It seems like we’ve hit the mid-season slow-down a little early in season five. Understandable, considering everything that went on in episode three—losing Bob, terminating the Terminus threat, and an unknown outcome from Daryl and Carol’s pursuit of the mysterious car last seen abducting Beth. After all this time, we finally break away from the main group to answer that one nagging question, “What the heck happened to Beth?”
Warning! There are spoilers down here, guys. No. Seriously. This is not a game.
She was kidnapped, we saw that part. Then a few teasers hinted that she’s still alive and kicking. Now we find out she’s been holed up in a hospital this whole time, getting treatment from possibly the only doctor with access to medical supplies in Atlanta, GA. That’s the good news. The bad news, she’s now trapped in some Hotel California scheme to pay off the “debt” she incurred during treatment. Essentially, Beth became slave labor for the hospital and the cops who run it. No matter how much she works, she’ll still have debt hanging over her head for food, clothing, a bed to sleep in at night, bandages . . . the list is endless. She’s not alone. We meet two other “patients” in the hospital. One who tried to run, Joan, and Noah, who seems to have been there the longest.
We don’t see a lot of other people, though from the way Officer Lerner—the woman in charge—speaks, there are numerous others living in the hospital, just not on the floor Beth does all her work on. The problem with jumping away from the main cast to show a side story like this is, there’s not enough time to develop the plot. Because there were so few people present in the episode, the idea that Officer Lerner can look away while her male officers abuse and harass the women in the hospital is ludicrous. We see two, maybe three male officers throughout the episode, and many more women. Armed women. At what point did they all sit down and think, “It’s okay if they assault these women, and if it’s not, we’ll make it okay by not getting in their way.” The threat from Gorman and his cohorts is ridiculous. It isn’t a compromise, as Lerner tries to convince viewers. There’s plenty of other ways the writers could’ve ramped up the tension in the hospital without dragging sexual abuse into it. They wanted a bad guy and for some reason the default is to send them after the pretty young thing in some perverse manner. I expected more from this show.
This episode didn’t feel like “The Walking Dead” until the last fifteen minutes or so, when Beth had taken more than her fair amount of bull excrement and decided to take care of things herself. She uses Joan’s suicide to her advantage, gets rid of the Gorman problem, and helps Noah escape. That’s way more progress than Lerner made during her stint as the officer in charge. Unfortunately, Beth is captured in the process of seeing Noah to safety. This turn of attitude could be beneficial to Rick and his group now that they’re a man down. Before she’d been a burden when it came to fighting on the run. After her time with Daryl, she’s toughened up a little.
But can this new, tougher Beth deal with the curveball life threw her way at the end of the episode when Carol’s unconscious body was wheeled into the hospital? I sure hope so. Carol is one character who cannot and should not be trapped in an environment where abuse from men isn’t just tolerated, but encouraged. She was freed from that life. Going back would ruin her.
Hopefully next week isn’t as slow. From the preview, it didn’t appear to be. We will have to see how the two story lines weave into each other from here on out.
No bones about it, this season has been rough to watch. The emotions are raw, unfiltered. Every walker confrontation is filmed up close and personal, drawing viewers in. Tension between Rick’s group and the Terminus survivors is so thick, an elephant could tap dance on it. Three episodes in and we’re already terrified to get too attached to any character. For good reasons, as we’ll see in a little bit.
Spoiler warning! This is not a joke. Below is a whole slew of episode spoilers.
The opening scene with Gareth and Bob is flat-out freaky. Gareth has snapped the last sanity string holding up his humanity. He’s no better and no worse than the undead—eating to survive, no matter the source. There’s no hope of normalcy left for the Terminus group. Gareth understands all too well that they can’t go back to who/what they were before. All they can do is move forward, make allies. Those who join will aid them in their hunting needs. The people who refuse become dinner. For Gareth, life has become all too simple and clean.
Unfortunately his last meal before his talk with Bob wasn’t as clean as he’d hoped.
