 |
| "Anyone know where the nearest barber is??" |
60 second recap:
Everyone is seperated. Daryl and Beth fight to stay positive after stumbling upon a gruesome discovery. Tyrese tries his best to protect Mika, Lizzy and baby Judith. When things start looking pretty bad, they get some help from an unlikely hero. Bob and Sasha help a determined Maggie search for Glenn. Glenn wakes up alone at the prison but comes across a suicidal and stranded Tara on his way out. Glenn enlists Tara's help in finding Maggie but their search is put on hold when they run into three new strangers.
Character Development.
Daryl/Beth:
They're an odd pair, but for some reason it works. Beth is the passionate, emotional partner that keeps Daryl grounded and Daryl is the skilled, experienced survivor that keeps Beth alive. The opening montage with Beth's narration was quite powerful. It was a reminder of the hope and optimism the prison once held. In retrospect, it only makes everything that happened there more depressing.
Everyone knows that Daryl is the brooding, socially awkward one but, would it have killed him to be more sensitive to Beth's situation? It's easy to forget that she just lost her father in the most brutal way imaginable. We've had a few months to process Herschel's death (still too painful) but Beth has only had a few hours. We see what happens when she finally starts to deal with her emotions. Daryl's response is to completely shut down while Beth likes to talk things out. Hopefully the two of them will learn a few things from each other.
 |
| Daryl's "I'm sorry for being such an asshole about your dad" face. |
Lizzie:
Future psychopathic killer alert! If the show is going in the same direction as the comics (and it looks it generally is), we may have some disturbing events on our hands very soon. The Walking Dead has always toyed with the idea of mental instability and violence as a side effect of trauma. The show has mostly focused on how it manifests itself in adults but now with Carl and Lizzie, they've started to show how it affects children as well. Lizzie is constantly saying and doing creepy things (i.e. becoming friends with walkers, playing around in a puddle of Glenn's blood). Have any of the adults noticed her behavior? Even if they did, is there anything that can be done? Can Carol's maternal presence help Lizzie? Or is she a lost cause? What happens when she eventually gets bored of killing helpless bunnies and smothering babies? We've already seen her kill an adult before but, that was to save Tyrese's life. Is she capable of more?
 |
| That awkward moment when Tyrese realized he hated a child. |
Tyrese:
Poor Tyrese. He definitely got the short end of the stick being saddled with the emotionally disturbed sisters and baby Judith (!!!!). His scenes with the girls solidified what we already knew about him; he's a giant, loving teddy bear of a man. His interactions with Mika were heartwarming. He knew exactly what to say to calm her down and boost her self esteem. ("You each do things your own way, but you both get it done") He handled Lizzie pretty well, all things considered. He may have made some seriously poor judgement calls (i.e. leaving two tweens and a baby alone in the woods) but that can be chalked up to his overwhelming desire to save people. The guy probably thought the screams were coming from Sasha and who can blame him for wanting to save his sister?
Best surprise of the evening:
 |
| CAROL!!!!! |
How long will Tyrese go without learning Carol's secret, if he ever learns it at all? If he, Carol and the children continue to stay separated from the group, its highly unlikely Carol would tell him and put herself in that kind of danger. But even if they reunited with Rick, Daryl or Maggie, would any of them really rock the boat when their group has already suffered through so much? (Also, if Carol and Daryl don't get an epic reunion scene, there will be rioting on the internet.)
Maggie/Glenn:
These two just can't catch a break, can they? First, there was a deadly virus. Then, there was a murderous cyclops that destroyed their home. Now, they're separated with no way of finding each other. Their relationship raises a serious question; is forming meaningful relationships with people worth it when you're living in a world where you're almost guaranteed to lose them? Its a question Herschel brought up in "Isolation" and its a question Michonne grappled with last week. As happy as Maggie and Glenn are when they're together, you can't deny that their relationship has made them pretty miserable as well, especially Glenn (think of the happy, carefree guy he was when we first met him vs. the mopey, angsty guy he constantly is now).
