So here’s something a little different. I’ll be putting pen to paper on Season 4 of The Walking Dead as the episodes roll out. Expect my posts to be a day (or more) after the show premiers each week. This is certainly full of spoilers (from both the show and comics) so you have been warned.

These posts are going to really just highlight my thoughts on each episode. I didn’t post on the first episode of this season, but for the most part, it was uneventful. So without further ado, let’s get into the meat of the matter.

In the season opener, one of the add-ons to Rick’s crew dies of some unknown cause near the episode’s end. The young man returns as a walker and promptly visits an adjacent cell-block.  In this week’s episode, we see the inevitable shit-storm that ensues as our new walker partakes of a smörgåsbord of (sleepy human) delights. Rick and company have to contend with a horde of freshly minted walkers. Backed by Glen, Daryl, and Tyreese, the main characters rip through the undead ranks with aplomb. Now I know Rick and his core group are pros at killing walkers, but I would have liked to see them struggle just a tad more. These people are driving knives into skulls of the recently-departed like it’s nothing. These zombies aren’t the ooey-gooey type of walkers we’ve seen so far in season four. These are fresh. I imagine new walkers would pose more of a threat than some of the rotting corpses we’ve seen peppering the landscape.

During all that hoopla, we see Michonne hit a snag where she comes close to eating it. But to be honest, this felt way out of place. I honestly can’t recall a moment where Michonne has screwed up and really made herself vulnerable. But in her efforts to get to the prison, she trips up like a noob and nearly gets dispatched by a hungry pair of walkers.

It seemed  silly, and a bit out of place. Now when Rick and crew are going into the chaos of the cell block under siege,  that’s a moment where a slip-up from one of the main characters wouldn’t have just been believable, it would have made sense. But I digress.

I hope to see more segments where the main characters are vulnerable.

I love that Daryl is always ready.

Afterwards, we come to learn that the first walker died of some sort of flu that can kill in a few days or less. This was hinted at in the first episode of the season, as we were repeatedly shown a walker who had blood coming from his eyes. Herschel and other medical personnel determine that it was a flu variant and start slinging around medical terms. But when you don’t know what the hell has caused everyone to turn to a walker when they die, how can you not get paranoid as to what’s going on? Is the zombie pandemic even related to a disease process of some kind? Or is it the wrath of God? The end of days? I don’t know. But the characters came to the conclusions they did, and the episode unravels in a fashion as to create such uncertainties in your mind.

Less really is more, as the imagination runs wild with the possibilities. And this episode instills a good sense of fear.

Sick survivors are placed under quarantine while the group tries to find a solution.

Michonne, recovering from her twisted ankle, is given some more screen time. She’s forced to hold Judith (Rick’s daughter) and we’re given a very touching scene as our lone wolf breaks down and bawls like a baby. I won’t lie, it brought a tear to my eye. I’m fairly certain the show hasn’t addressed the question on your mind that the comics have – Michonne had two daughters. I tend to forget as the two blur and deviate in their own ways. But I absolutely adored this scene. It gave me some of that vulnerability I wanted to see among the main characters, though it took a different approach instead of opting for physical danger. Needless to say, I loved it. Probably the best scene of the entire episode in my opinion.

Our brief moment of tenderness is broken by walkers causing a stink at the gates. Massing in the hundreds, the undead horde is pushing in, trying to get to the tasty flesh of the survivors. This was a well-done scene, particularly on Andrew Lincoln’s (a.k.a. Rick) behalf. As the fence buckles under the weight of the walkers, Rick’s core group tries to stave off the sea of ghouls. There’s a moment where Rick just steps back and has this “oh shit” looks on his face. It was so well done. Coupled with Michonne’s scene, it was one of those moments that just brought you right there alongside the characters. It was an awesome scene and pretty damn scary.

I see you! Love the special effects and animatronics this season!

