The Walking Dead returned February 9th after a painful wait. The deaths of Hershel and the Governor, along with questions about Judith’s fate and the destruction of the prison, left us all wondering what happens next with our remaining characters. After picks up right where we left off, dividing its time between Rick, Carl and Michonne, in what ended up becoming the best episode of the season thus far.
First of all, I loved Hershel, but I enjoyed the cameo made by his head. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the realism of his noggin, and Greg Nicotero certainly deserves respect for his work on it. Michonne putting him down was a nice nod to the comics in which she does the same, but to a different character that was beheaded by the Governor.
I’ve already heard a lot of complaints about how Michonne reverted back to her “walker pet” technique to camouflage herself amongst the zombies. I can understand how it seems nonsensical, but this doesn’t break any rules that the show hasn’t established. I think of Milton back in season three, talking about her previous pets, where he said something like, “Take away their ability to eat, and they become docile.” Somehow, they know when they can’t attack and somehow just become even more mindless. It’s weird, but we still don’t know a damn thing about the virus or how it exactly works, so I couldn’t begin to explain to you the science behind it. I still wouldn’t recommend trying it, though.
I especially loved Michonne’s dream sequence, even if it took more than one viewing to fully understand it. Everything about it was so surreal, while at the same time giving us slices of the zombie slayer’s mysterious past. I felt so horribly for Michonne, who in her dream was holding her son in her arms in one moment, and then in the next he was gone… that’s probably a lot like how it felt like in real life for her when she evidently lost him.
The scenes with Rick and Carl were incredibly accurate to what happened in the comics, which I guess proves that Scott Gimple is preferring to stay closer to the original story than the last showrunner was willing to. I’m all for deviation, but it scares me a little after the show fumbled quite a bit with the Woodbury and prison storyline, which was probably the peak of the books. This episode, meanwhile, stayed very close to its source material, and ended up becoming my favorite episode of season four so far. So I suppose I don’t have any problems with adhering to the original story.
I also thought this was a great developmental episode for Carl. I felt that the episode told a great self-contained story with him, showing needed character progression. It was sad seeing him admire the big-screen television and stack of video games before realizing he would never be able to play them again. After narrowly avoiding death multiple times when he was on his own, and coming to terms with the fact that he’s still a kid unfit to survive on his own, I felt so happy for him when he got to enjoy that 112 ounce can of pudding on the roof. In that moment, he was a kid again, and nothing else mattered.
I especially loved the end of the episode. I found it to be very touching, and a fitting finale of a great show.
“It’s for you.”
The Jeremy Dick 