By having conditioned us to expect major character deaths and mayhem in every season finale, they were able to serve up several interesting bait-and-switch moments. It certainly seemed like we could lose Daryl or Aaron or both to the bizarre trap they encountered. It certainly seemed as though Glenn could have been killed by Nicholas and/or (un)timely Walkers. It certainly seemed as though Sasha could have killed Gabriel in a fit of rage. And it certainly seemed as though Alexandria could have been overrun by zombies after Gabriel left the gate hanging open. None of those things actually came to pass.
But paradoxically, because the writers have conditioned us to expect those kinds of things, they didn't actually stir up much tension. Rather than coming to the edge of my seat wondering how Daryl or Glenn might survive, I just assumed that "this would be the Walking Dead cliche moment where they don't." Rather than getting excited or worried about Gabriel leaving the town gate open, I just sort of rolled my eyes, thinking, "so this is how they're going to dispose of Alexandria -- just like Woodbury, just like the prison." So, in a weird way, even though none of these threads led to their cliche endings (yay!), I reacted to each in the moment as if they were going to, and thus got few thrills from them (boo!). And I sort of hate that The Walking Dead has turned me into a Pavlov's dog for bloodshed.
Still, there were some nice character moments that really worked, scattered throughout the episode.
Carol remains the best thing about the show now. There was her cold, borderline(?) sociopathic taunting of Pete. (If she comes to deliver a casserole to my door, I'm running in terror.) There were the multiple, unsettling ways in which she made it clear that she thinks herself above everyone -- not just the Alexandrians ("children" who like to hear "stories") and her fellow survivors (who she lies to without a second thought), but even Rick too (to whom she condescendingly says, "You don’t want to leave this place, and you don’t want to lie? Oh sunshine, you don’t get both."). She is quite frankly "not good people" anymore, but it's wildly entertaining to watch.
Deanna had a serious fall from grace. I hold no illusions that she hadn't decided to exile Rick before his fight with Pete had even ended. But she still wanted to look like a thoughtful leader, keeping up appearances and doing it "right." But the back-to-back loss of her son and her husband stripped that important piece of her identity away from her -- her ability to step back and reflect. In a fit of bloodlust, she told Rick to execute Pete, and he eagerly obliged.
Morgan's timely arrival illustrated just how far Rick has fallen too, though Rick's slide has played out over the course of several seasons. Last time we encountered Morgan (the post-episode teases sprinkled throughout this season notwithstanding), he was the one burrowed up in madness. Since then, he has apparently found his inner zen master (complete with wicked bo skills), and he tells Daryl and Aaron that "all life is precious." So, of course, he shows up at the exact moment he gets to see Rick extinguish a life in cold blood. Regardless of your views on capital punishment in general, or in a fictionalized situation like this, we can be fairly sure it's not going to sit right with Morgan.
Gabriel continues to be a coward -- a hateable character, but a consistent one. His failures to commit suicide by zombie (one), zombies (multiple, leaving the gate open), and Sasha echo all the way back to the very first moment we saw him, sitting atop a rock in the forest that was surrounded by zombies. I'd bet that too was another failed suicide attempt. He wants to be punished more than anything, and doesn't care who he drags down with him along the way.
But despite all these interesting character moments, nothing really resolved to end the season. Nor did anything culminate in any particularly cliffhanger way. The expansion of the Wolves (the source of the season's mysterious W marks) hardly set up much of a menace for next season. Daryl, Aaron, and Morgan were able to escape from them easily enough (Morgan twice!)... and if I've understood the writers attempt to identify them as the Alexandria exiles, there are probably only three of them out there anyway. Is this the big new menace I'm supposed to get excited for next season?
So, in all, I'm torn by this finale. A lot to like, really, but mixed in with a pretty strong "that was it?" feeling. I give it a B. We'll see if I have any interest in coming back in October.
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