The Walking Dead is currently living up to be just what we wanted from a television show that began strong as an almost segmented feature film. Nevermind that little deviation we took last season onto the farm-of-existential delirium, this season is all about the visceral nature of survival and the ability to make decisions for the greater good, and for the greater gore.
Last night’s episode proved that there will be ramifications for wrong choices and horrible mistakes. Our beloved characters will face the types of gut-wrenching decisions one would expect from a zombie apocalypse, well, with a bit of television massaging in tow. Regardless, we learn that safety is just a state of mind, an act of will, and something that hinges on the sheer ability of never getting on the bad side of the living — or the dead.
[NOTE:] Sorry Walking Dead fans for not being able to bring you a recap last week. Hurricane Sandy was threatening and this blogger had to spend some time batting down the hatches. But what we can say about last week was, OH, CRAP! THAT GOVERNOR DUDE IS A SICKO, CREEP, WEIRDO, MONSTER MITT ROMNEY! HA! Okay. So he’s not Mitt Romney, but he is some sort of evil politician. He’s been able to effectively imprison a whole community of people so thrashed by the zombie apocalypse that they’ve signed on to be the poster children for a prison camp named Woodbury run by a lunatic. That takes some serious political posturing. The kind that promises safety in exchange for your unending loyalty and unreasoned ability to not ask questions or think too hard. Brainwashing, Stepfordizing at its very best and only Michonne seems to want to look beneath the pretty veneer to the ugly, sinister depths. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
What we get when we open to “Killer Within” the eerie title of last night’s episode, is that someone or possibly something(?) has hacked, gutted, and hung a deer carcass as a lure for the remaining roaming prison Walkers. And not only is this someone enticing them, they are also opening Rick’s carefully enclosed fortress. Well, shit. We know exactly what this will turn into — a roaming zombie herd fueled on fresh meat and access to other areas of the prison — areas Rick’s group have now decided to call home. And within those walls there are two sides of humanity. The haves i.e. Rick’s group, and the have-nots, i.e. what remains of the prisoners which include Axel and Oscar. These two guys are none too happy living in Upper Peyton Place with only the ghosts of their fallen cellmates to keep them company and little to zilch in the way of survival skills of the zombie killing variety. So basically they’re destined for isolation or taking their chances out in the wild world of Zombie Herdsburg beyond the prison fences. So they decide to lodge a complaint with Rick the Mayor of Wisteria Lane in Cellblock C. Rick’s gut tells him that it will be a mistake opening his ranks to strangers, but decides to put the complaint before the council of Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Carol. We assume Lori, Amy, Carl, and Hershel don’t get a vote.
Most are wary of what strangers will bring to the group, even though Axel for what it’s worth is working the “I can be real helpful and useful, just you see” angle really hard to Oscar’s disgust. And we remember all that it took for Rick’s group to gain the trust of Hershel and Maggie. [Fingies Note: No, we are not going to spend more time than necessary discussing the farm that shall be forgotten.] T-Dog wants to give the two inmates a chance waxing poetic in probably the most verbiage we’ve heard from him in two seasons since he dropped the key to Merle’s handcuffs. Daryl identifies with the two ousted men, but that doesn’t mean that he thinks they should get a free ride. He thinks if everyone else had to prove their worth out in the real world facing a real threat, and not just some decomposed body stink and a few wandering zombies Rick’s strike team mostly picked off, the convicts should pay their dues.
Rick also chimed in with a story about a baby-faced killer who fooled the cops, jury, and judge to get off just to kill, so. It’s then decided. They’d set the inmates free since Oscar so helpfully offered up that he’d rather face the outside world than sit another day in safety, and gave the men supplies for a week. T-Dog scoffed at their chances. And we thought to ourselves, “or they could find their way to Woodbury and be executed on sight by The Governor. Six of one.”
Back in Woodbury, Michonne is walking (strutting?) around the property with a perpetual look of displeasure (un-erasable scowl?) on her face as she comes across the military vehicle The Governor brought back. A quick investigation tells her the vehicle has bullet holes and blood was spilled. In true textbook villainy The Governor shows up with all the answers for why everything looks suspect. He says, “I never said I’d cut taxes for the very rich, or that I plan to de-fund FEMA, or anything else you may have heard me say in the last eighteen months.” He had all the answers. The one thing he wants is that she and Andrea don’t leave because it’s not safe, or because he likes his town full of handpicked utopia constituents just as it is. There’s a bit of a stare down which tells us that Michonne in no way believes anything The Governor has to say, and insists to Andrea that they both leave as soon as possible. And Andrea who has been fitted with the worst type of “bad boy radar” ever is skeptical. We can all tell that she wants to stay in The Governor’s amazing little community of robotic townspeople. Later she shares a few stories and flirts with Merle, of all people, and has another little giggle and gab session with The Governor, which results in the two staying another day to Michonne’s quiet rage. Merle on the other hand finds out just how much The Governor wants complete control over his compound. He won’t let Merle out to find his brother whom Andrea has provided valuable Intel on. In his exchange with Merle we see just how much of a control freak in addition to all the other freakiness that is The Governor. THIS DOES NOT BODE WELL FOR ANYONE!
