After a fine run in Season 4 of The Walking Dead, we finally hit an episode where the goodness comes to a halt. I haven’t read to this part of the comics, but I know that Rick becomes sick and Carl has to venture out and find medicine for his ailing father. Whether or not it was like this episode… well, I’m not really sure. But probably not.
Most of this episode focused solely on Rick and Carl. We saw a lot of pent-up teen angst. What followed were some poor camera shots – one scene focused mainly on Carl’s midsection, while others were so close to his face that I couldn’t tell what the hell was going on. I liked the bit where we were shown some of Michonne’s past through a dream sequence, but for some viewers, like my wife, flashbacks would have been better suited so people knew what the hell was going on. Furthermore, the artsy aspects of Michonne’s dream sequence felt forced. It would have left more of an impression had we seen how Michonne was because it would have been a more stark contrast to how she now is. Yes, we got a sense that she was a weaker and more emotional person, but because it also covered an indeterminate span of time (I can only assume it was at the start of the outbreak to the more “present day” Michonne we all know and love) we got this mishmash of the old Michonne and the new. Because of that, the whole scene came off as a bit awkward and not really convincing. In the end, it felt fumbled and half-assed. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. It’s like the writers blew all their rocks in one scene. Why not spread the content of that through multiple episodes in the season?
The bit where Michonne was with the group of walkers and wigged the fuck out was pretty cool. To me, she was surviving, but not living. Seeing a zombie that looked similar to her brought that to mind. Being with Rick’s group has given her back some of her humanity. And she’s refused to let that go. I loved that. Along with the end scene, the majority of her screen time was interesting and actually meant something.
Carl and Rick? Not so much. It was annoying to see Carl go about, acting like an immature asshat. I get that he’s supposed to still be a kid. And I liked the fact that he realized he can’t go on without his father, despite his statements saying otherwise. But it was frustrating to see a character we all know and love, who’s become a huge part of the group, totally fuck up and act like an ass-clown.
I wish they had shown the others or went in some more flash back scenes. There’s so much they can do with this show in terms of narrative. And I’m not seeing that, which is hella disappointing. This episode was filler, pure and simple. It was largely boring and felt like a waste of my time. Here’s hoping the next episode picks things up, because this one was simply too drawn out. Sure, there was killing of zombies and some touchy feely stuff. But for the most part, this episode didn’t accomplish anything. Huge disappointment. 
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