by Robbie Jones
Another year is coming to an end, and another half season of The Walking Dead has drawn to a close. It was an emotional episode, but was it as underwhelming as previously anticipated?
Another year is coming to an end, and another half season of The Walking Dead has drawn to a close. It was an emotional episode, but was it as underwhelming as previously anticipated?
Unfortunately, yes, but that’s not entirely the fault of the show. It seems the show’s Facebook page has no consideration for viewers in different time zones that have not yet had a chance to see the episode and posted a picture of the episode’s heartbreaking ending, meaning that myself and several other European viewers had it spoiled for them. As enraging as it was, it wasn’t entirely a surprise; we’ve speculated in the past whether this would be Beth’s last season, but knowing that it was definitely going to happen still affected the impact.
Ignoring that though, we must say a Walking Dead goodbye to Emily Kinney, who has played Beth Greene since Season Two, and lost her life in this mid-season finale killing Dawn. It was quite a shocking moment, Beth stabbing Dawn and immediately getting shot in the head. When you think of the character, it’s not the kind of death you anticipate for her. Now that she’s gone, let’s take a moment to reflect on Kinney’s time on the show. Beth hasn’t really been a fan favourite, and for the most part was just kind of ‘there’. She was Maggie’s sister, she didn’t have much to say and didn’t become truly important until Season Five. Kinney did a decent job though, even if she didn’t always rise to the occasion. Her performance in this episode, whilst still nothing amazing, was her best performance to date, and she delivered her final line perfectly. Goodbye, Emily Kinney, and good luck with your career!
Ignoring that though, we must say a Walking Dead goodbye to Emily Kinney, who has played Beth Greene since Season Two, and lost her life in this mid-season finale killing Dawn. It was quite a shocking moment, Beth stabbing Dawn and immediately getting shot in the head. When you think of the character, it’s not the kind of death you anticipate for her. Now that she’s gone, let’s take a moment to reflect on Kinney’s time on the show. Beth hasn’t really been a fan favourite, and for the most part was just kind of ‘there’. She was Maggie’s sister, she didn’t have much to say and didn’t become truly important until Season Five. Kinney did a decent job though, even if she didn’t always rise to the occasion. Her performance in this episode, whilst still nothing amazing, was her best performance to date, and she delivered her final line perfectly. Goodbye, Emily Kinney, and good luck with your career!
Talking of performances, Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln also delivered, as per usual. As with a lot of Daryl’s best acted moments, it was his face that did all the acting; the dead look in his eyes as he shot Dawn in the head was all we needed to see the pain he was experiencing. Daryl and Beth grew quite close in Season Four, to the point where fans even started shipping them, so it was a devastating blow for him and we all felt it. Lincoln’s performance perfectly highlighted the darkness that has embodied the character of Rick Grimes. His simple “Shut up” after shooting Lampson in the head pretty summed up the lack of empathy he has attained in the later seasons, and whilst it could make him less likeable, it does mean great performances from a hugely underrated actor.
Aside from that, the episode was unfortunately underwhelming. Not that it would ever beat last year’s Too Far Gone, but the fact is, it didn’t even compete. Aside from the ending, a lot of the dialogue and the acting (Most notably from the actress who plays Dawn and her police colleague whose name isn’t important enough to remember) felt very forced and clichéd. Another actress who didn’t quite deliver was Lauren Cohan and her terribly over the top crying after seeing Beth’s dead body, not to mention her unconvincing enthusiasm upon originally finding out she was alive (Though to be fair, the crying wasn’t very convincing either considering she hasn’t seemed to give a single shit about her since the prison). It’s weird considering some of the same things as last year happened: The group has lost their home, and a Greene has died. This time however, they were turned down quite a bit and suffered to make any impact.
Aside from that, the episode was unfortunately underwhelming. Not that it would ever beat last year’s Too Far Gone, but the fact is, it didn’t even compete. Aside from the ending, a lot of the dialogue and the acting (Most notably from the actress who plays Dawn and her police colleague whose name isn’t important enough to remember) felt very forced and clichéd. Another actress who didn’t quite deliver was Lauren Cohan and her terribly over the top crying after seeing Beth’s dead body, not to mention her unconvincing enthusiasm upon originally finding out she was alive (Though to be fair, the crying wasn’t very convincing either considering she hasn’t seemed to give a single shit about her since the prison). It’s weird considering some of the same things as last year happened: The group has lost their home, and a Greene has died. This time however, they were turned down quite a bit and suffered to make any impact.
Season Five Part One has actually been pretty decent; slow burning at times, and a lot of character development, but nothing really bad. However, as we predicted in a review, the show did go downhill following the death of Gareth, who was a fantastic villain for the four episodes he appeared in (Including the Season Four finale), and his episode for that matter were actually the best so far. Major characters got the shaft, such as Carl, Glenn and Michonne, and virtually got nothing to do.
The next half of Season Five looks like they’re going back out into the wild, since the church was overrun, and we still haven’t completed Morgan’s story so hopefully that’ll be a major plot point of the season. It’s been decent so far, even if it did have an underwhelming finale, so let’s hope it stays that way when it returns in February!
The next half of Season Five looks like they’re going back out into the wild, since the church was overrun, and we still haven’t completed Morgan’s story so hopefully that’ll be a major plot point of the season. It’s been decent so far, even if it did have an underwhelming finale, so let’s hope it stays that way when it returns in February!
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