The Walking Dead Discussion

I’ve been disappointed by season 4 overall.

Spoiler

Like much of the entire series, it does drag on. Whether it's intentional or not they've been adding in a great deal non canon stuff to the story. Both attacks from the governor in the comic book take place like 30 minutes apart, they strung it out over another half a season on the tv show. Hershel's farm was only 6 issues but that stretched that into an entire season. For the first time there's promise of a closer comic book adaption for following episodes, so far being proven with the most recent episode. Just hope this trend continues because the prison arc is just one of many great ones.

 

They do drag it alot. Maybe they need to make a specific amount of seasons? Idk. I do want it to be more accurate to the comic aswell, so they better keep this up.

As for this episode, haven’t seen one word about the actual episode yet at all. I figured we were gonna talk about whats going on.


Spoiler:

Spoiler

They had a small dream describe her backstory and I was kind of disappointed they couldn't even keep it accurate to the comic book. In the Michonne Special most of what they showed in her backstory was different; how she got the sword, she didn't have a kid. Other than that it was a good episode. They're wrapping up what's going on with each group after they fled the destroyed prison. Next episode is Daryl and Beth and judging from the preview maybe some Glenn too. There was an article about Daryl's part and how he might be getting some backstory as well. Also curious when Abraham is going to be introduced. It's supposed to happen this season so hopefully they don't take too long.

 

Chandler Riggs and his stunt double for Carl Grimes.
Oh, did you know that Chandler's double is actually a 31-year-old woman named Ashley? Well we do hope that she had her share of The Pudding too.

 

Next episode is out.

Spoiler

Some things to think about.

The team is split but we finally have some closure on a lot of important questions. Through the entire episode most everyone is passing through the same highway just narrowly missing each other.


Daryl and Beth are on the trail of someone living. Could it be Tyreese's blood that Daryl found on the shrub?
Who was Beth writing to in the prison? Possibly her mother? Those monologues seemed to serve some sort of relevance.
Daryl is sullen and pessimistic but Beth seems hell bent on finding anyone would could be alive. Based on her breaking down and crying when she sees those walkers, how well do you think she's holding up mentally, considering recent events?

Now that we know Judith is alive and well, how long do you anticipate she will live in a world which isn't baby friendly?
Did you agree with Tyreese leaving the three girls alone? Hopefully that isn't why the two other kids in their group are missing.
What was your reaction to Lizzy trying to muffle Judith's crying? There was definitely some malicious intent in Lizzys eyes.
With Carol's return, what do you think is in store for her if she reunites with Rick?
If Carol actually killed those people in the prison, how do you think Tyreese will react?
Do you think they will actually go up the railroad tracks like the dying man suggested? Could this TERMINUS be the same safe haven from the radio broadcast earlier in the season?

Bob is being really supportive with Sasha. Do you think there could be a romantic spark between the two at some point?
Maggie wants to find Glenn at all costs. Do you think her relentless behavior is putting the others in danger?

Glenn snuck off the bus at the last moment. Considering his condition, do you think that was a good choice?
Comic lovers, we finally get to see riot gear Glenn. Was this exciting for anyone else?
Glenn finds Tara alive. Considering she was affiliated with The Governor, do you think she will eventually be welcomed into the group?
Glenn finds out that Hershel was executed. Heart-breaking. With Tara alive, what do you think happened to her sister Lilly?
Comic lovers, we finally get our introduction of Abraham, Eugene and Rosita. Where do you think the story will go from here?

 

s4 ep11

Spoiler

Last week we ended with the entrance of Abraham, who is VERY well known amongst comic fans, but not so much to the television audience. Will this week help out? Leeeet’s find out:

At the outset, Glenn’s just waking up in the back of Abraham’s truck. He frantically quizzes Tara about the school bus. They passed it (and the destruction there) three hours ago. He screams at Abraham to stop the truck as we go to the opening credits.

Carl and Michonne sit down to breakfast, where it’s fairly jovial until Carl brings up Judith and stops mid-sentence, realizing she’s dead (or at least as far as he knows). Michonne goes into the kitchen and Rick thanks her for making Carl laugh. Rick says that they’re going to stay for a bit while they figure things out. Rick stays at the house while Michonne and Carl go out for supplies.

Rick bandages up and finally puts on a clean shirt (seriously his shirt was getting NASTY) and settles down for a nap.

While Rick gets some shut-eye, Michonne tries to get through to a surly, down Carl. Not even his love of processed cheese in a can is able to break him out of his funk. As they enter the next house, Michonne finally tells Carl that she had a son. This raises all sorts of questions from Carl. Michonne promises to answer one question for each room they clear.

As they go through the house, Rick is asleep back their temporary home. He hears voices and people entering the house. A guy is begging to stay with the group and we hear the group beating him. Rick manages to hide his stuff and get under the bed right before one of the group enters the bedroom. It’s a tense few moments as the guy checks the room and then lies on the bed, right above Rick.

Back to Michonne and Carl on their supply run, Michonne answers Carl’s first question: her son’s name was Andre Anthony. That’s going to be a trivia question at some point.

Michonne is treating the house like a gallery, taking in all the artwork. She answers Carl’s second question: she just had one child. And after he brings her a painting, she answers number three: her son died after the outbreak. Bonus answer: She has not told Rick or anyone else.

Michonne heads down the hallway and finds a toddler’s play room. She goes into the connecting room and finds two beds, two corpses on each, carefully laid out, shot through the head. It looks like two younger girls on one and two older girls on the other (I think they’re girls, I think they’re older—it’s a little hard to tell). A copy of Skybound’s Super Dinosaur is resting on the chest of one of them. As Michonne places a talking teddy bear onto the bed she realizes there’s another corpse in the room. It looks to be the mother in a rocking chair. Dead from a gunshot to the head. Michonne is disturbed.

