Major spoilers follow for The Walking Dead midseason finale, which aired last night
I was honestly surprised by the The Walking Dead’s midseason finale last night. I was shocked at the fact that they killed off a major character (her identity is below) and I was surprised at how boring and long some of the lead-up sequences were. The Walking Dead is no Breaking Bad. The show has struggled with consistency for some time, although it keeps us coming back. I’m not going to do a whole recap but EW has an excellent one if you’re interested. I’ll quote some of E!’s Kristen Santos here because she does a nice job of summing up the ending:
For most of that midseason finale, the show seemed almost asleep. Sure, Rick killed the cop Bob Lamson and Beth threw another cop down an elevator shaft after he attacked Dawn (who isn’t apparently such an evil witch after all), but mostly it was a lot of prep work for the eventual Beth-and-Carol rescue mission.
Unfortunately, that mission did not quite go as planned.
The plan seemed like a simple enough prisoner exchange: The two cops Rick had captured for Beth and Carol. Of course, as we learned from last week’s Homeland (which we are still completely freaking out about), prisoner exchanges are rarely as simple as they look.
Rick and his gang, along with Carol and Beth, were about to be home free, until Dawn said she needed Noah back. Rick and Beth both refused to let him go, but Dawn was adamant that they could not leave and take Noah with them. Noah, however, agreed to stay at the hospital so that the others could get out of there safely.
Beth stepped up to say goodbye to Noah, and then stepped over to Dawn.“I get it now,” Beth said, referring to their earlier conversation about the way the world works, and then attempted to stab Dawn using the scissors she had hidden in her arm cast. Dawn immediately responded by shooting Beth through the chin. There was a moment of stunned silence before Daryl shot Dawn through the head, and then all the guns were up.
The tension weirdly immediately dissipated. The remaining cops offered to let Rick’s group stay at the hospital, and Rick invited the cops to leave with him, if they wished. Nobody moved.
Cut to outside the hospital, as GREATM is arriving, believing that they’re about to be reunited with Carol and Beth. They’re almost joyously killing walkers on the way to the door, until Rick comes outside, followed by Carol…and Daryl, carrying Beth’s body.
E!’s Kristen then writes that she lost it when Maggie started crying after she realized that her sister was dead. I’m a big softie and I cry at commercials but this didn’t get me for some reason. I wasn’t that attached to Beth and it doesn’t bother me that she’s gone. I did think it was a nice touch that almost the entire group was crying after Beth got shot. That reminded us that they’re still vulnerable and human.
EW points out several plot holes in this episode, namely the fact that Father Gabriel lead all the walkers to the front door of the church and banged to get in like a douche instead of sneaking under the back in the trap door. (The writers were going for symmetry with his back story.) There’s also the matter of Carole miraculously recovering when it was time for the negotiation hand off.
The Walking Dead returns on February 8th. I can’t say I’ll miss it too much, but I do want to see Morgan (Lennie James) reunite with Rick. In an epilogue to the first episode this season, we saw Morgan tracking the group. In this episode, Morgan reaches the church, finds the map from Abraham addressed to Rick Grimes, and realizes that he’s been right behind Rick. It’s unknown what Morgan will do if and when he reaches the group. TWD creator Robert Kirkman said on Talking Dead that Morgan might not have pure intentions. “Maybe he kills them all. It’s going to be crazy.” The last we saw Morgan, in season 3, he had gone crazy, so it’s hard to tell what he’ll do. Walking Dead may falter, but it’s never predictable. You can watch the clip with Morgan here.
photo credit: AMC
I’m glad the finally killed Beth. As Princess Sing Sing, she’d worn out her welcome. I got a few episodes of her not being so annoying, Tyrese is taking the lead there…
This first half of the season, other than the premiere, has been REALLY boring. I honestly wish the body count would be higher
Yeah, +1 with the killing off of Beth – she was the weakest link in the cast, IMHO.
And they better NOT touch Carol!!!
While I love Carol, I wish the writers would shake things up a bit – kill of someone we actually care about. They wrote the demise of Princess Sing Sing like they did that of Whori & Andrea – they waited until the audience hated them, gave them a few likable episodes, then killed them pretty violently. But remember how sad you were when Dale and Hershel died?!? Or the piglets?!? Yes, I cares more about the adorable innocent piglets than Beth.
