My opinion is mixed about this finale. It began with an enlightening and long awaited explanation of Rick's hypothetical death. It was quite surprising to witness Shane's desperate attempt to save his buddy. Until TS-19 happened I really thought he didn't care about him and was happy until he came back from the dead, without walking. So the first minutes were are intense and shocking as in Tell It to the Frogs. However I can't help being disappointed by the episode story. The feast after the apocalypse was refreshing but I'm skeptical about the whole drunken part. Moreover it was obvious something was wrong with the scientist so I saw the mumbo jumbo ending coming from miles away. He survived all this time alone and did everything he could to find a cure but decided to give up when he finally encountered other souls. Does it make any sense ? Things got even worse when he pressed some magic button to trap them like rats and of course Rick was the only one smart enough to convince him to open the door. My hero ! And like in Vatos women kept whining and slowing the supermen down. Things would be so much more interesting if Sarah Wayne Callies and Laurie Holden's characters were stronger. Andrea could definitely be a female leader match to Rick or Shane ! Still the speech about fossil resources and the human brain was captivating. It was served by a well produced CG animation but wish it had lasted longer. In fact it reminded me of the cult survivalist dialog in Survivors (1975) pilot, The Fourth Horseman. The energy issue was also quite actual and revealed how weak our society actually is. That's why renewable energy is so vital. So it made the story even weaker considering such a critical building couldn't be just powered by fuel barrels, or something similar. An other annoyance was the fact that their arrival made things worse. One second they enter the building, the next it explodes. And like if it wasn't enough the ending wasn't intriguing at all. Ready for an other roadtrip ? I'm not sure. The Walking Dead felt more like an experiment to test viewers. The first two episodes and Wildfire were just probably too strong compared to the others. So Frank Darabont probably made the right move when he decided to fire all his writing staff. Let's recruit some fresh and more talented individuals for the inevitable second season. An other solution would have been to better manage or tutorial them but no one is perfect.
Review of TS-19