She leaves the room and finds Carl. Carl guesses “There’s a baby in there.” Michonne counters by saying “It’s a dog.” Carl looks down and reveals that Rick let him name Judith. They head back to their house which is where…

Rick is currently squished under the bed. Another stranger comes into the room and tries to lay claim to the bed. The two men come to blows. One of them crashes to the floor and sees Rick but he’s choked to death before he gives Rick away. The victor takes his turn on the bed, and Rick is still stuck underneath.

We cut all the way back to Glenn, who’s gotten Abraham to stop the truck. As Glenn tries to walk back to the school bus, Abraham stops him. He introduces himself and his two companions: mulleted Eugene, and non-mulleted Rosita. Abraham reveals that Eugene knows what caused this whole thing (!!!) and he needs to get Eugene to Washington. When Glenn asks what it was, Eugene says it’s classified. Glenn leaves anyway and Tara offers to show him the way back to the bus.

Abraham goes after Glenn, and tries to convince him to come with them by saying that Maggie is almost certainly dead. Glenn reacts by punching him. Abraham tackles Glenn and they tussle. While they’re busy, Eugene sees a walker come out of the woods and then more come out of the corn. Eugene being Eugene, he loses control of his rifle and sprays bullets everywhere. Abraham, Tara, Glenn, and Rosita all open fire on the walkers. When the firing stops, the walkers are dead and so is the truck. Good work, Euge.

Back to Rick who slowly pulls himself out from under the bed. As he looks for a way out of the house we can hear the guys downstairs saying that a woman has been staying there, and they’re planning on raping her when she gets back and they laugh and argue over who gets to go first.

When one of the strangers heads back upstairs, Rick slips into a bathroom only to find it occupied. He’s forced to choke the man to death before slipping out a window, dropping to the ground, and crouching on the side of the house.

While this is going down, Abraham’s working on the truck, declaring it officially dead. Glenn leaves them, Tara follows, Rosita follows, and Eugene convinces Abraham to go with them as well. As they head through a town Abraham tries to convince Tara that getting to Washington needs to be the priority. They argue about their moral character, and both imply that there might be more to them than it seems.

Rick spots Michonne and Carl approaching the house. Just as he’s about to pull his gun on one of the strangers, there’s yelling inside the house. Rick uses the distraction to run off with Michonne and Carl.

The last scene of the episode is Rick, Carl, and Michonne on the train tracks. They come across a sheet telling them about Terminus. They follow the tracks.


WHEW. Tense times for Rick this episode.
What do you guys make of this group that invaded the house? Bad news, huh? (Robert talks about whether we’ll see them again or not in our chat this week)
How do you feel about Abraham and his crew so far? Comic fans, are you feeling Cudlitz as Sgt Abraham Ford, yet?
And–WAIT WAIT WAIT–Did Eugene say he knows what caused this?!?!

COMIC FANS, LET’S NOT SPOIL THIS! I want this to play out for people that don’t read the comic.

And a little something for the comic fans:
http://www.thewalkingdead.com/episode-411-panel-to-screen-comparison/

 

Episode 412: Recap and Discussion.

Spoiler

Daryl pessimistic, Beth hopeful.

This week continues with them on the road. It’s night time and Daryl and Beth burst out of the woods, and quickly duck into the trunk of a Caddy as walkers swarm the car. Come morning, things have pretty much cleared out and the two scavenge what they can from the area.

They set up a camp in the woods, and after missing a squirrel, Daryl manages to bag a rattlesnake. Tasty! As Daryl continues to act surly Beth says she wants her first drink now that Hershel’s no longer around. Daryl remains completely unresponsive and Beth walks off.

After an encounter with some walkers, Beth says she’s moving on AND getting that drink while she’s at it. Next stop: country club!

The inside of the country club may have been nice at some point but now it’s a horror show. The attempted group suicide did not go as plan: we see a handful of walkers hanging by their necks from the rafters, all moans and gurgles.

Beth finds a souvenir spoon from Washington, DC (foreshadowing?!) while Daryl loots (Beth: “What are you doing?”) until walkers start breaking through the door. They move further into the darkened country club. Beth makes a play for some cooking sherry and gets ambushed by a walker. She kills and then sarcastically thanks Daryl for his help. “You said you could take care of yourself. You did.”

The search continues into the merch department. Daryl does some looting. Beth does some shopping. There’s a corpse pinned to the wall with sign on her chest: RICH BITCH. Looks like things went poorly at the country club at the end.

Walkers approach the sound of a clock chiming and Daryl decides to fight them off. Crossbow, golf club, handheld arrow. He tees off (almost literally) on the last one, taking out some pent up aggression.

Beth gives a rousing speech about having a drink and hits the bar. Daryl pulls a map off the wall while Beth gets ready to drink some peach schnapps. Daryl throws darts at pictures of the founder of the club while Beth starts crying, I’m assuming because all the nice whiskeys are gone. Before she can take a swig Daryl smashes the bottle of schnapps on the ground. “I ain’t gonna have your first drink be no damn peach schnapps.”

As they make their way through the woods, Beth plays everyone’s favorite game: Guess Daryl’s Occupation. Daryl doesn’t see how it matters what he did.

They find a place that Daryl says he found with Michonne, a moonshiner’s place. He pours Beth a glass of moonshine. You know what’s worse than Peach Schnapps? Poison-ass moon shine. Beth sips it and unrealistically does not have an uncontrollable coughing fit.

Daryl explains how he recognized the place for what it is because his dad had a place just like it. Then the drinking starts.

They play Never Have I Never. It doesn’t get very far before Daryl finds it too invasive (he doesn’t like that Beth assumed he’d done hard time). But we do learn that Daryl has never left Georgia or been on vacation (or eaten frozen yogurt or had a pet pony). Daryl ends the game by taking a piss. In the corner. And then accusing Beth of all sorts of things. He forces Beth outside to teach her how to shoot a crossbow which doesn’t go very well.

