Coda (The Walking Dead)

Last updated
"Coda"
The Walking Dead episode
Beth Greene Last Moments Coda.jpg
Beth confronts and stands up to Dawn.
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 8
Directed by Ernest Dickerson
Written by Angela Kang
Original air dateNovember 30, 2014 (2014-11-30)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Crossed"
Next 
"What Happened and What's Going On"
The Walking Dead season 5
List of episodes

"Coda" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead , which aired on AMC on November 30, 2014. The episode marks Lennie James's second uncredited post-credits appearance in the fifth season as Morgan Jones. The episode was written by Angela Kang and directed by Ernest Dickerson.

Contents

The episode primarily takes place in and around Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where Beth Greene finds herself as Dawn Lerner's ward, discovering her past and finding herself endangered by Officer O'Donnell. Meanwhile, Rick Grimes hunts down Officer Lamson, who has escaped. Father Gabriel Stokes also finds himself chased by walkers as Michonne and Carl Grimes reunite with the returning group, including Beth's sister Maggie Greene, who is informed of her sister's whereabouts. Rick and the others then attempt to arrange a hostage exchange for Beth.

The term "coda" is a musical term which refers to a concluding musical section that is formally distinct from the main structure. The episode title refers to Beth, the only character associated with music. [1] The episode received mixed reviews from television commentators, with many praising aspects such as the opening, but others commenting that the climax is nonsensical or underwhelming. Others praised the performances of Norman Reedus, and Lauren Cohan, as well as the direction of Ernest Dickerson.

Plot

Rick chases down Lamson in a police car after Lamson's escape from Sasha. Lamson ignores Rick's warnings to stop, so Rick hits him with the car. A crippled Lamson pleads to be taken to the hospital, however Rick executes him on the spot with his revolver. Fearing that Lamson's death will result in violence between Rick's group and Dawn's crew, Rick and officers Shepherd and Licari, the other two cops from GMH that were captured along with Lamson, agree to concoct a story that Lamson was killed by walkers. Meanwhile at the hospital, order starts to break down when the officers fail to recapture Noah or report in, and others soon begin to lose faith in Dawn's leadership.

After fleeing the church, Gabriel reaches the school where The Hunters had set up camp. He discovers the remnants of Bob's leg. Walkers break out of the school and chase Gabriel limps back to the church, where he is cornered against the fortified front door and experiences the fear of his parishioners. Hearing Gabriel's screams for help, Carl and Michonne break down the front door, allowing Gabriel inside but they are then overwhelmed with walkers and are forced to retreat to the rectory. Once there, Gabriel holds off the walkers while Carl, Michonne and Judith escape through the hole Gabriel had made previously in the floor of his office, then follows himself; they reseal the front doors, trapping the walkers inside. Just as the walkers are about to break through the door, Abraham's group arrives in the fire truck, bringing the news that Eugene's mission was a lie. Michonne informs Maggie they know where Beth is, and they head to Atlanta.

O'Donnell confronts Dawn after overhearing her talk to Beth about how she covered up Beth's involvement in Gorman's death. He threatens to remove her as leader. The two get into a fight, resulting in O'Donnell's death when Beth pushes him down the elevator shaft. Beth later accuses Dawn of manipulating her into eliminating Gorman and O'Donnell, who were threats to Dawn's position, and again vows to escape. Dawn denies the accusation and promises to remember Beth's support. During their conversation, Carol begins to wake up.

