Final Thoughts From The Walking Dead Episode "Thank You"

I've been saying, for some time now, the show needs to shake things up a bit, thin out the growing ensemble cast and maybe even bump off some of the long-time characters that just don't seem to have as important of a role any more. Based on that, I'm actually somewhat OK with the idea of Glenn (Steven Yeun) meeting his sudden demise.

However, like many others who viewed last night's episode, I can't help but feel the show's writers are pulling a fast one on us and Glenn will somehow come out of that very violent situation alive, possibly because the walkers were really ripping apart the now-deceased Nicholas (Michael Traynor). I guess we'll have to wait this one out until at least through next episode (or possibly the one after it) before we know for sure.

One thing is for certain, however, if Glenn does somehow survive those zombies, I find it very hard to believe he will come out of that situation completely unscathed, at least mentally. So, if nothing else, maybe it'll give his character some new focus.

I understand they are (rightfully) concerned about their friends and family back at Alexandria. But, considering they already know the walker herd is a major threat too, you think there would be more of an effort to divert it. Instead, they are practically leading the zombies to the front gate.

They already did the hard part and got a reasonable distance ahead of the zombie army. Once the horn stopped blasting at Alexandria, the only thing they really needed to do was get the herd focused on something else, preferably going in the opposite direction. They could have done that simply by cutting down some trees and lighting them on fire (as Glenn planned on doing, way too late, when they came across that abandoned town) or firing their guns and leading them in another direction.

Not to mention, if getting to Alexandria was the priority, then you would think doubling back and getting onto the road would have been the smarter choice since it was a much-more direct route.

Needless to say, this, again, has me questioning Rick's decisions as a leader.

OK, to be fair, the Wolves' attack was unexpected and he didn't have much of a choice about defending himself. But, you would think, with all the experience he has had in the zombie apocalypse world, he would realize the gunfire was more than enough to attract the walkers and simply stayed quiet rather than making even more noise by trying to get that RV started.

That being said, much like with Glenn, I'm not convinced he won't make it out of this situation alive. 

I've never read the comic books and don't know what happens when you get a cut on your hand and walker blood into the cut. But, while I doubt it'll be something as extreme as him becoming infected and turning into a walker, I suspect it's not something that will result in a positive outcome for Rick.

Granted, it's not the first time he has been injured on this show and, perhaps, it's nothing major. But, the episode did seem to spend a great deal of time reminding us his hand was in pain so I think this time around will be different.

Daryl (Norman Reedus) did decide to abandon his post for a short while in this episode without any real explanation about why or where he was heading. Granted, he did, eventually, come back. But, I can't help but wonder if that's foreshadowing something as far as his character goes.

He's always been a bit of a lone wolf and, while he has slowly become more sociable, it's also been pretty obvious he doesn't fully agree with Rick or his decisions. I can't help but wonder if maybe he's getting ready to head off on his own again.

This is actually something I'd be OK with because, as has been the case with a lot of the long-time characters, he's been phased out a bit and hasn't been getting as much screen time. Having him leave the show, even if it's just for a few episodes, would allow him to have a few new adventures and maybe breathe some new life into a character that hasn't been as much of a bad ass lately.

The episode had plenty of action and, because of that, I didn't hate it. However, some of the decisions the group was making while supposedly trying to protect Alexandria from the walker herd honestly didn't make a whole lot of sense, at least if their primary goal was to get the walkers to head in another direction.

As a result, while I, again, didn't hate this episode, I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with some of the others from this season and can't help but wonder if things are going to start going downhill again.

My Grade: B