They end up yelling at each other. Beth’s angry that Daryl’s shut down. She thinks that he doesn’t esteem her like he does the stronger women in the group. It kind of comes out that Daryl blames himself for what happened at the prison. He starts crying and women all over America suddenly become pregnant.

That night Daryl tells a story about getting in a fight with Merle’s dealer and how he almost died because Merle made a joke about a cartoon with a talking dog in it (Science Dog?!). He then says that what he did before the outbreak was follow Merle around. He just did whatever Merle said they were doing that day. Who had “bum” in the Daryl Occupation Pool?

Beth starts talking about all the people she misses and the things that won’t happen—Maggie and Glenn having a baby and her dad being a grandfather. Beth says that she’ll die on Daryl some day too. She says that Daryl will be the last man standing. “You have to stay who you are, not who you were.” Beth says that Daryl has to put places like this behind him or it’ll kill him. “We should go inside,” says Daryl. “We should burn it down,” says Beth.

They torch the house, the surrogate for Daryl’s dad’s cabin and—ultimately—his crummy childhood, as The Mountain Goats’ “Up the Wolves” plays. They flip the bird at the structure fire and Daryl smiles as the two walk away from burning house.

What did you guys think of the episode?!
Has Daryl put his demons to rest?
What’s the dynamic between Daryl and Beth?
What happens next?!

 

Episode 413:

Spoiler

We open with Bob in his time right before he came to the prison, on his own with a thousand-yard stare and a machete. We see him aimlessly wondering. Taking shelter in a drainage pipe or mine shaft and chugging cough syrup. It’s apparent that he’s oblivious to the dead around him and just going through the motions. He makes it to a road and camps out. The next day Bob meets Glenn and Daryl for the first time. Daryl gives Bob the three questions and they invite him back to the prison.

After the credits we’re back to present day as Bob, Sasha, and Maggie fight off a horde of walkers in the middle of a fog bank. Bob takes an errant gun shot to the shoulder from Sasha but he’s ok. We learn that they’re almost out of ammo.

When they push on they come across the train tracks and the sign for Terminus. They decide that Terminus is their best bet to find Glenn and the others, despite Sasha’s misgivings. When they make camp, Sasha makes her argument for stopping and making permanent camp. She doesn’t believe that Glenn or Tyreese are alive.

When Sasha and Bob wake up the next day, Maggie has left a note in the dirt: DONT RISK YOUR LIVES 4 ME. GOOD LUCK. Bob’s not having it. He packs up and heads off after her.

While they track her, Maggie kills a walker and uses it’s guts to write a note to Glenn to head to Terminus, which Sasha and Bob find in pretty short order.

As Bob and Sasha try to sleep that night Bob asks Sasha why she thinks Tyreese is dead but he answers his own question when he asks if she’s just afraid to find out the truth.

The next day Bob and Sasha find another bloody message from Maggie and a town not far from that. Sasha still wants to stop but Bob won’t leave Maggie on her own. When it’s suggested they split up Bob kisses Sasha and minus a large reaction says, “Well ok then” and heads off on his own after Maggie. Sasha heads into town to fortify and settle in and almost breaks down crying. When she looks out the window she sees Maggie on the ground next to a truck. As she looks closer she knocks the window loose and when it crashes to the ground it draws all the walkers nearby. She runs down to help Maggie. The two if them manage to fight off the walkers.

Maggie tells Sasha that she heard what she said about Glenn being dead but she realized that she can’t find Glenn on her own so she waited for Sasha and Bob. She convinces Sasha that they can’t give up hope.

The two of them catch up to Bob and together they follow the tracks.


The OTHER half of the episode follows Daryl and Beth, so while all of the above’s going down…

Daryl is teaching Beth to track and shoot a crossbow. They track a walker to a clearing. As Beth closes for the kill she steps on a small foothold trap. Daryl runs in to take care of the walker. Beth limps along until they reach a cemetery and when she can’t walk anymore Daryl gives her a piggyback ride. They stop at a grave and Daryl places some wildflowers on it and Beth takes Daryl’s hand while they quietly stare at the grave of a beloved father.

The two of them arrive at the funeral home. Beth remarks on how clean it is, which Daryl thinks might mean someone is still around. They find a couple of dressed cadavers and head downstairs to wrap Beth’s ankle. Beth says how it’s beautiful that someone cared enough to dress and make up the walkers.

When they raid the cupboards they notice that there’s no dust on the jars and cans. Daryl says they’ll just take some and leave the rest for whoever’s stockpiling it. They set their tripwire alarm and bed down for the night, Daryl taking the coffin. Beth sings Waxahatchee’s “Be Good” which Daryl doesn’t seem to mind for once.

The next day Daryl and Beth are sitting down to breakfast when the tripwire alarm gets triggered. It’s just a dog. That night Beth starts writing a Thank You note to whomever’s been staying there when Daryl suggests maybe they’ll just stay for a while. Before Beth can find out why Daryl has started to change his mind about people the tripwire alarm gets tripped again, along with a dog yelp. Daryl goes to get the dog but finds walkers instead. He tells Beth to run while he has a long contracted battle with the walkers. By the time he gets outside, he sees Beth’s bag spilled on the ground and a car speeding into the night. He runs after the car into the next morning where he collapses in the road, exhausted.

As he sits there the strangers that Rick just had a run in with shows up. They surround him and Daryl swings at the leader. He stops his men from attacking Daryl and introduces himself: Joe. Daryl drops his crossbow and returns the introduction. Uh oh, Daryl.


The final shot of the episode is Glenn finding the map to Terminus.

