Watched the episode this morning and I found it sloppy and all over the place. It may be one of the weakest of the season for me. I didn't really care for Live Bait, but now I feel it was a lot better than Inmates. The storyline I enjoyed the most was surprisingly the Tyrese/Lizzie/Mika/Judith one. I thought it would be Maggie, but no. I hated how Carol just popped up all of a sudden, that was a big eye roll but the first half of that storyline was the best for me.

I didn't like how Abraham and his crew were introduced, again it seemed sloppy. Next week looks a lot better, but I won't hold my breath.

 

My first thought was "oh, I guess his contract was up;" then I saw her crying, but no face, and I thought "no way his contract is up and they didn't even kill him off..." All major actors at least to die unequivocally before leaving the show...

 

Does anyone even listen to the dialogue? Carol specifically explained she was on her way back from the prison (obviously to try to talk herself back in or sneak in or whatever...) and she saw all the smoke and damage and clearly said she saw Tyreese and everyone running into the woods, which she followed them and caught up with them.

It was right after Tyreese asked Carol "How did you find us?"..... sigh....

 

For us there was an almost 3 months gap between the time Rick ousted Carol and the aftermath of the battle for the prison (Episode 410). But in the world of those survivors only a couple of days passed between the two events. So Carol's reappearance at that very moment makes sense.

 

I was initially disappointed in Carol popping in out of nowhere too, but the more I've thought about what could have happened off camera I feel that Carol didn't drift too far from the prison after her exile, witnessed the attack on the prison, saw Tyreese and the children flee and followed them because of her attachment to the girls. She lagged behind, staying out of this groups view because she didn't know what Tyreese knew about her involvement in burning the flu victims. When Tyreese left the girls to investigate the screams Carol saw her chance to save the girls without having to confront him. She is actually just behind the walkers as they approach the girls and swoops in to save the day. After she kills the walkers the girls convince her to join or help Tyreese... so she appears to just pop up for the viewers at home, but there is potential for for a little more off-screen complexity

 

Thank you for posting, I couldn't myself recall how much time actually passed between Rick leaving Carol, and the attack on the prison. For a minute I was confused during this episode and thought she maybe was with the 2 guys at the railroad tracks that Tyreese tried to help, but what you say makes sense. So glad she didn't listen to Rick and came back!

 

If they showed her helping the girls, it would have been a cool unexpected moment with her showing up to save their hides but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

The way they did it left the viewer in suspense on the fate of the girls. Instead of giving their fate away that they will be saved/safe, they leave you hanging for a brief moment only to then reveal Carol obviously saved them. May not be everyone's cup of tea but it was very well done IMO, especially given the previous moments of the other walker they had encountered.

 

Yeah Carole's appearance was explained perfectly and made sense. I love that Carol came back to the prison instead of meekly following Rick's GTFO order! That's what I've been hoping happened for months now. I still get pissed every time I think about it. I was screaming at my TV that episode!

I'm trying to recall exactly how much time has passed since her outing with Rick. As best I can tell it can't be more than a day or two. Two nights at most. Hershel's swan song episode happened that evening then the Gov attacked the next day didn't he? Maybe two days since he had them captive for a while but it couldn't have been more than that.

 

I did not mind whether she '''popped up'''or came in a parade,point is she's back and I was ecstatic when I saw her again!!!Story was quite slower at some points,but nevertheless the plot thickens!!

 

I understand what you're saying, but for some viewers the sneak peek pics and such did not necessarily give away WHERE Glenn was exactly when he woke up. There was a lot of speculation about whether he was on top of the bus or somewhere else near it. Those screenshots of Glenn when looked at closely did kind of give away that he was at the prison, but you had to really examine them in detail to catch that. But yeah, I think it would've been more impactful for the viewer if they hadn't released those pics and Maggie's scene on the bus would be even more powerful, seeing as how Glenn's scene was the last one of the episode.

 

My memory is failing me. In the mid-season finale, I thought Glen was on the bus that drove off when Maggie left to look for Beth. How was he suddenly back at the prison? I guess even in his still sick state, he got off shortly after Maggie left. But I don't remember it being explained.

Also, how did Tara get inside the prison walls? When we last left her, she was freaked out after Hershel's head was chopped off and so didn't she didn't want to take part in the attack on the prison anymore. It would seem kind of pointless to go inside the prison walls when walkers are coming from everywhere.

 

Heres a screenshot I took, I count 21 bullet holes in that frame, theres even more covered up by Bob and Sasha.

 

As far as Glenn being on the bus, that's the impression that was given to the viewer to make us think he stayed on the bus, but it was explained that he got off to look for Maggie in his scene in this last episode.

I thought Tara was last seen cowering nearby the tank inside the prison gates and she must have then ran to that spot where she was found by Glenn because it was closest to her and safe. There were walkers all around behind her in the field so she probably couldn't go that direction.

 

I'm just gonna leave this here:

 

Wasn't it the same day as Rick returned that the Gov attacked? I thought or seem to recall that he got back to the prison and told Maggie what happened with Carol, then went in and told Daryl, before anything else happened, Tyreese bursts in telling them to come check something out (the dissected rabbit) and then they hear the tank shot and run outside to see the Gov and folks at the gates. Not 100% sure of my recollection though

 

She hid behind the vehicles when the shooting started and then when they advanced up to the prison she went with them. I think it was when Daryl's first grenade that goes off that she's seen cowering behind the tank as is presumably there when Daryl blows it up.