Episode 3: "Four Walls and a Roof"
This episode is a smidge predictable though necessarily so. We needed to see the conclusion of Bob's storyline, and there would have been no point to dragging it out. He was already in pain from having become part of the Termite's snack bob bar, and it would have been needlessly difficult to watch that get worse. But let's be honest, we all knew Bob was a redshirt since his character development had been minimal. In fact, those seem to be becoming more common.
Just FYI, in case you've never heard the term:
Redshirt:
A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates from the original Star Trek (1966–69) television series in which the redshirted security personnel frequently die during episodes. Redshirt deaths are often used to dramatize the potential peril that the main characters face.
Gareth's proclamation that it was their group leaving the marks on the trees seemed a bit forced-placed, though it was nice to learn they were the ones who did that... but now what of Morgan who was following the marks? Dun dun DUUUUNNNN!!!! Perhaps he's been lagging back watching all of this unfold until he decides Rick is a good guy again and decides to join them. Perhaps he has chosen to follow the group going to DC and saves them from the inevitable peril they will face. We can only hope someone will, but if there was anything disappointing about this episode it was that the group found itself split up again so soon.
The one thing that could be said to be surprising was the abrupt end to the "hunters", with Rick dispatching Gareth with the red handled machete as promised. That's too bad... Andrew J. West was as cute a little cuddlewump as any villain you'd ever want to see, but again, although we expected his storyline to last a bit longer to provide a significant threat for the season, he, too, was ultimately brought in as a redshirt. The one thing we all saw coming was that Rick & crew would return at the last moment to save those who had remained in the church. There wasn't any other way to play that.
This one makes us coin the phrase "DoD", which no longer means "Department of Defense", but "Devoid of Daryl" as he and Carol are still off on their Bethcapade. The episode ends with Daryl stepping out of the woods to reveal he has returned (and brought unknown survivors with him)... so we are assured that next week we will be catching up with Beth and getting to see Daryl and Carol's attempt to rescue her, but keeping us in the dark about whom Daryl has arrived back at the church with was a good teaser to end this episode with.
All in all this is a solid episode that is well paced and certainly not boring though there are predictable elements to it, and was perfectly placed to help amp back up the tension after a much slower paced episode 2, without risking overwhelming the audience before any major happenings to come. It leaves enough for speculation while continuing to answer other burning questions that the viewer feels compelled to await next week's episode with baited breath but satisfied at the same time, which is something past episodes (from other seasons) have lacked in. It would seem #TWDFamily has hit a stride that we hope to see more of.
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Season 5 Episode 2: "Strangers"
And so we catch back up to the merry band of survivors as they head off toward their next adventure. This episode is a much slower pace (one could hardly expect the frenetic pace of the premiere to endure without complete emotional exhaustion), and there is always a certain joy in watching the group get to take a bit of a breather. With an obvious threat absent for most of the episode, emotionally it is not unlike the reprieve of when the group enjoys the downtime of the relative safety and food stores of the CDC, way back in Season 1... just before things went off the rails again.
This episode took serious hints from the CDC sequences, hitting several of the same beats. There is the introduction of a new character (Father Gabriel Stokes played by Seth Gilliam, à la Dr. Jenner) and hints of something ominous brewing. And yes, there is a "big explosion" at the end, just not quite as literal.
The episode is heavy on character development, including a couple moments of humor and ruminations on the past. After such a hard hitting premiere, by the halfway point one might be wondering if this is a filler episode, but there are two major developments soon to pass... one of which is sure to shock even the most hardened fan. Without saying too much we'll just say that "Poor Bob" was trending on Twitter for a good while afterward.
So in true TWD style, the moment we get a little comfortable and feel a little bit "safe", the rug gets snatched out from under us. Another two-thumbs-up effort for team #TWDFamily.
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We here at WDF are once again going to try to keep up with episode reviews as Season Five progresses, though we're going to do them in a slightly different format. Instead of a play by play that we're sure can be a tedious read after you've already watched, we'll give you a more standard review format. This way, it's less spoilery (although not completely devoid of spoilers) for those who haven't had the chance to watch yet.