So what did you guys think?
Do we need a couple name for Bob Stookey and Sasha? Bobsha? Stoosha?
Would you be so chill if Sasha shot you?
Who are Joe and his boys? I don’t think they’re good news…
Who the F snatched up Beth?!

And for the comic fans. Screen to panel comparison like each week.
http://www.thewalkingdead.com/episode-413-panel-to-screen-comparison/

 

Episode 414:

Spoiler

A kitchen. Tea kettle boiling, haunting record playing. Out the window we see a girl running circles around a walker and then… credits! Really short, really creepy tease of an opening. After the credits we go to Carol and Lizzie, keeping watch over a sleeping Tyreese and Mika. Lizzie says that she can keep watch and take care of Judith. Lizzie dispassionately recounts what happened at the Prison, about her and Mika having to kill to protect Tyreese. Lizzie asks Carol about her daughter. “Do you miss her?” “Every day.” “Would you miss me?” “I’m not going to have to miss you. You’re dead on your feet, go get some sleep.” Dead on her feet?! Ominous turn of phrase in the zombie apocalypse. Lizzie hugs Carol and goes to lie down next to Tyreese, who’s having a nightmare.

The next day, Lizzie helps Carol collect some sap to treat Tyreese’s arm. Carol and Tyreese discuss how Lizzie doesn’t understand the walkers and what they are. Mika, however, has the opposite problem. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.

They hit the road again and head for Terminus. They discuss Tom Sawyer and Tyreese says that he forgot how Carol used to read to the kids. Carol’s like “I used to do wha–oh yeah. Yes, I read to the kids. I definitely read to the kids.” They pass by some walkers down the embankment from the tracks and Lizzie starts smiling and waving at them. Carol admonishes her. Before long they start to smell smoke.

Carol and Mika go off to look for water, leaving Judith with Tyreese and Lizzie. A walker shambles down the tracks toward them. Tyreese pulls his hammer but before he can do anything the walker falls into a hole and gets stuck there. Lizzie stops Tyreese from killing it, telling him that sometimes they don’t have to kill them.

Meanwhile Carol and Mika are walking, and Carol is trying to toughen up Mika. When Mika says she can run, Carol says that what Sophia tried, and we all know how that turned out. Mika says she isn’t messed up like her sister and then goes on to staunchly refuse to killing humans, even bad ones. Carol says she’ll have to change, everyone does. Just then they chance upon a house surrounded by a decent barbwire fence. Tyreese and Carol notice smoke from the fire they smelled. Tyreese says it might be from lighting or a camp fire. Or a redneck burning down a moonshine shack. They reckon it’s still a ways off.

Tyreese and Carol go to clear the house while Lizzie and Mika stay out front with Judith. Lizzie’s talking again about how walkers are just people when one bursts out of the house and falls off the porch toward them. Lizzie lies there helpless with Judith while Mika shoots at the walker. Lizzie’s crying, but not because she was almost zombie food, but because Mika shot him. Mika wants to bury the walker, since it was his house. Carol says if she wants to bury him she can do it herself.

Carol watches Mika struggle to bury the walker while Tyreese takes stock. They have baby food, canned goods, a crib, even gas for the stove. Carol goes outside for water and ends up helping Mika, just like Mika knew. She sure is plucky.

That night they all crowd around the fire in the living room. Impossibly peaceful for the first time in ages. Mika says that they should live there. Tyreese throws Carol a surprised look but she just smiles.

The next morning Carol puts on the tea and we revisit the scene from the intro. She sees Lizzie “playing” with the walker outside and runs out. She tackles the walker (who Lizzie named Griselda) and kills her. Lizzie starts screaming at Carol. “She was playing with me, she wanted a friend! I was going to lead her away! What if I killed you?! You don’t understand, you don’t understand, she didn’t want to hurt anybody! She was my friend and you killed her! YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLER HER! SHE WAS MY FRIEND AND YOU KILLED HER!” Oh boy. Tyreese hears the kettle screeching and watches Lizzie’s breakdown from the kitchen window. Carol just has a look on her face like “this is going to be a problem.”

Later that day, Mika and Carol go for a walk. They see the smoke and little Mika drops some knowledge that black smoke means the fire is still burning. They see a deer. Carol wants Mika to shoot it. She takes aim but can’t pull the trigger. The deer gets away. “I can’t. We have peaches,” she offers with a shrug.

When Tyreese and Carol go for water later, Tyreese says they could stay. He doesn’t trust strangers anymore and offers the Prison as a lesson. He says he trusts Carol and the girls and they could stay there and live.

Back at the house Mika goes looking for Lizzie and sees her walk into the woods with a box. When she follows she finds Lizzie feeding a mouse to the walker. Mika tries to reason with Lizzie. Lizzie says that they just want her to change. To be like them. Super creepy. As Lizzie starts to offer her hand to the walker, more of them burst out of the woods, charred and smoking. The girls run. Mika gets stuck on the fence, and as Lizzie helps free her, Tyreese and Carol open fire on the walkers. Even Mika joins in. The four of them kill the walkers. Carol tells Lizzie, “You did it!”

That night Lizzie is remorseful but says she knows what she has to do now. Mika says she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, she doesn’t want to be mean. Lizzie tells her that sometimes you have to be mean. Tyreese has another nightmare on the chair.

The next day Carol also entertains the idea of staying. Tyreese says it doesn’t mean they can’t go some day, he’s just not ready to be around other people yet. He reveals that he dreams about Karen every night. He reveals that in his worst dreams, he sees a stranger kill her and he loses her all over again. The whole world is haunted now, he says. Carol is tearful, she says maybe the dead aren’t haunting them, just teaching them to live with what they have to do. Tyreese tells her not to be ashamed of what she’s done and hugs her.

