Recap / The Walking Dead S04 E16 "A"

Season 4, episode 16

A

Rick is forced to finally embrace his dark side once again when faced with the brutality of the Claimers on the eve of his arrival to Terminus.

In a flashback to simpler times, Rick is woken up by Hershel in the prison, who implores him to take up farming for his and Carl's sakes. In the present, Rick, now with a beard soaked with blood, sits against a car, deep in thought and trembling.

Rick, Carl and Michonne's discussion on their lack of food is interrupted when they come across a lone man desperately crying for help, before he's overwhelmed and eaten by walkers. The trio manage to escape despite being chased by some of the herd.

That night, the trio are finally caught by Joe's pack of Claimers. Joe declares that they'll pay for killing Lou, but Daryl arrives on the scene and pleads for Joe to let Rick and the others go, and take him instead. Despite being reasonable enough to hear Daryl out, Joe calls him a liar and siccs his men on him. One of the Claimers, Dan, drags Carl out of the car he was sleeping in and begins restraining him in order to rape him. Joe tells Rick that they'll kill Daryl, rape and kill Carl and Michonne, and then kill him. Rick tries to escape, roaring for them to leave his son alone, but to no avail. Joe gets Rick up close and personal and asks what he'll do now. Rick's answer? Biting out Joe's jugular and spitting it out. Everyone freezes, and the shock allows Daryl and Michonne to overthrow their captors and wipe out the Claimers. Dan tries to use Carl as a human shield, but Rick is having none of it, and simply walks up to the terrified would-be rapist and carves him like a turkey, while Carl watches in Michonne's arms.

The next morning, Daryl comforts Rick, and apologizes for his allegiance to the Claimers, no matter how shaky it may have been. Daryl also reports that Beth is "gone". Rick forgives Daryl, and calls him his brother. The group then makes the final push to Terminus, and stake it out before entering just to be sure. As added precautions, Rick buries most of their weapons in the woods outside the compound, and resolves to enter from the side as opposed to through the front door.

Inside, they find the woman who had been making the radio broadcasts about Terminus, and are greeted amicably by Gareth, the apparent leader of the community. Gareth has the four patted down, but returns their weapons and leads them into the compound. Gareth welcomes them into the fold, and takes them to get food from his mother, Mary. Rick quickly notices that the Terminus residents possess several items and mementos that have belonged to his group, such as Hershel's pocket watch and Daryl's poncho. Before Carl is served food, Rick takes Alex, Gareth's brother, hostage and demands to know where Terminus got the items. Gareth tries to pacify the situation, but gives the order to attack Rick, but only kills Alex.

Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl take off, with Terminus snipers giving chase and herding them through the compound. After passing by an area littered with bloody human skeletons, a church-like room memorializing Terminus' dead, and train cars that have imprisoned people inside, they are finally cornered by Terminus. Forced to surrender, they drop their weapons and are mushed into a train car one by one by Gareth.

Inside, Rick finds Glenn, Maggie, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Tara, Sasha, and Bob, also having been captured. Rick accepts the newcomers into the fold, and declares that Terminus is going to feel pretty stupid when they find out.

Abraham: Find out what?

Rick:... That they're screwing with the wrong people.

Tropes:

