Walking Dead, S4E3
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Carol is the new Carl.
The one character that has never been given a compelling story arc is Carol (Melissa McBride). In Season Four, Carol has not only been developed further as a character, but she has exhibited some good old-fashioned badassery. Last episode, she was teaching children how to use knives and having two young girls help her put their flu-ridden father down before he turned, even remarking that the inability to put people down after death, in order to prevent expanding the zombie population, is a sign of weakness.
This week, Carol admits to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that she killed and burned Karen (Melissa Ponzio) and David (I don't recall David myself, and Rick even mentioned that he didn't know David very well). Tyrese (Chad Coleman) found the burned corpses of Karen and David and he demanded justice, even chiding and attacking Rick and Darryl in the midst of his rage. Then Tyrese wrote a check his ass could not cash, when he struck Rick in the face. Rick beat him senseless. Like a spider monkey.
Rick is again realizing that he must step up and serve a leadership position in this community. He cannot pretend to be a farmer, when there is a need for leadership at the prison. By default, he is the one that has to deal with the burned bodies and a very angry Tyrese. And he, once threatened, shows that he is the one to turn to when dealing with any threat to the group. His beatdown of Tyrese was quick, brutal, and efficient, the three qualities that will help you survive most problems you face in this post-apocalyptic world.
Tyrese, to this point, has placed the role of a pacifist and has used his wits to survive. So I was surprised to see him let his guard down and to exhibit an outburst of anger and rage like he did. Sure, losing a loved one is very difficult, but attacking the leaders of the community that is giving you sanctuary? This is not the Tyrese we have learned to appreciate. Once he received a thorough ass-kicking and buried his dead, Tyrese reverted back to his familiar persona and saw that his role should be helping find a cure for the mysterious flu, so he signs up for the road trip.
Carol later found that the water supply hose was clogged, so she went outside the fence to repair it, where she barely escaped becoming #ZombieChow when the #fencezombies showed interest in her. Rick scolded her for going outside alone, but Carol did not seem to be concerned about winning Rick's approval. The new and improved Carol is not a full-blown psychopath like Carl; we see her break down, likely from the guilt she is feeling from the immolation of Karen and David, when Tyrese asks her to check in on Sasha for him. The Season Four Carol is a great, strong character, and I hope this newfound attitude is here to stay. Let me say it again: Carol is the personification of badassery.
Some folks may wonder how Rick figured out that Carol killed Karen and David. And make no mistake, she burned them alive. She dragged them out of their beds, into the courtyard, and lit them on fire. Because if she had killed them after they had turned, no one would have questioned why she killed/burned two zombies. But a couple of things lead Rick to figure out that Carol is the killer. One, he sees the small handprint and realizes that it was a small person that was responsible. A small person with the strength to drag two sick adults. Second, when Rick suggests to Carol that they pay their respects to a grave-digging Tyrese, Carol decides that she should go fill some water buckets first. Rick gives her a strange look. And thirdly, once Rick sees Carol take matters in her own hands with the clogged water hose on the outside of the fence, he realizes that the new and improved Carol is a woman of action. So these factors lead him to the conclusion that Carol is our culprit.
Carl (Chandler Riggs) has been banished to the kids' cellblock in order to be kept away from infected persons, but Lizzy (the Otis-lookalike's daughter from last episode) has contracted the disease, so Carol locks her in Cellblock A with the other infectees, including Glen (Steven Yeun). Rick tells Carl that he needs to stay with the kids to protect them, but we all know that Rick is just sparing Carl's feelings by giving him some responsibility. Carl is taking his Hall Monitor gig a little too seriously, as he interrogates Herschel (Scott Walker) when the old man decides to go out in the woods to collect elderberries to help treat the flu symptoms. Herschel lets Carl tag along, and even gets to speak to him about empathy when Carl wants to shoot a walker, one who does not appear to be a threat to Carl or Herschel.
I keep wondering if I am being too hard on Carl. Sure, he has shown some signs of becoming a sociopath, like when he murdered the Governor's henchman in cold blood last season. His father, the Rickster, has noticed his transformation also; that's why Rick wants Carl to learn to be a farmer. But I have to remember that this is a young kid that had to put his mother down after she died giving birth to Lil Asskicker. That the Zombie World is the world he will have to survive to grow up. He does not get the luxury of looking back at the good old days, like the adults do. And the world he will inherit will be a much more black-white world than the pre-Zombie world. The code is simple: kill, or be killed. Any mistake in judgement, or empathy you show, will likely get you killed. So maybe Carl is the archetype of the new post-apocalyptic world he inhabits.
Meanwhile, Darryl (Norman Reedus), Michonne (Danai Guirira), Tyrese, and Bob the Medic (Larry Gilliard) are making an 80 mile run to gather up some medication to hopefully treat the sick. Instead of finding medicine, they find the largest herd of #zombs to date. Darryl decides to back up the car when they become surrounded, and we are treated to a great special effect as the car's tires get stuck on zombie corpses. So the gang decides to run to safety. Except Tyrese, who sits in the car a few moments too long and finds himself overrun by zombies. Darryl, Bob, and Michonne have to make a tough decision to leave him, but he later shows up alive. We will have to wait until next week to find out whether he is bit or not.
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| "Where the boy, Ty? |
Speaking of Bob and Tyrese, there was a moment when they were in the back seat of the car that reminded me of Chris Tucker and Ice Cube in Friday. Bob looks at Tyrese, realizes that Tyrese is not planning to get out of the car, shrugs, and takes off running.
The first three episodes of the show this season have been great TV. I know it may be too soon to make proclamations, but I think Scott Gimple, the new showrunner, has taken the show in a new direction and thus far the show is firing on all cylinders.
Random Thoughts:
- I missed the episode where Darryl found an endless supply of arrows. And has he ever worn a shirt with sleeves during the first three seasons? I'm curious.
- Beth has become the E.F. Hutton of the prison. When she speaks, everyone listens.
- Glen's sick? And possibly Herschel?
- The most important thing I learned was that you don't want to take a swing at Rick.
What did you think?
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