LMAO at princess Sing sing with her thin reedy ass voice and those Bambi eyes constantly doing NOTHING
I knew she was biting it cause the moment they stop making a chick unlikeable less shrill/more competent/less useless she Catches that fade, is like they expect us to sympathize cause they took 2-3 episodes on Character development
I For One CACKLED LOUD AND LIKE A WITCH , especially found it rich that they were gonna suddenly make it like Maggie who has Been Ray Charles To the Whole having a Sister thing for a least a season and has not Mentioned it all, is gonna be suddenly Bereft?!? LOL No
Also I was GLAD to not watch The Talking Dead cause i never can with these folks crying and carrying on like yhey were real Life killed..gtfo
Alsooooo: The BETTER CALL SAUL PREVIEW ALMOST MADE ME PEE MYSELF OF HAPPINESS
I watched the Talking Dead. I got the sense that her crying was more like the crying you do after you suddenly get fired from a job. Which is exactly what happened. She found out while shooting episode 7 that she’d be killed in the next episode. Obviously as an actor, especially on a show like TWD, you know anything can happen at any time, but I think when her character stuck around past season two, she was lulled into a false sense of security. Plus, she’s young. So all that being said, I’m giving her a pass on the crying. Even Norman Reedus admitted after he read the scene for the first time, he spent several hours crying because he was so upset.
Qq I freaking love your hair!! I’ve been wanting purple hair forever but haven’t pulled the trigger.
while I did like beth in the end, that comment about “those bambi eyes constantly doing nothing”. made me laugh! Priceless
Good riddence, Beth..you annoying c*nt
Maggie’s reaction got to me but I was honestly not sad to see Beth go. She irritated me more than the rev and that’s saying something.
Again, I’m in favor of them killing off main loved characters, because honestly that’s what actually would happen eventually. If Glen died, and Maggie was pregnant – I think that would add an interested storyline
They kill Glen and I’m DONE with this show. I only watch for Daryl and Carol, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Glen. I know that in the comics he was dispatched during the Governor’s reign of terror, but the TV series has never been the comics (for one thing, I think Lori was [blessedly] killed off much earlier in the comics, which the series should have copied). If they kill off the actual essential people (and I’m not counting Rick anymore, the “Jack Shepard” of this show), they will get a load of screaming complaints.
Yeah!!! Me too!! I’m a Carol/Daryl shipper.
Maggie has said barely a word about Beth all season. Now she’s all WAAAAAA my sister. Bleh. I’m more upset about Bob’s leg.
I loved Beth! Most people think they would be like Rick, Daryl, Carol, “Michonne” ect., but most of us would really be Beth or Eugene. Beth did her share of the work, without complaining. She did the best she could, being a small weak girl. Poor Daryl, he was actually crying. Wow, Maggie remembers she has a little sister!
+1
While I was no fan of Beth (that’s on the writers not the actress), I agree. It reminds me of all the hate Sansa gets in GOT (from both the book and tv fans), people like to think they would be an Arya but when you think about the world these female characters were raised and socialised in – incredibly sheltered from politics and with the understanding their biggest “achievement” is to marry well and be a obedient and caring wife – Sansa is more ‘realistic’. She is what she was made by her parents and society.
It’s like the fight or flight question, most people want to imagine themselves fighters, but there is a reason military personnel etc are trained, they have to *learn* how to ignore their instincts to gtfo of dangerous situations.
I do think that the writers could have done a better job to make Beth realistic and sympathetic rather than irritating or plain boring. The last season she spent most of her time babysitting which was hardly thrilling viewing.
I realized at the beginning that I would be just like her during the apocalypse but I didn’t like watching her. I think it’s just that those types of characters are realistic and work in real life but not on-screen. Beth would be great to be around during tough times and it’s understandable why Daryl and others would care so much even if the viewers couldn’t – she was kind, innocent, helpful and her singing would be very appreciated in the world without entertainment, but it seems like a waste of time to focus so much on someone this boring when they only have 42 min and so many not-so-realistic but more interesting characters. It’s the same with i.e. HIMYM – Ted Mosby would be a perfect friend and boyfriend in real life but it’s much more entertaining to watch a player and a lousy friend like Barney Stinson.