This episode is one of the few times we've seen Maggie really lose it. She's lucky that Sasha and Bob didn't abandon her when she left to find Glenn. Maggie has always been an emotionally and physically strong character, so it was alarming to see her zone out like that during the bus scene. It will be interesting to see how she acts now that she knows Glenn isn't dead but has no way of finding him. We get to see Glenn's moment of mental collapse as well. When he first laid down in the prison cell, it looked like he was giving up completely. Honestly, no one would blame him if he did. For all he knew, everyone was dead and he was completely alone. It wasn't until he saw the Polaroid of Maggie that he snapped out of it.
Special shout out to Steven Yeun for an absolutely stunning performance this week. His scenes in the prison block were the most moving of the episode and there wasn't even any dialogue. No one breaks your heart more when you see them cry (other than Danai Gurira of course).
 |
| This is not okay. |
Tara:
Personally, I'm relieved that Tara is still alive (R.I.P. Lilly. You suffered from the deadly sleep-with-the-Governor-and-die curse [R.I.P. Andrea].) Even though she went along with the Governor, she was always the first one to question his decisions. It was a real show of character for Glenn to stop and rescue her but it was also a show of her character to apologize to him for everything that happened. For a "new character", Tara has already shown a lot of depth and personality. She is a welcome addition to the cast and hopefully, she won't die anytime soon (I won't hold my breath though).
 |
| "Hey girl, I know we just witnessed a massacre of all our friends and home but, can I get your number?" |
Sasha/Bob:
The theme of the week seems to be "hope or no hope". It looks like Sasha subscribes to the "no hope" philosophy. She's a realist and a pragmatist. Her main concern is food and shelter. She has no time for "what ifs" or thinking about what makes life worth living. Bob is part of the "hope" team. He's thrilled to be alive (understandably, since he has two of the strongest females with him) but also understands that life is more than just shelter and food. The old, morose Bob from a couple of episodes ago seems like he's gone, at least for now. The real test for Bob will be if he can keep the demons at bay when the going gets tough again (which it is almost guaranteed to do).
Side note: There's definitely some flirtation going on between Sasha and Bob, although it looks like Bob is the more interested party. Their relationship will be one of the more interesting ones to watch.
Overall:
This episode did a good job of showing us where the rest of the group is, physically and emotionally, without overdoing the latter. The acting was solid, especially from Lauren Cohan and Steven Yeun. We got a couple plot twists with the reveal of Judith, the return of Carol and the introduction of beloved comic book characters, Abraham, Eugene and Rosita. The goal of this season seems to be to take the characters away from the comfort and safety of a group setting, pair them up with unlikely partners and see what effect it has on them. Will they have the emotional strength to endure it or will they fall apart under all the stress? Will they even ever be reunited?
Question: the gentleman that Tyrese tried to help told him, Carol and the girls to "stay on the tracks.....there's a place up the tracks.. [that's] safe". It sounds like he knows about the place well enough to recommend that Tyrese and Carol take the children there. If the place was so safe then why wasn't he there with his family? Why did they leave? What is "Terminus"?
Zombie kill of the week:
Daryl and Beth's double team tackle. Beth is finally showing her skills!
Best quotes:
"Damn. Mean's I let myself get shot up for nothing."--Bob, the comedian.
"Shit happens. Not everything has to mean something."---Sasha
"Hope you guys enjoyed the show, assholes!"--Tara
 |
| Glenn, the badass. |
Technical stuff:
There was some really nice camera work going on in the opening montage with Beth and Daryl, as well as the scene with the zombies piling out of the bus. Also, how cool was Glenn's smoke filled entrance??
Say what?!:
The whole zombie-sneaks-up-behind-you gag is getting a little tiresome. Beth was on high alert after hearing a twig snap as the zombie approached her yet somehow she managed to be caught off guard by it seconds later. There have been plenty of scenes that highlight the fact that the zombies are heavy breathers (i.e. Tyrese and the girls hearing them at night) and lead footed/loud movers, so scenes like this are a little frustrating.
Grade: A-
Trailer for next week:
No comments:
Post a Comment