What Comes After
Episode 5
10 Stars out of 10
Yeah, I'm still watching TWD, even though I haven't been creating any threads for the show for the past few years. But this episode in particular, I definitely needed to talk about what the f*ck I just witness in what is dubbed 'Rick Grimes Final Episode'. I had no idea what was to come at the end. Two MAJOR things that happened basically has reset the entire TWD Universe. But before we go there, I want to talk about the the episode as a whole. It was F*CKING PHENOMENAL! Everyone has emmy-worthy performances (Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Jeffrey Dean Morgan) left me speechless with their performances. AMAZING! But it was Andrew Lincoln that steals the show here. The way the entire episode was constructed was fantastic. Edge-of-you-seat suspense that I just could not shake. With Rick in the throes of a Fever Dream, we are able to bring back fan-favorite characters such as Shane, Herschel, Sasha). Seeing Scott Wilson return as Herschel left me speechless because Scott passed away and I wasn't expecting to see him at all, which made his return all the more sweet.
So, everything is leading to the Bridge with a horde of Walkers closing in on a Rick who is bleeding out from the events of the previous episode. It's up to Rick for his final stand to protect his family and what a way to go out. Having him shoot at the stick of dynamite and blowing up the bridge to take them all out, giving his life in the process felt right and the only way for him to go. My biggest fear and the one that I dreaded was having the character getting mauled and turning into a Walker, which never would have felt right. So, he goes out in a blaze of glory.....
.......not so fast. The final scene before the Epilogue has Anne / Jadis finding Rick and whisking him off in a Helicopter to God knows where. So, at the end of the day, he is alive....but gone. The second WTF moment comes in the Epilogue which is a major time-jump for the characters with "Kid Judith Grimes" now (I'm guessing here) 5-6 years old, packing heat and saving survivors from their own run in with Walkers. Like I said, the TWD Universe has been complete reset and now anything....and everything can happen with their stories.
Now, for Talking Dead, Scott Gimple (Executive Producer on the show) said that Rick Grimes story is not finish and that they (AMC) have plans for feature length feature films for the character. He was a bit coy in divulging too much detail, but from what I heard, there is more on the way. How it ties into TWD....we will just have to wait and see. Now one thing I took from this is that Scott said 'Rick Grimes' will continue.....nothing was said of Andrew returning, which I don't see happening.