Tag: Volume 11: Fear the Hunters

Walking Dead: “They’re f***ing with the wrong people”

WD4_finaleFew people who watch The Walking Dead can forget how Season Four ended. After finally finding their way to Terminus and regrouping, Rick and the others quickly learned that something wasn’t right. After attempting to escape, they found themselves being herded by bullets to a railcar, which they were then told to board. Inside, they found the rest of their companions and realized the community was nothing but a lie.

A series of hints were given as to what was going on there, like the room filled with candles, the names of people written on the floor, and the slogan: “Never Again. Never Trust. We First, Always” written on the walls. The smart money says this community is made up of cannibals, based on material taken from Volume 11: Fear the Hunters. This would make sense, given their efforts to lure people in and the fact that they didn’t kill Rick and the others right away.

wd4_16_3In any case, the season ended with their crew reunited in crisis and Rick uttering the chilling pronouncement: “They are gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out… They screwed with the wrong people.” As it turns out, AMC had a different ending in mind. Once again, mirroring what was written in Volume 11 of the original comics, the real conversation between Rick and Abraham was punctuated with some F-bombs.

AMC filmed this ending first, but decided to tone it down for the sake of their viewing audience. To which I have to ask… really AMC? You have a series that showcases rotting corpses eating people alive; but swearing, that’s wrong? You’re season finale was especially bloody, featuring men attempting to rape Michonne and Carl, Rick biting a man’s jugular, an evisceration, and even strong hints of cannibalism.

AIn that same season, you had people bleeding out of their eye sockets, the Governor cutting off Hershel’s head, and a massive prison assault where multiple characters were violently gunned down. You even had one episode where a little girl murdered her sister and had to be executed, and where partially-cooked zombies had their heads explode once they were shot. And yet, you think the word “fuck” is a step too far? REALLY AMC???

Anyhoo, Season Five kicks off October 12th, by which time all questions regarding the true nature of Terminus, and why they choose to keep their captives alive, will be answered. And in the meantime, check out the clip of Rick delivering his final line as he was meant to, F-bomb and all:

The Walking Dead – Season Four, Episode 14

The-Walking-Dead-season-4-wallpapers-7This week’s episode, as advertised, focused on the story of Tyreese, Carol, and the girls – Lizzy, Mika and Julia – on their way through the wilderness. But once again, I feel they got the name wrong. While “The Grove” did describe the setting pretty well, what it should have been called was “Lizzy is the dumbest/sickest kid EVER!” But what can you do? At the very least, it was entertaining and engaging, even if it did break new records for brutality!

The Grove:
WD4_14_1The episode opens with Tyreese, Carol and the girls carrying on in their journey to Terminus. Along the way, Carol gets to talking about Lizzy about things – how she shot a woman, how Carol’s daughter died, and how they need to be hard in order to survive. They also come across a Walker laying on the tracks that is hobbled, and Lizzy convinces Tyreese not to kill it since it won’t be able to follow them.

After awhile, they come upon an abandoned farm and settle in for the night, noticing a forest fire in the distance. After finding water, food, and getting comfortable, Mika suggests they give up on Terminus and live there, an idea Tyreese approves of. Carol tries to teach Mika to hunt, but finds she’s unwilling since she doesn’t want to kill. At the same time, Lizzy continues to put her life in danger by insisting the Walkers are still alive.

Walker_mashupThis she does by “playing” with one in the yard, and then freaking out when Carol arrives and kills it, and feeding the one they found on the tracks. Lizzy almost lets the latter one bite her, but she and Mika run when other Walkers – still smoulder because of the forest fire – pour out of the woods. They run back to the farm and are joined by Tyreese and Carol, and togther they manage to stop the horde with some well placed shots.