Season 5 Episode 1: No Sanctuary
As promised, the episode opens with our friends still stuck in that train car they were imprisoned in at the end of Season 4. Straight away, we're treated to a flashback of the current Terminus leadership locked in train cars themselves, talking about how they led baddies there. Oops, looks like they previously lured in a few nasty bears with their "Sanctuary for All" signs. While the flashbacks were very welcomed (we desperately needed to know the back story on the Termites) and YAY TEAM for not leaving us in the dark there, one can't help but wonder if there could've been a more graceful way to go about it than "Then" and "Now" titles. Regardless, just a small gripe about otherwise spot-on segments.
Everyone knows by now there wouldn't be a Season 5 (much less 6, congrats team on being renewed) if the group didn't make it out of Terminus alive, so it's not so much of a spoiler to say they do, and without a single casualty as was predicted (a major death right out of the gate would have spoiled the long awaited reunion, particularly since it's just been a few "tv days" since Hershel died). Carol finally gets her day as the hero which did a lot to rehab her character after last season's Stabby Carol. It's funny how fans can predict things so well even if they seem unlikely; many were predicting she would ride in on her white horse to save the group at the last minute of the prison conflict... she didn't do that but she did eventually come to the rescue in a big, booming way. Rick's question to her afterward ("Did you do that") was amusingly slightly reminiscent of Steve Urkel while underlining the fact that even in this ZA world, one person can still make a surprisingly huge impact. The chaos she caused was impressive to say the least, yet worked in a believable way.
The emotional reunions were expertly played; this coming from a pack of people who don't like to overly praise actors. The sense of relief and joy emanated from Reedus' face and body language, mirrored again by Lincoln in the reuniting of the Grimes family and briefly by Sasha and Tyreese. By the end of the episode, we not only understood what had just happened and why, but felt an overwhelming satisfaction. One could almost walk away imagining our heroes linking arms and trotting off into the sunset together, and be happy with that conclusion to the series... but then we're baited into what's soon to come by the reappearance of a character who is incredibly beloved for the short amount of screen time he's had. MORGAN! His long rumored return is here! We are confident in saying we were not the only ones gleefully cheering (and loudly, to the chagrin of our neighbors) at his dramatic unmasking.
This episode was very well paced, with what wasn't jam packed full of action being more than intriguing enough to hold just as much attention as the scenes that were. You might worry that they can keep up to this standard, but we have the faith. It was overall a very fulfilling premiere, worthy of it's conclusion to a cliffhanger yet providing of sufficient nuggets to chew on for next week. We can't wait to see what's in store for our band of survivors next!
A note to any powers that be that stumble upon this: The complete synopsis of this episode was leaked prior to the airing. It was taken with a grain of salt since those are so often faked, but it was none-the-less a completely accurate play by play. Time to take out the branch trimmers and take off some fingers!
With the return of Season 5, we welcome all our loyal followers back into the TWD swing of things with a rare Sunday chat party!
To celebrate the Season 5 premiere, we will be hosting a scheduled chat beginning one hour before the airing SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2014, lasting at least one hour afterward. Come wait in anticipation with us and then chat about it afterward here at the WalkingDeadFamily.com Premier Walking Dead Chat Room!
The Walking Dead returns for the second half of Season 4 on February 9! For those who are counting, that's just 17 days away. It's been a long hiatus, but we're finally about to find out what happened to our beloved survivors after the long awaited prison conflict!
We apologize for never getting to post a full review of the mid-season finale; things in our own worlds got a bit crazy just as TWD was quieting down. We chose to leave it to your viewing and opinion, but we'll pick back up with our reviews in the back half! So, to get you caught up and ready to check back in with Officer Friendly and crew, here are your viewing options:
- Comcast subscribers can watch all eight of the first Season 4 episodes on On Demand currently. Just check your On Demand listings under the AMC network title to find it.
- The AMC website currently has all eight episodes in their full glory on their website here, though this is likely to be restricted to specific geographical areas.
- If you're interweb savvy enough, you can usually find a "pirated" copy of the episodes online, but since this isn't exactly legal we can't really endorse this method. However, to protect our visitors we do ask that if you're unsure, don't do it. Those websites can be shifty and may give you a virus if you're not careful and/or know what to look for and avoid.