As they walk back, they see Lizzie standing there. Judith on the ground. Lizzie’s hands bloody, holding a knife. They start to run. Mika is lying on the ground behind her. Lizzie smiles, “Don’t worry! She’ll come back! I didn’t hurt her brain!” Tyreese and Carol are shocked. Carol makes a move for Lizzie’s knife. Lizzie pulls her gun on Carol. “I need to show you! You’ll see! We have to wait!”

Carol asks for the gun and promises that they’ll wait. Lizzie hands it over and Carol tells her to go inside with Judith and Tyreese. Lizzie says that Judith can change too, she was just about to—Carol says Judith is too little and she’ll tie up Mika while they go inside.

When they’re gone, Carol’s cool breaks.

Back inside Tyreese and Carol sit down and try to talk it out. Tyreese learned from Lizzie that it was her who was feeding the walkers at the Prison fences and it was her that dissected and displayed the rabbit back in the tombs. He thinks maybe it was Lizzie that killed Karen and David. Carol says that Lizzie would have let them turn, it wasn’t her. Carol offers to leave with Lizzie, citing that they obviously can’t keep Judith safe with Lizzie around. Unfortunately, it seems pretty clear to Carol that Lizzie’s behavior is just part of who she is, and as is such, she can’t be around other people.

Carol and Lizzie go for a walk. When Lizzie picks up on Carol’s distress, she gets genuinely upset. “Are you mad at me? I’m sorry I pulled my gun on you!” Carol tells her that she loves her and everything works out the way its supposed to, echoing the lesson Mika tried to teach her. She tells Lizzie to look at the flowers. She pulls her gun and kills Lizzie.

Carol is, understandably, a mess as she walks back to the house. She digs a grave as Tyreese carries Lizzie’s body over. It’s just the three of them now.

As they sit quietly at the table that night, Carol slides her gun over to Tyreese and finally admits that she killed Karen and David. She says she had to stop the virus, she had to stop people from dying. It wasn’t Lizzie, it wasn’t a stranger. She tells Tyreese to do what he has to do. Tyreese grabs the corners of the table. “Did she know what was happening? Was she scared?” Carol shakes her head. “It was quick?” “Yes.” Tyreese squeezes the gun. Again Carol tells him to do what he has to do. He lets go of the gun. “I forgive you. I’m never gonna forget. It happened. You did it. You feel it, I know you do. It’s a part of you now. Me too… but… I forgive you.”

Emotionally exhausted and more haunted than ever, Tyreese says they can’t stay at the house. Too much has happened. Come the morning, they leave the house and the graves behind and head toward Terminus.



Holy F, what a heavy episode. Comics fans probably saw this coming, as it bears a lot of resemblance to the Ben and Billy storyline in the comics, but what about those of you who watch week to week only?
Did you expect Lizzie could go that far?
How do you think this is going to affect Carol in the long term–can she just keep hardening or is it eventually going to break her down?
And what about Tyreese?

And for the comic fans. Screen to panel comparison like each week.
http://www.thewalkingdead.com/episode-414-panel-to-screen-comparison/

 

Alright, the finale was last Sunday. Anyone else already having withdraws?

Out final recap and discussion till October.

Spoiler

In the present, Rick, Carl, and Michonne are breaking camp on the way to Terminus. Rick takes Carl and Michonne to check on their traps and teach them how to make their own. As they walk, Carl asks if they’ll be honest about what they’ve done when they get to Terminus. Rick says that they won’t hide who they are. When a walker approaches, they dispatch it calmly and quickly. This is a world full of monsters.

As Rick teaches them about trapping, they hear screams. A man is being devoured by walkers and Rick has to stop Carl from trying to help. Yet another lesson in harsh apocalypse living. They move on and run into a herd.

We flashback again to Hershel. It’s morning in the Prison. He wakes Rick up for something and tells him that he won’t need his gun.

Back in the present, Rick, Carl, and Michonne find a truck and make camp. That night, Carl sleeps while Rick and Michonne talk about how they’re hungry all the time, and they forgot what it was like to not be that way. They don’t talk long before Joe and his gang get the drop on them. They surround Rick and Michonne, and one of the gang finds Carl in the car. Joe counts down to Rick’s execution until Daryl arrives. “These people, you’re gonna let ‘em go, these are good people.” Joe points out that Rick killed one of them in a bathroom. Daryl drops his crossbow and offers himself up instead.

Joe doesn’t like that Daryl is vouching for the person that killed a member of their group. They start beating Rick while the creepy pedophile pulls Carl out of the car. Joe tells Rick what’s going to happen: “First we’re gonna beat Daryl to death. Then we’ll have the girl. Then the boy. Then I’m gonna shoot you and then we’ll be square.”

Rick pleads for them to let Carl go as the creepy one pins him to the ground. Rick head butts Joe and they start to fight. Joe fights him off. The creepy pedophile is laughing while Carl struggles. Rick fights off unconsciousness but is unsteady on his feet. Joe grabs him in a bear hug and asks “What are you gonna do now, sport?” Rick rips Joe’s throat out with his teeth, that’s what.

The group is shocked. Michonne and Daryl use the moment to their advantage. Michonne grabs her captor’s gun and kills him with it, then kills one of Daryl’s attackers. Daryl knocks the other guy to the ground and then curb stomps him. Now it’s the three of them against the creepy pedophile, who tries to use Carl as a shield. “He’s mine,” Rick says.

The pedophile tries to push Carl away and surrender. It doesn’t work. Rick stabs him the stomach and we hear him cutting his way up his torso as the man screams. Carl watches the whole thing. With the man dying on the ground Rick continues to stab him over and over.

Back to the Prison. Hershel is selling Rick on learning how to farm. Rick resists, but Hershel is convincing. He tells him that Rick needs to show him that they can live a peaceful life. Rick says there’s a run soon, and he has to go. “No you don’t,” says Hershel.