Now it’s clear why Bob had been outside the church weeping—he was bitten in the food bank’s basement, just when his life was becoming settled again. Unfortunate for him then, but a boon when he realizes he’s been turned into dinner for Gareth and company. Despite being ambushed and injured, unable to defend himself, Bob still fought against the Terminus crew. His fight didn’t end when they dumped him on the church’s front yard. Bob’s physical fight ended when his leg was devoured. His mission from then on out was to keep his friends and loved ones going until his time came to join Hershel, Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, and numerous others who had become part of the steel backbone keeping Rick’s haggard group on their feet. “Nightmares shouldn’t change who you are.” Bob slipped, fell into alcoholism when things got rough, but dug himself out—with a little help. Since then he’d been fully onboard, helping Rick keep everything and everyone together. His centered, playful way of approaching life will be missed.
Gabriel takes the brunt of everyone’s anger after they realize, not only has Bob vanished, but so has Carol and Daryl. After all the pressure he’s put under, he snaps and tells his tale. On the night the undead reached the area, he locked the church’s door—same as he did every night. Only, when his congregation came knocking, Gabriel hid and left them to the walkers drawn by their cries for sanctuary and damnation of Gabriel’s soul. He truly feels he’s going to hell for taking care of number one instead of opening the church to dozens of people he couldn’t possibly home and provide food for. After his breakdown in front of Rick, Gabriel falls into himself until the aftermath of a gruesome confrontation. Even then, he’s given up on himself and can’t muster enough to care and argue with Maggie after his decree, “This is the Lord’s house,” and she replies, “No. It’s just four walls and a roof.”
The tension in Rick’s group hits a high note in this episode. Abraham is done waiting and scrounging for supplies. He wants to get on the road to D.C. and finish his mission to deliver Eugene safely to the epidemic center. He sees Bob’s bitten condition as a threat. The second Bob was out of earshot, Abraham orders his people to pack and move out. Rick attempts to talk reason, and fails. Glenn, who spent a good chunk of time fighting alongside Abraham before the main group reunited, finally steps in and trades his and Maggie’s assistance in the mission for twelve hours of Abraham’s time to settle things at the church. What does Eugene think about all this? He wants to stay with Rick. Is it the quality of leadership? Rick’s ruthlessness that’s seen them relatively safe thus far? Or is he hiding a deeper truth than the one he’s sold Abraham on? I’m still inclined to believe Eugene is lying to Abraham for the protection and there’s no miraculous walker-killing virus.
We can’t wrap this up without going over one heck of a showdown between Rick’s group and the Terminus survivors at the church. What looks like an ambush on the weaker members of the group ends up being wholesale slaughter for Gareth and company—like fish in a barrel, and Rick dropped in a stick of dynamite. Gareth doesn’t bother to hide his admiration of the ruthlessness. Rick doesn’t bother to hide it, either, as he hacks Gareth apart with a machete. The rest of the Terminus survivors are dispatched in similarly brutal ways. The silver lining? Michonne has her sword back. The downside? This take-no-prisoners attitude makes some of the group uneasy. If Rick had just shot Gareth and his people, it would have been easier to accept the quick, clean death. Hacking and bludgeoning someone to death takes time. It is a drawn out, painful, and messy demise. Messy not just in the blood and brains spread everywhere, but the emotions such brutality dredges up.
The episode ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. Daryl, who missed out on all the gory fun, creeps out of the woods. Without Carol by his side. And talks to someone who we can’t see with obvious distress on his face. There may have been ample yelling at the screen when we realized that was how they planned to leave things until next week. You can’t do this to us, guys! Where is Carol?
A little forewarning for the second episode of season five—don’t eat anything when you watch. Or rewatch. At no point in your life will it be okay to consume much beyond water while watching . . . and even that’s questionable depending on the strength of your stomach.
Spoiler Alert! The following review contains episode spoilers.
For the first time in too long—possibly since before Hershel’s murder—we witness a survivor group who are somewhat happy. It may be mostly relief. Giddiness from finding each other once again and surviving escape from Terminus with no casualties on their part. Rick smiles and takes time with his children, something he hasn’t been able to do since the prison attack. Even then, he was plagued by Lori’s ghost and could not fully bond with Judith. Everyone has banded together to take care of the baby.