Back at the prison old Hershel wants to see some sunshine and after getting a nifty pair of crutches off he goes. While helped by Lori, Amy, and Carl, Hershel is making some good headway in the prison yard. The strike team of Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie are off in the prison distance planning to make a run for supplies. T-Dog and Carol are also a bit out of earshot of the slowly ambling Hershel and his human convoy. Everyone seems content with their current roles and the space that they now call home. There is peace, and even Rick and Lori feel some of it through their stiff awkwardness. And then we get the long view over Hershel’s shoulder. WALKERS! ZOMBIES! EAT YOUR FACE OFF! MONSTER! ZOMBIE ATTACK! Here comes that herd from earlier and now everyone is separated; Rick’s too far away to be able to shoot them as they approach Lori, Hershel, Amy, and Carl. So Rick’s strike team runs as fast as they can through the prison gravel watching the horror unfold in front of them. Lori and Carl get off a few shots but more and more are coming. Old Hershel is even able to jab one with his crutch as he and Amy are able to lock themselves away behind a gate. T-Dog and Carol attempt to close the fence as another wave of Walkers comes forward. AND THEN! T-Dog gets bit! Oh, oh, T-Dog. We know what this means. Your veins are now full of a Zombie virus Slurpee. Will he have moments or hours? No one really remembers…just that it is inevitable and it will be ghastly.
We can all agree that these few moments of action are probably the most intense we’ve ever witnessed on the show. Everyone was involved and it was a full-out nail-biting, edge of your seat moment. There is no doubt about it. And we’re not even done.
The group is splintered. Maggie gets to Lori first and the two women with Carl as point man are able to get back into the prison. T-Dog and Carol also find a way in. Hershel and Amy are safe, but just as Rick’s team gets to the main prison yard the prison alarms start going off; a veritable dinner bell to all Walkers in the nearby distance. He frantically tries to shoot the speakers out, but realizes that he needs to get to the source. And here’s where Axel and Oscar come in handy. They know where the control room is.
Back with Lori, Carl, and Maggie….oh, Good God! Lori is doubled over in pain THE. BABY. IS. COMING! Of course it is. There’s no way this show was going to have this moment happen in some peaceful Zen way. Nuh-uh. We’ve got a Walker attack, blaring alarms, and dirty surroundings. Make way for the bebeh. They find a basement door and proceed down into the inner sanctum. Lori knows that she needs to have this baby NOW! No 36 hours of labor or time to go pack the hospital bag NOW! NOW! In seconds she’s sans pants and pushing. But something is wrong. Oh, yes, something is very, very wrong. There’s too much blood. Lori simply says that Maggie is going to have to cut open her old C-section scar using Carl’s knife. And oh, yeah, when the time comes…blow her head off. We then witness the worst midwifery ever full of blood and gore, a slippery baby, a desperate, pleading Lori, an ashen Carl, and then finally with a few convulsions Lori bleeds out. DEAD. Now, we don’t know how you felt about Lori, but well, that was hard to watch and impossible to look away from. Maggie bundles up the crying baby and is about to walk off, but Carl reminds her that someone has to not let Lori come back as a zombie. And then we imagine Lori as a belly ripped open zombie and gagged, but also kinda wanted it to happen. Can you just imagine?! (Hey! This is a zombie show!) Carl, determined, decides that he’s the one to do it. And remembering the words of his father about not being a child anymore — off-screen he does.
T-Dog and Carol are quickly running out of options. The Walkers are everywhere. Seeing little else to do once blocked from escape, T-Dog, this quiet man of few words and even fewer screen time does the only thing a martyr can do and runs full-on into a couple Walkers taking the hits and bites so Carol can get away. And chomp the zombies do. We see T-Dog’s throat get ripped out and we sigh and shake our heads thinking of everything T-Dog never got to do on this show. Did he ever shower? Could he sing a good campfire song? Would he ever find a post-apocalyptic girlfriend? We won’t ever know. RIP T-Dog.
Rick and his small crew including the convicts find the control room but just as they’re about to shut down the alarms out pops Andrew! Remember Andrew the other inmate Rick left to die amid a gaggle of Walkers? Well, that guy didn’t die. Instead he’s been planning his insurrection. He’s responsible for the loose Walkers finding their way back to Rick’s group. In a would-be fight to the death Andrew and Rick wrestle. Losing the gun, it looks like Rick may have lost until Oscar the inmate picks it up. Andrew tries to convince him to kill Rick so they can have the run of the prison but Oscar plays the only survival card he has and shoots Andrew. Well, we don’t know. Perhaps he and Axel could have survived led by Andrew. After all, how did Andrew not become zombie chum? [Fingies Note: POTENTIAL FATAL FLAW!}
After being sidetracked by Andrew, the biggest zombie evader ever on this show, Rick makes it back to the main prison yard after seeing what was left of T-Dog, and finding Carol’s hair scarf ominously by itself. When once with Hershel and Amy we find out that Carol didn’t pass them and Hershel asks after the others. Maggie and Carl emerge, covered in blood, Maggie holding the baby. Rick takes it all in for a second and we see his world begin to crack. He looks from Maggie, the baby, to Carl, and starts to put it all together. He marches toward Carl to confirm and Maggie tries to stop him but it’s too late. Saying nothing, Rick sees everything in Carl’s eyes, and it dawns on him. Lori giving her life to birth one child, just to have the one she already birthed put her out of her misery. AND ALL OF THIS is Rick’s fault because he cruelly didn’t put Andrew down when he had the chance. Rick sinks to his knees and sobs uncontrollably as everyone takes in all that’s occurred. This was the best acted sequence we’ve seen in a long time. For anything more absolutely gut- wrenching go watch the final ten minutes of Stephen King’s The Mist.
Oh, sheesh, guys. This was beyond anything we could have imagined and yet so good. This is how you do a MOTHER F***IN ZOMBIE SHOW! What did you think?
