Blogging Dead: The Walking Dead, Episode 414 ‘The Grove’

Holy shit.

I am nearly speechless after watching The Grove, which could easily be the best episode of Season 4 unless the final two episodes end up being super-awesome and incredible.  I mean, wow.  Just, wow.  This could end up being the Season 4 equivalent of Clear.

After the past few installments of the season, I was starting to get tired of the bottle episodes, clamoring for Rick and Michonne to return.  This is one of those moments where I realize that I should’ve just held my tongue.  I wouldn’t trade in this episode for anything and I’m so glad this story had its own full hour in which to develop.

This episode had it all and it’s really what The Walking Dead is all about.  It had amazing character development for both the adults and the children.  The acting and writing was all incredible.  The entire episode kept me in suspense, and even when the group found what seemed to be a good shelter, it always seemed very dark with a constant feeling of impending dread.  I just knew that there was no way things were going to end well.

Carol, Tyreese, and even Lizzie and Mika were all fantastically developed in this episode.  Their respective actor and actresses all did incredible, I thought, especially Melissa McBride who delivered one of the best television performances I have seen.  You could practically feel Carol’s heart breaking and I felt myself hurting with her.  Chad Coleman also delivered in such an incredible way that I’m now a much bigger Tyreese fan than I was before.

I also liked hearing the characters talk about the ones they’ve lost, such as Carol remembering Sophia and Tyreese talking about his nightmares about Karen.  I like when the deaths of characters actually mean something, so it was nice to see Carol and Tyreese express their hurt over the ones that have died.  It was like when Daryl talked about Merle in his bottle episode with Beth.  Those other people may be gone but it’s nice to see that they’re not forgotten.

I have to admit that Lizzie killing Mika might not have been as surprising for us fans of the books who might have been expecting this to be the TV version of a similar event from the comics.  However, I say that this is one of those rare times when the TV show managed to pull off a comic book scene much more efficiently— and don’t get me wrong, I loved the similar storyline from the comic.  But, the characters involved on the show were developed so much better, and Carol’s discovery of the scene and subsequent actions were far more emotional and heartwrenching than what happened in the other medium.

I didn’t realize at first that Carol was taking Lizzie outside to execute her.  I thought she was serious about her plans to just run off with Lizzie, keeping her away from all other people.  But I think Carol realized that Lizzie was simply too far gone and was psychologically never coming back.  Trying to keep Lizzie hidden from the world for the rest of their lives was simply not a good life to live, especially when you consider it was probably just a matter of time before Lizzie got herself devoured by the walkers she loved so much.

This way, Lizzie can go quickly without even realizing it, the final thing she sees being something pretty.  Lizzie, in her sick mind, thought she was doing something good for her sister, so now she won’t have to deal with the realization that she murdered Mika and that Mika would never come back.  She won’t get bitten and slowly die from the fever.  She won’t be munched on to death.  She got to look at the pretty flowers in the grove before moving on to the next life.

I will say that the scene reminded me of George and Lennie from Of Mice and Men.  The obvious difference, though, is that Lennie wanted to tend the rabbits while Lizzie wanted to skin them.

Blogging Dead: The Walking Dead, Episode 411 ‘Claimed’

Claimed was a very suspenseful episode of The Walking Dead and a great follow-up to the previous excellent installment before it, After.

All of the scenes with Rick were very good and easily the best of the episode.  Being unarmed and trapped under a bed, hiding from devious intruders, certainly had me afraid for Rick.  I realize that Rick dying in this episode would be highly unlikely, but the suspense was still incredibly high.  Even if they didn’t kill him, I thought he could be hurt or captured, and I was definitely afraid for him.

Rick’s walker bomb idea was genius.  When he opened the door slightly after killing the man he encountered in the bathroom, it didn’t really click for me as to why he did that until the end of the episode when it seemed that the man had turned and attacked the other raiders.  It was also pretty sweet to see Rick as a badass again, showing that he’s still got it with his incredible escape from the house.

I found Rick’s stealthy escape really reminded me of the video game The Last of Us.

The exploration with Michonne and Carl was interesting but I felt that it moved a little slowly.  Maybe a little too much time was spent with Carl grilling Michonne about her child, because we, the viewers, already know this.  We really didn’t learn anything new about him other than his name, Andre (which sounds pretty close to Andrea.. maybe that’s why Michonne bonded with Andrea so easily?)  I do like seeing the two of them bond though, but I also didn’t really care for the cliche line Carl threw out in the beginning, where he says, “I would rather drink Judith’s formula…”

It just seemed a little forced.

