Summary: Rick and co. return to the cell block with Hershel. The prisoners follow them and reveal that they have missed the entire outbreak after being locked in a cafeteria. Rick negotiates with them and agrees to help them clear out a cell block. The leader of the prisoners, Tomas, tries to kill Rick so Rick kills him and his friend. The other prisoners are allowed to live. Hershel wakes up and is alive.
The Good: I enjoyed most of this episode. It was pretty fun and continued the exciting pace of season 3, even though it had major flaws (see: The Bad). I liked the opening moments of the episode. The quick and efficient way that Rick's group dealt with Hershel losing blood and the prisoners was excellent. The pace was exciting and I liked the desperate mannerisms of the group as they struggled to get back to their cell block. The flippant way they treated the prisoners made sense as the prisoners hardly presented a threat to them and the importance of saving Hershel's life. While I had issues with the nature of the prisoner storyline (see: The Bad), I thought it led to a few terrific moments. I really liked the way that Tomas' violent nature started to slowly become apparent as he became more of a threat. It increased the tension as the episode went on and made the drama between Rick and the prisoners a lot more exciting. I thought Rick's cold murder of Tomas was fantastic and a perfect moment for him, as was him leaving Andrew to die. Rick has been hardened after killing Shane but we never knew how far he has gone. These dual kills showed us exactly how Rick's mind works now and it surprised me in a very good way. With Rick being smarter and more ruthless, it will likely make it tougher to pressure him, meaning that the drama this season should be more enjoyable than the slow and dull drama that occupied much of season 2. The scenes with Lori and Rick were quite good too. Their changed relationship is much better than what we got last season and I think that Lori's lack of likability actually works here by putting us firmly in Rick's corner and making it clear that Lori deserves what happened to her. This in turn makes us sympathize more with Lori by seeing her suffering so much. While I don't like Lori's character yet, this is an effective start to rehabbing her. Hershel's story was very good too. I thought Lauren Cohan was outstanding as she cried over Hershel and told him that he can die and be at peace. The acting carried the scene and brought out some genuine emotion regarding Hershel's relationship with Maggie. I also really enjoy the contrasts with how Maggie and Beth respectively dealt with Hershel's condition. The final moments where Hershel woke up and is alive were very good and I'm glad that we got a little bit of hope in this miserable world to keep the survivors going. We need moments like these for the depressing nature of the story to not get too grating. I liked the idea of Carol practicing surgeries on walker bodies. It was a fittingly grim moment that blends perfectly into the show. The Bad: The idea that the prisoners lived in that cafeteria for a year, not knowing that the world ended is a massive reach which I don't buy at all. It's a stupid idea that removes a lot of credibility from this world. Furthermore, it's frustrating how long it takes Rick and co. to tell the prisoners what happened to the world. It's not interesting and feels like stalling. Also, the dialogue from the prisoners is quite bad and does a very poor job of characterizing them. Yes, even though this season got off to a good start, the show is still failing to do characterization and character development. It's disappointing and I get the sense that the show may still fail to hit the next level without good character work. How dumb was it when the prisoners attacked the walkers? They had been told several times to aim for the heads, yet none of them listened. This was way too unbelievable, especially since every prisoner did this, and since Rick must have told them three or four times to go for the head. Lori is seriously still not watching over Carl. Man, I'm with Carl on this, because Lori really needed to discipline the kid so he wouldn't just go off whenever he feels like it. She is still a terrible parent. Sure she admits to it, but at least make her try to improve her parenting skill. The Unknown: Can we trust the two surviving prisoners? Who was watching Carol from the forest? Is it a new threat? Best Moment: Maggie crying over Hershel was a great scene. Character of the Episode: Maggie. Conclusion: In terms of pacing and excitement, this was a good follow-up to the season premiere. But the prisoner storyline is built on a really weak foundation and fails to provide enough emotion and character development to justify its existence. While this episode doesn't mean that the rest of this season will be poor, it's definitely a worrying sign. Score: 60
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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