After last week’s dynamite half-season premiere, the appeal of “The Walking Dead” as a television is at a four year high. In fact, leading into the episode, I was actually excited to watch it for once!
The question, of course, is did it keep this love train going. Find out below, as I share five thoughts on this week’s episode, titled “Inmates”.
As per usual, spoilers for this week’s episode will be discussed.
1. Ice Cold Cold Open
I’ve brought this up before, but the thing that “The Walking Dead” does better than anything, and something it does better than any other show probably, is the cold open. It’s a fine art, and I think it is a huge part of the show’s success. Being able to open and close strong is something the show often does well, and even though the in-between states are frequently not so good, people remember loving the open and the close.
The open, at the very least, was fantastic this week. With Beth (Emily Kinney) speaking over her and Daryl dealing with a cadre of zombies in a forest, Kinney gives voice to the hopes and dreams the prison represented for her, and for her family’s future. We know her father is dead, and apparently her sister is now lost, and she’s getting chased by a pack of zombies with only a very sweaty man with a crossbow as a companion.
Like last week, where we were reminded that once Carl was a little kid and Michonne wasn’t just a ronin, being reminded that the prison, however frustrating it was, represented a return to society and sanity for their number. A powerful cold open that certainly started the show off on the right foot.
2. Little Asskicker is alive and Carol is back!
While I never really thought she was dead, when Tyreese turned around and had Judith in his arms, I actually immediately became much, much happier. Like, I audibly squealed a bit, sort of like Judith did for her first two scenes.
Then, Carol showed up to save Mika and Lizzie, and a brand new band was formed! Huzzah!
Judith being with Tyreese is definitely a good thing for her, as that is a man who clearly can handle himself with a hammer. However, Lizzie is definitely playing the role of Ben from the comic, as she is going a bit bonkers in this new world and nearly smothers Judith before Carol shows up to ghost some zombies and intervene with the said act of smothering.
Lizzie is one to watch though, and after seeing her near smother a baby, I’d believe she would do anything for her own survival. Including killing any one of Tyreese, Mika, Judith or even her beloved Carol.
In short, welcome back Carol and Judith. Hope you survive the experience.
3. Ermagherd, Abraham
The ending, which reveals Abraham, Eugene and Rosita, is completely fantastic.
I have to admit, I had no idea that they were going to be in the show this episode, let alone this season, and when they walked out to a furious Tara yelling at them, it was like they walked straight out of the comic. Maybe more than any moment ever for the show, in fact.
And casting Michael Cudlitz, Bull Randleman himself, as Abraham? Perfection. Complete perfection. Cudlitz is a fantastic actor, and now that I’ve seen it, I cannot imagine a more perfect casting for this role. Huge addition to the cast, and while I’ve never really cared for Eugene or Rosita, the show has managed to throw curveballs in the past in terms of who I do or do not like (see: liking Carol, not like Andrea), I wouldn’t be surprised if that changed.
Totally awesome.
4. Structure leads the way
A lot of what makes this episode work as well as it does – and it does work – is the structure. Some may be annoyed that we never see any of the groups interact or that they aren’t intercut together, but given the chaos of the prison finale, I love how they’re doing it.
Giving each splintered group (Daryl and Beth; Tyreese, Carol and the kids; Maggie, Sasha and Bob Stookey; Glenn and Tara) their own segment that sometimes feed into each other (particularly the Daryl/Beth and Tyreese/Carol sections) strengthens the episode as a whole, and if they structured the episode any other way, I truly believe the episode would have been much weaker.
Continued belowAfter last week, this was pretty much the perfect way to address what was going on with everyone else.
5. Apex Walking Dead
We are two episodes into this half of season four, and I’m going to call it: these two episodes are my favorite consecutive pair of the series yet. Just fantastic work that appropriately blends action sequences (everything about Glenn in the SWAT suit!) with emotional, character breakthroughs, like when Maggie finishes clearing out the bus and realizes Glenn isn’t there (but a whole lot of undead redshirts were!).
“The Walking Dead” has long been a bit of a struggle for me, and honestly, in my opinion it’s been a struggle for the people making the show too. Switching showrunners, behind the scenes drama and more have made simply crafting the show a consistently unpredictable experience. Now that Scott M. Gimple has had some time to cultivate his own place on the show and they’ve escaped the shadow of the prison, you can feel the show coming into its own.
Really, really great stuff. Yet again, I am eager for next week, which is a mostly new place for me as Walking Dead viewer. Keep it up, Team Walking Dead.