Shortly thereafter, Rick gets rid of his pigs to lure the walkers away. He slashes the poor little boos and plops them down on the cold ground to get devoured by the zombie horde. It was another fantastic scene as you could feel Rick’s pain. We’re not quite sure how much time has passed since season 3, but it seems to have been enough for old wounds to heal. Rick’s been coping by toiling in the earth and frolicking about with God’s little creatures. But when he sacrifices his pigs, it was truly a heart-wrenching moment. Lincoln kills it again as you could just feel his pain. Doing this seemed necessary as one of the pigs died in the previous episode, and as we all know, some variants of flu can hop between species. Regardless, I sure as hell wouldn’t kill my pigs, but then again, who knows? It was a spur of the moment kind of thing.

But that scene, and the one that picks up immediately after, shows the audience that the prison isn’t safe. The zombies were being lured to the wall. Someone had been feeding them rats. So there’s the ever-present threat of some asshat individual, and the very real possibility that there simply isn’t anywhere safe for the group to go.

Rick realizes this as he gives Carl his gun, and breaks out the magnum, strapping it to his hip. Rick breaks down the enclosure that housed his piglets and sets it on fire. He then removes his shirt, stained with pig blood, and casts it into the fire. I took this to be symbolic in that he was stripping away this false skin. Rick’s not a farmer, no matter how much he wants to be. The old way of life – stories for the kids, school, grilling, all that’s gone. This is a new world. And as the first two episodes of season four have shown, the old way of life is simply gone. So many things were left unsaid. It was beautifully tragic.

Closing out the episode, Tyreese meanders down to visit his lady’s quarters where she’s being quarantined. He finds a trail of blood, where she appeared to be dragged to a small enclosed area outside of the prison. There, he finds her charred remains.

Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru? 

Who burned her and the other sick survivor? Was it the doctor we had a brief glimpse of in the first episode? Or the shit-head saboteur meandering about the prison grounds? Regardless, it was another brilliant moment  where so much was left unsaid. Because of that, the mind wanders. I’m sure this last bit will be answered in the next episode. But the way it was handled – the fact that no one else was about and all we could see was the growing horror on Tyreese’s face was brilliant.

Fucked up way to end an episode. But I loved it.

Final Thoughts

If I had any complaint about the show it’s that there are simply too many characters at this point of time. I don’t know the name of Tyreese’s girlfriend. She was the only person to survive the slaughter of Woodbury’s army at the hands of the governor. And right of the bat, she appears to have been knocked off.

Which brings me to Tyreese. In the comics, this guy’s basically Daryl. When Tyreese gets it in the comics, you feel it in the gut because he was with Rick for so long. People would crucify me for saying it, but at some point, they need to knock off Daryl so we can feel that same kind of emotional impact. So far, Tyreese has been a voice droning on in the background. I want to see him take more of an active role in the group. But to do that, I think some of the characters are going to have to die. Does it have to be Daryl Dixon? Certainly not. There’s plenty of other characters in the show who aren’t nearly as strong or entertaining. But something needs to be done.

Which brings me to the next point – the children.

A walking liability.

In the comics, we see children murdered. It was terrifying and disturbing. With so much heavy shit going on, there were times where I had to just put the comic down to clear my head. I’m not saying the show has to ax the kids. But I think it’s inevitable. Will it show some of the FUBAR moments from the comics? Probably not on cable. I’m not even sure they’d go there on HBO. But who knows?

I would say that true horror isn’t necessarily about what’s shown, but what’s just on the edge of the screen or implied. As this season has artfully demonstrated so far, it’s not what’s said, but rather, what’s left unsaid to let the imagination run amok.  All I can say is brace yourselves – the body count is going to rise. My only real gripe is because there are so many survivors at the moment, their loss won’t sting, as say, Andrea’s did.

We know the Governor is lurking about. And it’s quite possible he has an agent on the inside.

I know more characters from the comics are coming. But I want them to fall alongside the regulars in that each and every one of them is important.

I also hope to see the Governor’s return bring home a real sense of tragedy. When he finally gets his in the comics, it’s pretty epic. The difference though, is that he had Woodbury fighting Rick’s hardened group. And the results are deliciously disastrous.

So we’ll see what next week brings. But I think we’re getting to something really special. Each episode has been moving forward, yet laying the groundwork for what we all know is true – the prison isn’t safe. Rick and his people are going to have to hit the open road again. And it’s going to be pretty damn scary when they have to hit the open road.

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