The Walking Dead: 7 Things That "A" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

2. Nothing Changed

The Walking Dead has grown quite the ruthless reputation for its willingness to kill off pretty much any character, and it's become a bit of a custom for somebody important to die (or be dead) toward the middles and ends of each season. Season 2 had Sophia, Dale, and Shane. Season 3 had T-Dog, Lori, Merle, and Andrea. Prior to "A," only Hershel of the main cast of good guys had died in Season 4, so it was not exactly unreasonable to expect a bloodbath in the finale. Of course, it's good that the show did not kill anybody off merely for the sake of shock value, and I think that everyone is grateful that the Claimers were slaughtered before they could succeed in their designs on Carl and Michonne, but nothing permanently changed in this episode. Nobody familiar was on the grill, nobody was seriously injured, and the panic petered out in the final moments.