The Walking Dead Season 4, Episode 16

…And then there was one. It’s been a wild (and predictably bumpy) ride for Walking Dead. The highlights of Season 4 were among the best episodes of the whole series, balanced against some of the most hackneyed and aimless storytelling the nanobots have ever digested. The finale has promised us an answer to the mystery of Terminus. Let’s find out if it was all worth waiting for.

• Good to see Herschel again, even in flashback form. = +2pts 
• While fleeing a small herd, Michonne pauses to stab a puddle of zombie. = +4pts 
• The leader of Daryl’s new redneck survivalist buddies gets ready to reenact this scene with Rick’s party. = -5pts 
• Rick reminds us all that he’s a badass by RIPPING A DUDE’S THROAT OUT WITH HIS TEETH. = +20pts 
• Unzipping pedo-redneck from nutsack to neck with a hunting knife. = +15pts 
• Okay, Flashback Herschel, you’re starting to wear out your welcome. = -4pts 
• Rick must have worked some kind of loaves-and-fishes-esque miracle with Daryl’s meager water supply in order to clean all that blood out of his beard. = +6pts 
• Preparing to scope out the perimeter of Terminus, Rick tells his party to “spread out” and “stay close” in the space of three sentences. = -2pts (For lack of clear and consistent management.) 
• Rick buries a go bag in the woods outside Terminus. = +1pt 
• …Which is good, because TERMINUS BARBEQUE IS PEOPLE! = +10pts 
• While attempting to flee the compound, Rick’s party stumbles into the Terminus séance room/holocaust memorial. = -7pts 
• Best single-sentence pep talk in recent memory: “They’re going to feel pretty stupid when they find out that they’re screwing with the wrong people.” = +23pts

Total Score = +63pts
Season Score = +306pts

So, the good news is that Rick’s group has been reunited with Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Bob and Sasha, and has been introduced to Abraham and his cohorts. The bad news is that they’re all the captives of some kind of highly organized cannibal cult. A pretty shitty way to end your day, but not a bad way to end the season. Congratulations, Walking Dead, you’ve successfully kept us from giving up on you guys for yet another season.

Score Technician: Joe Hemmerling