Well Played, Walking Dead Season 2 Finale, Well Played

The last few minutes of The Walking Dead‘s final season 2 episode last night seem important enough to cover here, or at least give Topless Roboteers a place to discuss it in the comments. Of course, some folks might not have seen “Beside the Dying Fire” yet so I’ve moved my thoughts until after the jump — but everyone should consider the comments here to be a SPOILER-APRROVED zone.

?In other Walking Dead news, Robert Kirkman and producer Glen Mazzarra revealed on Talking Dead last night that Treme‘s Danai Gurira has finally been cast as fan-favorite Michonne. So that’s cool. Now, to the jump…

SPOILER-APPROVED ZONE:

Daaaaaammmmmmnnnnn.

There was a lot to like in the season finale of The Walking Dead. Tons of zombie mayhem, Rick seemingly turning just as crazy as Shane, the final shot of the prison, and T-Dog being that wily rapscallion we’ve all come to know and love. But the above video pretty much outdoes it all. I happen to agree with Zack Handlen over at the AV Club that for non-readers of the comics, this shot is so jarring and weird — and The Walking Dead needs a significant dose of weirdness.

At any rate, the general improvement of season 2 after Frank Darabont got shitcanned does seem to indicate that it was for the best. The Walking Dead is by no means perfect, but certainly the second half was a lot better than the first. Now new showrunner Glen Mazzarra will have a chance to do an entire season on his own — so if Darabont really was the one holding the show back, then season 3 should be awesome. Given the last few minutes of last night’s episode, I’m certainly feeling optimistic.