So Maggie is super sad about Beth, but spent the past 8 episodes not caring at all where she was? The entire hospital storyline was dumb.
And I still need to Rick impregnate me. Crazy mountain man beard and all.
Maggie seemed way more concerned about Glenn than Beth. I don’t know ,maybe she was already resigned to the fact that Beth was dead. I can’t quite figure out exactly what the writers are doing with Maggie.
That’s pretty much what the writers have said in interviews – that she was resigned to her being dead.
I’m not that tore up. beth never interested me. Besides the couple of episodes they gave us recently, she never had much interesting character development.
The hospital storyline was way too drawn out. They could have cut out 3/4’s of it, as far as I’m concerned. And the fact they back story was given in the msf to two characters that were going to die in five minutes was ridiculous. A waste of time.
(Hard-ass, violent Rick does it for me too!)
He tried to go back under the church but the walkers were to close. Poor Beth but she did have a couple good episodes. love this show but I hate that it’s not back till February.
Didn’t feel a thing when Beth died until Darryl cried. I jumped/screamed when it happened and the look on Rick’s face was heartbreaking.
Also I am over Tyrese and his justifications on why he didn’t kill whathisface. He came back in the end and was ready to kill you so you think that would make him rethink his messed up stance. Him and Gabriel are going to get someone killed.
Ya I didn’t get upset until Daryl did. That cry of his gets me every time. And Carol being the one to come comfort him? Get out. Slayed me.
I’d be perfectly fine with both Tyrese and Gabriel being killed off. Their characters are so boring and whiny and annoying!
And kill the priest while they’re at it. Not only is he boring and worthless in a fight, he endangers the group and is not a very convincing character in general.
ITA with everything you just said. I’m so over Tyrese and Gabriel’s BS, even Eugene picked up a knife.
I agree Starry. I wondered why they would take the pacifist Tyrese over Michonne in the first place. It was his idea to negotiate instead of the aggressive plan of Rick and look at how well that turned out. His character is useless until he makes a change. Maybe the death of his sister might change his views about survival of the fittest.
The best show on TV right now!
I knew Beth was a gonner from her sudden interesting storyline, but I was still shocked how she was killed off! She was a nice meh character, but I would have been furious if Carol had died. Can’t wait for more!
The biggest spoiler was that The Walking Dead FB page put out a “RIP Beth” with a picture of a crying Daryl carrying Beth before the West Coast had seen it yet! So annoying.
That was awful. I don’t “like” The Walking Dead on Facebook, but it still showed up on my feed because a friend liked it. It showed up maybe a half hour after the episode aired on the east coast.
I “unliked” their page after that. I believe it was posted 10 minutes after the episode aired on the east coast.
Maggie had completely forgotten about her anyway! Can Tyrese die please? The actress that plays Beth couldn’t get through the interview on the talking dead without crying. Are TV after credit clips a thing now? I hate movie ones, cheap gimmick!
I saw the Talking Dead.. and I cried a bit at how emotional she was.. And I got what she was saying.. She knew she was going to be killed off in this season.. and she had to give up her apartment and move from Georgia where she had built a life for 3/4 years. And then to have to do the scenes leading up to that .. It is hard..
she was such a sweet character..and as someone said up thread.. Beth was the real worker ant.. She was the one that was holding down the “home” while all the other went to war. She cooked, cleaned, took care of the baby.. all the stuff that the other don’t do. Now who is going to do that stuff now.. You need worker ants.. not just the ones that go to war..
Tyrese is making me want to vomit.. he is too freaking big to be acting this way.. Sorry. I’m tried of the “gentle giant”.. And Gabriel leading all those damn walkers back to the church.. I could have screamed.. He is the worst and is like bad luck.
I agree, I really loved her on the Talking Dead. She came across as really nice.
I missed TD, I’ll have to watch it. I like the actress who plays Beth, but I just think the Beth character sucked.
