The Walking Dead: 6 Things "Slabtown" Did Right (And 4 It Didn't)
3. The Ending
A rare feeling in The Walking Dead (and one that audiences have been clamouring for) is hope. Theres plenty of fear, tension, trepidation, and occasionally some boredom or incredulity - but hope is in shorter supply than food and razors. Toothpaste appears to remain plentiful, however. Despite the glittering gnashers the cast retain they almost never have anything to smile about, the untenable post-apocalyptic situation they find themselves in not often conducive to optimism. Four Walls And A Roof was the closest to upbeat the shows been in a while, and the bittersweet ending of Slabtown wasnt bad either. The slow burn of the episode, with Beth coming to the realisation that the supposedly utopian society was anything but, set up Slabtown to have an explosive finale - and it didnt disappoint. It was squeaky bum time for basically the entire ten minute sequence of her and Noah trying to break out of their prison. After the pitch-black shootout, punctuated with flashes of bullets singing through walkers heads (one of the best-directed action sequences in the show thus far), it was a genuine shock that Noah was the one to get away, not Beth. Yet it wasnt a downbeat ending by any stretch, as the tackled blonde looked up at her friend getting away and smiled. Theres still some hope left.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
