WalkingDeadFamily.com

Monday, November 13, 2017

The Walking Dead: Season 8 Episode 4 WDF Review

Episode 4:  Some Guy

Here we are in the fourth episode and we're still in the same tv-time day!  This season just might exacerbate the Carl's-Age Discrepancy.  It's only been a few years since the apocalypse began in tv time, yet Carl has aged about five years more than he should have.  We'll just pretend he's an early bloomer, but it's hard to ignore when the actor is on Twitter talking about being able to do new things as an adult!

Aaanyway, yes, we're picking back up where we left off and hopefully finishing out this dreadful tv day.  We're back at the outpost where the battalion from The Kingdom has just been mowed down, watching an injured Ezekiel crawl out from beneath the pile of protectors who literally took bullets for him.  Carol has not only survived but managed to sneak inside, where she mows down a handful of Saviors packing up some savage weaponry to take back to The Sanctuary.  Their goal becomes clear:  stop this shipment from reaching it's destination.

Alvaro (redshirt Kingdom member) comes out of nowhere to help Ezekiel hobble to safety on his jacked-up leg, but is taken out quickly leaving Ezekiel to his own devices.  Savior peon Gunther (which can't help but make us think of Gunther from Central Perk), finds Ezekiel and starts marching him back toward The Sanctuary.  Apparently there is a bounty on each of the leaders' heads because Negan wants The King, The Widow, and Rick taken alive.  It doesn't last long, because just when it looks like Gunther is about to lose his composure and kill Ezekiel, trumpets sound as Jerry comes to the rescue to battle-axe Gunther in half.  Okay, trumpets didn't really sound, but they should've.

Jerry and Ezekiel are trapped between a chained gate and a horde of walkers, many of which are turned Kingdom subjects.  Carol is still inside the fence in a fire fight with a handful of Saviors who've been loading those weapons for transport.  She makes the ultimate decision to let the Saviors get away so she can rescue Jerry and Ezekiel... But never fear!  Rick and Daryl are nearby to intercept the shipment and run the truck off the road where they can kill the remaining Saviors and take the loot.

Jerry, Ezekiel, and Carol set off on foot but are quickly surrounded by walkers in a ravine.  This scene becomes one of the most surprisingly heart-breaking ones so far... especially if you love animals.  If you haven't guessed by now, Shiva meets her end pouncing in last minute to save the trio, but in the process becomes Walker Chow herself.  😭

Is it bad that we felt more upset about Shiva than we did Eric?  Because if we're being completely honest here, we did, a little bit.

After all the carnage, Ezekiel no longer wants to pretend to be "King".  He reveals that he was a lowly zoo keeper in his past life who only earned Shiva's trust by saving her life in a pinch one day.  He clearly feels guilty that he led these folks, and Shiva to boot, to slaughter, but Jerry is having none of it.  They need a leader, and Ezekiel is still it.  The episode ends as the three hobble mournfully back through the gates of The Kingdom to relay to the residents what has happened.

The pacing is still holding steady even though we're not quite out of that first day of All Out War yet.  There are still lulls in the action (it would be exhausting otherwise) but we're not totally camped out at one location or another.  Rick & Daryl especially seem to be popping up whenever help is needed so there's always that buddy dynamic going on to some degree.  The biggest complaint we're hearing has to do with these gun battles and how unrealistic they've become.  They always have been (the ever present joke of the inexhaustible supply of ammo), but now we're talking about a lot of fire power missing it's mark... *all* the time.  Carol fought against no less than five saviors and was still able to sneak away unscathed, while Rick and Daryl were able to avoid taking a substantial hit just by swerving and ducking.  We're hearing rumbles that the gun battles are becoming so ridiculous that some long term fans are starting to be turned off of the show entirely.  

The above definitely does not describe us, however.  We are still engaged, still anxious to see how the rest of the war unfolds and what lie beyond... and next week, we get to find out what Negan does to Gabriel!!  We're excited...

Are you?


www.WalkingDeadFamily.com


No comments:

Post a Comment