When we cut back to the present, we see it’s the glimpse we got Rick sitting against the truck, bloody. Michonne is inside with a sleeping Carl. Daryl comes back from the woods and sits with Rick. He gives Rick a wet bandana to clean his face off so Carl won’t have to look at it. Daryl tells Rick how he came to be with the gang and how he lost Beth. “Is she dead?” “She’s just gone.” Daryl says he knew they weren’t good guys but they had a code. When the guys said they had spotted the guy they were after Daryl thought about leaving but stayed and then saw how it was they were going to kill. Rick doesn’t blame him at all. “You’re my brother” he says. Daryl tells him that what he did to the attackers, anybody would have done. Rick disagrees. Daryl says that it wasn’t him. Rick again disagrees. “You saw what I did to Tyreese.” Michonne listens from inside the car as Rick says that keeping Carl safe is all that matters. The camera pans down and we see that Carl, too, is listening.

Later that day they approach Terminus. Rick decides that they’ll go through the woods and get the drop on the people inside Terminus in case it’s not safe (um, hello, why didn’t Abraham try this?). First, though, they’ll spread and out and observe. When Rick invites Carl to come with him, he declines and goes with Michonne. Michonne ends up having to explain Rick’s mental state by way of her experience with losing her son Andre and how that affected her. Mike and Terry were high when their camp was overrun and Andre was killed. They got bit. Michonne cut off their jaws and arms and chained them as punishment. Their ability to mask her was just an unintended bonus. Michonne was mentally gone until she met Andrea, Rick, and Carl. She tells Carl that he doesn’t have to be scared of her or Rick. Unexpectedly, Carl says that he think he is a monster too, just like them.

Not seeing anything suspicious, the group buries the duffel bag of guns (including Rick’s hand cannon) and hop the fence.

When they enter through the back, the first thing they see is the woman on the radio that they heard oh so many episodes ago in the car. She repeats her message over and over. As they enter the room, community leader Gareth sees them. “Are you here to rob us?” “No, we wanted to see you before you saw us.” Gareth welcomes them and asks them to set down their weapons so they can check them but then they let them hold on to them. He asks Alex to show them to the front.

They meet Mary, who apparently grills 24 hours a day. He asks her to fix them plates. Rick starts to notice that the people at Terminus all have possessions belonging to his group: Daryl’s poncho (that Maggie had), riot gear (Eugene’s), the dead hitchhiker’s orange back pack (Glenn’s), Hershel’s pocket watch (the last straw). He pulls his gun on Alex and demands to know where he got the watch.

We flashback to the Prison again. Carl’s older friend Patrick is playing with the Legos that Rick got for Carl while Carl strips and cleans his gun. Rick asks Carl to come with him and tells him to leave his gun. Rick leaves his as well.

Back to the showdown. All weapons drawn. A sniper on the roof has his gun on Rick. Alex convinces the sniper to set his gun down. He says he got the watch from a dead person. Gareth says that they found the rest. Alex starts to beg Gareth to help him. Gareth tells him repeatedly to shut up. While Gareth and Rick try and talk, Gareth makes a hand signal. Rick spins to find Mary behind him with a gun. She shoots but hits Alex and everyone opens fire.

Our group runs through the compound, being corralled by gun fire and locked doors. They run past a fenced off area full of human bones and past some cargo containers that sounds like they might possibly have people inside…? The last building they run through is a strange kind of memorial, full of candles, names, and personal belongings. Written on the wall:

NEVER AGAIN | NEVER TRUST | WE FIRST, ALWAYS.

When they exit, they’re surrounded. They’ve been led to a loading dock. Gareth has them lay down their weapons and forces them to enter a shipping container, one-by-one in a very specific order. When the door closes they find Glenn, Maggie, Bob, Sasha, Tara, Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. Rick looks at the people he doesn’t recognize.

Maggie: They’re our friends. They helped save us.
Daryl: Now they’re friends of ours.
Abraham: For however long that’ll be.
Rick: No.

Final flashback. Rick and Carl are farming, Beth is with Judith, Hershel is helping out. They’re happy. Hershel says “It can be like this all the time.” Rick says, “It’s like this now. That’s enough.”

Back to the present. The music starts to swell.

Rick: They’re gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.
Abraham: Find out what?
The group all looks to Rick, one by one.
Rick: They’re screwing with the wrong people.

Spoiler

Where the F is Beth?!
Where are Tyreese and Carol?!
What’s up with the crazy memorial chamber?!

For the comic book fans. You'll be interested in reading the final screen to panel comparison till October.
http://www.thewalkingdead.com/season-4-finale-comic-to-show-comparison/

 

They didn't disappoint with their "hit the ground running" episode. I'll give my full thoughts tomorrow. But coming from someone who reads the comics and has come to expect a lot out of the show I can safely say that this was a great way to kick off the new season.

 

I love how similar this episode was to the comics. Robert Kirkman wrote this episode and it clearly shows with all of the similarities to the comic.

Recap

Spoiler

After some very ominous music and a slo-mo shot of Rick appearing over a slight rise (we’ll revisit this shot throughout), we see the group at camp. Rick tells Tara that Glenn told him that she saved his life. Tara: “He saved mine.” Rick: “That’s how it works with us.” Then they fist bump. Awkward.

Now over to Tyreese and Carol, getting water at the stream. Tyreese is telling her how he’s talked to some of the people in the group about how he’s explained what she did at the Prison and it’s ok. But he doesn’t want to tell them about the girls. He says he just wants to forget it.

The group continues. When they pass a walker, Michonne offers to take care of it and then comically overacts reaching for a sword that is no longer there. I get anxiety seeing Michonne without her katana. Will she get a new one? Is her old one buried in the rubble at Terminus? What the hell?

