‘The Walking Dead’ season 5, episode 16 (finale) review: Rick’s fate, Morgan found

After Rick’s epic meltdown on last week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” we are pretty sure that Deanna is not only going to strip him of his sheriff powers, but she is likely going to kick him out of Alexandria.

Morgan: He’s surviving and still looking for Rick, but when men with  “W’s” on their foreheads attack his camp and try to take him (and all of his gear), we get a reminder of just what a bad ass Morgan is. Daryl and Aaron are on  a recruiting mission, but they lose site of the man in the red poncho they were tracking at one point and are attacked by walkers… and Morgan comes to the rescue! After giving his map to Daryl and saying he’s lost, he looks at Morgan’s map and recognizes that the message is from Rick.

Rick: When he wakes up from his blackout fight with Pete (and getting knocked around by Michonne trying to restore order), Michonne is upset that Rick didn’t tell her what was happening with Pete and that he had a gun, but he tells her he kept it from her to protect her, knowing how much she needed a place like Alexandria to feel normal again. Carol gives Rick another gun, but she doesn’t want him to tell Michonne since she already stopped Rick. He later decides to come clean to her about the guns and planning to take over the town. She tells him that she has his back no matter what and that knocking him out was for his own good, not for the town.

Rick’s fate: Deanna is organizing a town meeting to decide Rick’s fate, but it looks like Carol, Glenn and the group are still behind him and are ready to take the town if need be. Maggie has tried to make a case for Rick staying in town, but not everyone is listening, especially Deanna. At the meeting, Rick is a no show after he sees that the gate was left open and that there is a trail of blood and gore. He finds the walkers, he kills them and brings the body to the meeting… Rick sure knows how to make an entrance. After a rousing speech about not being sorry and that the town needs to change if they want to survive, Pete shows up and kills Deanna’s husband. Deanna turns to Rick and tells him to kill Pete… and he does – right when Morgan shows up at Alexandria. They are reunited!!!

Gabriel: He has completely turned against the group and has lost faith in everything including living. He pushes all of Sasha’s buttons as he seems to have a death wish that is being granted by Sasha as she attacks him. Gabriel begs Sasha to kill him, but Maggie walks in and stops her.

Glenn: He sees Nicholas scale the wall and take off after he told him not to and he follows him into the woods. When Nicholas has a chance he shoots Glenn, and a horrible fight ensues leaving Glenn in a bad way: Bleeding and being attacked by walkers. He is able to escape, but he doesn’t head back to Alexandria until he deals with Nicholas.

W: We learned about why walkers have “W’s” on their heads and it turns out it’s a marking that an actual group of survivors have branded into their own heads… that they feel they are the first settlers. It’s weird and creepy and we suspect it will play out further in season 6 after some of them find Daryl’s backpack filled with pictures of their group.

The best part of the episode (besides seeing Morgan return) was watching Daryl Dixon whip off 3 walker heads with a chain. We can’t even imagine the writers room as they come up with crazy new ways to kill walkers. We also saw Abraham and Eugene make peace after the beating he gave to Eugene earlier in the season. Episode grade: A-

What did you think of tonight’s episode of “The Walking Dead”? Were you happy to see Morgan come back? Share some of your thoughts right now with a comment, and head over here if you want to get some other news! Also, sign up now for even more big scoop on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: AMC.)