TOMATOMETER
Critic Consensus: "Start to Finish" fails to live up to The Walking Dead's potential with a midseason finale that is both dull and frustrating.
Episode Info
Cast
as Rick Grimes
as Daryl Dixon
as Glenn Rhee
as Carl Grimes
as Michonne
as Carol Peletier
as Maggie Greene
as Sasha
as Abraham Ford
as Tara Chambler
as Rosita Espinosa
as Eugene Porter
as Gabriel Stokes
as Morgan Jones
as Aaron
as Jessie Anderson
as Spencer Monroe
Start to Finish Photos
Critic reviews for Start to Finish
When the episode faded to black, deferring the end of this scene to February, it felt incomplete rather than suspenseful. We don't know what happens next, but we're also not given a motivating reason to wonder beyond "Do our heroes survive?"
This episode makes it seem like the Ricketeers are the only ones in the town, while everyone else was out getting groceries or something. It's a noticeable absence, especially with Alexandria itself under attack
The Walking Dead midseason finale was a dud in every sense of the term-it barely moved the story forward, it offered no surprising twists, it hinged on plot developments that made no sense, and, well, you call that a cliffhanger?
The midseason finale had way too much potential to deliver such an underwhelming and limp cliffhanger.
As my wife likes to point out, one of the pleasures of the show is how they continuously find new ways to top themselves in terms of gore. This week, that played out as the largest battle yet seen between humans and walkers.
So while 'Start to Finish' is a little unsatisfying in isolation, with its standout moments not quite compensating for the amount left unresolved, it's hard to fault a publicity machine that already has fans salivating for 2016.
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