By: Robert Kirkman (story), Bill Gierhart (direction)
The Story: Rick & Co. come to save Glenn/Maggie from the Governor – OR – A guide to making prison shanks out of zombie bones.
The Review (SPOILERS): This was a pretty strong episode that mostly kept the action hopping, but it had highs and lows.
1. Watch out for the zombie head! – The absolute highlight of the episode was the sequence between Michonne and the Governor in his lair. It started out tense with Michonne waiting for the Governor to return home and didn’t let up. Going from the caring moment when Michonne thought she was saving a trapped little girl through the brutal fight with the Governor, this was a sequence that really delivered. The outcome of the fight wasn’t preordained and it carried on for a little longer than was comfortable – in an Eastern Promises sort of way. What a insane sequence for Michonne. She thinks she’s there to deliver some vengeance and instead finds out that the guy is even more whack than she thought! THEN there’s the bar-fight with zombie heads snapping all over the floor… The only downfall of this scene was how it ended. No, I didn’t think we’d really get any penises nailed to boards like in the comic, but the Andrea/Michonne stand-off was so flat. It was an example of a scene lingering too long in a bad way. We get it, “they’ve chosen different paths and now these two women who were inseparable have nothing left between them – sniff, sniff…” We already knew this information about Andrea/Michonne and while the stand-off was meant to be impactful, it didn’t add anything that we didn’t already see when they parted ways at the gates of the city a few weeks ago.
2. The Raid! – The bulk of the episode focused on Rick & Co.’s raid through Woodbury with guns blazing. This was exciting, but just okay. It had a certain A-Team feel to it with lots of full-auto, hip shooting at nothing in particular. It wasn’t particularly realistic or well-choreographed either. Lots of people laying down “covering fire” by standing in the middle of the street, lots of people taking cover behind stuff that won’t stop bullets like park benches and solar panels… Not a lot of hits either considering we are talking about Rick “Headshot” Grimes and his gang of Zombie Assassins! What really soured me on this shoot-out was that l I watched the Season 3 finale of Boardwalk Empire later in the evening. THAT is how you do shoot-outs (I’d say more but don’t want to spoil BE here). There’s simply no comparison between the two and I think the creators of TWD should be a little more aware of the quality level of the other “prestige shows” they hope to compete with. How can the same set of creative people do the great Michonne/Gov fight and then give us a lackluster shoot-out?
3. Carl’s a badass until he talks. – This show would be a lot better if little Carl fell and slashed his larynx on a rusty pipe or something. Chandler Riggs is actually pretty good as a physical actor. I really buy him when he’s shooting his way through the prison and there’s just something arresting about a world where a little guy like Carl is forced to do such horrible things when he should be playing soccer or Modern Warfare on a PS3. Sometimes the visual is enough and you don’t need to make him talk. I can just imagine that during the filming of that scene where Carl declares that he’s running in the direction of the screaming that Scott Wilson (Herschel) turned towards the director and said, “Are we really going to use that?”
4. Tyrese! – To go on a comic aside, I’ll never understand why the character of Tyrese wasn’t in the TV show from the beginning. He was a good character in the comics and the subtle partnership and conflict with Rick was a big part of what made us comic fans so excited for the prison. Tyrese was both Rick’s best friend and also moderated Rick’s more vicious tendencies, and I would have much rather watched that dynamic than the whole Rick/Shane/Lori melodrama.
Anyway, I’m glad that Tyrese is in the show now and think that Chad Coleman (who played Cutty on The Wire) will be a good addition to the cast. I worry a little that he’ll blow Andrew Lincoln off the screen anytime they have a two-hander, but that’s a good problem for the directors.
Initially I was a little thrown off by the timing of Tyrese’s arrival. Why now when they have no time to focus on him? But, it’ll set up a very tense scene when Rick & Co. get back to The Prison.
5. Brothers. – Do you think Darryl let himself get captured? He clearly wanted to see his brother (understandable) and Rick wasn’t having it. And did anyone else feel sorry for Merle when the Governor sold him out? Suddenly Merle wasn’t this raging, meth-head racist, but kind of a big, mean dog who is getting euthanized by his owner, like a pit-bull that gets rescued from a dog-fighting ring or something. It was kinda pathetic. The Governor had used him for his purposes and was now done with him; ironic that an act of cruelty towards a guy who really deserves it spoke a lot louder than everything else the Governor has done so far.
Lots of possibilities for the brothers since it is doubtful they will die. Do they escape and head to the prison? Could Darryl convince Rick and Merle to work together? Do they escape and strike out alone to start an owl-hunting club? Darryl and Merle are two of the richer characters on the show (and two of the better actors) so I’m looking forward to seeing more interaction.
6. Rapey prisoner? – It’s a small item, but did anyone else get the heebie-jeebies seeing the mustachioed prisoner asking Beth how old she was? Good Lord! Whose plan was it to leave the women and children with that guy? However, I did enjoy the moment when Carol stepped in to stop him and the guy assumed that Carol was a lesbian because she had short hair. Shows like TWD need some funny moments.
Conclusion: Fun, with one brilliant scene and a few other pretty strong ones. Only the cartoony shoot-out and the parts where Carl talks brought this episode down.
Grade: B+
-Dean Stell
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