Well with the first half of the season of The Walking Dead over fans saw another character bite the dust as we say farewell to Beth (Emily Kinney). While it is never a good thing to see a major character leave, it does stand to say that it was met with some mixed reaction. Some lamented the death as a sad moment for a character that was beginning to come into her own while some agreed that her character served little more purpose than she already had and was relieved that she was gone.

It took me awhile to figure out where I fit in on either end, but truthfully speaking while I do appreciate what her character brought on screen I think her connection to Maggie (Lauren Cohen) was seemingly not important. Maggie became more consumed with Glenn (Steven Yeun) and his whereabouts and when she found him there was nothing else about her sister. I don’t mean to be critical of the writing, but it is a bit of an error in continuity to see Maggie so distraught over her sister when she herself never begged to look for her with the same fervor as she did her husband or even mention her.

I’m sure it was a bit of a shock (not to me) to finally find out that all of Abraham’s efforts to complete his mission were all for not as Eugene (Josh McDermitt) h finally spilled the beans admitting everything was a lie. What shouldn’t have been a shock was that epic beatdown Abraham gave Eugene after he found out… but getting back to matters, most see it as a good thing as they like the idea of a post-apocalyptic world where there is no fix. Like myself people would rather see the survival aspect of the show and the development of the characters and not what would be seen as the journey to the end. It just keeps the story less predictable.

Everything that happened at the hospital seemed shortlived (as it should have) and I would guess served its purpose as it introduced a new character in Noah and puts into perspective the fact that all decisions (including the ones you don’t make) have consequences. Rick’s decision to not storm the hospital along with Beth’s decision to attack Dawn shows that you can’t go back on those decision and the consequences (good or bad) that you must deal with are an inevitability.

Verdict: I thought the final scenes in the mid-season finale were a little off to me but I did like most of what I saw including the continuous reminders that Morgan (Lennie James) is still out there and we don’t know his intentions, only that he’s following Rick and the gang. The second half of the season clearly deals with the fallout of not only Beth’s death but also with the rest of the gang finding out that Eugene was lying and where to go from there. Also, how will Gabriel change as he comes to terms with the world around him. I expect the mourning for Beth to be somewhat brief but, finding another direction to go with well… no direction will be the real story. I’m not gonna say (yet) what I expect or want to see when the series returns, but it will be interesting to see going forward.

Season five of The Walking Dead happily stays at a 4.5 out of 5

+ Still some good teasers for things to come

+ Good closure to plots already developed throughout the season

– No real surprising stuff in the mid-season finale (but that’s probably personal taste)

AMC’s The Walking Dead makes its return on February 8th at 9PM Eastern/8PM Central