The intense finale to AMC's third season of The Walking Dead has been on the build for months, and the result is a decidedly mixed bag, with plenty of unforgettable moments but also countless red flags that make me worried about where the show is going to venture for its 4th season, which is due to start filming next month for an October premiere. An exceptionally violent episode even for the standards of the show, "Welcome to the Tombs" delivered a surprising death alongside some less-surprising ones, making us say goodbye to a series regular in that stead. It's safe to say that spoilers abound from here on out. Here are 5 reasons why the finale was awesome, and 5 reasons it sucked...
5 Reasons It Was Awesome
5. Rick Comes Full Circle
Rick Grimes saw a dramatic character transformation at the end of Season 2 and throughout Season 3, following his murder of Shane. The group beginning to waver in their loyalty to him as a leader caused him to adopt a darker, even more nihilistic outlook, in which he rules by force and defends his actions in taking care of Shane. Rick has become more ruthless than ever, though at the seeming cost of his sanity in light of Lori's death a few episodes back. However, coming across a deranged Morgan in effect allowed him to realise the gravity of his visions and what they could amount to, while he found some comfort in the fact that the relatively well-adjusted Michonne also saw visions when she would talk to her dead boyfriend. The end of Season 3 sees Rick taking a somewhat more humanistic leadership role as is more akin to his role in the first two seasons. It seems like most of Rick's episode will probably be behind him, and he has in effect come "full circle". A lot of the credit for this arc working so well is Andrew Lincoln's excellent performance, especially in last night's episode.