Nobody puts Rick’s Rebels in the corner! Season four of The Walking Dead has come to a close with a nail-biting cliffhanger. While “A” is fantastic, in some ways it wasn’t as brutal as I was expecting, and in some ways that’s okay. What’s clear is the premiere of season five is going to have a whole lotta ass-kicking, and probably some really messed-up stuff seeing as how Terminus ain’t the haven Rick’s Rebels were promised.

But first, let’s check in with Dale to see what’s up at the RV of Love.

Well, Action Chick, I was all set to have a nice, big, barbecue, but something about this week turned my stomach off to the idea. I wonder what it could be…

Thanks, Dale. Now, onward, to the recap!

PS- Spoilers, dummy!

A quick primer in case you missed the last few episodes:

• Tyrese, Carol, and the two young sisters: The elder girl, Lizzie, is kind of a psychopath, and was revealed as the culprit behind the murdered rats at the prison. She also kills her sister, thinking that she’ll “just come back” and “it’ll be okay.” Well, it wasn’t, and since this budding serial killer was going to do the same to baby Judith, Carol did what had to be done and shot her. And she also told Tyrese that she was the one who killed his girlfriend; while he was pissed at first, he ultimately forgave her.
• Glenn teamed up with Tara, the not-crazy member of the Governor’s crew, and a trio of a soldier, a scientist, and a girl with an exposed midriff.
• Maggie and Glenn get reunited, and Bob and Sasha do some smooching.
• Beth and Daryl bond, Beth gets kidnapped, and Daryl teams up with some bandits out of necessity. Unbeknownst to him, these Bandits are after Rick for (deservedly) killing one of their group.
• Rick, Carl, and Michonne bond, and we learn a lot about Michonne’s painful past.
• Along the way, everyone finds signs pointing them to Terminus, a supposed safe haven, and they all head their separately.

For the last episode, we follow Rick, Carl, and Michonne as they journey to Terminus. Naturally, the bandits (Daryl, Joe, et al) catch up to the trio and get the drop on them. From there, madness ensues- so much so that Rick goes off the human edge and lands in animalistic crazy town and, for just a moment, Terminator Carl resurfaces. I can’t stress enough how amazingly tense this scene is; I’ve never seen something so wrought with deliciously painful drama. Daryl tries to vouch for Rick, but the bandits are having none of it, and Joe tells Rick they’re going to “beat him to death, then have her, then have your son, then shoot you in the head.” So, survivalist Rick, with a gun to his head, the lives of his friends in danger, and his son about to get raped by a fat guy named Dan, does what he has to do. He rips Joe’s throat out with his bare teeth. Peas and rice! What could be a more perfect way to express how frantic Rick is to save Carl? At least now he might fit in at Terminus… but more on that later.

There’s been a lot of discussion about whether or not TWD has gone too far, first with Lizzie’s psychotic/murderous break episode, and now with Rick going all vampire. I’ll settle this for everyone- nope, they haven’t gone too far…yet. They are pushing the limit though, and I’ve been loving it. Maybe if Rick had gone back in for seconds or Carl had actually been defiled- that would be too far. However, so far TWD has masterfully towed the line without falling over it. Anyway, after Rick takes a bite out of crime, Michonne uses the distraction to overtake her captor and shoot him in the head, and then Daryl kills the two guys who were just beating the crap out of him.

Props to The Walking Dead for being so amazingly subtle at setting up the latter half of this episode. Early on we get a nice flashback to Rick in the prison with everyone, showing his transition from Ricktator to Rickfarmer, and, in the present, there’s a great scene where he explains to Carl and Michonne how a snare works… foreshadowing, much? Now that has me analyzing every little thing, like, during the flashback, when Rick put his hat on Beth and calls her the new sheriff. Will we see her next season in some kind of Sheriff-y role? Or did that comment mean nothing and she’s the one getting served up with a side of her own ribs?

Yeah, for those who are wondering, Terminus is total crazytown, and it’s like 99% clear that they’re cannibals. We end the episode with a majority of Rick’s Rebels reunited… as hostages/leftovers in the same train car. The Terminus people don’t know it yet, but they just did Rick a huge favor by putting them all together. This may be a huge cliffhanger, but we can rest easy knowing that our beloved characters aren’t dead yet. We see Maggie, Glenn, and their group very much alive before the end. If you noticed though, Dr. Mullet is not around… which has me wondering if they butchered him first, or if he’s off somewhere else, doing science-y things for them. Also, Beth is still missing, which is a bummer, but one thing Rick’s Rebels have going for them (other than their complete badassery) is that Carol and Tyreese have yet to arrive at Terminus.

This last half of season four has been hugely character driven, and a bit calmer since there’s no huge big bad coming after the group. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters better- the writers found a way to develop everyone nicely while still keeping the action flowing here and there. Even though “A” wasn’t what I expected, it’s a great finale that had me screaming at the TV in excitement. The Walking Dead Season 5 premieres in October, but it feels like an eternity from now.

Likes:

• Michonne shaking the blood off her sword with a nice splatter sound.
• Rick Candymanning Carl’s would-be rapist, the man appropriately dubbed by the Talking Dead as “Deserves It Dan.” Oooh, he so deserved it.
• Rick snapping into a Slim Joe.
• Rick’s Rebels are back together again!
• Rick’s final line: “They’re screwing with the wrong people.” Never has a line been so true.
• Daryl’s curb stomp. How beautiful was that!?! He stomped that bandit bastard so hard he practically pulled his heel up to his chin!

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!