Judith, along with Bob and Glenn, became the heart and soul of the group. Anyone needing a mental time-out takes a turn watching the baby. Tyreese in particular has done a lot of mental healing since his time taking care of Judith. His world simplified to one focus—protect her and provide for her, no matter what dangers lurk around the corner. Because of that focus, he’s ready to forget that Carol killed his girlfriend and move on. He can kill again, without feeling a strangling sense of moral wrongness. Bob and Glenn, in their roles as heart and conscious, focus on Rick and keeping him grounded despite his overwhelming need for revenge. Even though Rick is smiling and reunited with his family, there’s a darkness in his eyes that won’t go away. The pain he’s gone through has forever changed him. Even if Eugene’s scheme to infect the walkers with a super virus that’ll kill them off works, Rick will never be the same. He will need people like Glenn and Bob to thump him over the head and remind him he has two children relying on him to stay grounded and in control of his anger.
Unfortunately, Bob may not stick around long enough to help. We’ll get to that later.
This episode introduced Gabriel Stokes—a priest with a strange sense of humor (and awful comedic timing) and a secret which may or may not come back to bite the entire group in the backside. Gabriel doesn’t kill, not even the walkers who threaten his life. He’s been isolated in his church since the undead outbreak reached his neck of the woods. Luckily for Rick and company, the church is far enough out of the way to have little walker foot traffic. They hole up in Gabriel’s safe haven to take a breather and have a nice wind-down session reminiscent of the party down in the CDC’s basement back in season one. Let’s hope the church isn’t rigged to blow up.
The safety the church offers is an illusion. Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Michonne all sense something isn’t quite right. For days they’ve thought someone may be tracking their movements. Carl found evidence of an attempted break-in at the church, but couldn’t tell if the knife marks on the windows or the threat, You’ll burn for this, were fresh. We know that Morgan isn’t far behind the group, and he was a tad loony-pants the last time Rick saw him, but is he the threat?
Nope. It is far, far worse.
Poor Bob. He’s finally found a groove after the apocalypse—a solid relationship with Sasha, good standing within the survivor group, sobriety, a solid plan to help Abraham and Eugene reach the epidemic center in D.C., and a sense of relief so great he can’t help but weep. The latter proves his undoing. When Bob takes a time-out from the party, someone sneaks up and clubs him over the head. Next thing we know, it’s Bob-aque time. Hold the sauce. He’s still alive, but for how long? Gareth seems like a patient man, despite his disgusting diet choices. The group who survived the Terminus attack is small. How much can they consume before Rick realizes they’re a man down? Do cannibals diet? Guess we’ll find out next week. Cross your fingers and hope Bob makes it out only missing one limb.
Never Again. Never Trust. Review of The Walking Dead 501 By RC Murphy
It must be October. Everyone as far as the eye can see is trapped in Walker Fever—not to be confused with the fever the infected suffer before turning into the undead. We here at the ZSC Command Center are not immune and fell head-first into the fifth season of AMC’s The Walking Dead with snacks at our side . . . which we quickly ignored, given how bloody the first episode of the season turned out to be. With that in mind, let’s see what our favorite band of survivors are up to after being captured last season.
Spoiler Warning! Below are show spoilers. Turn back now if you haven’t watched this episode.
This episode had one flaw—the Terminus flashbacks. There were only two, at the beginning and end, but the information delivered was something clearly conveyed through dialog and set decoration in the middle of the episode. All the flashbacks provided was a little confusion as far as the timeline went. For half the episode, it appeared as though there was a time gap between when Rick and company were captured and the moment Carol and Tyreese were within hearing range of Terminus and all the gunfire. It wasn’t until Carol saw her once-friends bound and gagged that things started to make sense. Sometimes in story-telling, less is more. This was one of those cases.
Rick is still embracing the Ricktatorship, pushing everyone to arm themselves with whatever they can find in the train car. Miraculously, in the short time they were apparently imprisoned, they managed to build a good number of gnarly weapons using rusty nails, leather belts, hunks of wood, and who knows what else. All their work was for naught. Glenn, Rick, Ben, and Daryl were still taken by surprise and dragged into Terminus’ slaughterhouse. Which is the exact moment everyone set aside their popcorn and clutched the couch cushions so tight, their knuckles turned white.