I agree about Tyrese… It’s not enduring, it’s annoying and DEADLY. All I can say is while I’d really like Gabriel to go away, remember how troublesome Bob was when he first joined the group? He ended up being one of the more liked characters going into this season.
ITA!!! I wanted Gabriel to die, he is an absolutely ridiculous character. I cannot stand him. They should have left the doors locked like he did to his congregation. POS. That would have been karmic justice. I just can’t with all his walking around and crying and if he cared at all he would not have led the walkers to where two CHILDREN were. Big ole sissy buttwipe. ugh. And as for Beth I think her character was finally evolving I was enjoying her. Without Hershel she was the heart of their people. Now she is gone. I could have seen mullet head die, Gabriel, even Carol at this point because she would have had a fantastic ending with saving them all at Terminus which was so bada**! I like Tyrese better than Sasha. He grew on me when he took the girls on his own. I guess he is the heart of the group now. I don’t want to see him go. I was really glad Daryl blew Dawns brains out. THe writing is so good she was sort of growing on me and I did not want to like her. Norman Reedus just rocks though! His, Rick and Carols face choked me all sorts of up and Maggie too. I think she had just resigned herself to Beths death too.
Lisa I completely agree with everything you said. Great post.
I liked Beth, but I didn’t think she was major character. She was cute and sweet, but imo she didn’t really add anything to the show. I’m glad someone pointed out Father Gabriel not coming back in the way he left. That was just stupid. I still don’t get the point of the point of Father Gabriel. I get the significance of his name ,but so far he’s only been a liability.
He’s coming to this realization about the world quickly in the series so it seems rushed and a bit insane. It’s a time crunch issue it appears.
I liked Beth too. I think people don’t like her for the wrong reasons. She pulled her weight and did her part. Much like Hershel. Protecting Judith from the flu, keeping spirits up. And as she told the doctor in the hospital not all art has to go away. You can still practice humanity and see the beauty in things. There’s still a reason to sing. She had an important purpose.
Because she wasn’t swinging a death blade like michonne or mastering the crossbow doesn’t make her a bad character. She was useful to the dynamic.
Now Lori and young Carl were 2 characters that were terrible. Just brought down and endangered the whole group.
Meh, she was useless in my opinion. She always looked confused and out of it. No biggie for me. Next!
Sorry, silken_floss, not to pick on you, but the whole “Beth is useless” argument always really bothered me.
She was a young woman who was made to hide behind her father, or watch someone else’s baby. I mean, there were many times that Carl was put in charge when she was around! She was hidden behind the prison walls and never taught any real survival skills.
I see her more as being failed by her father (and the writers!). And it has always kind of bugged me that the audience sees her as someone that should die because of it.
Beth was never really on my radar until the last half of last season, but I was still sad to see her go. I’m tired of core characters dying. It’s becoming too predictable. Plus, now there are 6 characters on the show that I’m not invested in, and probably won’t care about because I know they won’t last long. I realized that after Bob’s death. I didn’t have the reaction I would have had a couple of seasons ago, because I just expect it at this point.
As far as the Maggie situation: I think the writers sacrificed characterization over plot. The story line feels melodramatic. I think they didn’t want Maggie to be worried/grieving over Beth the last part of the S4 and the first half of this season because her grieving storyline is going to to a big part of the rest of this season. It would have been too much and gone on too long if Maggie was sad about Beth for a season and a half. So they had her focus only on Glenn and DC. But it was so unlike Maggie that it shows a huge problem with the writing.
You should read the comics.. It is not a fuzzy wuzzy thing and the core characters die all the time.. There are characters living in the show that are not alive in the comics. They are actually following the comics a lot more this time around. I like that at least we didn’t get a whole season of the Hospital and Flesh eating humans.
The comics are graphic. Very! I was shocked all the intermingling and horrors of human nature. Though it makes sense setting the scene. The Gov was almost a kitten in the series version because they can’t air most of the stuff he did. They just set you up to assume and lead the imagination.
They could have shown Maggie being worried in one scene. 2 Minutes and it would have been believable to me.
