I’ll get the obvious joke out of the way: ‘How did the writers so presciently predict the overwhelming reaction to their latest season with this episode’s title?’
There is a little irony in the title for this episode, as it is by far the most compelling in the season so far, if not in the last few seasons. Visual and narrative metaphors are used with skill, the characters all have meaningful and plot-driven conversations, and the action sequences and set pieces really snap. At times, I forgot that I was watching the series for this column and just watched the series on its own merits.
The directing, as well, took a sharp uptick in this episode. We open with two scenes cut together: one of Carol explaining to one of the girls she’s ‘adopted’ that she needs to be strong, that Walkers aren’t people, with the girl arguing back that Walkers are still people, only they have changed; and the other of Rick preparing for a run he and Carol alone will take, lamenting the lack of gasoline and going over Carol’s crime scene once more. It is incredibly well done, drawing parallels between the process of turning into a zombie, and the process of becoming a survivor. ‘You just change,’ Carol said, and how right she was.
Meanwhile, Tyreese is struggling still with his rage and grief, convinced that Sasha will die from the Gigaflu because of the herd that derailed them. Bob tries to counsel him, tell him it helps to keep going as Tyreese tries to wash the blood from his top in a river, but Ty is having none of it: no matter how hard he tries, he cannot clear the stains.
Rick and Carol find a nearby hamlet or housing district, where they will search for medicine, food and gasoline. The tension between them, confessor and former cop, is thick. It raises to two new levels: one, when a Walker appears and Rick saves Carol from injury; another when two survivors, a male and a female, slink out from a bedroom with an offer of fruit. They are injured and gnarled, but Rick and Carol give them first aid and then ask the Three Questions, to see whether they can enter the prison.
Ty, Bob, Michonne and Daryl head to a nearby garage, one overgrown with thick greenery. A large people carrier is beside it, but its battery is flat. They go to search inside when, in a very well-done set piece, zombies crawl through the vines and attack. Daryl and Michonne fare well. Bob is gripped by his zombie, cannot get free. Ty will not let go of his, not even when he falls back and has the thing atop him. In both cases, Michonne saves them, but it’s clear that Ty is suffering still.
Bob and Daryl search the garage whilst Michonne and Ty clear the people carrier of vines. One talks to each, with Michonne counselling against anger – ‘Anger makes you stupid, and stupidity gets you killed’ – and Daryl hearing about how Bob survived two groups, and turned to drink in his solitude. Daryl convinces him that his desire for alcohol isn’t what killed Zack in the first episode. Michonne admits that she’s struggling to let go of her anger with the Governor. Both Bob and Ty are given a lot to think about.
As Rick has had for at least a day, what with Carol’s double homicide. But he seems to be avoiding the topic, instead choosing to discuss the couple they found in the house, who they arm and send to find supplies: Rick wants to know whether Carol thought it was the right thing. Carol says it was so long as they can pitch in, pull their weight. “And if they can’t?” Rick asks. Carol’s response is to hope that they do.
The conversation continues during some tomato picking, when Carol discusses how she learned to fix dislocated shoulders, something she fixed for the male of this new found couple. She learned it during the worst of her spousal abuse, when it was ‘easier than explaining (her wounds) to paramedics.’ She then laments who she was, not knowing how strong she could be. Rick also asks her why she doesn’t discuss her children any more by name, and she simply says that they’re dead, and that there is no point in saying their names. Melissa McBride does a great job during these scenes of showing how much Carol has changed, what a survivor she has become. And, one could argue, what a monster.
Monstrosity is not far away for the other group, either. They get to the Veterinary School and raid it for medicine, finding ample supplies. Bob nips away for a second to grab something from an abandoned bed, probably a book, and they load up. The school is still filled with Walkers, one who died of the Ultraflu, and the group find it difficult to flee. They get boxed in more than once, with Ty fighting back properly this time, having decided to let go of his anger and partial death wish for the good of the group.
In frantic scenes, they get to a first floor window overlooking a walkway, and smash a window to escape. Everyone gets out, with Bob the last. But Bob overdoes his jump and nearly tumbles onto a crowd of zombies. His bag is loose and the Walkers grab it, pulling away. Bob will not let the bag go, fighting for it even beyond sense. Daryl, Michonne and Daryl pull Bob and the bag away with some effort, only to find a bottle of alcohol within: no medicine, no supplies. Whilst Ty seems freed by Michonne’s talk, Bob has let go of his guilt, and thus felt safe to go back to alcohol. He even threatens Daryl when he nearly throws the bottle away. The group roundly disown him for this, and he is left with only the alcohol to comfort him.
The finale of the Rick / Carol is no less dramatic, or well-done. They find that the couple have been eaten by Walkers, and so pack up their gear. But, when Carol goes to enter their car, she finds it locked: Rick is exiling her from the prison as punishment for her crimes, and to save her from Tyreese. She swears that she can survive Tyreese, but Rick cannot trust her any more, and is making the sort of leadership decision he has trying to run from. Carol, for her part, accepts this punishment after little debate, and they pack her up with supplies enough to survive alone. She hands Rick a watch to replace one he gave the dead couple, a gift from her bastard husband, and drives away.
In a final scene, with Daryl concentrating on some jasper he found for a redshirt and Bob smoking alone, Michonne tells them that she will no longer hunt for The Governor. They head back to the prison, at the same time as Rick, all to save those dying within.
This episode was taut, tight and excellently-handled, from the script to the acting to the direction. Things came to a head, there were interesting lines and parallels, and it just felt more like a real drama than, as George Romero said, a soap opera with zombies. Indifference, at least on the viewer’s side, was in short supply for this episode.
