The Walking Dead: Season 2 Finale

The zombie herd returns in a satisfying season finale that brings the story full circle and teases what's in store, like any good finale should do. Who is the hooded figure that saves Andrea (Laurie Holden), and is that a prison in the last shot? From the looks of things, it's only going to get worse for our merry band of survivors. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

For those craving a good old fashioned zombie shoot-'em-up, this episode delivered in full as we witnessed Walker heads exploding left and right as everyone is separated in the chaos of a full scale invasion. Hard choices are made by all, once more reinforcing the major themes of survival and sacrifice. Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) summed it up nicely before his horrendous death two episodes earlier, “The world we know is gone, but keeping our humanity? That's a choice.” Well, saving the ones you care about is also a choice, but when you are being swarmed by Walkers, sometimes you have to save yourself and hope everyone else gets out alive. Is that right or wrong? Who knows? And that's what continues to make the show great. The characters are constantly faced with brutal choices in a world with no laws, no government, no society, no iPads. Likewise, the audience is constantly challenged to imagine how they would react in similar situations. It's great writing, but I'm really not looking forward to the zombie apocalypse. Or any apocalypse for that matter.

Once again, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is at the center of it all. After making the heartwrenching decision to kill Shane (Jon Bernthal) during the penultimate episode, in one of the best scenes of the season, he's forced to quickly pull himself together to save Carl (Chandler Riggs) and the others. Of course, nothing goes right, and he manages to escape with only Carl and Hershel (Scott Wilson), who is blasting Walkers to pieces with a shotgun, the farmer ready to go down with the, uh, farm. The rest of the group manages to escape, but Hershel's family takes another hit (RIP Jimmy and Patricia, we hardly knew ya), and Andrea is left to fend for herself after saving Carol. The group divided, Rick drives back to the same highway where the season began and in order to save Carl, begrudgingly decides to abandon Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), not knowing whether she is dead or alive. But just when he is about to explain the situation to Carl, the rest of the group, minus Andrea, arrives. Poor guy. How many times has Rick been forced to make crucial decisions only to have everything change at the last minute? He once more assumes the leadership role as the group soldiers on, and in nice a parting shot, we glimpse the now faded message left for Sophia on a windshield, reminding us of where it all started and how nothing will ever be the same again.

The Walking Dead is a great study on how to be extremely hard on your characters, particularly your main character. After all that Rick has been through this season, hell, after all everyone has been through, it was only a matter of time before he reached his breaking point. I'm getting tired of everyone giving Rick crap for all the decisions he has to make. All season he's tried to keep the group's safety in mind, but he's second-guessed at every turn. I don't see anyone else stepping up to fills Rick's shoes (except Shane, but he was a tad unhinged), so I wish everyone would just chill out. Then again, conflict is what makes a good story, but damn, these people can be frustrating at times.

When their caravan is forced to camp for the night, Rick struggles to offer up more words of hope, “We've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other.” He is exhausted, beaten down, his words don't come easy, and his leadership is in question. And then he drops this season's bombshell. When they were at the CDC, Dr. Jenner told Rick that they are all infected, and Rick decided to keep this fairly important bit of information to himself until now. Whoops. If the group was broken before, this revelation isn't going to help patch it back together. Whatever, I'm still on Rick's side.

In an otherwise stellar finale, the only part I take issue with is Lori's reaction to Rick's confession that he killed Shane. I don't buy it. She's pissed at Rick for killing a man who plotted to murder her husband? I get  that she might be carrying Shane's baby and that she's indebted to him for rescuing her and Carl, but even she knew that Shane posed a serious threat. Did everything change after her brief talk with Shane in the previous episode? Come on, she's not that naïve. I was expecting her to support Rick as she has throughout this season, but instead she storms off, fear and hatred in her eyes. Does this mean she still has feelings for Shane? Or she thinks that Rick killed him for spite? Rick was protecting her and Carl just like Shane always claimed he was incapable of doing. I bet Lori would have made the same decision had she been in Rick's place. Hopefully they'll explore her reaction next season, because right now it strikes me as unnecessary and out of character.

Overall, the finale capped off a terrific second season full of amazing stories and stunning scenes I'll never forget. Even though the group spent the entire season on Hershel's farm (much to the chagrin of some viewers, I'm sure), every episode provided plenty of riveting conflict and action which further developed the characters, except for T-Dog (IronE Singleton) who got the short end of the development stick, and kept us coming back for more each week. During the final scene around the campfire Rick offers everyone a choice: leave the group and take your chances or follow his lead but with one tiny caveat, “This is not a democracy anymore.” Maybe a little of Shane did rub off on Rick. This all bodes well for Season 3. Fall can't get here soon enough!