Horror Review: The Walking Dead S4E03 “Isolation”

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Arleigh

“You step outside. You risk your life.” — Hershel Greene

The first two episode of The Walking Dead for season 4 has been all about upending the sense of normalcy and serenity that Rick and his group of survivors have fought and worked to create within the safety of the prison. We saw a timeskip of many months from the time Rick brought the survivors of Woodbury back to the prison to show them that they weren’t the monsters the Governor had made them up to be and from there started up this community that the audience was dropped into in season 4.

As we saw with last week’s episode, “Infected”, that sense of civilization and safety was nothing but an illusion. The zombies got into the prison and attacked a major chunk of the survivors and now a new threat has reared it’s viral head to make the lives of Rick and the gang that much more difficult, if not, hopeless. Zombies, even herds of them, and other people this group could handle as Glenn commented to his father-in-law, but the disease which struck Patrick and looks to be burning through those who were in the compromised Cell Block D was one thing they couldn’t fight.

“Isolation” marks another forward step for a show that has had a difficult time trying to stay on course when it comes to it’s overarching story arcs for the season. New showrunner Scott M. Gimple promised a season that was going to avoid standing pat, but reintroduce a sense of mystery and unknown dangers to a group that’s as battle-hardened as any military unit after three seasons of constant fighting. Now we know that one of these new dangers is a disease (maybe a particularly strong strain of the flu or maybe even the plague itself) which has used the cramped living spaces of the prison and a shortage in proper medicines to incubate and spread itself amongst the survivors.

The entire episode works almost like an isolation ward for the main characters and some of the newer ones. They’ve come such a long way to survive this hellish new world and partly due to isolating themselves from the problems inherent in a zombie apocalyptic world, but also in a community that’s one step removed from the disease-ridden refugee camps we see televised on TV on a daily basis. This was a group that had fooled itself into thinking that isolating their little piece of “heaven” from the outside would keep them safe. It has to a certain degree but it also made them complacent. Yes, they’ve become more compassionate (though smarter) about letting new people into the community, but they’ve stopped trying to venture farther out into the wilderness to find other communities who could share resources and help rebuild the very civilization Rick and the council has been working so hard to accomplish.

Now, their isolation will need to end as they must find new sources of medicines to help combat the disease that’s burning through the prison. Their mission has become much more dire in that it’s not just the new additions to the group who have now become infected but one of their in Glenn has succumbed to it as well. And for all the hardcore survival instincts and skills Daryl, Michonne and the rest have honed to a deadly degree the world outside still remains one that could kill them all without hesitation no matter their skills. The pan of the camera to show the oncoming herd (much bigger than past shown herds) on the group of Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob was something we rarely see in zombie flicks and tv (though World War Z did it through use of CG). This sequence just shows how easily people who’ve isolated themselves from this never-ending danger could easily lose hope as Tyreese looked to have at first glance.

This latest episode of The Walking Dead really didn’t have any of the action we saw in the first two episode of the new season, but it’s been one that avoided the past season mistakes of not moving the story forward. Yes, they’re still stuck in the prison, but the narrative has continued to propel forward. We find out who killed Karen and David (the burnt bodies that ended episode 2) instead of the writers stretching it out over several episodes. The answer to this mystery brings up new questions as to why this long-standing character decided to act unilaterally even if it was for the greater good of the community. The fact that their actions ultimately failed to keep the disease in check still doesn’t change the fact that even the meekest of the group has grown and change to adapt to a world where even something as simple as a common cold or the flu could kill just as quickly as the zombies gathering at the prison fences.

“Isolation” was written by comic book creator Robert Kirkman who has grown to become better in translating ideas he has written for the series’ comic book counterpart and ideas discarded along the way into something that helps the tv show distinguish itself from the original source material. The show has almost become a way for Kirkman to recreate the early days of the comic book source with new themes and characters. With the comic book itself already years ahead of the show it’s going to be interesting to see whether the tv show will skip some of the smaller story arcs that occur after the prison and move the group closer to the timeline comic book readers are currently at.

While short on action, “Isolation” brings to the fore new problems for the group both immediate and moral. Will the admission of one of their own to the culpability of Karen and David’s murder be told to the rest of the council or will Rick keep this secret to himself? Is the brief radio signal caught in the car radio as Daryl and his scavenging group drive down the road lead to the Governor or a truly safe haven?

One thing that’s been consistent with this new season so far has been that the writers have learned to not stand pat with the show’s narrative. Previous showrunner Glen Mazzara preached forward momentum with season 3 but ultimately failed as the season limped to it’s finale. Only time will tell whether new showrunner Scott M. Gimple will do the same or actually finish this season strong and actually stay around for a following season.

