Mid-season end. They'll be back in February after the Holidays. I guess they didn't want to bum every out during the Christmas season.
And yeah, either the actors played the shocked part all the way to the hilt.
The stupidity of the gang got to me in the beginning as well, but now I've come to accept the fact that this isn't Delta Force vs the Zombie Apocalypse, but the non-Mensa candidates that basically lucked out into surviving the initial outbreak and are now dying at a fairly decent clip. Darwinism in action if you will.
And the final scene of Rick with the revolver doing what had to be done - just as I asked the wife, "OK; who's going to step up?" - will stay with me for a looong time.