I got rid of my cable over a year ago and I saw they finally put up new episodes on Netflix but I can’t seem to find the interest I once had in this show. Is it worth it? I keep seeing people say the story lines are boring and drawn out. The last I saw they were in the prison and people were getting sick, I kinda lost interest when they killed off Lori, that episode took a major toll on me emotionally, lol. I was sad they didn’t let Rick get resolution with her and develop their story a little more, but I guess you don’t always get a happy ending in a zombie apocalypse.
Jess
Lori was grinding a lot of peoples last nerve. It was kind of a relief she died.
It’s not for everyone. You get invested in the characters.
And not every episode is great. Infact, season 2 was fairly bad. There was a writers issue behind the scenes.
It’s still a must watch for many. I’d say it’s worth it.
Thanks Florc:) think I’ll try to get back into it soon, even if only to see Rick in all his glory. “Love Actually” is one of my favorite movies and I’ve loved him since!
Lori was not a character I liked at all but her death did effect me. I think it was the way she died. She sacrificed her life so her child could live and then had to make that choice in front of her other child. Her last goodbyes to Carl broke my heart. As a mother it really impacted me because I can’t even imagine having to hug my kids for the last time knowing I will never see them grow up. Knowing I will never see or hold my newborn. Then also dying while my child watches? Oh goodness. So even though I loathed her and looked forward to her demise, that scene was so emotionally taxing.
That’s exactly how I felt about Lori, I didn’t like her much but that death scene just got to me, I was a mess for days just thinking about how hard that would be as a mother. I also wanted to see Rick get closure with her, things were so tense between them and I hated that he was left to deal with those emotions on his own. I just sort of lost interest then I got rid of cable anyway, but I watched the talking dead clip with the actress who played Beth and I cried with her! She seems like a sweet girl, and now I’m dying to know how they got to where they are now, so I have some binge watching to do this week!!
I loved season 2 🙂
Yeah, dead Beth! Such a nothing character that they tried very hard to build up in the last episodes so that people would care when they killed her. Even then, people are more upset by the fact that Daryl is upset than by any attachment to Beth.
The next to go ought to be Tyreese who is just a waste of skin at this point. He’ll probably be saved by the fact that it’s become a joke that the show constantly kills off the only black guy and it’s just a little too predictable at this point. Still, you’re a mountain of a man; carry your weight a little. In a pinch, I’d take skinny, but now incredibly tall, Carl over Tyreese.
That theory is very popular. 1 or 2 black men can be on the show at any given time. 2 can exist for longer than usual, but only if the parties are split up. Bob with Rick and gang. Tyreese with Carol and Judith.
Once Tyreese rejoined group, Bob’s days were numbered. Now we have Noah! Makes you wonder when Tyreese will get the axe.
(I think Tyreese will die protecting Judith.)
I’m ok with killing Judith, too. Chick is totally a drag on the group.
Haha RobN!
Always giving away their position with her crying. She died in the prison originally. How she’s made it this far must be a real drain on the group. If and when she goes it’ll be a slow and tragic scene that puts Rick into another down spiral like after Lori. Although Rick has really changed!
I liked Beth. Not for the character of Beth, but what she was in the group. Talking Dead covered how Norman saw her in relation to Daryl. She was like a positive and pure light in a dark world. Or something like that.
And she was just starting to become stronger. I hate it when the characters are spotlighted like that because you know a death is coming.
But deaths have to happen of it seems like the world is much easier to survive in than they’d like it to appear.
Still sad over it. Poor gang 🙁
I still haven’t watched the episode but saw the spoiler of Daryl carrying her body with the RIP Beth and I knew. I had a feeling that they were going to kill her off. But then I think what a waste with the rescue of Beth to just have her die. Like what a waste of a storyline.
She never really bothered me until recently and mostly only because her acting seemed so wooden and terrible during this hospital storyline. I just didn’t believe it was actually happening to her. It’s hard to explain but I just didn’t like it.
As a whole I find the show entertaining. I do a lot of eye rolling during most episodes but I still enjoy it.
I’m looking forward to bit of a WD break though…
Not Luna Lovegood!!! Who will sing campfire lullabies to attract all the walkers now?!?!