Despite internet rumors, this was not the moment we said goodbye to any main cast members. Glenn is still alive and has taken on Hershel’s role, becoming Rick’s conscious when his desire for revenge threatens the entire group’s survival. It’s a position Glenn has filled before, but his youth and inexperience usually costs him solid ground to stand on in the face of Rick’s anger. This time Glenn seems better prepared to stand up for what he feels is right. He’s got far more at stake with Maggie at his side and committed to staying there no matter what. Not even his good friend will force him to risk her safety.
Carol is far, far removed from the character we met in season one. Now she can walk up and kill a walker without blinking, even while Tyreese stands behind her saying he’s not prepared to kill again. In the face of his perceived weakness and possible judgment, Carol doesn’t balk, doesn’t care. She will live, that’s that. She will make sure Tyreese and Judith live, no matter the cost to her. But she has no plans to stick with them. Being ousted from the group changed her more than the death of her husband and daughter. Solitude fits the new Carol. She’s truly free to do what she wants when she wants after years of being the steel backbone for her family. Will her resolve to remain a lone wolf stay firm after reconnecting with the rest of the group? Hard to tell, but the reunion hug she shared with Daryl was perhaps one of the happiest moments on the show in years.
This episode was all about escalation. One group wrongs another, the afflicted group seeks revenge. That’s how Terminus became a cannibal’s Fantasy Land—their once sanctuary was overrun, the women abused, countless murdered, but they took it back and became something ruthless and without morals. That’s how Carol and Rick ensured Terminus could not recover from their attack and escape. Even Tyreese did not escape without having to step up his game to not only kill walkers, but also a human who posed a serious threat to Judith. By the end of the episode, even viewers felt panicky, waiting to see how far the escalation would go. What would be the ultimate cost of this revenge pushing Rick forward? So far, no one in his group has paid. That luck can only go so far.
We were visited by a long-lost character at the end of the episode. What role do you think he’ll play in the grand scheme of things? Last time we saw this guy, he was twelve crayons short of a full set and sure to die at any time. That’s the wonderful thing about this show, the people we think will die, don’t. Those we wish would live, keel over without warning. It’s impossible to predict what’s around the corner. But that is half the fun of watching. It is also why The Walking Dead was picked up for a sixth season days before the fifth season premiere.
What does it take to survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Weapons? Combat training? A bright yellow humvee with a backup supply of fuel? An underground bomb shelter fully stocked and able to support at least twelve lucky survivors for an indefinite period of time? How about the ability to rub two sticks together and produce a flame? If you answered yes to all of these things, you’re not incorrect… but you’re missing the two most important items for your best chance at ZA survival: friends, and a go-bag. The go-bag is a separate matter entirely, so let’s focus on the other.
Friends are the difference between those who watch your back and those who might trip you to escape a sticky situation themselves. Friends are the most valuable of all your survival needs, and this week’s Commander Monday spotlight is on one of the Zombie Survival Crew’s most devoted and loyal friends, Red Brigade’s First Lieutenant Neil Brown, Jr.
Actor, martial artist and self-proclaimed “knucklehead,” Neil hails from Orlando, Florida and has studied Shotokai Karate, Jujutsu, Judo, Tae Kwan Do, Capoeira, and many more disciplines that this writer cannot pronounce. He bobs, he weaves, he dodges and roundhouse-kicks better than Chuck Norris on his best day. It is a little-known urban legend that at the age of four he roundhouse-kicked a car and walked away with little more than a few bumps and bruises.
Neil’s extensive martial arts training unexpectedly paved the road to acting when he appeared on the TV show WMAC masters at age 14. In addition to portraying Guillermo, the unlikely leader of a band of survivors in The Walking Dead, Neil has appeared in multiple television roles, including the series Harry’s Law, Suits, Castle, Borderline Coyotes, Weeds and more recently on NCIS. He also appeared in 2009’s Fast & Furious, and has also done his part to save the world from aliens in Battle: Los Angeles.
