By: Katherine Summers

AMC premiered the mid-season finale of the hit show “The Walking Dead,” ending with some of the most shocking events in the series yet.

Longtime fans of the show may argue that this season lacked in action and general importance of the decisions the characters made.

This finale made up for all of that.

Without spoiling too much, the finale felt like how “The Walking Dead” used to feel, a thrilling, suspenseful show that showed how people react when faced with the end of the world.

By simply looking at the explosion of Facebook statuses and surprised posts on websites such as Reddit, a non-viewer could easily find themselves walking into spoiler territory without intending to do so.

The major theme of this midseason finale was “ends,” which ironically came in the form of death, separation, loss of power, etc.

This season followed the group through a variety of struggles that only seemed to add up during this final episode.

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) has struggled to keep the people inside the prison safe from hordes of zombies, a virus that kills quietly and now, the return of an old enemy.

The episode took a while to build up to the main chunk of action.

After 30 minutes of dialogue and staring at the camera, a single swing of a sword sent everything into chaos.

Many main characters met their demise while others had to watch as the things most important to them are ripped from their hands.

“The Walking Dead” has always been a dark, gritty show that shocks its viewers.

In the long run, I believe that the writers made the right choice to wait until the last moment to create the most trouble and action.

The question now is where the show will go from here. With this heart-wrenching midseason finale out of the way, the writers of the show will have to begin building up the tension for the show’s return, airing Feb. 9.