Abraham has grown on me a little more since his corny introduction, but I’m still on the fence with Rosita and Eugene.  Rosita has barely spoke or done anything really, other than look pretty in her unrealistic outfit.  I do have hopes for her though, because I am a fan of her comic counterpart, and the same goes for Eugene.  I do dig the Euge in the comics, but so far I’m unimpressed with the TV version.  He’s come across as really weird and kind of annoying, but I guess that’s probably the point.

I do like Tara and I’m glad she’s stayed so loyal to Glenn.  It’s going to be her only saving grace when the group does finally get reunited (assuming they all actually do get back together).  I am sure some of the others will recognize Tara from being a part of the Governor’s militia which brought about the destruction of the prison.  Hopefully Glenn stays in one piece because he’s the only one that’s got her back.

Overall, this was a solid episode, and as I said, the Rick stuff (and thangs) was highly intense and riveting.

Blogging Dead: The Walking Dead, Episode 311 ‘I Ain’t a Judas’

After the intense episode that was 310, it seemed natural to slow things down for a little while.  Episode 311 was definitely a recovery episode in the sense that it remained story-driven with little emphasis on action.  While we were catching our breaths after last episode’s assault, I Ain’t a Judas introduced us to the aftermath of the attack on both sides of the equation with poor Andrea caught in the middle.

Before I talk about the episode, let me take a second to address all of this Andrea hatred from many fans of the show.  It seemed that since Lori’s gone on to the big purple flannel factory in the sky, her haters were left without a lead woman to constantly bitch about.  Rather than attending therapy or at least taking their anger out on computer-generated enemies in violent video games, everybody simply decided to switch gears and start laying it on Andrea.

People, you’ve got to realize that the characters don’t always know what we, the viewers, know.  We can be disappointed with her falling for the Governor, since we knew what kind of despicable person he really was, but we can’t get pissed at her for not knowing that.  All she knew was that everything seemed safe in Woodbury compared to her eight months on the road and this handsome leader began putting the moves on her.  I’m willing to bet that any woman in that situation would’ve done the same thing.

Instead, Andrea’s “stupid,” even though she didn’t know about his murderous dark side (the walker heads and Penny was disturbing, but not that much weirder than her hanging out with Michonne’s pets for eight months, or Hershel’s zombie-filled barn).  And, Andrea’s a “slut,” even though she’s only been with two people since the start of the apocalypse, in a world where it’s extremely difficult to find any form of romantic comfort.

We can concede that Andrea doesn’t have the best picks with her men, but we’ve also got to remember that options are very limited, and out of those of us who have dated multiple people, who hasn’t made some mistakes?

In any case, after Michonne revealed to Andrea the Governor’s true colors, you could see everything clicking in Andrea’s eyes.  She knows what’s up now, but all the same, she doesn’t want anymore bloodshed.  A lot of people will give her shit for not offing the Governor when she had the chance, but I think they’re not fully understanding her position if that is the case.  While Maggie and others from Rick’s group have killed humans at this point, Andrea never has.  It’s quite a leap to go from that to slicing a man’s throat while he sleeps, even if he is an asshole.

It was very interesting seeing Andrea reunite with her long-lost friends in the prison.  I almost forgot she didn’t even know of the deaths of Shane, Lori and T-Dog, which had to be upsetting to hear.  Everybody has suffered so much loss, I can see why she wants to end the carnage as peacefully as possible.  Obviously, though, that’s not going to happen.

It seems Tyreese and friends have made their way to Woodbury.  The Governor no doubt would appreciate their services, but I’m hoping Tyreese thinks better of trying to help Woodbury attack the prison group.  Tyreese knows and respects all of the group members except Rick, and he knows there’s a baby there whom he’s already shown sympathy for.  I can’t see him willingly firing on the prison with that in mind.  I’m sure Sasha, his sister, will back him up should he choose not to go along with that, but those assholes Allen and Ben will definitely be a problem.

I wonder if the Governor will find out from Tyreese’s group that there’s a baby in the prison?  It will certainly make the Governor that much more despicable if he follows through with his attack, even with that information.

I was a little surprised to see Merle freely walking around the prison and later even holding a machine gun.  It sure seems like he was forgiven a little quickly, doesn’t it?  I’d figure they’d keep him in a cell like he was in the beginning of the episode.  Even with Daryl vouching for him, his inclusion still makes me a little uneasy.  Great call from Rick not to take Daryl on the supply run, so he can keep an eye on Merle.  I’m sure Merle will stay in line with his brother around, but I know I wouldn’t want to be left alone with him.  Evidently and understandably, though, it seems Glenn and Michonne still have not quite buried the hatchet there.

I’m pretty excited for the next episode.  My favorite badasses from the comics, Rick and Michonne, are going on a roadtrip!  It almost sounds like a comedy spin-off, but I’m sure the ride will be mostly full of awkward silence until they encounter inevitable major problems.  Or maybe they’ll just find a White Castle.