For a quick update, you can read the full episode reviews here (posted the week the episode aired) or read the below Quick Summaries (summaries cover primary plot points but may exclude supporting points and character lines and may not follow the order of events as shown in the episode):
Episode Quick Summaries:
Episode 4.1: Days Gone Bye
We are back with the prison crew and what remained of the Woodbury survivors several months after the initial conflict with The Governor (after which The Gov killed off his entire "army" except Karen who survived). They have cultivated the prison grounds, established a leadership council, and formed a community. It is established that the walker hordes keep pushing in on the fences, and that Karen and Tyreese are now a couple. Part of the group go on a disastrous supply run while Rick comes across a stranger in the woods (who ends up dead when she tries to feed him to her husband who is now just a walker's head). Carl catches Carol giving the kids 'survival lessons'. Patrick (one of the children from Woodbury) and one of the pigs kept for food die of an unknown illness.
Episode 4.2: Infected
Someone is feeding the walkers at the fences. Patrick reanimates and attacks Cell Block D. After the attack, the group clears the prison of the threat and Carol is entrusted with the care of two young girls (Mika and Lizzy) now orphaned by the death of their father in the attack. The group begins to isolate the ill, including Karen and former Woodburian David. Michonne has a mysteriously emotional moment holding Judith. Rick, figuring the pigs to be lost to the illness as a food source, uses them to draw the walkers away from the fences. Tyreese finds the bodies of Karen and David outside, burnt and still smoking.
Episode 4.3: Isolation
"Dr. S" (a Woodbury survivor) and Hershel are tending to the ill while outside, Tyreese, Daryl, and Rick get into an emotional scuffle about finding who killed Karen and David. The sick are confined to Cell Block A while the children are taken into quarantine. Glenn and Sasha both take gravely ill. Daryl takes a group on a medicine run that goes South fast, as the group has to flee their car and head out on foot. Carol admits to Rick that she was the one who killed Karen and David.
Episode 4.4: Indifference
The group on the medicine run bump into even more trouble before making into the building to retrieve the supplies they need. Bob (a survivor previously established to have been picked up on the road by Daryl) causes issues as he's collected alcohol to satisfy his alcoholism instead of medical supplies. Rick and Carol go out on a run for food and other supplies, running into a young couple who offer to help them search but who quickly disappear and are presumed dead. Rick provides Carol with basic supplies and a vehicle, and tells her she can't come back to the prison with him.
Episode 4:5: Internment
The situation with the illness at the prison is at critical mass. This episode focuses heavily on Hershel tending to the sick while Dr. S gets sicker and dies. Glenn and Sasha are both near death. Rick returns and pulls Carl from quarantine to help fortify the fence that is about to give way against a walker horde; they mow them down with gunfire just as they break through the fences. Maggie rushes in to help Hershel deal with the survivors that have died and turned. The group on the supply run return in the nick of time to provide Glenn and Sasha with the medication they need to stabilize. Rick only tells Hershel of his banning Carol from the prison.
Episode 4:6: Live Bait
Episodes 6 and 7 revisit The Governor and trace his steps since the initial conflict at the prison. It is revealed that Martinez and Shumpert abandoned him on the road. On the road, he chooses the name "Brian Heriot" as his new alias just before he collapses in front of an apartment building and is taken in by two younger women (Lily and Tara) with a dying father and a young daughter. "Brian" helps the women in any way they ask (establishing him as a new type of man), and he forms an affection for Lily, the older of the two (the mother of the girl). Once the old man dies, the four take off in his delivery truck looking for a better place to live. The Governor and Lily consummate their relationship the night before they are overrun by a horde. While running away (and carrying the girl, Megan, in his arms), "Brian" falls into a walker pit and is found by Martinez.
Episode 4.7: Dead Weight
The Governor and his new family are trying to fit in with the group founded and run by Martinez, who live in a group of RVs and tents off the road in the woods. The Governor is trying to establish a relationship with Megan, and Martinez is trying to establish his authority over him. A group of men invite him to go on a run with them, but during the run The Governor is shown to still exhibit some of his old ruthless ways. Once back at camp, it is revealed that Shumpert was killed on the road, just before "Brian" secretly feeds Martinez to the walkers in the pit. A survivor, Pete, claims the leadership role once Martinez is discovered dead. Brian is again taken out on a run after which he realizes the men of the group are unstable and decides it's time to leave, but they are stopped on the road by a walker obstacle and return. Back at camp the next day, Brian kills Pete and assumes leadership and eludes toward taking a new place by force. The episode ends with The Governor peering through the woods at Michonne and Hershel outside the prison fence burning walker bodies.