Abraham watches as Michonne stomps the walkers head in and goes “Right there is why we’re waiting for our moment.” I guess he’s upset about Michonne losing her sword as well. Kidding! I think he’s uneasy about how hardcore Team Rick is. Rosita agrees but her heart isn’t in it. She loves this ragtag group as well.

That night, Rick talks to Carol. “I owe you everything,” he tells her. Carol responds, “You owe Tyreese, he was at the prison.” Carol pulls Rick’s watch out of her bag and gives it back to him. He offers her watch back. She refuses. Rick kind of admits regret at sending her away and then notes the irony of kicking her out and then having to live with her on the road. “Will you have us?” he asks. She nods.

Carol sits with Daryl and tells him that she can’t talk about “it,” she just needs to forget. Daryl hears something in the woods but then… nothing. But ominous music plays and a shadow crosses the screen so… probably wrong.

After the opening credits, we see that Daryl’s been squirrel hunting. He tells Rick that he couldn’t find any tracks or anything, but he had a “feeling.” It shows how much Rick trusts Daryl that he orders the group to tighten up.

Abraham asks Rick if he’s ready to find a road and vehicle. Rick agrees.

Sasha and Bob play a game where she points out the bad aspects of a situation and Bob finds the silver lining. This couple is too happy. Even Tyreese is happy about the two of them.

It’s not long before screams for help are heard. Sheriff Carl urges them to action. Enter Father Gabriel. He’s climbed up on a boulder and surrounded by walkers. The group takes care of them and Rick asks him if he’s ok. He throws up.

Father Gabriel tells the group that the word of God is the only protection he needs. “I called for help, help came!” Then he asks for food. Carl is quick to offer pecans or something that sounds like pecans. The group just kind of stares at Gabriel. He tells them he has a church. Rick frisks him while he asks the three questions.

“How many walkers have you killed?”
“Not any, actually.”

“How many people have you killed?
“None.

“Why?”
“The Lord abhors violence.”

(Bonus Q) “What have you done? We’ve all done something.”
“I am a sinner, I sin almost every day. But those sins I confess them to God, not strangers.”

Rick can tell that something isn’t quit right. Father Gabriel takes them to his church. He denies having watched them and he says “Nowadays people are just as dangerous as the dead, don’t you think?” Daryl: “No, people are worse.”

Gabriel jokes about leading them into a trap. It doesn’t go over very well. They arrive at the church. Rick insists on checking the church before letting Father Gabriel in. Everything checks out. No one else there, no evidence of anyone else there. Lots of empty cans of food. Lots of churchy stuff. Rick whistles the all-clear.

Abraham says that there’s a bus out back that he can fix and they can use. But Rick and his crew want to resupply and rest while they can. Abraham is against it. “We take a breath—we slow down—shit inevitably goes down.” Glenn tells Abraham that they’re doing what Rick does and they’re sticking together. I think Abraham is getting annoyed that there’s a leader everyone is listening to instead of following the mission.

Gabriel tells Rick that he’s survived this long because the canned food drive happened to be just before the world went to hell. He tells them about another stockpile of canned food but it’s overrun with a dozen or so walkers. Bob and Sasha volunteer to go with them, Tyreese stays behind with Judith. He’s Mr. Nanny and it looks like he loves it.

Rick pulls Carl aside and says he doesn’t trust Father Gabriel. Rick asks Carl why he trusts him. “Everybody can’t be bad.” The things kids say! Rick tells Carl to stay alert. “You are not safe. No matter how many people are around or how clear the area looks, no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think, you are not safe. It only takes one second. One second and it’s over. Never let your guard down. Ever.” Carl tells him that they’re strong enough that they can still help people.

The group (Rick, Bob, Sasha, Michonne, Father Gabriel) heads out for supplies. Bob tells Rick that he wasn’t wrong about wanting to take out the Termites, but he cautions him against losing his humanity. Things will get back to normal, he says, and you can’t give up who you are because you won’t be able to get it back.

Carol and Daryl go for water. Daryl says that they can start fresh, but Carol seems reticent to let go of what she’s been through. They come across an abandoned car. The engine won’t turn over but there’s a battery charger in the trunk (correct me if I’m wrong here, it was a quick look). She starts it and says that they’ll leave it there just in case. Hm….

Tara, Glenn, and Maggie hit the gun store. Glenn finds three silencers in a mini fridge. “Rule number one of scavenging: there’s nothing left in this world that isn’t hidden.” We’re reminded that scavenging is what Glenn was best at back in Atlanta.

Rick’s group arrives at the Food Bank/donation center. There’s a large hole in the middle of the floor. Water had been leaking in through the roof all this time, rotting through the floor and flooding the basement, which is now swarming with waterlogged walkers. They’re pretty disgusting. The plan is to jump in, create a barricade with the shelves, and kill through the openings. What could go wrong?

A walker keys in on Father Gabriel and he flips. It’s wearing glasses and it has him really disturbed. Does he recognize her? He panics and bolts for the stairs, which of course snap off and fall.

The group breaks their formation to go get Gabriel. They push the shelf over on top of three walkers and fan out. As the spectacled walker advances on him, Gabriel grabs onto the wall and looks away in a very Jesus-like pose. Rick kills the walker (brutally, of course) before she can reach Gabriel.

With things seemingly calm, Bob heads for supplies. BUT, a walker reaches up from the water and pulls him under. He pops back up and impales the walker on a rod, where Sasha smashes it’s head in with a crate. It’s all delightfully disgusting.

As they leave, Gabriel apologizes and Rick calls him out for recognizing the walker with the glasses. Rick suspects it has something to do with Gabriel’s secret and walks off annoyed.

As they make their way back Rick asks Michonne if she misses her sword and they talk about how she found it and how she got so good with it. Yes, she misses it, she picked it up at the outset, and she got good because she was on her own in the early days.

