A

"A" is the sixteenth and final episode of the fourth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the fifty-first episode of the series overall. It premiered on March 30, 2014. It was written by Scott Gimple & Angela Kang and directed by Michelle MacLaren.

Plot
As multiple paths collide, Rick comes face to face with sheer brutality. Will he and the group have what it takes to survive?

Co-Stars
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 * Keith Brooks as Dan
 * JD Evermore as Harley
 * Davi Jay as Tony
 * Eric Mendenhall as Billy
 * Irene Ziegler as Broadcasting Woman

Uncredited

 * Sophia & Delia Oeland as Judith Grimes
 * Melissa Ponzio as Karen (Flashback)
 * Kyle Gallner as Zach (Flashback)
 * James Michael Keats as Henry (Flashback)
 * Jilian McLendon as Chloe (Flashback)
 * Adam Daniels as Prison Newcomer (Flashback)
 * John Ross as Survivor
 * Anissa Matlock as Terminus Resident
 * Summer Williams Houck as Terminus Resident
 * Joe Foley as Terminus Resident
 * Bill Banks as Terminus Resident
 * Keith Matlock as Terminus Resident
 * James Rodney Sims as Terminus Resident
 * Philip Dido as Terminus Resident
 * Garrett Hammond as Terminus Resident
 * Michael Morrison as Terminus Resident
 * Brialynn Massie as Terminus Resident
 * Darien Johnson as Walker
 * }
 * }

Deaths

 * Joe
 * Tony
 * Harley
 * Billy
 * Dan
 * Alex
 * 1 unnamed man
 * Several unnamed Terminus survivors (Confirmed Fate)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Gareth.
 * First (and last) appearance of Alex. (Alive)
 * Last appearance of The Claimers.
 * Last appearance of Joe.
 * Last appearance of Tony.
 * Last appearance of Harley.
 * Last appearance of Billy.
 * Last appearance of Dan.
 * Last appearance of Hershel Greene. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Patrick. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Zach. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Henry. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Chloe. (Flashback)
 * This is the only episode of the second half of season 4 where all of the credited main cast appear.
 * The episode title, "A", refers to the train car at Terminus where Rick's group is trapped.
 * This episode has the shortest title in the series, simply being the letter "A".
 * The letter "A" is seen everywhere in Terminus, and is painted along doorways and on canisters found throughout the location.
 * This is the first-season finale that did not receive more U.S. viewers than the season premiere.[2]
 * Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene) is listed in the opening sequence for the first time since "After". He returned to film this episode.[3]
 * This is the first time that a main cast member has been removed from the opening credits and re-added in the same season.
 * This is the first episode in which we see Michonne kill a living person with a firearm.
 * When Rick teaches Carl about the rabbit snare it was a foreshadowing of Terminus. Rick explains that the snare is set among a frequently used path (railroad tracks) and when the rabbit follows the path (the shoot out that forced Rick's group through a certain path through Terminus), then the snare captures the rabbit (the box car).[4][5]
 * People can be heard screaming for help when Rick, Daryl, Carl and Michonne are being fired upon by the Terminus residents. This is as they run past some stacked cargo containers.
 * The umbrellas in the Terminus courtyard appears to be the same exact one on the picnic table as seen in "Dead Weight" with The Governor.
 * Hollywood Reporter explains, "If you research how cattle are killed, the optimum approach is to have them take a series of corner turns before getting close -- if they see they’re being led to slaughter, chaos ensues. The camera follows Rick and company in a circular route through Terminus until they get out into the clearing. Cattle are also, as they near slaughter, guided in single file -- something Gareth did meticulously with each character, leading them to the railroad/cattle car in the short distance. There is also a “correct handler position for driving cattle” -- and director Michelle MacLaren set up the final scene by positioning Gareth in a perfect, textbook handler position... She also created maximum tension by showing the distance between Carl... Proper handling procedures also indicate that calves go last (or, if you will, parents go first -- reversing it causes panic and a chance the cattle will disperse)...cattle go forward in a single-file line but shouldn’t actually see livestock in front of them -- which is why Glenn and Maggie and the others were shunted to the rear of the car."[6]
 * The prison flashback was the last scene shot in Season 4. This was because the actors' hair had to be cut shorter to match the earlier period.[3]
 * The scene that involving Carl almost got raped was actually more graphic than the one that being aired. Andrew Lincoln said to Hollywood Reporter that, “That scene was supposed to be more graphic, and we played it more graphic than that, which was a justification for the throat rip and everything, because it's something any father seeing his son about to be raped would probably do.”[7]
 * The last lines said by Rick, "They're going to feel pretty stupid when they find out... They're screwing with the wrong people," is very similar to a line said by the same character in Issue 64 of the comics. Scott Gimple revealed in Comic-Con 2014 that this line was actually done with two different versions. The first one is the aired version, while the second one replaces it on DVD and Blu-ray with Rick saying "They're fucking with wrong people," a homage to the comic.
 * Joe also says "You screwed up, asshole." which is a variation of a line repeated by one of the marauders in the comics with screwed replacing the word "fucked".
 * According to Scott Gimple, Morgan Jones was originally planned to appear at the end of the episode, where he would be present in the train car with the rest of the group, saying, "Yeah, they are," after Rick claims the Terminus residents are "screwing with the wrong people."
 * Andrew Lincoln also revealed that "It was a raw chicken he uses for filming the scene where he kills Joe by ripping his throat off, the crews offered him beef, and chicken, and he asked for what was closest to human flesh. "...It was 3:30 in the morning" he said, "...after doing probably 75 set-ups of that one scene, and there was a prosthetic gash on his neck with raw, bloody chicken. He looked more terrified than anybody I had ever worked with. I don’t remember much after “Action.” Norman kept looking at me and saying I looked crazy. It was quite a wild night."

Comic Parallels

 * Carl's attempts to save an unnamed man from getting eaten alive is adapted from Issue 51.
 * Rick, Michonne and Carl being ambushed by the Claimers on the woods is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 57, where Rick, Abraham and Carl are ambushed by Marauders instead.
 * Rick, Daryl and Michonne brutally killing the Claimers is adapted from Issue 57.
 * Rick and Daryl strengthening their brotherhood the next morning is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 57, where Abraham talks with Rick about his past instead.