Sunday marked the “end” of Rick Grimes (played brilliantly by Andrew Lincoln) after 9-years as the shows leader and moral compass with “What Comes After”. Warning, spoilers ahead…
After being severally injured in the previous episode, Rick has to battle a herd of walkers and is forced to face the past through hallucinations of Shane and Hershel and the world he fights to keep going. It’s Rick’s determination to protect the future he and Carl had envisioned. This episode felt more like a season finale than a mid-season one. I think it summarizes the journey of Rick from the shooting in the pilot episode that landed him in the hospital to when he woke up to a very different world in search of his family. Seeing Shane return and having the late Scott Wilson show up as Hershel will tug at your heart-strings.
There were several times throughout the episode that you thought that perhaps Rick will indeed die. Even though common sense said he wouldn’t and as such, it will have an open ending. Before that ending however, Rick will see the past, the present and the future while he searches for his “family” and as we discover and probably knew deep down, his family is those people he will leave behind. People like Michonne, Judith, Daryl, Carol and Maggie. As Rick faced death, he was not alone as the gang all arrived to fend off the herd of walkers crossing the bridge that Rick desperately wanted to build. They will never reach him and he will never get a chance to say goodbye or tell them how much tell mean to him. Instead, Rick makes the ultimate sacrifice and shoots at the toppled dynamite that laid on the ground blowing up the bridge and seemingly killing himself.
What we learn then is that Rick’s body, alive and relatively well considering, washes up a shore and is discovered by Jadis-Anne. With a chopper hovering above, Jadis-Anne pleads with them to help Rick. Where this going, who knows but to say my interest is piqued, would be an understatement. So with Rick and Jadis-Anne off to who knows where, the show time jumps for the second time this season to approximately six years where we are introduced to some new survivors and to an older Judith Grimes with a helleva shot.
While Rick’s story seems to come to an end of sorts as far as The Walking Dead is concerned, his overall story is far from over as confirmed on The Talking Dead and the revelation that AMC Original Films is in the works to tell more stories of not only Rick but others as well including those yet to be seen. It’s always hard to say goodbye to a series or a character you’re attached to but knowing that Rick survived and his legacy is very much present with Judith, it lessens the blow and if anything you become more excited about what the future holds. Thank you Andrew Lincoln for the memories.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
