The Story: The Prison & Woodbury learn of each other’s existence – or – Another use for duct tape.
The Review (SPOILERS): 1. The comics. – Let’s get one thing out of the way immediately. This episode was fairly strong and had almost nothing to do with the comics. Other than the idea that the prison and Woodbury come info conflict and some similarities/ironies of the torture scenes for Glenn/Maggie, there wasn’t much crossover. And, that’s fine. Frankly, it’s more fun to watch the show when it isn’t trying to be 80% faithful to the comics because the show’s creators don’t seem to know which 80% to retain.
2. It’s all about tension. – This episode was fairly strong because it kept the action and tension levels pretty high. Torture scenes, Michonne fighting walkers, Rick running to her rescue, zombie flash-mobs in the forest, crazy mountain people in cabins… These are all good things about this episode. They show what this series is really good at, making you uncomfortable.
3. Flat tires. – As good it was while the action was bouncing along and the tension was high, this show just can’t resist the urge to dive in for poorly-done touching, sappy stuff. The reunion with Carol was an overlong dud. It starts with Darryl summoning Rick to “see something” as if he found the Virgin Mary’s face in some zombie splatter or had just shot a raccoon. Why not just say, “Hey! I found Carol” Then the scene goes on for a minute too long as Carol hugs everyone (like it’s Thanksgiving) and they reflect on the loss of the last few episodes. If only the audience missed Lori and T-Dogg as much as these other characters did.
I know these scenes are brief, but they kinda harsh your mellow when you’re enjoying the tension of the episode. This show would be better served to keep the pedal to the metal.
4. Pre-teen male actors. – Speaking of duds, how about that Carl? “Sure, we should totally name the baby after your teacher. Can Daddy go kill some zombies now?” Maybe this show erred in keeping the Carl character from the comics? Maybe it would have worked better if he was a Carla? For whatever reason, I can think of a LOT of good teen and pre-teen actresses, but not many boys who are worth a damn. It’s not the young actors’ fault. I just think that boys are universally annoying from the ages of 10-25. Compare Carl to Sally Draper on Mad Men or Dana Brody on Homeland or even a character like Dakota Fanning played in the 2005 War of the Worlds movie. Little boys probably play better in comics than on screen.
5. Torture! – Both of the torture scenes were pretty tense, but I had very different reactions to them. Glen came out of his trial with Merle looking pretty heroic. He took his beating, killed a zombie and didn’t give up the location of the rebel base. Maggie’s scene with the Governor wasn’t as tense – unless you thought AMC would approve of rape. My problem with these scenes was mostly with how Maggie came off. Of course it was demeaning that the Governor made her strip, but for her to cover up like a little girl was just sad. She’s been such a tough character! Why wouldn’t Maggie just let her breasts hang out there and tell the Governor to piss off? Shoot the scene from behind and from the neck up. And then she gives up the location of the prison when Glenn has just risked his life to keep the secret safe? Is this show trying to ruin the female characters? To be clear, I really like Maggie and I just didn’t like the way the writers handled her in this series of scenes.
6. What’s that smell? – I loved the farmhouse scene and think it’s an example of how much horror talent they have on this show. That scene is a non-specific set-piece that could fit anywhere in TWD and the kind of idea that would come out during a brainstorming session. It’s so nice to see the show use and dispose of that scene so quickly because it tells me they have a lot more ideas where that came from. I love the non-preciousness of the idea. I worry far more about creative people who noodle with a single idea over and over because it makes me doubt they have anything else to say.
7. Science class. – Is there a point to this side-story with Milton studying the reanimation of zombies? Is it just a way to show how out-of-touch the residents of Woodbury are compared to the battle-hardened folks from the prison? I’m not very interested in knowing more about the science of zombies.
8. No Stepford Wives BS this week. – Woodbury came off a lot better this episode and I think it was because we didn’t have to see anyone edge their sidewalk or rake leaves. The depiction of Woodbury has always been a little too plastic. It doesn’t need tidy rose gardens to sell us on the debate over when inside is better than outside.
9. Sick of the obligatory Michonne/katana scenes. – Michonne is better as a character now that she is speaking, but do we really need to have 4-5 flashy zombie kills every week? The zombie killing is great when there is actual tension, but a few of the choppings this episode seemed overly theatrical. Can we at least see Darryl rolling his eyes at her?
Conclusion: A pretty good episode although the show’s creators still have a worrying tendency to let the air out of the balloon with the slow scenes. It would build viewer confidence if this show could string together a few consecutive quality episodes.
Grade: B+
– Dean Stell
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