Meanwhile, Rick meets up with another pair of officers and proposes to trade Shepherd and Licari for Beth and Carol. They agree, and Rick's group meets Dawn and her officers at the hospital. As Beth packs up, she hides a pair of scissors in her cast. The trade initially goes smoothly, but Dawn adds a condition at the last second, demanding Rick hand over Noah, her former ward, to replace Beth, her new ward. Rick and Beth are reluctant, but Noah agrees so as to prevent bloodshed. Beth goes to give him a hug, but as she does so, Dawn makes a gloating comment in reference to her earlier conversation with Beth. Angered, Beth faces Dawn and icily tells her, "I get it now." With that, Beth stabs Dawn's shoulder with the scissors. Caught off guard, Dawn reflexively fires her pistol into Beth's head, killing her instantly. Despite Dawn's own shock and pleas for mercy, an enraged Daryl immediately pulls out his own pistol and shoots her in the head, killing her. The resulting stand-off is defused by Shepherd, who tells the remaining officers to hold their fire. She insists that Dawn was the problem all along, and that it is all over now that she is dead. Edwards offers to let Rick and his group stay at the hospital, but Rick declines. Instead, he offers anyone in the hospital who wants to leave to join his group, but only Noah accepts. As they exit the hospital, they encounter the rest of the group. Maggie collapses in agony when she sees Daryl carrying Beth's body.

In a post-credits scene, Morgan continues to follow Gareth's marks on the trees, coming across the school and later the church, where he makes an offering and laughs. As he explores, he finds the map and written note Abraham had left for Rick, which has Rick's full name written on it. He is shocked to learn that he is following Rick's trail.

Production

Emily Kinney's character Beth Greene is killed in this episode. Emily Kinney by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Emily Kinney's character Beth Greene is killed in this episode.

Scott Gimple confirmed the opening sequence — in which Rick chases down Lamson — is an homage to the comic book series in which similar events take place over the Prison-Woodbury conflict with Caesar Martinez, the loyal second-in-command to The Governor. [2]

Reception

Upon airing, the episode was watched by 14.807 million American viewers with an 18-49 rating of 7.6, [3] an increase in viewership from the previous week which had 13.33 million viewers and an 18-49 rating of 7.0. [4] In Australia, it received 0.080 million viewers, making it the highest-rated cable broadcast that day. [5] In the United Kingdom, it garnered 0.885 million viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast that week. [6]

The episode garnered mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the opening sequence and ending. IGN's Matt Fowler, who gave a lukewarm review of the episode, said that though Beth's death was predictable, it "felt like a big moment and it's always wrenching to see other characters react to the death of their loved ones. I liked Beth, but I still mostly felt bad about her death because Daryl and Maggie (who seemed to have to be reminded this week that Beth being gone at all was a topic she should care about) felt bad about it." [7] Fowler ultimately gave the episode a 7.6 out of 10. [7]

Laura Prudom of Variety commented positively on the episode's ending and praised the performances of Lauren Cohan (as Maggie Greene) and Norman Reedus (as Daryl Dixon), saying: "The episode’s final few moments did prove to be some of the series’ most powerful yet — both Lauren Cohan and Norman Reedus gave truly gut-wrenching performances after Beth’s death, and it was heartbreaking to see Maggie’s rapid transition from elation at learning her sister was alive to utter devastation at seeing her dead over the course of twenty minutes." [8]

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B− grade, saying that the finale "reminds us that, whatever else it’s learned, the show still hasn't given up on its most beloved trick: killing people because it can. Beth's sudden death was a shock, no question, although I imagine some viewers were expecting just such a gut-punch. There were signs. [...] The result is a deflating conclusion to what had been a promising start."

Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly said of the episode as a whole "I've already gone on record as really liking season 5, but it needed a strong eighth episode to keep that momentum going and get people excited for the back half to air in 2015. The show has always delivered on its midseason finales — especially with the Barnageddon massacre (R.I.P. Sophia) of season 2 and last year’s beheading of Hershel — and while this year’s installment may not have equaled either of those examples in terms of pure shock value, it was an emotional and effective hour of television nonetheless." [9]