Most recently, we were thrilled to learn that Neil has been cast in Universal’s upcoming film Straight Outta Compton. This much-anticipated biopic, produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, chronicles the rise of the hip-hop group N.W.A. Neil will be appearing as DJ Yella alongside Aldis Hodge, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell. Filming for Straight Outta Compton has begun with an anticipated release date in 2015.
Between acting and roundhouse-kicking, Neil devotes time to the things that matter the most – family and friends. He can also be found making appearances on the comic-convention circuit. Don’t forget to stop by his website to see what’s happening!
If you are just joining us for this series, please check out our previous Commander Monday reports!
It’s no secret we get a little antsy this close to October. Not because someone left an open jar of honey next to the Command Center desk for the ants to enjoy, but because we’re so close to the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead, we can taste it. Not that I want to know what a walker tastes like. Or the food in Terminus. If you can even call it food considering what we all think it’s made of. Ew.
All babbling aside, TWD’s producers have been doing a pretty good job of giving us just enough information on the blog hosted by AMC to keep us from pacing a hole in concrete floors. Executive Producer David Alpert had a couple things to say during an interview from the trenches while filming recently:
Q: Last year, you mentioned Season 4’s theme related to the possibility of civilization. What would you say the theme for Season 5 is?
A: I think with Season 4, Scott Gimple really focused on whether you can get away from the things that you’ve done. Can you turn your back on your past? I think Season 5 is a response to that, in that you are what you’ve done, where you’ve been and where you’re from.
Q: We’ve heard the Season 5 Premiere was quite ambitious in terms of production. What are you most excited for fans to see once it airs?
A: We’re attempting things that have never really been done before on the show. We’re taking some bigger swings and I can’t wait for the fans to see that. Hopefully, they feel as good about it as we do.
Alpert also alluded to the comic book baddie Negan joining the cast soon. How soon? We have no clue. Rumors have been flying right and left since the Governor’s demise—who will be the new Big Bad? In the comic book realm, there’s over 50 issues between the Governor’s death and Negan’s appearance. As we’ve seen in the past, the producers aren’t afraid to tweak what’s already established. Alpert did add, “I cannot wait until we introduce Negan. He is just like the coolest f—ing character on the planet. You thought the Governor was bad news? . . . Man, wait until you meet Negan! He’s one of the greatest villains ever created. It’s so exciting.”
In other TWD news, on September 5th AMC announced that it ordered a pilot for a companion series to The Walking Dead. TWD producers Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert will act as executive producers, with the addition of Dave Erickson from Sons of Anarchy who will also be the showrunner. There’s no casting or location news this early in the game. Production won’t begin until late 2014.
Robert Kirkman had this to say about the new series, “There are many corners of The Walking Dead universe that remain unseen in the shadows. Being given the opportunity to shine a light into those corners and see what lurks out there is an absolute thrill. I know the fans are anxious to hear what Dave and I have been cooking up for this new version of The Walking Dead, and I’m happy to be one step closer to sharing it with them.”
Lastly, AMC recently released 10 production stills from season five over on their website to continue teasing us. Go ahead, take a peek. Might as well watch the trailer again while you’re over there, too.
Much like year’s past, Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con was jam-packed, trembling in anticipation of the walker horde scheduled to shamble in over the weekend. AMC brought in the big guns, including nearly the entire cast and full producing staff, to discuss the upcoming fifth season for “The Walking Dead.”
And like year’s past, the actors stayed mum while the producers dropped what few hints they could about what to expect while the highlight of the hour was the preview clip they’d prepared.
Before we look at the clip, we’ll go over what everyone said, starting with the producers.
Will Rick and company make it out of the train car at Terminus? Duh. Producers seemed somewhat annoyed that anyone would think they’d downgrade the show’s quality to shoot an entire season inside a small set.