Episode 4.8: Too Far Gone
The Governor delivers a rousing speech to the remaining survivors at camp about taking over a prison where they will be safe and have supplies, and informs them that he has taken two hostages from their group to help facilitate the takeover. The group reluctantly agrees to attack. Inside the prison, Tyreese has found a dissected rodent just before an explosion rocks the prison. The Governor's group has shown up outside the prison fences with several vehicles flanking a tank, and fired a shot into a guard tower. Calling Rick down to talk to him at the fence, The Governor reveals that he has Michonne and Hershel in his custody, giving them until the end of the day to vacate the prison peacefully before he will kill the pair. In the process, The Governor becomes enraged and uses Michonne's katana to slice into Hershel's neck... at which point Rick fires on him and the battle begins. The Governor emotionally beheads Hershel who has managed to crawl away between the tank and a vehicle. In the middle of the fire fight, Lily (who had stayed behind at the camp with Megan) arrives holding Megan's lifeless body in her arms as she has been killed by a walker back at camp. Tara hides from the fight and escapes while the rest of The Governor's new army is killed one by one by the prison crew. The Governor and Rick get into a hand-to-hand battle that is ended by Michonne running her katana through The Governor's back. Splintered in different areas of the prison, the prison group flees in different directions in small groups (all on foot except for the prison bus loaded with Glenn and the other sick survivors) as a wounded Rick and Carl discover Judith's car seat empty and bloody before escaping into the woods.
It's the Mid-Season Finale!
We're not going to "spoil" this one for the UK folks who won't get to see it until Friday, so we'll just say this...
HOLY POOP BALLS.
This one will knock your socks off. Our initial reaction is it's a point-for-point win (and lose)! It's everything and MORE than everyone who complained about the Season 3 finale wanted. It provides just the right amount of heartbreak mixed with a sprinkle of unexpected and closure, and it escalates quickly... we'll say that much. If you've not seen it yet, get out your tissues, be ready to cheer a time or two, and prepare yourself to be shocked and awed.
Good Job writers, actors, grips, set dressers... EVERYBODY!! Absolutely, a good job on everyone's part.
Episode Synopsis and Review:
Section 4.7.1
The opening sequence flips back and forth between a conversation between “Brian” and Megan and the turn of events at the walker pit where episode 6 left off. Brian is washing clothes in a tub while Megan is playing chess. She is thinking about what move to make next in the game. Back at the walker pit, Martinez and Brian help Megan out of the pit where she then runs to her mother. Martinez stands there for a moment looking at Brian before throwing a rope down to help him. Back at the chess game Brian is coaxing Megan to make her move in the game while he hangs the laundry on the clothes line. Megan comments that he never lets her win anyway. He replies that it wouldn’t be winning and that is what his father used to say and that his father used to beat him at chess too, along with everything else. Back at the walker pit, Brian climbs out with the help of Martinez. It’s evident that they know each other. Back to the chess game Megan asks Brian if his dad was mean and if it was because he was bad. He replies “sometimes” to both questions. Back at the walker pit Martinez is asking him if he’s been on the run all that time. Back at the chess game, Megan asks if she is bad because her dad was always mean to her. Brian reassures her she is good. Back at the walker pit, Martinez says they have a camp and If they want to join the camp they need to know that Martinez is in charge and no dead weight. Contribute or be cast out. He asks “Brian” if he can live with that. Back at the chess game Brian is reassuring Megan that they were all going to be ok. Megan asks if it’s because they are all good. Brian doesn’t reply. He goes back to his laundry. Megan makes her move and says it’s his turn. Brian says he’s thinking. The scene pan out to a shot of the Governor standing at the clothesline to reveal a tank beside their trailer as the title music begins to play.
