Poppin' Off- The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale

I don't usually write about specific teevee episodes. I'm more of a series-as-a-whole type of person. But last Sunday's season five mid season finale of The Walking Dead was so talked about that I thought I would throw my two cents in. And yes, there are spoilers if you *still* haven't watched it or read any of the articles or tweets or Facebook statuses about it yet :)

I am the type of person that actively seeks out spoilers. I didn't use to be like that. But lately, they almost seem unavoidable, so I figured I would just embrace the spoiling culture. But with this episode, I didn't want to know. I knew someone was going to die, and I just didn't want to deal with it yet. However, I had been reading articles that speculated who was going to die, and most of the comments had Tyreese, Judith and Sasha as the main picks. Carol was also a top contender after Norman Reedus said that he spent hours crying before shooting a particular scene. Only once did I see someone say that they thought it was Beth, because they had read somewhere that she had a new gig lined up already. Spoiler alert, that commenter was right. So that night, I tried so hard to stay away from the Internet dumping grounds. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Yahoo with its spoiler filled front page. But I went on Instagram. And damnit, I saw a spoiler. So I knew it was coming. But it still shocked me.

I don't know why her death got to me like it did. She wasn't a favorite of mine. I didn't hate her character, but I didn't love her either. I felt like I was finally getting to know her this past season, when she was off with Daryl. But then they took her away. And when they finally did bring her back, and with her own story arc no less, they killed her off. Weak. The whole episode was pretty tame too, until the end. Then it was like "Here's all the emotions! Feel them! NOW!!!" Seeing Rick and Daryl cry was tough. And then Maggie. Oh Maggie. That made me tear up. Twitter almost crashed with reaction. So many people were upset, I almost wonder if Robert Kirkman and the rest of TWD creative team regrets choosing Beth as the one to die. And then that awkward Talking Dead where he had to sit next to her while she cried about having to leave the show....

The fan reactions weren't all mourning her loss though. Some were mourning the wasted episodes. Why build up the hospital arc, only to kill off Beth and then leave the hospital without taking anything or anyone from it? Others tried to liken it to current events because of Dawn, which is so unnecessary I can't even fathom why they thought that was a good idea. Just because they were cops means....what? I believe that Dawn knew that story about how the other officer died was fake. She was already well aware of the fact that her cronies in the hospital were losing faith in her leadership abilities, as exhibited by her friend that met his demise in the elevator shaft. Her adding Noah to the negotiations was her way of grandstanding to the hospital folks, trying to show that she still wears the pants. I think Beth's pitiful attempt to stab Dawn in her bulletproof vest protected shoulder was an attempt to get her group to help the hospital people get away from Dawn. I don't think she expected Dawn to shoot her since they'd had the bonding moment in the elevator area. In any event, she shouldn't have gone out like that. It was pitiful, and she had developed into a much stronger girl then she was when they found her at the farm. She deserved a better send off, if not more time on the show.

all photos from tvline.com

What did you think of the finale? Was it what you were expecting, or were you disappointed by Beth's death? There's so much to cover on this one! Let me know what you thought of it in the comments :)