Notes

“Infected” was written by source material creator Robert Kirkman and veteran tv director Dan Sackheim.
The fight between Rick and Tyreese was one of several fandom moments which mirrors similar scenes in the comic book, but with the show arriving to the scene in a much different manner. In the comic book, this fight occurred after Tyreese found out about her daughter’s death as part of a suicide pact with her boyfriend and Tyreese murdering the boyfriend and then shooting her daughter after she turned.
The other moment being Tyreese’s hammer rampage on the zombies that surrounded their car on the way to the veterinary college. In the comic book, this scene happened in the prison indoor gym.
We learn more about just how virulent the disease that took Patrick really is as survivors of Cell Block D and some of those who fought to save it succumb less than a day from Patrick dying from it.
I know it’s become a joke when it comes to Carl and his trusty gun, but it’s good that the writers saw fit to not prolong this particular storyline. Rick, more than anyone else, understands that Carl is one of the better fighters in the community and he’s come to regret trying to hamper the boy and in return make the group less effective.
Carl actually listening to Hershel about not having to kill every zombie they come across was a surprise. We’ve seen how leaving a zombie still standing and operating led to disastrous results for season 2. Will Carl practicing restraint come to bite the group again or does it mean Carl has edged back away from becoming a sociopath and into something more like his father and less like Shane. With each passing episode Carl looks to be emulating Daryl more and more and that could be a good thing in the long run seeing how Rick is not what one would call mentally stable.
Nice to see the writers actually giving one of the new characters, Larry Gilliard, Jr’s Bob Stookey, some character growth moments where in the past such new faces were relegated to becoming either zombie chow or cannon fodder. His reaction to finding out that they will be taking Zack’s car (Beth short-lived boyfriend from the season premiere) to their scavenge run to the local veterinary college 40 miles away shows how much guilt he feels at having caused the young man’s death.
One of the best reveals of the season so far has been that massive herd that looks to be in the thousands bearing down the highway and Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob stuck in their car. A question that rises up from this sequence is to whether this herd is heading towards the prison or will it just bypass their haven altogether.
Carol, Carol, Carol has become the new lightning rod for this season. Some have enjoyed the characters growth into a bonafide survivor in more than one sense. Some don’t like the fact that she’s become too cold and calculating even if it’s for the greater good of the group. Some just can’t get behind the fact that a woman on the show has actually become one of it’s more level-headed characters. I, for one, hope she sticks around past this season. This Carol has become the show’s comic book version of Andrea and that should be celebrated instead of denigrated.
Talking Dead Guests: Series executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, Jack Osborne and Marilyn Manson. Manson definitely made for a unique guest on the post-episode show. To say that he made show host Chris Hardwick more than just a tad uncomfortable would be an understatement.

Season 4

Review: The Walking Dead S3E07 “When the Dead Come Knocking”

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Arleigh

“I’ll call the cops!” — unnamed hermit

[some spoilers within]

We’re getting close to the halfway point of season 3 of the Walking Dead. It’s been a season of many surprises and most of it coming from what looks like a soft reset by the show’s newest showrunner Glen Mazzara. He and his writers seem to be on a mission to fix the myriad of problems and issues the show ended up showing during it’s first full-length season with it’s second one. We don’t get as many prolonged quiet and slow moments that sucked any sort of momentum the show’s episodes would gather. We’ve also seen episodes this season that seemed much tighter in a narrative sense. No more dangling subplots that would stretch over several episodes. There was a concern that the fate of Carol would remained unanswered after the game-changer fourth episode of the season, but the writers didn’t stretch out the mystery as we saw it answered during last week’s episode.

Last week we saw a moment in the show that somewhat mirrors the original comic book source as Merle was able to take both Glenn and Maggie hostage and back to Woodbury. Something similar happens in the comic book, but other than Glen being the common participant in both iterations the show’s writer continue to mine the original source but do so in their own way and giving the moment more of an emotional impact moving forward than the original ever had. So, we find two of Rick’s group in dire straits while finding a surprise newcomer just outside the prison fence.

Tonight’s episode, “When the Dead Come Knocking”, and it marks the show’s penultimate entry this season before the mid-season finale that looks to pit the season’s two groups of survivors against each other. While we don’t actually see the two groups finally confront each other we get a lot of pieces being moved across the show’s board that the mid-season finale should be quite an apocalyptic event.

We do get a lot of Michonne finally doing more than glower at everyone around her and get hints at some personal issues that might be something leftover from before the zombie apocalypse. Her reaction to Rick grabbing her arm spoke volumes and why she was so intent to keeping Andrea with her. Her distrust of men could mean many things, but the fact that she’s willing to help Rick get his people back from the Governor speaks volume to Rick as a leader. Where the Governor charmed and cajoled and promised Michonne that she was free to go the same didn’t happen with Rick. He was literally quite the opposite. He bullied, demanded and promised her nothing but confinement until her motives could be better ascertained. While she might not be trust Rick right now it looks like Michonne prefers his no-BS way of doing things to the disingenuous one by the Governor.