- Gen: They are hinting heavily that there is going to be a struggle between good and bad this episode based on the conversation he was having with Megan. I was really hoping that he had turned over a new leaf and that he wouldn’t be making the same mistakes that he made with Woodbury. At this point I thought it was a possibility… until I saw the tank. That definitely implies that we haven’t seen the last of the good ol’ Governor. I also liked that we got a bit more insight into the Governor’s background from the discussion about his father.
Section 4.7.2
Brian and Lilly are talking in their trailer. She’s asking if he is going out today and he says on a supply run with Martinez, Pete & Mitch. Lilly is going to set up a nurse’s station for the camp. Brian apologizes and says he wanted something better for them as he eyes the leak in the roof of their trailer. Out on the supply run they are following a map to a cabin that might contain supplies. They come across a decapitated body tied to a tree that has a sign on it that reads: “Liar”. They move on. Back at the camp Lilly is patching up a cut on Alisha’s finger. Tara starts up a conversation with her about weapons. Back on the supply run, they come across another body tied to a chair in a field, also decapitated with a sign on his chest: “rapist”. They keep walking. They make it to the cabin where they find a man with a sign around his neck “murderer”. He shot himself in the head, leading the men to believe he was the one responsible for the dead men they found on their way there. They proceed into the cabin where they hear a noise in the back and figure it is a walker that has gotten stuck and can’t get out. Brian goes in first. Slowly they make their way to the back of the cabin where a walker jumps out and attacks Pete. Brian beats the walker to death. They find the heads of the 2 dead men they saw on the way there. Another walker comes out and Brian beats him to death as well with his flashlight.
- Gen: The first thing I thought of when I saw the first decapitated body was Crazy Clara’s husband! After all, she was just carrying around his head in a sack. Obviously it wasn’t him since we see the 2 walker heads on the floor in the cabin. I think this is where we first start to see that the Gov doesn’t have faith in Martinez’s ability to lead the camp. He was the one who had to step up and kill the walkers.
Section 4.7.3
Later at the cabin Martinez admits to Brian that if it was just him in the pit and not for the people he was with, he wouldn’t have taken him into the camp. He says that he seems different now, asks him if he has changed. Brian says yes. The other guys come back with a box full of canned goods and beer that they found in the cabin. They briefly discuss their back stories. Back at the camp after they returned, Martinez and Alisha are having dinner with Brian, Lilly, Megan and Tara. Lilly says being at the camp is the first time she has felt safe since the beginning of the apocalypse. The women start asking about their previous “camp” and that it sounded pretty sweet. Lilly wants to hear about it but says Brian won’t talk about it. The party breaks up as Tara and Alisha leave, followed by Martinez. Megan tells Brian that the roof is leaking again and Martinez tells him he should fix it. Brian is in the trailer with duct tape about to patch the hole when there is a knock on the door. Martinez says he has a surprise for him. They are now up on a trailer hitting golf balls into the walker pits and drinking. We find out that Shumpert is dead. He got killed by a walker and martinez was the one to put him down afterwards. Martinez says they should share the power in the camp. Brian then hits Martinez over the head with a golf club, pushes him off of the roof and drags him to a walker pit. The Governor keeps saying “I don’t want it!” as he holds martinez over a pit of walkers, where he is eaten alive.
- Gen: Welcome back Governor! Thank you, writers, for shattering my hopes that he could actually turn out to be a half decent guy. He couldn't just beat him to death either; he had to go and feed him to the walkers. Do you think that was a little bit of revenge for Martinez ditching him or just purely to get him to shut up?