Kelsea Stahler of Bustle felt that killing Dawn wasted "a perfectly good season 5 villain", which represented a "missed opportunity" to have a female character be the "big bad" and to have the narrative for the rest of the season be based on a conflict between two women (Dawn and Beth). [10] Rob Bricken of io9 , in addition to calling the plot one of the "worst of season 5" and the story "more laughable than moving", also criticised the deaths of Dawn and Beth as a "wasted opportunity". He cited the "childish, ridiculous logic" Dawn had for demanding Noah back even though she had "zero leverage" and Beth's "inexplicable, dumb decision" to stab Dawn in the shoulder. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Grimes</span> Main protagonist in The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes is a fictional character and the protagonist in the post-apocalyptic comic book series The Walking Dead and the first nine seasons of the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Andrew Lincoln. Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, the character made his debut in The Walking Dead #1 in 2003. Rick is a small town sheriff's deputy and is married to Lori. They have a son, Carl, and a daughter, Judith. He awakens from a coma after a life-threatening gunshot wound to find the world overrun by reanimated humans dubbed "walkers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Dixon</span> Character from the television series The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon is a fictional character from AMC's horror drama series The Walking Dead, and the protagonist of its last three seasons, replacing Rick Grimes. The character was created for the television series by writers Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee and Jack LoGiudice specifically for Norman Reedus, and does not have a counterpart in the comics on which the series is based. The character was introduced in the first season as a southerner, expert tracker, living in the shadow of his older brother, Merle. Despite his bad temper and volatility, he is tolerated by the core group of survivors due to his skills in hunting animals and fearless efficiency in killing walkers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Rhee</span> Fictional character from The Walking Dead

Glenn is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, in which he is known simply as Glenn. He was portrayed by Steven Yeun in the television series of the same name and voiced by Nick Herman in the video game of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Greene</span> Fictional character

Maggie Rhee is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, portrayed by Lauren Cohan in the television adaptation of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michonne</span> Fictional character from The Walking Dead

Michonne Grimes is a fictional character from The Walking Dead. The character also appears in media adaptations of the series, most notably the television series of the same name, in which she is portrayed by Danai Gurira. Armed with a katana and harboring a mysterious past, Michonne is introduced wearing a hood and pulling the shackles of two reanimated corpses for protection and camouflage. The two walkers are subsequently revealed to be her zombified ex-boyfriend and his best friend. In both the comic and TV series, she has a prominent role in the conflict between the town of Woodbury led by The Governor, and the Prison group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyreese</span> The Walking Dead character

Tyreese is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and was portrayed by Chad Coleman in the American television series of the same name. He is a prominent character in both mediums, acting as group leader Rick Grimes' right hand man in the comic book series, up until the end of "Made to Suffer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merle Dixon</span> Fictional character

Merle Dixon is a fictional character from the horror drama television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC in the United States. He was created by series developer Frank Darabont and was portrayed by Michael Rooker. The character was first introduced in the first season as a Southern redneck hunter who has a younger brother, Daryl. He is misogynistic and racist, which causes tensions between him and his group of survivors. Following an encounter with series protagonist Rick Grimes, Merle disappears and joins the community of Woodbury, Georgia, where he becomes the right-hand man of The Governor. He becomes caught in the conflict between the Governor and Rick, especially when nobody in Rick's group wants him in the group, except for Daryl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Made to Suffer</span> 8th episode of the 3rd season of The Walking Dead

"Made to Suffer" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was directed by Billy Gierhart and written by Robert Kirkman, and aired on AMC in the United States on December 2, 2012. In this episode, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Oscar enter Woodbury in search of Glenn and Maggie. Meanwhile, a new group of survivors discover the prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Greene</span> Fictional character

Beth Greene is a fictional character from the American horror drama television series The Walking Dead, created by season two showrunner Glen Mazzara, and was portrayed by Emily Kinney. She is the daughter of veterinarian and farmer Hershel Greene and the younger half-sister of Maggie. Unlike the majority of the series' cast of characters, Beth has no specific counterpart in the comic book series on which the show is based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Sorrowful Life</span> 15th episode of the 3rd season of The Walking Dead

"This Sorrowful Life" is the fifteenth and penultimate episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which first aired on AMC in the United States on March 24, 2013.