It’s the difference between how Rick deals with strangers and how the Governor does things when in the same situation that tonight’s episode focuses on. While Rick has become hardened by his time in this new world of zombies since awakening from his coma he still seems to retain a semblance of the humanity that he’s been trying to leave behind in an attempt to keep his people alive. We’ve seen Rick do some unforgivable things this season, but we still hope that he doesn’t go full-on Col. Kurtz. It’s Rick’s attempts to balance cold-hearted pragmatism with his sense of right and wrong idealism that has made this character much more complex than it’s comic book counterpart.

On the other side we have the Governor who continues to pull the wool over Andrea’s eyes who still fails to see that the haven she has decided to stay in is quite rotten to the core and it all starts with it’s “benevolent” leader. We see less and less of his charming side and more of the sociopath he’s turning out to be. Tonight helps cements the idea that the Governor never came back from whatever abyss he went through in the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. He has stayed there in the justification that what he does he does so for the greater good of everyone. Yet, we see how even his inner circle of fighters and muscle fear him. It doesn’t help that the Governor was more than willing to use the prospect of rape to get what he wants.

So, we have this season’s two leaders on a trajectory, especially after tonight’s episode, to finally meet. On one side we have Rick who has gone through his own brand of hell on earth and seem to have come out the other side just as resolute, but still with some compassion to keep his humanity intact. On the other is the Governor who looks like Rick’s opposite mirror image. A man willing to do the worst and beyond if it means he keeps what he thinks is his.

There was some decent moments in tonight’s episode and most of it involved Glenn and Maggie as we saw just how far the two were willing to go to keep the information the Governor wants from him. It took an entire episode of the two lovebirds (and by now, especially after tonight we should finally realize the survivors really do love each other) to finally crack and it’s interesting to see who it was of the two who finally spilled the beans and for the reason why they finally broke. It was some fine work by both Steven Yeun (who got his Hulk out moment as he goes one-on-one with a zombie while tied down) and Lauren Cohan (who also had to go through some major indignities that made tonight’s episode very difficult to watch). Even David Morrissey shined with his performance tonight as the Governor even if it meant watching him attempt some very awful things to his two new “guests”.

“When the Dead Come Knocking” is quite an apt title as the episode ends on a cliffhanger note with Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Oscar arriving outside the walls of Woodbury. The title could mean their arrival means more zombies will be following them to cause havoc on both sides. Or it could mean that death has come in the form of Rick’s group and it’s finally come for the Governor and his people. Either way one looks at it the mid-season episode next week look to be epic and a bloodbath waiting to happen.

Notes

Tonight’s episode was directed and written by two newcomers to the series with Dan Sackheim and Frank Rezulli respectively.
Things are not going to be looking good for our erstwhile hero Glenn Rhee. His character has definitely grown some since his appearance way back in Season 1. The tough times he and the rest of the group has had to live through looks to have toughen him up some.
Michael Rooker continues to be quite a surprise this season. He might have dialed back some of his redneck, racist histrionics from season 1 but he still gives off that same aura but a bit more wilier.
Love how Daryl has become Carl’s big brother this season. Makes one wonder what those two went through together in the time between season 2 and this season.
While still not the best child actor the scene between Chandler Riggs and Andrew Lincoln was a nice poignant moment between father and son concerning Lori and Lil’ Asskicker aka Judith.
Andrea makes an appearance several times tonight and each and every time the air seems to get sucked out of the room and the episode slows down. Even the potential that is Milton in these scenes seem to be lessened because of her in the same scenes.
Glenn just went all straight warrior on that zombie. He may not be the biggest in the group but he sure can fight.
As I thought it would be it looks like Maggie’s role in being a prisoner in Woodbury takes the place of another character’s in the same situation in the comics.
With all the zombie killing and the deaths of characters in this show’s three seasons the scene between Maggie and the Governor might have been the hardest to watch.
Interesting how nonchalant Rick and his people have become when its just a lone zombie bearing down on them.
Oscar looks to be fitting in well as T-Dog’s replacement in the group. Though I love his reaction when he realized what Rick, Daryl and Michonne were going to do with the unnamed LaMOE (Last Man On Earth) whose cabin they group escaped a big group of zombies to.
I this episode might have been the very first time we saw the zombies swarm and devour a body (outside of poor Secretariat in the pilot episode) in full daylight. The gore on the show whenever someone gets eaten seems to always occur in low light or night time.
Funniest moment in tonight’s episode: man being devoured by a horde of zombies then the show cuts to a KFC commercial.
If people think the relationship between Glenn and Maggie is one of convenience should have it changed after tonight’s episode.
For all his charms and good looks it looks like the Governor might have just earned himself the undying hatred of many of the show’s fans with tonight’s episode as we see more and more of his sociopathic tendencies.
Despite Daryl having become Rick’s right-hand man through it all it will be interesting to see which side he will pick when he finally meets up with Merle again next episode. As the saying goes, “Blood is blood.”
Zombie Kill Count of tonight’s episode: 17.