Section 4.7.4
Back in the trailer Brian is upset as LiIly and Megan come home. Lilly asks Brian what is wrong and he says he had a bad dream. She asks him what it was and he says he can’t remember. Next morning they come together in a group to say they found Martinez in the pit. They blame the alcohol and that he fell in. Pete says he’s taking over leadership of the camp. The other’s want a vote. They are going to vote in the next couple of days but for now it’s business as usual. Pete and Mitch take Brian out on a hunt. Pete asks Brian for help with leading the camp. They come across another camp of survivors in the woods, living in tents. They guess there are maybe 10 people and a lot of supplies. Pete suggests they take them in and his brother says they don’t have enough to go around as it is. Mitch suggest that they rob them. Pete refuses and says they need to find their own supplies. Brian stays quiet. After finding some squirrels and condensed milk, Brian wanders off to find to find the camp they were previously at has been ransacked and the people all killed, supplies taken. Mitch is angry because they could have had the supplies. He stabs a survivor in the head that was coming to on the ground. Pete is angry and says he might have lived. Again, brian stays quiet. Back at the camp Lilly and megan are in the trailer when Brian comes in and tells them to pack their stuff and that they need to leave because it’s not safe anymore. Megan begins to pack immediately while Lilly says they can’t leave because she’s the only nurse and now Tara has Alisha. Brian says things are going to go bad and he can’t put them through that “again” and asks her if she trusts him. They are out on the road in a car and Alisha is questioning what they are doing. Suddenly the car stops. Brian gets out. We see a group of walkers stuck waist deep in the mud, blocking the road. Brian stands and watches them for a moment and turns back to look at a frightened LiIly and Megan in the car.
- Gen: I bet the Gov was wishing he had that tank right about then! I think he was really struggling with his demons. He was trying so hard to resist the urge to be The Governor again and the only thing left that he could think to do was run. Personally I think it was too late the moment he killed Martinez. There was no turning back for him after that.
Section 4.7.5
The next morning the car is back at camp and Brian is getting ready. Lilly is waking up with Tara and Alisha beside her. She asks him what he is doing to which he replies “surviving”.
He walks over to Pete’s trailer and knocks on the door. Pete thinks he is there to talk about Mitch. After inviting him in, Brian stabs Pete and chokes him to death. Next he goes to Mitch’s trailer. Mitch answers and Brian is holding a gun to him. They sit down at the table and Mitch asks where Pete is. Brian says he’s dead. Mitch gets up and asks if he’s going to kill him too. Brian holds his gun on him and motions for him to sit down. Mitch asks why he killed Pete and his reply was that Mitch was right and that they should have taken the supplies at the other camp and that he didn’t care that he killed the man who had survived. Brian says that he is running things now and that he will do whatever it takes to protect the camp. He wants Mitch on his side. Mitch goes along with it. Brian dumps Pete’s body in the pond, weighted down so he sinks to the bottom. Mitch asks what they should tell everyone about Pete and he says to say that he died on a supply run protecting them.
- Gen: I wasn’t surprised Mitch went along with him even after the Gov killed his brother. Also, I don’t think he went along because he is afraid of the Gov, but because he agrees with him. He sees an opportunity to run things the way he thinks they should be run and not by doing what is necessarily right.
Section 4.7.6
Back at the camp Brian is organizing the “troops”. They are having a conversation about their supplies and that they need to conserve their ammo because they need to be ready not just to protect themselves against the biters but also other humans. If they encounter anyone on a run they are to make themselves scarce and report back to the Governor about where they saw them. The Governor is back in his trailer looking over a map and circles a location. LiIly gets out of bed and he says maybe they can find a better place if they are willing to fight for it. She says they don’t need to find a better place, that the camp is home. The next morning Megan is out playing tag with Tara. Megan thinks she has found Tara behind a sheet hanging on the line but it is a walker who then goes after her as she tries to crawl under the trailer. Tara is trying to pull the walker away from Megan but the skin on his leg just slides off instead. There is gun shot and the Gov has shot the walker in the head and saves Megan. He is then standing on the dock where he dumped Petes body looking down into the water where Pete has now turned into a walker. He is then driving his truck in the forest when he gets out and we see he has driven to the prison and is watching Rick and Carl in the garden. He then comes upon Michonne and Hershel outside the fence. He sees Michonne smiling and raises his gun to shoot.
- Gen: Poor Pete. The Gov could have at least stabbed him in the head first or something. Is the pond now going to turn into his new walker garden? No fish tanks for the heads so I guess the pond will do! I think it’s safe to say that “Brian” is no more and we are back to full on Governor. He’s always wanted to take that prison and now that he has his power back and a new group of troops, he can try. I love how they ended the episode with him raising his gun to shoot Michonne. They did a good job of filling in the blanks in the last 2 episodes to bring us full circle to where we last left the prison group. Although, I did feel that there was A LOT of info crammed into the last 2 episodes. Needless to say, I’m super excited for the mid-season finale!