I’m kind of relieved it was Beth. She had already predicted her own death after her and Darryl’s spring break arson spectacular in the moonshine shack last season, so I saw it coming. I figured it would be her, Tyrese, or Judith, all of whom I’m okay with losing. (Especially Judith; what’s that baby ever done for anybody in the apocalypse?)
Also… when Noah was first introduced, he told Beth he came to Atlanta looking for his uncle. I think his uncle is likely Morgan.
May get slammed for this but not a Maggie fan at all, wish she would have went instead of Beth. Hate what has happened to the Glenn character since him & Maggie became a couple. Either one of them could go & would be OK with it.
I could NOT agree more. Maggie made me dislike who Glen turned into. I’ve been crossing my fingers that it was going to be one of them. I loved the idea of Beth being Darryl’s soft place. Maggie annoyed me to no end. When Beth sang the song at the prison all sweet and manly Maggie just had to jump in? I’ve been awaiting her demise ever since.
I’m not a Maggie fan either. I just hope they don’t touch Rick, carol, michonne or Darryl. Anybody else is expendable.
I agree, The Walking Dead is no Breaking Bad, especially with consistent writing, character development and knowing the right amount of time to build up momentum in a episode. I’ve always thought the TWD has spotty writing and always has. Sometimes the show is frustrating to watch because they drag out certain story lines for far too long, but then forget to tie up other story lines in the process. A Great example of their spotty writing? The fact that Maggie’s character never mentions Beth’s absence until the final episode, when the whole season is leading up to the hospital rescue. Remember in the first season when the zombies are smart enough to use rocks to take down doors and break glass or when Glenn and Rick figure out if they cover themselves in zombie guts they can get through a crowd of walkers? Why haven’t they done that when faced with the same obstacles in recent episodes?
I like the show, don’t get me wrong, but in a lot of ways, it’s hugely overrated.
This show is awful. I don’t get the hype.
I really wish they’d stuck with the original showrunner. I’ve really hated this different-person-every-season thing, and I wanted to have faith in this guy, but the show just needs to get back on track with pacing.
I actually didn’t like Beth much and was glad she went, but I still felt it was a waste. They just *finally* made her into a real character instead of “that chick who holds the baby for Rick”. I guess it was a nice character arc and all to go out strong, but it really feels like a Governor/Brian diversion – pointless, boring, and with an outcome we all expected anyway.
I’m looking forward to them getting out of Atlanta soon, and I’m hoping to see some of the comic storylines coming up soon. I hope they don’t diverge too awfully much, because we need to get back to the good stuff.
[TALKING DEAD/COMIC/REAL LIFE SPOILER STUFF BELOW]
I was really, really surprised that Sasha didn’t die. I thought she’d have a bad one and turn Tyreese back into the badass he’s supposed to be. I’m really disappointed in the Tyreese character. His comic self is so awesome, and he’s become the new Andrea. NO. Not okay.
But since Sasha’s alive and the actress playing her is pregnant, I’m very interested in seeing how that goes since she’s still alive. Is she packing a Bob baby, or is she going to maybe hook up with Morgan when he catches up? I really hope we see a better birth scene than what Lori gave us.
But Sonequa (Sasha) is 8 months now and barely looks pregnant outside of her belly. And I say barely because her chest shows it too.
I would imagine she was pregnant during some of these scenes and will rebound before they start shooting again. I did wonder about Bob’s baby, but it’s said she hasn’t shot any pregnant scenes.
Her character is safe imo. And they’re spotlighting Tyreese so he might go soon and Sasha will be the character struggling for storyline. Someone must always suffer a personal loss for story formula.
I didn’t like the way Beth died at all. What was the point of bringing scissors to a gun fight then stabbing her in her bulletproof vest?
I wasn’t that torn up by Beth’s death. And I call BS on Maggie’s grief, since she pretty much assumed her sister was dead and never mentioned her all season. But I think it’s wrong to say that Beth was useless or boring or didn’t bring anything to the proverbial table. In season 2, I said the same thing about Carol. While everyone was out looking for Sophia, she spent her days at Hershels farm crying and complaining. Now, seasons later, look what a bada$$ she’s become. Perhaps Beth could’ve had that arc too, given a few more seasons.