To kick off my blog, from every Monday on, I will be reviewing the fourth season of the Walking Dead. The episode starts off with where we left off, though, it is a month later. Rick sets off to work in the backyard of the prison, his earbuds in to listen to the music, instead of the growling moaning walkers nearby. My first thought when I saw this scene was "how did he have music playing?" so far, it's been at least a year or more after the walkers started, there's probably less of a chance of finding batteries or having generated power in a building or even electricity at all. He finds a gun while digging into the grass, and looks over at the zombies, and we are then transported to the opening sequence that we know and love.
Although, with the loss of so many dear regulars, we are only left with a few for the "regulars" of the show. Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus were the top leads, followed by Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohen, then Chandler Riggs, Danai Guerra, Melissa McBride, and Scott Wilson.
The beginning starts off a month or two after the Woodbury survivors joined #TEAMPRISON. Daryl is making friends with Beth's love interest Zack, who keeps guessing what Daryl's occupation was pre-Apocalypse ("Homicide Detective!"). Michonne has been out and about outside the Prison walls to track down where the Governor ran off to. Rick, decided to take time off from shooting walkers in the face, to farming. You know it's bad when Hershel the farmer is making fun of you for being a farmer.
What was very interesting about this first episode, instead of one overarching plot, there were two: one thrilling, one chilling. The first plot involved newer characters, Tyreese, with his Woodbury survivor girlfriend Karen, contemplating Tyreese going on a supply run with Daryl, Glenn, and Michonne. Newcomer Bob Stookey (The Wire‘s Lawrence Gillard Jr.), an army medic with a history of alcoholism, and Zack (Kyle Gallner) also joined the team to go on the supply run. However, it was Bob's downfall with alcoholism, taking a bottle off of the shelf, had resulted in the whole large shelves come crashing down, causing a disturbance with the unacknowledged walkers walking above on the rotted roof. It was a terrifying, yet almost 1980's horror-hilarious moment where the walkers were not just attacking the survivors -- they were attacking them from falling through the roof ala "It's Raining Men" style. I'm pretty sure after this episode is released online, there will be numerous fanvids of the walkers falling through the roof to the tune of It's Raining Men.
The sequence is thrilling, inventive, somewhat hilarious and a welcome sign that the show’s creativity is never gone, especially with the gore and visual effects provided by director Greg Nicotero. In an effort to stop a walker from biting his face off, Bob, still pinned underneath the shelves, pushed the walker's head away from him, showing the lovely gorey mess of the walker's skull - a great disgusting moment that the viewers want to see.
The second plot involved Rick going out past the prison walls to bring home some food for the community, and stumbles upon a lady in the forest who needs his help. I already suspected that something was wrong after the course of the episode that Rick followed this woman into the forest, and he sees her talking to thin air at her campsite. She had told him that she has done terrible things. What was interesting about her was that she looked as though she were already a walker herself. My theory (or headcanon if you prefer) was the terrible thing she had done was possibly eaten her own husband. A sick idea, but not uncommon in this television show. I wouldn't put it past the new showrunner Scott Gimple.
In the end, she wanted to be with her husband and with the knife that Rick had given her himself, she stabbed herself in the stomach. Rick had 3 questions to ask her before he would be able to bring her to the prison, and while she's dying before him, he asks, "how many walkers have you killed, how many people have you killed, and why?"
It was a way to show the continuing story of humanity, and what lengths people do in order to keep it, (like Rick, or Daryl for example), and the people have lost their humanity along the way (Like Hungry Woman). It shows that it is a terrible world to live in and the terrible things people do in order to survive.
There was another side-plot in the episode which I had greatly enjoyed. Carol proposed "Story Time" over the past month with the younger survivors of the prison, sans Carl Grimes. After a bit of reading, Carol puts the book down and teaches the kids how to use a knife to defend themselves against a walker. It was a small scene that showed that Carol stepped up her game, from being a meek housewife in season one, to a woman who is taking charge of her life, and helping to protect others in it as well. It was a strong feminist moment right there, that sit well within me, to show that anyone has the opportunity to do better and to be better from abuse. Just like Daryl who is becoming a member of the community in the prison, where people call out to him, and want to be his friend (not to mention he is on the council in the prison, alongside Glenn, Carol, and Sasha and Hershel). Daryl evolved into a more caring person, especially when he arrives back from the supply run to tell Beth what happened to her boyfriend. He was there to comfort her, something that he would never had done in the first season.
Beth to me, was very interesting. She has this boyfriend whom she had kissed and joked with before his supply run and when Daryl came back to tell her that he was dead, she was devoid of any emotion at all. And she seemed to hug Daryl in an almost robotic way, like she was doing it because she remembers that’s how humans are supposed to console other humans. Could she be next to be off-ed on the show like the Hungry Woman? Only time will tell.
Few things I noticed that I thought was interesting:
The young "Walking Nerd" (unnamed on IMDB.com) was sick late and night, hit his head in the bathroom shower, and comes back as a walker.
(photo courtesy of lack-of-surprise)
Zackary was the other white male who died in this episode. That makes two white men who died, instead of Bob Stookey who I was pretty sure was going to die, but didn't. So that makes the round-up of black males who are alive at the prison to 2. Good job Walking Dead. We need more POC characters on the show.
Carol was a badass with knives and teaching the kids.
The pig Violet got sick and died, but we have no idea why or how. Theories say that the "disease" that everyone is infected with, is now airborne and can kill animals. I'm still on the fence about that one.
The Hungry Woman was a parallel to Rick when he saw Lori and talked with the people who departed on the broken telephone. How he could have been if he continued to have the hallucinations.
And from watching the trailer for Infected (4x02) I can guarantee you that this season is going to be the most awesome yet!Zackary was the other white male who died in this episode. That makes two white men who died, instead of Bob Stookey who I was pretty sure was going to die, but didn't. So that makes the round-up of black males who are alive at the prison to 2. Good job Walking Dead. We need more POC characters on the show.
Carol was a badass with knives and teaching the kids.
The pig Violet got sick and died, but we have no idea why or how. Theories say that the "disease" that everyone is infected with, is now airborne and can kill animals. I'm still on the fence about that one.
The Hungry Woman was a parallel to Rick when he saw Lori and talked with the people who departed on the broken telephone. How he could have been if he continued to have the hallucinations.
See you next week on Walking Dead Review Monday!
-AlisonInGeekland
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