The Walking Dead's Terminus: A Detailed Analysis

Warning: Spoilers ahead for tonight's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead, titled "Us."

Tonight's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead may have provided us with the death of one recurring member of the cast (one who won't likely be missed very much), but it certainly gave us more than just that to ponder. As Glenn's and Maggie's groups finally met up, the young lovers were reunited and the collective group made its way to Terminus, viewers finally got our first good look at the place. Well, at a tiny portion of it. We've got some screen grabs here, along with some key quotes from series creator Robert Kirkman and special effects guru Greg Nicotero, who directed tonight's episode, titled "Us." First, though, here's something: A reader asked us in the comments thread on the episode's summary whether the sweater Mary was wearing when the group arrived at Terminus was the same one that Beth was last seen wearing before her abduction in "Alone." The answer seems to be no. Here's Beth, as seen just moments before her abduction at the funeral home:

Here is Mary, shortly after Glenn, Maggie and their companions arrived at Terminus:

Alright, so: Terminus. When Glenn and company arrived, there were a pair of easily-accessible gates -- one on the outside and one on the inside perimeter. this is the same setup they had at the prison, but unlike the prison, nobody was keeping watch over these gates; they weren't locked and there were no booby traps outside. All of this lends to the welcoming feel of Terminus, which also has crops everywhere, sunflowers outside, a garden of flowers and stacks of amenities like laundry equipment, potted plants and the like. Here's a sampling, in teeny-tiny thumbnails because for some reason that's what was working tonight. We'll replace them in the morning with high-resolution screen grabs when the episode becomes available for download. [gallery ids="88761,88762,88763,88764,88765,88766,88767,88768,88769,88772,88774,88775,88777,88778,88779"] In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about the episode, Greg Nicotero gave a few little hints about the nature of Terminus:

The first of the group have arrived at Terminus. Mary (Denise Crosby) can't be the only one there, right? How would you describe the rest of the community? No, she's not the only one who's there. She's the one that we see first but we'll quite quickly meet others. In this particular situation, it's easy for them to get in. It's not like they had to go through checkpoints or anything. As they're walking in to Terminus, the gate is open and there's a note that says to close it behind you. We see flowers and we hear a bit of noise from some people milling about. Mary just happens to be the first one; she's the welcoming committee. After seeing the lengths by which Rick's group went to protect the prison, why wasn't Terminus more guarded? It feels a little too good to be true. If it's a group of people that have been posting signs all over the Georgia countryside and doing radio messages, they're trying to rebuild the world. I'm sure that they have had to deal with good people that showed up and probably people that wanted to rob them, who knows. But you have to start somewhere and clearly we met the "Claimers" and that situation did not end well for Len (Marcus Hester). You see that there are people out there who have their own rules. What I love about what Joe (Jeff Korber) says, he says, "There's no rules out there anymore; you either kill or be killed and you survive." They have found a way to survive. The fact they're on their way to another colony and group of people that have learned to survive is pretty exciting. We've been so segregated in the last couple years of the show: season two we were at Hershel's (Scott Wilson) farm; and season three and half of season four, we were at the prison. This is first time we're out in the world experiencing it and seeing the vast devastation and destruction but also how people survive. Clearly the Claimers survive by throwing out the rules and we're now getting a chance to learn about Terminus that has been able to survive and not be so creepy, weird and malevolent about it. Everyone gets to Terminus and smiles and thinks, "Maybe the world isn't all a bad place."

Series creator Robert Kirkman had something more to add in his own postmortem at The Walking Dead's website:

TWD: Can you tell us anything about Terminus? Is it good news, or bad news? RK: Terminus could be what it is on face value or it could be hiding something darker. We do try to change things up, so it's entirely within the realm of possibility that Terminus is all lemonade and sunshine and recliners and pajamas. So we'll see, maybe this season has a happy ending.

Of course, even what Kirkman said shouldn't be taken at face value, since the writer of that piece noted, "A hearty laugh was enjoyed by both parties after that last one. See you guys next week for the finale!" Of course, they have said that the season has a more "hopeful" ending. whether it's happy or not is another story, but perhaps the groups could finally all come together? We're not sure just where Carol and Tyreese are in the finale, but we've seen a low-resolution screenshot of Rick and Michonne at what looks like an altar for people lost...and it's got the same clear, blocky black lettering on the wall that Terminus had on the visible signs. (Better shots are available in the trailer but the resolution was even worse. This one is off a message board). Check it out below: