Coda

"Coda" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the fifth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the fifty-ninth episode of the series overall. It premiered on November 30, 2014. It was written by Angela Kang and directed by Ernest Dickerson.

Plot
Rules and morals have been tossed aside by new enemies. Rick will try to find a peaceful agreement, but they might prefer violence.

Co-Stars

 * Rico Ball as Franco
 * Kyle Clements as McGinley
 * Christopher Matthew Cook as Licari
 * Marc Gowan as Percy
 * Ricky Wayne as O'Donnell
 * Teri Wyble as Amanda Shepherd

Uncredited

 * Charlotte & Clara Ward as Judith Grimes
 * Amber Dawn Fox as Bello
 * Jarod Thompson as Tanaka
 * Sammy Hadid as Alvarado
 * Lennie James as Morgan Jones
 * Luke Bryant as Hanson (Photograph)

Deaths

 * Bob Lamson
 * O'Donnell
 * Beth Greene
 * Dawn Lerner

Trivia

 * First (and last) appearance of McGinley. (Unknown)
 * First (and last) appearance of Franco. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Amanda Shepherd. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Tanaka. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Bello. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Alvarado. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Steven Edwards. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Licari. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Percy. (Unknown)
 * Last appearance of Bob Lamson.
 * Last appearance of O'Donnell.
 * Last appearance of Dawn Lerner.
 * Last appearance of Beth Greene. (Alive)
 * Last appearance of Hanson. (Photograph)
 * The title of the episode, "Coda", comes from the Portuguese word cauda, meaning "tail", and also means "tail" directly from the Italian word coda. Merriam-Webster defines Coda as:
 * A concluding musical section that is formally distinct from the main structure. Beth was the only character so far that resorted to anything musical on the show.
 * A concluding part of a literary or dramatic work.
 * Something that serves to round out, conclude, or summarize and usually has its own interest.[2]
 * All of these definitions describe an ending, in other words, the title could possibly refer to the end of season 5A, as well as Dawn's regime in the hospital, Beth's life, and the group's time in Georgia.
 * As of this episode, Maggie and Logan are the last known members of the Greene family to be alive.
 * This episode is the third mid-season finale to feature the death of a living or zombified Greene family member or relative.
 * In the scene where Rick and Daryl aim their guns, there is a sign behind them that says "5th floor". This is a reference to The Boondock Saints, where Norman Reedus' character Murphy MacManus lived in a studio apartment on the 5th floor. Their stance is also similar to the MacManus brothers in scenes from the film.
 * This is the first time Morgan has appeared in more than one episode in a season.
 * Rick says "Can't go back, Bob" while speaking to Officer Lamson shortly before he kills him. This line was also spoken by Gareth to Bob Stookey in "No Sanctuary" as a response to Bob's plea to take a chance on getting Eugene to Washington.
 * This episode is the shortest running episode so far, with only 40 minutes and 16 seconds running time excluding the ads.
 * This episode marks Isabelle Fuhrman's 25th appearance on the show.
 * Following Beth's death in this episode, an uproar on social media with fans sending hate mail and death threats to Scott Gimple along with boxes of plastic spoons being sent to the AMC studios (a reference to the silver Washington D.C. spoon Beth Found) was commenced. A Change.org petition titled "Bring Beth Back" was also created and has collected over 60,000 signatures in only 3 months and was even discussed on "Good Morning America".
 * Beth's death was spoiled by AMC, who posted a picture of Daryl carrying Beth's corpse on their Facebook page. It was badly received by people who had not watched the episode yet in the West Coast, Europe and South America.
 * Originally, according to Greg Nicotero, there were supposedly 800 walkers involved in the aftermath of Beth's demise, specifically for this episode, but it was cut off for unknown reason(s).

Comic Parallels

 * Rick chasing Lamson and running him over before killing him is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 36, where Rick runs over Martinez instead.