Sasha Williams (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) The Walking Dead character

Sasha Williams is a fictional character from The Walking Dead, an AMC television horror drama series. The character was created by Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead comic book series which the show is based on and in which Sasha has no counterpart.

<i>The Walking Dead</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of The Walking Dead, an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC, premiered on October 12, 2014, and concluded on March 29, 2015, consisting of 16 episodes. Developed for television by Frank Darabont, the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The executive producers were Kirkman, David Alpert, Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse, and Gale Anne Hurd, with Gimple as showrunner for the second consecutive season. The fifth season received widespread critical acclaim. It was nominated for multiple awards and won three, including Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series for the third consecutive year, at the 41st Saturn Awards.

Crossed (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 7th episode of the 5th season of The Walking Dead

"Crossed" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on November 23, 2014. It was written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Billy Gierhart. In the episode, Michonne and Carl Grimes stay at the barricaded Church with Gabriel Stokes as Rick Grimes and the others go on a rescue mission for Beth Greene and Carol Peletier in Atlanta. The episode received generally positive reviews, though most noted the set up for the mid-season finale. This is the first episode to feature all credited series regulars for the fifth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn Lerner</span> Fictional character in The Walking Dead TV series; detective

Lt. Dawn Lerner is a fictional character from the American television series The Walking Dead portrayed by Christine Woods. She is an original character to the show and has no counterpart in the comic book series of the same name.

Conquer (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 16th episode of the 5th season of The Walking Dead

"Conquer" is the sixteenth and final episode of the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on March 29, 2015. It was written by showrunner Scott M. Gimple and Seth Hoffman, and directed by Greg Nicotero.

No Way Out (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) 9th episode of the 6th season of The Walking Dead

"No Way Out" is the ninth episode and mid-season premiere of the sixth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on February 14, 2016. The episode was written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Greg Nicotero.

"The Obliged" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 28, 2018. It was written by Geraldine Inoa and directed by Rosemary Rodriguez.

"The World Before" is the eighth episode and first-part finale of the tenth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on November 24, 2019. The episode was written by Julia Ruchman and directed by John Dahl.

"Rest in Peace" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the eleventh season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. The series finale and 177th episode overall, it aired on AMC on November 20, 2022, and was simultaneously released on the network's streaming platform AMC+. The episode's teleplay was written by Corey Reed and Jim Barnes, from a story by Angela Kang, and directed by Greg Nicotero.

References

  1. Leon, Melissa (December 1, 2014). "The Walking Dead's Midseason Finale Shocker: A Cherished Character Meets a Grisly End". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  2. Ross, Dalton (December 1, 2014). "'The Walking Dead' showrunner Scott M. Gimple answers midseason finale burning questions". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  3. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 3, 2014). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Tops Night + 'Talking Dead', 'Real Housewives of Atlanta', 'Soul Train Awards' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  4. Bibel, Sara (November 25, 2014). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Wins Night, 'Talking Dead', 'Real Housewives of Atlanta', 'Homeland', 'The Newsroom' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  5. Knox, David (December 2, 2014). "Monday 1 December 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  6. "Weekly Top 10". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Fowler, Matt (November 30, 2014). "The Walking Dead: "Coda" Review". IGN. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  8. Prudom, Laura (November 30, 2014). "'The Walking Dead' Recap: An Eye For An Eye". Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  9. Ross, Dalton (November 30, 2014). "Did 'The Walking Dead' midseason finale and that big [SPOILER] satisfy?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  10. Kelsea Stahler (November 30, 2014). "Officer Dawn Dies On 'The Walking Dead' Finale, Wasting A Perfectly Good Season 5 Villain". Bustle. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  11. Bricken, Rob (December 1, 2014). "The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale Was Tragic For Two Reasons". io9. Retrieved December 1, 2014.