The next day, Tyreese and Carol go out to hunt and gather and he talks about Karen. Carol almost confesses to him of how she killed her and David, but narrowly avoids it. When they return to the farm, they find a bloody Lizzy standing over Mika’s dead body. She tells them, “Don’t worry. She’ll come back.” When Carol goes to take out Mika’s brain, Lizzy points her gun and tells her to wait because she wants to show them the Walkers are still human.

wd4_14_3Carol manages to convince Lizzy to go inside with Tyreese and Judith and finishes Lizzy off. She and Tyreese talk the next day and he tells her that Lizzy was the one feeding the Walkers at the prison. Tyreese wonders if she also killed Karen and David, but Carol tells him it wasn’t, and they discuss what to do with her. Carol takes her out into the woods to talk, and tells her to “look at the flowers” and shoots her. She and Tyreese bury both girls in the yard.

Later that night, Carol finally tells Tyreese how she killed Karen and David, and why. She hands him the gun and tells him to do what he has to do. Instead, Tyreese tell her he forgives her since this is a part of them now; but also that he won’t forget. They agree they can’t stay at the farm, and push on towards Terminus the next day. The episode ends with Carol’s words to Mika replaying, of how they are forced to kill, and how it will change them.

Summary:
Well… this weeks episode certainly set a precedent for ugliness and brutality. In addition to the burning Walkers, who’s heads spontaneously combusted when they were shot, there was also the infanticide angle to contend with. Quite shocking, all of it. But it was in keeping with some of the material from the comics, specifically Volume 11: Fear the Hunters, which is the source material for the show at this point.

Though this episode did change some things around, it did address the issue of whether or not Lizzy and Mika were going to remain as part of the cast, which is something I was wondering about. It also answered the little riddle of who was leaving rats for the walkers and mutilated the rabbit at the prison, a mystery which I thought was dead and buried at this point. Glad they wrapped that bit up too.

wd4_14_4

But, I have to say, the whole “Lizzy is a sociopath” angle felt kind of unnatural and just a little shoehorned. In Volume 11 of the comics, it was two boys, Ben and Billy who were the subject of this story. After losing their parents (Allen and Donna, who were never in the show) early on, Dale and Andrea began looking after them as their surrogate parents. After fleeing the prison and knocking around in the woods for some time, they found Ben standing over Billy’s corpse.

His words were identical to Lizzy’s, saying that they shouldn’t worry because he didn’t kill the brain, which meant Ben would come back. In time, Carl decided to do what had to be done and kills Billy, thus ending the thread. In this case, Lizzy seems to have deep-seated denial about the walkers and cannot bring herself to kill one because she thinks they are still alive. At the same time, she flays animals for fun and murders her sister. Kind of seems at odds, you know?

Still, the way they dealt with this rather brutal and shocking material was quite gutsy. After they spared Judith in the show, I had the feeling that they would be watered down about some of the more brutal aspects of the story. Suddenly, that doesn’t seem to be the case! And as always, this filler episode puts the characters on the road to Terminus, where they are all headed now. And with only two episodes to go, we’re finally going to see what awaits them…

The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 11

The-Walking-Dead-season-4-wallpapers-7Episode three of season 4.5 is here! And since I don’t want to drag things out with a long intro, let me just recap what happened last week as quickly as possible. Maggie and her group find the bus and all people aboard it are dead, but find no trace of Glenn. Tyreese and the girls are found by Carol, Judith is still alive and with them. They find out about a safe haven named Terminus and go looking for it.

Glenn finds Tara and sets out, and is found by Abraham, Rosita and Eugene, some new blood who got guns and a big honking army truck. And that’s what happened last week. Here’s what happened this week!

Claimed:
WD4_11_0The episode opens with Tara in the back of the army truck, taking notes on where her new “friends” are taking her. They stop to dispatch a group of Walkers, and Tara witnesses Abraham singlehandedly kill three. She notes how he did it all with a grin on his face and a sense of humor, to which he replies that he’s “the luckiest man in the world”.

Glenn wakes up in the back of the truck, demands that Abraham pull over and tries to leave. Abraham stops him, tells him that they are on a mission which may decide the fate of the human race, and introductions follow. They are Sgt. Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa and Doctor Eugene Porter; and apparently, Porter knows what caused the mess and needs to get to Washington DC.