Where are the characters mentally after the chaos in season four? Show-runner Scott Gimple said, “Once they lost the prison—once they lost Hershel—all bets were off. And I think they did find out that you can’t come back from the things that you’ve done. You have to live with them. But also, those things that you have done make you incredibly formidable.” He went on to add, “This season is going to define the characters.”
Any flashbacks planned? It’s safe to say, yes. They plan to show how Terminus and its occupants came to be.
Robert Kirkman admits the show has taken a turn from the comics with the Terminus story line. But throughout the upcoming season, they’ll bring in more content from the comic books and bring the show back on track with them.
Gale Anne Hurd and Greg Nicotero said the makeup effects and sets are getting bigger and better. The world will continue to expand. Nicotero teased two walker makeups on the big screen—one a regular walker who has decayed with the same sort of progress we’ve seen thus far, and the second the Water-Logged walker from a scene where the survivors encounter a flooded room full of undead.
On the cast portion of the panel, Andrew Lincoln said while it was great for Rick to be reined in by Hershel, it feels right now to have his gun back and boots on.
Steven Yeun thinks Glenn’s unwavering hope will see him through the trouble ahead of the crew.
In Lauren Cohan’s opinion, Maggie will never be the same. None of them will. Even if there was a cure for the walkers, there will still be bad guys.
Newcomer Michael Cudlitz, who was slightly dazed at the number of fans in Hall H, didn’t feel pressured to become an exact replica of Abraham from the comics. The cast welcomed him with open arms.
When asked about the two sides to Michonne—the killer and the woman still mourning her losses—Danai Gurira said she loves the challenges posed by both sides, and readily admits she was afraid of the physical demands from the role.
Jokingly, panel moderator Chris Hardwick handed Melissa McBride a bouquet of flowers. Which she proceeded to march down the table to pawn them off on someone else. The cast hid. Norman Reedus wasn’t quite quick enough. When asked about Carol’s story arc from season one through season four, Melissa said, “I think the great thing about Carol is she’s kinda prepared to do anything.”
Chad L. Coleman said, “If you don’t have the heart, you can’t have the hope,” in reference to the tense confrontation between Carol and Tyreese last season, adding that Tyreese never lost sight of Carol’s humanity and bravery.
Beth is alive. Somewhere. So says Emily Kinney.
Norman Reedus was convinced he’d die during his second episode on the show and never thought he’d see Daryl make it this far.
Surprise guest—and first-time SDCC attendee—Chandler Riggs surprised the crowd in Hall H by walking on stage with a huge tub of chocolate pudding. Having grown up on the show (he’s 15 now) he said it’s been an awesome experience with great mentors in his cast mates.
We’ll let the preview clip speak for itself.
Mark your calendars. “The Walking Dead” returns to AMC on October 12th at 9 PM.
A whole slew of Zombie Survival Crew commanders and sergeants-at-arms will be attending Wizard World Philadelphia on June 19-22nd. Your duty, brigadiers, is to ensure the undead hordes don’t find a way into the convention center. So grab your go bags and head on over.
Event Details
When: Thursday, June 19th through Sunday, June 22nd
Where: Pennsylvania Convention Center – Philadelphia, PA
Actually, the title is slightly misleading. Some of your ZSC commanders are always on the road. Traveling from city to city to touch base with brigadiers not only across the United States, but world-wide at numerous conventions. This time around, four of us are converging on Phoenix, Arizona for Phoenix Comicon. The event begins on Thursday, June 5th at 4:00 PM inside the Phoenix Convention Center.
Yellow Brigade commander Jinxie G and Orange Brigade commander R.C. Murphy will be in attendance Thursday through Sunday for the event. You can find them at booth 793 throughout the weekend (coffee runs are one of a few exceptions to this). Red Brigade commander Juliette Terzieff and Special Forces Commander Michael Rooker plan to roll into Phoenix for Sunday only. Keep an eye out for them. Shouldn’t be too hard to find those two, right?
This is a huge event, and a first-time trip for some of us. If you plan to attend, make sure to come find us. Even if it’s to say hi. Mostly, we want to make sure everyone survives the insanity sure to follow once the convention doors open. Kinda like when someone opened a certain barn we all remember from that one show. You know, the one with the staggering, rotting folks on it. Catch our drift?