• Adaptation Distillation: The confrontation with the Claimers is almost identical to the scene with the Marauders in the comics, but in the original it was Abraham who comforted Carl and consoled Rick in the aftermath, whereas in the TV version those roles are filled by Michonne and Daryl respectively.
  • It is heavily hinted that Terminus is the show's versions of the Hunters.
• Back for the Finale: Hershel appears in a series of flashbacks taking place at the prison between seasons three and four. Some other Red Shirts and Mauve Shirts also appear in the flasback: Patrick, Karen, Zach, Chloe, Henry.
• Badass Boast: The final lines of the season, as delivered by Rick:
  Rick: They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.
  Abraham: Find out what?
  Rick: They're screwing with the wrong people.
• Badass Crew: Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Carl are perhaps the most competent "post-prison group" party.
• Berserk Button: It's proven once again that threatening Carl is this for Rick.
• Bittersweet Ending: Carl narrowly avoids being raped, Beth is still M.I.A. and most of the cast ends up in the captivity of a hostile group of survivors that may or may not be cannibals, but they're all mostly reunited again for the first time since midseason - and with new members - and a newly-confident Rick issues a call to arms.
• Bowdlerize: The line is "They're fucking with the wrong people" in the comics; it was changed to "screwing" for the version that aired on AMC, but is intact in the DVD/Blu-Ray version.
• Call-Back:
  • Rick's disoriented reaction to Joe firing a gun right next to his ear is reminiscent of a scene in the pilot episode when Rick shoots a walker inside a tank and suffers tinnitus as a result.
  • In one of the flashbacks Rick comments that Carl needs a farming hat and jokingly gives the sheriff's hat to Beth, referencing "30 Days Without An Accident" when Carl tells Michonne that he doesn't wear the hat anymore because "it's not a farmer's hat".
  • The previous episode, Joe called Terminus "a lie".
• Character Death: Joe and the rest of the Claimers.
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with the entire main cast save for Beth, Carol and Tyreese locked inside a train car at Terminus, with no clear means of escape.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Rick references his beatdown of Tyreese in "Isolation".
  • Daryl informs Rick of Beth's disappearance, though he fails to mention the car.
  • Michonne finally reveals the full backstory behind her original pet walkers.
  • The Terminus broadcast was first heard by Daryl, Michonne, Bob and Tyresse the in the Season 4 extended trailer.
  • The Terminus residents are seen with several items that Glenn salvaged from the prison in "Inmates", including the hitchhiker's orange backpack, the riot gear he gave Eugene, Daryl's poncho and Hershel's pocket watch.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Michonne reveals more of hers to Carl: she came back from a run to discover that the refugee camp she was staying at had come under attack and her boyfriend and his friend had been high at the time, allowing her son to get killed and themselves to get bitten.
• Depraved Bisexual: The Claimers, as Joe tells Rick they are going to rape Carl. Dan in particular.
• Devoured by the Horde: Rick, Carl and Michonne run into a lone man desperately crying for help and they witness him being overwhelmed and eaten by walkers.
• Dissonant Serenity: Gareth remains creepily calm throughout the entire Terminus shootout.
• Eaten Alive: A random Red Shirt that Rick, Michonne and Carl come across in the woods.
• Faux Affably Evil: The Claimers are revealed as this.
• Flashback: The episode is interspersed with several flashbacks to life at the prison, with Hershel encouraging Rick to put down his gun and take to farming with Carl.
• Forced to Watch: Invoked when Joe promises to make Rick watch as the Claimers beat Daryl to death and rape Carl and Michonne before killing Rick himself. Fortunately that's about as far as he gets before Rick rips his throat out.
• Foreshadowing: Rick showing Carl and Michonne how the animal traps work foreshadows the true nature of Terminus.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Rick is the Realist, Daryl is the Optimist, Michonne is the Apathetic and Carl is The Cynic.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Rick is the Idealist, Daryl is the Artisan, Michonne is the Guardian and Carl is the Rational.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: During the sequence where Rick, Carl, Michonne and Daryl are being chased through Terminus, there's a brief, indistinct shot of what looks an awful lot like a pile of bloody human skeletons behind a fenced-off area.
• Gory Discretion Shot: Surprisingly enough, when Rick kills Dan: we see the initial blow, but then the camera cuts to Daryl's and Carl's reactions while Rick can be heard stabbing him over and over again. Averted with Joe's death, however, which is shown in all of its disgusting glory.
• Gutted Like a Fish: Dan's fate, courtesy of Rick.
• He's Back!: Rick finally comes into terms on being an Anti-Hero and regains his confidence.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Both Michonne and Carl admit that they fear this to some extent. Subverted with Rick, who seems to have accepted and made peace with the lengths he's willing to go to keep his family safe.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Implied with the residents of Terminus.
• Impairment Shot: Rick, after Joe shoots his gun right next to his ear.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Deliberately employed by the Terminus guards. They do not hit Rick and the rest because they want them to run to the box cars area.
• Last Episode, New Character: Gareth is finally introduced after a lot of hype surrounding his character in the promotion for the season.
• Man Bites Man: Rick tears Joe's throat out with his teeth.
• Mood Whiplash: The shift in tone between the happy, peaceful prison flashbacks and the brutality of the survivors' present situation is jarring, to say the least.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The Claimers visit one upon Daryl for trying to intervene in their standoff with Rick.
• No Kill like Overkill: Rick stabs Dan over and over again long after landing the killing blow.
• One-Letter Title: The title of the episode is A.
• Out of Focus: The episode mostly centers on Rick, Carl, Michonne and Daryl, with the rest of the cast appearing mostly in flashbacks and showing up for a brief scene inside the train car at the end.
• Papa Wolf: Much like in the comics, Rick goes absolutely berserk on the Claimers for threatening Carl and kills them in incredibly brutal fashion without a hint of remorse.
• Precision F-Strike: An alternate take of the final scene preserves Rick's line from the comics.
  They're fucking with the wrong people.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: To show that the Claimers have truly crossed the Moral Event Horizon.
• Season Finale: The fourth one.
• Shoot the Hostage: Mary shoots Alex after Rick takes him hostage.
• Stepford Suburbia: Terminus, to an even greater extent than Woodbury.
• Take Me Instead: Daryl attempts to pull this with the Claimers, offering his own life in exchange for them letting Rick, Carl and Michonne go free. It doesn't work, as they simply decide to kill him as well.
• Title Drop: A visual example.
• True Companions: Rick calls Daryl his brother, while it's demonstrated once again just how close Carl and Michonne have become.
• Unstoppable Rage: Rick lapses into one and then the other as he goes absolutely Papa Wolf on the Claimers.
• Wham Episode: The Claimers finally catch up to Rick's group and attempt to rape Carl, causing Rick to go into full-on Papa Wolf mode and reach a new level of brutality by ripping a man's throat out with his teeth. In the aftermath of the fight, Daryl is reunited with Rick, Carl and Michonne for the first time since midseason, and the four make their way to Terminus. After their arrival, things very quickly become insane when Rick spots several Terminus residents with personal affects belonging to the prison group, and our heroes are corralled by sniper fire through an increasingly creepy maze until they find themselves surrounded and forced to enter a train car, where they find Glenn and Maggie's group already being held captive. Having embraced his inner brutality, a newly confident Rick issues a Badass Boast as a call to arms for the closing words of the episode, and the season ends on a true cliffhanger for the first time ever, with the entire main cast save for Beth, Carol, and Tyreese imprisoned. Oh, and it's also heavily implied that the inhabitants of Terminus are a variation on the cannibals from the comic books.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Carol, Tyreese, Judith and Beth's fates were left unresolved.
• Would Hurt a Child: The Claimers