season as a whole so far.

We start out with the dynamic "No Sanctuary" wherein Rick and co break out of the cannibalistic Terminus. So far so good. A little heavy on the action end, but overall this episode got us hooked. The next episode, "Strangers," brought our characters to Father Sgt. Carver's church. And, at the very end of this one, Bob is kidnapped and has his leg eaten by Gareth and the remaining Termites. Although this was a bit early to bring the Termites back into the mix, I was still interested to see how our group of protagonists would deal being a member down. Then we hit episode three: "Four Walls and a Roof." Although not a bad episode, this one began to rush things. I know Bob died and Gareth was dispatched, but still, this plotline could have been longer term. Not only did the premature end of the Termites screw up the quality of the entire cannibal plot, but it also made the Grady Hospital plot not have enough time to blossom.
Episode four introduced the aforementioned Grady. This was certainly the weakest of the season. Although cool in concept, the rapid introduction of characters like Dawn, Noah, the Doctor, and the rapist cop was just too quick. By the end, we weren't sure if Dawn was a terrifying villain or a stressed out woman just doing her best.
From there, we watched a fantastic Abraham-centric episode, a thrilling Carol/Daryl adventure, and a set-up episode wherein Rick and co plan a prisoner exchange of some Grady cops for Beth and Carol. All of a sudden, we were at the midseason finale. Although there were some good moments (Rick killing officer Lamson, the actual prisoner exchange, and the emotions that exploded once beth died), the lack of time devoted to Grady just made everything less substantial. When Dawn was shot through the head by Daryl I wasn't sure whether he had just slain a demon or had just killed someone trying their best to stay alive. In the end, I still don't know! Dawn seemed to hop back and forth between being evil and being redeemable. Meanwhile, the potential for some added characters like Noah or Grady's doctor to be developed was completely overlooked.
Although I always prefer to dwell on the negatives, I should also give credit where credit is due. The job that this show has done of developing a well-rounded cast is quite remarkable. Though Abraham, Tara, Eugene, and Rosita were never the A plotline of the season, they still became much more three-dimensional than they had been in season four. Where at first Tara seemed like a smiley expendable and the other three were nothing but comic-book ridiculousness, the four of them have a lot more substance than before. However, if Abraham and his group were the B plotline, then Michonne, Carl, and Gabriel were most definitely the C plotline. Although less compelling than Abe, these three characters got some interesting development as well;. Carl has become more of an adult with each passing episode and Gabriel went from a terrified fool who was on the outs with Rick's group to being a terrified fool who wasn't on the outs with Rick's group. Meanwhile, Michonne continues to be a comic booky badass with no real substance. But hey, the writers did very little with her in season five so far, so maybe they just realized she's not interesting enough to focus on.

All I can ask was why everything sped along so fast? Maybe if the Terminus plot was prolonged until the season 5 midseason finale and the Grady plotline was introduced in season 5B, things would have had a longer time to develop. Nevertheless, we must deal with what Scott Gimple and the other writers of TWD give us. Despite rather rushed storytelling, I still thoroughly enjoy every episode of Walking Dead. With the death of Beth (hey, that rhymes!) and the conclusion of the Grady plot, it'll be interesting to see where Rick's group goes from here. Many speculate that our characters will head to the "Alexandria Free Zone" where the comic book led them. Others believe that the show will create its own place to venture.
Either way, we'll take the journey with them.

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