Another season of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” has come and gone, taking bits of our collective sanity with it. For the first half of season four, viewers waited for the inevitable—the Governor’s attack on a now peaceful survivor group making a home in a rundown prison. The second half lulled fans into a false sense of security, slowing the pace to nearly a standstill until the finale. Was it a smart move? Hard to say. While the events in the finale were indeed shocking—ample amounts of yelling echoed through the ZSC Command Center—some fans abandoned ship (and hope) before the episode aired, stating there wasn’t enough action to keep their interest. With a few exceptions (Look at the flowers…) the second half of season four didn’t pack the same punch as previous story arcs. It led up to a heck of a plot twist, though.
You know the drill, there’s spoilers in this review. If you haven’t watched the finale, do so before reading on.
To dig the knife in fan’s hearts a little more, the finale contained numerous flashbacks to life at the prison after the Governor’s first failed attack. Hershel played a key part in Rick’s life during that time, and fans were treated to Scott Wilson’s return to TWD, if only for one last episode. Hershel was the one to turn Avenger Rick into Farmer Rick by pointing out the potential in the land within the prison fences. Seeing Hershel again acted as a reminder that no matter how much one does for others, in the end kindness won’t stop a bullet, or sword, from taking their life.
Hershel saved Rick, gave him something other than vengeance and death to motivate him, get him out of bed every day. Rick in turn attempted to save Carl the same way. We saw how well Hershel’s guidance worked. Rick withdrew from the inner-workings of the survivor group, true. But his focus laid on providing the group with something new, something thought impossible after months on the run—sustainable food sources. An idea we’ll touch on again when Rick and company hit Terminus, but for a whole different reason.
A huge part of the weight dragging down Carl and his father is the question, who are they now? Rick long ago abandoned his notion of being a good cop, that part of his personality slaughtered by Shane, Lori, and the Governor. Carl grew up the instant he killed Shane’s reanimated corpse to save his father, and turned even colder after he put a bullet in his mother’s head to keep her from coming back undead. They went from a moderately happy family (the tension between Rick and Lori was established in episode one) to a man and his son, both baptized in blood and gore. How can anyone come back from what they’ve seen, what they’ve done in the name of survival? What would they say to Judith—should they find her again—to justify their actions? At last Rick seems able to cope with the turn in their life. Carl still struggles, wondering what they’ll say to the people at Terminus when they arrive. Rick answers, “We’re going to tell ’em who we are.” Carl isn’t appeased. “How can you say that? Who are we?”
“I was just another monster . . . . I was gone for a long time.”
Michonne faced the same struggle after her son’s death. She mutilated her boyfriend and friend after they were turned walker (while stoned, failing to protect young Andre) and lost herself amongst the walker herds until she stumbled across Andrea.
Admitting how far off the reservation she’d gone wasn’t easy, but Michonne wanted to drive home the quality and kind-hearted people Carl had been surrounded by, citing that Andrea, Rick, and the others saved her. They could save Carl as well, even if only through remembering their strength.
Too bad they weren’t there the night Joe and his gang attacked.
To make it short, sweet, and not rehash possible abuse triggers . . . Joe’s group deserved their brutal deaths. They thought they could be a law unto themselves, ignoring the basic morals that’d guided humanity up until the walkers arrived. They were wrong. So, so wrong. There are horrors only moderately acceptable in order to survive. What these guys did went way beyond that. If Daryl hadn’t been moping over Beth’s kidnapping, he would’ve seen it and possibly handled things long before they attacked Rick, Michonne, and Carl. He didn’t. That guilt will sit on his shoulders for a long time. Rick, on the other hand, has no qualms about what they did to Joe’s group. He did what he had to do. Calm, practical Rick has returned at last.
And he’s got a taste for blood. Literally. The guy tore another man’s throat out with his teeth.
