After a couple day delay due to our site being dead, I’m back with a look at the second straight Governor centric episode of this show, and on the heels of that debacle, let’s just say I wasn’t excited to watch this episode or write this review. Could I be wrong? Let’s find out below.
Spoilers for the episode are discussed, as well as from the comic and from the previews for next week!
1. All is rosy in the new camp…
The weird thing about the open of the episode – past the outstanding and super creepy cold open (mad props to Bear McCreary for everything in it) – is about how inviting this new camp is. The team hangs out and drinks beers, people seem comfortable…everything feels strangely normal. In fact, as I was watching this episode I actually noted that I was enjoying these people more than I was enjoying any of the groups. It felt so happy compared to anything we’d seen on the show before, and given how freaking depressing it is constantly, it was nice to have a little something out of the ordinary. It helps that many of the actors – namely Jose Pablo Cantillo as Martinez – are pretty charming, but early on, there was part of me that was thinking, “you know, this isn’t so bad.”
As a start, given the fact I hated last week’s, I was pleasantly surprised to be enjoying my time in New Woodbury.
2. Until it wasn’t
Now, if I looked at the events that took place midway through the episode sheerly from a logic standpoint, it doesn’t stand up. From an entertainment standpoint, it works pretty well. Let’s go with the latter after explaining the former.
Brian/The Governor kills Martinez because he simply offers him a role co-leading the new camp – “I don’t want it!” he shouts as he drags him to a pit of walkers – and then, even though he doesn’t want it, he quickly changes his mind because he runs across a bunch of walkers that are literally stuck in the mud in his escape with his new “family”. Then he decides to kill his way to the top so he can run the camp again.
So that makes no sense.
But…it entertains, and it fits into the shaky, constant illogic of the TV version of the Governor. Good? Bad? Who gives a shit, that dude is crazy, and he’s much more interesting attacking the prison than he is finding backgammon boards for old men. Speaking of which…
3. Brian is dead. Long live The Governor.
Sure, changing things up so quickly and making The Governor crazy again basically defeats the purpose of temporarily making him “good”. But it changed the situation for the character and put him in the place of being an interesting antagonist again, while also giving us some serious red shirt potential.
Thankfully, they didn’t stick with it for too long, and The Governor gets back to just being a straight up killer. The way he takes power and keeps Mitch on his side – even though he just murdered his brother Pete – was very ingenious, but at the same time it puts him on thin ice with the people he is leading. It sets things up in a very interesting way for next week, and I’m hoping Mitch decides to straight up ghost The Governor when the time is right.
4. All in all, a marked improvement
As much as I hated last week’s episode, this one was surprisingly entertaining. There were major lapses in logic and we were often put into a position of wondering why this was all happening, but I was entertained throughout. There were some very gripping moments in a show that often lacks singular successes, like the cold open and the moment where The Governor stood out on the pier as Pete grasped for him in zombie form from the bottom of the lake. Mostly, this is a set up episode that presumably will ultimately be made pointless by next week (and the previous week’s episode even more pointless), but was I entertained? Was it well crafted? Did it not make me hate every second of watching it? Yes, yes and yes.
Continued belowThat’s a win, and I am as surprised as you are in saying this.
5. It Is On!
For those that didn’t watch the preview for next week’s episode, this is where you should step out.
This episode clearly was putting The Governor back into a position where he had a reason to fight again after the defeat of Woodbury. They’ve adequately done that, and now he’s ready to attack the prison with a motherflipping tank! It looks like next week will be balls to the wall action in the midseason finale, and honestly, after these episodes, I’m ready for that. My hopes and dreams list for next week include:
1. The death of the Governor
2. The destruction of the prison
3. Team Rick leaving the prison
4. Carol returning in a blaze of glory
If we get that, the second half of the season could be pretty awesome. If we don’t, it could be back to dullsville. No more dullsville, please.