When they get back, Rick finds Carl out back doing some sleuthing. Seems like Encyclopedia Grimes has found some clues in the Case of the Furtive Father. Some people had tried to break into the church and then wrote “YOU’LL BURN FOR THIS” on the wall. Rick could be a little more supportive. Maybe give Carl a houndstooth cap and a jaunty pipe or something. But Rick just looks concerned. Who have they teamed up with now?

That night as they sit around eating and talking, Abraham makes a toast. “I look around this room and I see SURVIVORS. Each and every one of you has earned that title. To THE SURVIVORS!” Then he goes on and challenges them. He tells them that they can survive. They’re good at it. But wouldn’t they rather get to DC and save the world? He has Eugene lay out what’s waiting for them in DC: Infrastructure. Civilization. Safety.

“Come with us. Save the world for that little one. Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there that don’t got nothing left to do but survive.”

Rick smiles, Judith coos. Rick says “She’s in. I’m in. We’re in. Let’s do it.” The group claps and gives out a couple whoops.

Sasha gets up to hold Judith and Bob kisses her and gives her a longing look before heading outside. Hmmm…

Tara goes to talk to Maggie. You can tell this has been weighing on her. She tells her the truth: that she was with The Governor [remember that Glenn had lied to Maggie about how he found Tara]. She doesn’t want it to be a secret. Maggie looks at her. “You’re here with us now.” And then she hugs her. That Maggie!

Rick goes to talk to Gabriel. He thanks him for letting them in. He confronts him again about hiding something. “These people are my family. And if what you’re hiding somehow hurts them in anyway, I’ll kill you.”

Outside and through the woods, Carol is prepping the car they found earlier, getting ready to leave when Daryl shows up. Daryl: “What are you doing?” Carol: “I don’t know.” Daryl says “Come on,” does he mean back to the church or that he’ll go with her? It doesn’t matter because right then a car with a white cross drives past (not the car that scooped up Beth but the same symbol). Daryl busts out the taillights of the abandoned car and they take off after it.

Bob stands outside the church and watches the people inside. His big smile slowly fades and he walks off. He starts crying against a tree and then SMACK! Knocked out from behind.

Bob comes too next to a fire. It’s the Termites. Gareth, Tyreese’s hostage, and some others. Gareth goes into another rationalizing speech about why they HAD to take Bob. “Now [after the destruction of Terminus] we’re out here like everybody else, trying to survive. And in order to do that, we have to hunt.”

His speech plays out over a montage of Rick’s group in the church. One of the shots is Gabriel looking at a photo of the walker in the glasses (when she was alive obviously).

Back to Gareth as his speech wraps up: “As much as we hate all this ugly business…” wide shot and we see Bob’s leg has been amputated and wrapped, “a man’s gotta eat.” Gareth takes a bite of Bob’s cooked leg. “If it makes you feel any better, you taste much better than we thought you would.” We see a shot of Bob’s foot on the grill and the episode ends.

Woohoo! The Hunter’s storyline has circled back to its origins in the comic! How gnarly was it seeing Bob’s foot there on the grill while they all eat him? SO GROSS.

Panel to screen comparison. Do not read unless you're past the hunters arc of the comics.

Spoiler

Spoilers through episode 502 (obviously) follow, as well as discussion of some aspects of the comic up through issue 63, which is included in VOLUME 11: FEAR THE HUNTERS. We will avoid discussion of any story aspects that may still be shown in the show BUT THE COMMENTS SECTION WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!



First, a few things about where we are in the comic vs the show: Bob Stookey is nowhere to be found in the comic at this point. He was gone with the Prison arc. But Dale IS still alive. And at this point in the comic (we’re talking introduction of Father Gabriel and intro of The Hunters here), Andea is alive and well. Carol is dead in the comic but her character was really different from show Carol.

FATHER GABRIEL
The group is in the midst of dealing with the Ben/Billy situation, which as you’ll recall was changed to Lizzie/Mika in the comic. Unlike the show, everyone is present when Ben murders his brother. As they argue about what to do with Ben, Father Gabriel arrives. His entrance is more assured. He’s not being attacked. He approaches them. This alone is reason enough to distrust him.

In the show, Father Gabriel is being attacked by walkers. After his rescue is very cagey and less forthcoming. He’s kind of jumpy. He’s afraid. Both versions of Gabriel hide a secret, but in the comic, circumstances make Gabriel suspicious, in the show it’s more his behavior.



And these intro lines are echoed in both versions (note that Robert Kirkman wrote episode 502 himself):



Here’s Father Gabriel’s church, which is pretty much an exact replica, pretty cool:



We should be talking more about Father Gabriel’s past in coming weeks I should think, so we’ll leave him here and talk about…

THE HUNTERS
Here we see two versions of the story being stitched together. Terminus never happened in the comic. The group ultimately reunites at the Hershels’ farm following the fall of the prison, Abe, Eugene, and Rosita stumble upon the farm, and they all hit the road for DC. In the show they’ve all just escaped the cannibals at Terminus but didn’t finish them off. The remaining cannibals from Terminus become The Hunters of the show world.

In the comic The Hunters stalk the roads to find prey. They have not been encountered by the group before. Andrea is the first to notice them. In episode 502, Daryl feels like they’re being watched (and we see that they are).



In the comic, Dale sneaks off to be alone and is jumped by The Hunters. In the show, it’s Bob (more on this in the future).



Things kind of play out similarly in issue 63 and episode 502 for Dale/Bob. And we again see some exact dialog in both mediums:



YOU ARE NOT SAFE
Another moment from earlier in the comic (issue 54) that we see in tonight’s episode. In the comic, Rick tells Carl this before they hit the road with new-found Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. In the show it’s before leaving Carl at the church.