At last, the majority of the prison group finds their way to Terminus. The place isn’t half bad—clean, nice gardens, loads of flowers, friendly faces . . . oh and a cage full of butchered human remains. Wait, what? We’re not given the full story about the folks running Terminus, but one can draw their own conclusion—they’ve found the secret to a sustainable food source with little to no effort, or water, needed. They don’t kill Rick and company after the group reacts to finding items they know belong to Maggie and Glenn. Instead Gareth, the man they first encounter at Terminus, and his goons herd the group through the maze of buildings with well-placed gunshots. Wasting ammo much? They must not need to pick off walkers with the way they’ve set up the compound. Or they’ve gotten really good at luring in well-supplied suckers.
So the bad news is, Rick and his crew are held captive in a train car, surrounded by possible cannibals. The upside? They’ve been reunited with Glenn, Maggie, Bob, and Sasha. Sgt. Ford and his group are alive as well. With that many people at his disposal, there’s no doubt Rick will get them out of this mess. You know, once season five airs in the fall.
Tell us your favorite season four moments in the comments below.
We don’t see a lot of other people, though from the way Officer Lerner—the woman in charge—speaks, there are numerous others living in the hospital, just not on the floor Beth does all her work on. The problem with jumping away from the main cast to show a side story like this is, there’s not enough time to develop the plot. Because there were so few people present in the episode, the idea that Officer Lerner can look away while her male officers abuse and harass the women in the hospital is ludicrous. We see two, maybe three male officers throughout the episode, and many more women. Armed women. At what point did they all sit down and think, “It’s okay if they assault these women, and if it’s not, we’ll make it okay by not getting in their way.” The threat from Gorman and his cohorts is ridiculous. It isn’t a compromise, as Lerner tries to convince viewers. There’s plenty of other ways the writers could’ve ramped up the tension in the hospital without dragging sexual abuse into it. They wanted a bad guy and for some reason the default is to send them after the pretty young thing in some perverse manner. I expected more from this show.
A little forewarning for the second episode of season five—don’t eat anything when you watch. Or rewatch. At no point in your life will it be okay to consume much beyond water while watching . . . and even that’s questionable depending on the strength of your stomach.
Judith, along with Bob and Glenn, became the heart and soul of the group. Anyone needing a mental time-out takes a turn watching the baby. Tyreese in particular has done a lot of mental healing since his time taking care of Judith. His world simplified to one focus—protect her and provide for her, no matter what dangers lurk around the corner. Because of that focus, he’s ready to forget that Carol killed his girlfriend and move on. He can kill again, without feeling a strangling sense of moral wrongness. Bob and Glenn, in their roles as heart and conscious, focus on Rick and keeping him grounded despite his overwhelming need for revenge. Even though Rick is smiling and reunited with his family, there’s a darkness in his eyes that won’t go away. The pain he’s gone through has forever changed him. Even if Eugene’s scheme to infect the walkers with a super virus that’ll kill them off works, Rick will never be the same. He will need people like Glenn and Bob to thump him over the head and remind him he has two children relying on him to stay grounded and in control of his anger.
Rick is still embracing the Ricktatorship, pushing everyone to arm themselves with whatever they can find in the train car. Miraculously, in the short time they were apparently imprisoned, they managed to build a good number of gnarly weapons using rusty nails, leather belts, hunks of wood, and who knows what else. All their work was for naught. Glenn, Rick, Ben, and Daryl were still taken by surprise and dragged into Terminus’ slaughterhouse. Which is the exact moment everyone set aside their popcorn and clutched the couch cushions so tight, their knuckles turned white.
Carol is far, far removed from the character we met in season one. Now she can walk up and kill a walker without blinking, even while Tyreese stands behind her saying he’s not prepared to kill again. In the face of his perceived weakness and possible judgment, Carol doesn’t balk, doesn’t care. She will live, that’s that. She will make sure Tyreese and Judith live, no matter the cost to her. But she has no plans to stick with them. Being ousted from the group changed her more than the death of her husband and daughter. Solitude fits the new Carol. She’s truly free to do what she wants when she wants after years of being the steel backbone for her family. Will her resolve to remain a lone wolf stay firm after reconnecting with the rest of the group? Hard to tell, but the reunion hug she shared with Daryl was perhaps one of the happiest moments on the show in years.
