With the destruction of Terminus, I was expecting that the Hunters arc from the source material would have been more or less covered.  This episode corrected that misconception rather succinctly.  It turns out that Terminus was more about giving the Hunters arc a more substantial basis within the context of the adaptation.  Between the final scene and the arrival of Father Gabriel, the show is back to covering ground that the comic originally paved.

 

What is really a post-Terminus reshuffling episode is neatly augmented by the assault in the basement of the food bank, which allowed for some of the more disgusting walkers in recent memory.  But it’s just a minor stop in a longer trek; Team Grimes has decided to travel with Abraham and his cohort to Washington.  It gives the characters a goal to work towards, which in the aftermath of life at the prison is a necessary consideration.  It’s highly unlikely that this will end as intended; after all, where’s the fun if there’s actually a cure?  But given that Eugene has all but admitted that it’s merely the possibility of developing a cure, this is one of those “journey is more important than reaching the destination” scenarios.

 

The most likely point of resistance to this plan, in the short term, is Gareth and his Hunters.  With Terminus gone, they are willing to go even more savage in their methods of survival, and they have a reason to hunt down and devour Team Grimes.  There was a bit of misdirection in terms of Bob’s fate, so much so that his behavior with Sasha doesn’t make a lot of sense as presented.  It would if Bob had been bitten in the melee at the food bank, but there was no indication that this was the case.

 

Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol are off to hunt down Beth, or so it seems.  With the show careening back in close alignment with the source material, I’m wondering if this is the early stages of what comes after the Hunters arc.  It would make sense relative to Morgan’s return and the mysterious folks watching Team Grimes, and it would also line up logically with the idea that the first half of the fifth season would focus on the Hunters, leaving the second half for the next phase.  There may be a bit more overlap than that, of course, which is where the ability to rearrange things for the adaptation is ideal.

 

Speaking of anticipated appearances and setup for future arcs, it would appear that my suspicions about the group that attacked Terminus were incorrect.  Robert Kirkman actually clarified that the gang that pillaged and raped the original Terminus inhabitants were all kept prisoner after the resultant retaking of the camp.  I suppose the foreshadowing can only go so far!  Based on the usual pacing, it probably wouldn’t make sense for that nasty piece of work to show up until the sixth or seventh season, anyway.

 

One of the best aspects of the episode is simply having everyone in the same place, and the tensions and conversations that happen (or don’t happen) as a result.  There’s a lot that the characters have to get up to speed on, after all.  One of the highlights had to be Rick’s warning to Carl that he’s never safe; if the writers for the show go anywhere close to the direction of the source material when it comes to Rick and the Hunters, that lesson will soon be driven home with a vengeance.