WD4_11_2He reveals that Eugene was talking to people in Washington on a satellite phone, but for the past few weeks, no one has been responding. He asks for Glenn and Tara’s help since they know how to deal with Walkers, but Glenn is intransigent. Tara tells him she’s been keeping track of their route since they got picked up, and that she can get them back to the bus.

Abraham tries to convince him by telling him his wife is surely dead, and Glenn responds by slugging him. A fight ensues, which Tara and Rosita try to break up. But they only stop when Walkers are approaching and Eugene starts clumsily shooting at them. The others join in and take out the herd, but the truck is damaged and begins leaking fuel. Glenn and Tara depart yet again, and the others decide to follow.

WD4_11_1At the house, Michonne and Carl are having breakfast; they laugh, until the subject turns to Judith. They go out in search of more food, leaving Rick to rest and watch the house. Rick confides that he’s happy to have Michonne around, since Carl is in need of friends. While out, Michonne and Carl bond by speaking about her past, which includes how she lost her son, Andre Anthony.

While searching one house, Michonne finds her way into a child’s bedroom and discovers the bodies of the entire family laid out on the beds, having all died in a suicide pact. When Carl comes, she closes the door quickly. When he asks if there is a baby in the room, she lies and tells him it’s a dead dog. Carl responds by opening up about Judith’s death, saying he hopes she and Andre are somewhere together.

WD4_11_3Back at the house, Rick begins to hear voices and realizes he is not alone. When a armed man appears, he sneaks under the bed and hides. The man comes in to inspect the room and ends up taking the bed, leaving Rick underneath. Another man comes in soon thereafter and they begin fighting over the bed. One is killed by the other, and looks Rick in the eye before he is strangled to death.

Rick eventually slips out and hides in another room just as the intruders begin to gather back on the ground floor. He hides in a bathroom and comes face to face with one of them, and is forced to kill him. Taking his weapon, he sneaks out the window and finds his way outside the house just as Michonne and Carl are returning. He runs to them and they begin to run off together.

wd4_11_4On the road together, Abraham tries to appeal to Tara’s sense of reason by espousing their importance of their mission. They come to an agreement of sorts that they are all doing what they think is right because they are good people. Elsewhere, along the railroad tracks, Rick, Michonne and Carl come upon a map indicating the location of Terminus and decide to head there too.

Summary:
First off, let me say that I enjoy what they are doing with the show at this point. This is to be expected thanks to the introduction of Abraham, Rosita and Eugene, and the rather appropriate casting choices for them. Michael Cudlitz, Christian Serratos and Josh McDermitt manage to look the part of these characters very well, and so far, the character they are striking seems pretty accurate too.

Also, the way they have introduced these characters and their plot element at this point, though it does diverge from the comic book somewhat, works when paired with the other character’s trying to find their way in the wilderness. And the way they’ve inserted bands of marauders is akin to other elements in the post-prison part of the comic.

For one, it adds some sense of urgency, showing how people are being pulled in different directions. And now, it seems likely that everyone is going to converge on Terminus, and I think I know what they will find there. On the one hand, they might choose to go with something out of Volume 11: Fear the Hunters (which the roving band of armed men in this episode made me think of).

On other hand, they might choose to fast forward and go directly to Volume 12: Life Among Them which deals with the groups discovery of a working safe zone where they hope to build a new life. However, this seems unlikely at this point, as there is plenty of material that this would circumvent – good material that all took place between the prison being overrun and the entire group heading together to Washington.

I shall say no more on that front, as it would risk getting into major spoiler territory. Suffice it to say, at this point the show seems more like an open canvas. In the first half of season four, it seemed like the show was duty bound to deal with all the changes they had made in season three (i.e. the Governor surviving, the attack on the prison failing, etc.)

Now, it seems like they are back on track and free to experiment with a wealth of material, which – for me, at any rate, and I imagine other fans of the comics – has made the show exciting again. So I am interested to see how the second half of season four turns out, and hope that they don’t do something terribly off-script with the whole Terminus thing…