The Walking Dead made its season 4 mid-season return last night after the harrowing events of the finale just a few short months ago, and this episode picked up right where it left off.

Titled, "After," the show centered around Rick Grimes and his son Carl, and the mysterious katana wielding Michonne.

First the viewers are shown Michonne as she is leaving the scene of the massacre at the prison. The femme fatale encounters the head of the beloved Hershel. She puts an end to walker Hershel, and then grabs two new pets for herself, and begins her decent into a hoard of zombies as is left wandering aimlessly.

Michonne fades in and out of dream sequences as the audience is finally given a glance into her sordid past. Revealed are, a lover, a child, and either a friend or brother. The dream slowly starts to unravel as reality begins to set in in her head. She even begins speaking to herself as "Mike," her lover.

Meanwhile Rick and Carl are trying to get as far from the prison as possible. As far as they know, baby Judith is dead and they have no clue where all of the others are. For once Rick only has two people to worry for.

However, the father and son team is a little hostile, as Carl feels let down and angry at his father for failing to protect the group. Rick, is struggling to even function, as his tango with the Governor left him in really bad shape. He undoubtedly has broken ribs, some puncture wounds, a messed up hand, and a busted face.

The two explore around clearing areas in an effort to find a place to stay. They find refuge in a house, and Carl finds a teenage boy's bedroom inside. This it is a brief sense of normalcy for him as he admires the TV and video games before snapping back into reality and using the chords as rope.

Tension is still high as Carl snaps at Rick, and as the two go to sleep, Rick falls a bit into a coma like state as his body is working full time to heal him. This leaves Carl to go off on his own after he decides he does not need Rick anymore. After two close encounters where he is almost killed, Carl comes back and realizes he needs his dad to survive.

Perhaps the best scene of the night is when Ricks wakes up groggy and falls off the couch. He could not speak yet and Carl was ready to shoot him because he thought his father had turned. As he was going to the pull the trigger he gave up, puts the gun down, and waits for zombie Rick to eat him. it was at that moment Carl became aware that he was just a scared boy who needed his father, and would rather be killed than be alone in a world without him. Rick then speaks, and Carl goes over and cradles his fathers head.  

The next morning the two awake and speak about the events of the day before. A little knock on the door, spooks the two, and as Rick looks out the door hole he says, "It's for you Carl." Of course, it was Michonne at the door, who looked for clues and tracked them down as she realized she could not bare to be by herself anymore as well.  That is where the episode ends.

This episode was a lot of growing up for the characters, and a good test of others leading an episode beside Rick. "After" showed Carl becoming a man, and Rick realizing that his son is not a little boy anymore. Michonne grew emotionally. She realized her past is in the past, and if she let go of the pain, she could move on and have something to live for.

The Walking Dead airs next Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.