A

Probably one of my favorite cliffhangers of any series ever this episode has a perfect pacing as well!

The episode was good but not worthy of a season final.

The flashbacks were out of place with no real benefit to the story. Episode 14 was more worthy of season finale status then this.

Recently it feels like more and more Walking Dead has started doing story lines spanning from half-season to half season(s3e8 - s4e8 and s4e8-s5e8) way too many loose ends.

As other reviews state its just not what i expected given Walking Dead's track record.

Rant over, the episode if we ignore that it was a season finalle was decent, lots of twists, turns and surprises.

This is a compelling episode with an ending that, for the first time in the show, made me immediately watch the next one.

There is virtually nothing I can say about the plot without spoiling, however it has plenty of big character moments for Rick, Carl and Daryl. Rick's development is quite significant, along with Carl's perspective of him, and this is clearly presented through the use of flashback. Also, the storytelling has a creepy sense of foreboding that is very effective.

Andrew Lincoln is on top form and is supported very well by the rest of the cast.

As ever, it is wonderfully produced with great cinematography, editing, lighting and fantastic art design. The set design of the Terminus is especially good.

This episode represents what The Walking Dead should always be. It was expertly paced (the Lost-style flashback structure worked very well!), the camera-work was outstanding from the usual episodes, and the direction? Great, as is always the case with Breaking Bad veteran Michelle MacLaren. For the first time all year, I've felt that the characters I'm attached to were in serious danger. For the first time in a long time, I felt like there was a sh**load of weighted symbolism in the framing and that I'm watching something that the creators really care about. It's strange how much the quality of a show can improve when you give people like Gimple and MacLaren the reins. Scott M. Gimple has taken the mess left behind by Glen Mazzara and turned it around completely, and I couldn't be more thankful. Rick's epic kill was not only shocking and disgusting, but weighted in symbolism. Things like more variety in camera shots was something that added so much to the experience it's unbelievable. I'm not exaggerating at all. When AMC lets The Walking Dead take chances, this is what we get.

This episode is not what I have come to expect from the writers of the show. It has too many flashbacks, and had very little to do with what is actually going on in the present. The writer of this episode got this vision of grandeur about the episode and completely missed the mark on it. Trying to take us back to get a complete idea about Rick is what he said on The talking dead, but this is inaccurate as he did not go back to where it began, he just wanted to fill the episode of clips so that he can continue the story line in the next season. Overall, this is a prime example of why people get upset about this "Poetic license" That screen writers and producers use when adapting books into movies.