The Walking Dead: Season 4 (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

To be sure, we don't really know that Hershel wasn't off doing something else when the pig was discovered -- don't forget that he also tends to the people, and oversees many other matters (including the farming-situation).

Just because we get two scenes of Rick and Hershel in conference doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't off doing the caregiver-duties that we've seen him performing through two previous seasons, now.

We don't need to see Hershel contacted about the dead pig. We know it's going to be brought to his attention.

 

[todd s]

We don't need to see Hershel contacted about the dead pig. We know it's going to be brought to his attention.

I am sure he will find out. My point was that Rick knew before the pig died that something was wrong. He had no idea what was wrong. So instead of going to get Hershel. He ignores it and the pig died. Now, in a normal world situation. It would just be a financial matter. But, this pig is helping your survival. I don't care how busy Hershel is. You get him asap.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I like that we've got a little micro-civilization going at the start of this season, because it really gives the show a chance to explore how humanity would adapt to a world where there was very dangerous intermediate step between dying and death.

Decent premiere. It's always tough when you introduce that many new characters in one episode because all I kept thinking was which one of them wouldn't make it to the end. I guessed right on at least two of them. Have to admit though I was hoping for a better payoff with the crazy lady Rick ran into. I'm not even sure what went down with that.

I was glad to see the nerdy kid who's older than Carl but acts younger go. That character wasn't working for me at all. More than that he died, though, was the way he died.So far they've been very worried about preventing breaches. But in a world where the medical infrastructure has collapsed and vaccines are a thing of the past, large populations are a real double-edged sword. On one hand, there's safety in numbers. On the other hand, refugee camps and the like have always been a breeding ground for disease. And when everybody who dies becomes a walker, an outbreak of small pox or cholera could create a massive walker problem. It's nice to see the show addressing that.

As we see in the last couple of minutes. You have one of your group die and turn. No doubt will cause mayhem and death next week. You have nobody on watch to keep an eye on things. Especially, after you had walkers find ways in before.

That's one thing that I thought of: Even if they're able to turn this thing around, eliminate the zombie threat and rebuild civilization, you're going to have major redesigns in the way the world works. Pretty much everybody will have heavy-duty locks on their bedroom doors, because the risk of a family member dying in their sleep and then biting you would be too great. Hospitals would have to be built more like prisons to be able to better contain and neutralize the threats as they arise.

Regarding the failed raid to the Big Box store. They didn't even check the army tents. Their may have been some good medical supplies there. Also, yes, their were a lot of zombies who fell through the ceiling. But, you go out the front door where they are bottlenecked and kill them as they come out. When done. Proceed to get the supplies.

They had limited space in their vehicles and didn't expect a serious threat. Given that, you target the stuff that's boxed and sealed first, and then scrounge the rest afterward. This was trip two of what was expected to be many trips to this location.Once the zombies started coming through the weakened ceiling -- of the scariest sequences the show's pulled off in a long while, I might add -- Bob was already trapped. People are valuable, and you don't leave them behind.

Going back to the first season. How many times did Dale's rv breakdown or any other car. They had their pick of numerous car and rv dealerships to get new vehicles. Yet, never did...well at least until Hyundai started sponsoring them.

One of the themes of this show has always been the flaws and failings of human nature. Keeping Dale's RV going was a sentimental choice, not a rational one. At that point, it was still early days into the apocalypse. I'm nearly positive that the hardened survivors who've made it this far would no longer consider such foolishness.

Yeah, the pig (Violet?) is sick and let's not talk to Herschel was a big bag of stupid.

Not to mention that pigs are biologically very close to humans. It wouldn't have been a huge stretch to think they could have turned.

 

[todd s]

Another nitpick. Why are they allowing the walkers to congregate outside the fences? They have a large group of survivors. Every day they should out by the fences killing the walkers up against the fence. They should never allow so many outside their perimeter. That being said....so who do u think was feeding the rats and also who killed the 2 sick people?

 

[mattCR]

Another nitpick. Why are they allowing the walkers to congregate outside the fences? They have a large group of survivors. Every day they should out by the fences killing the walkers up against the fence. They should never allow so many outside their perimeter.That being said....so who do u think was feeding the rats and also who killed the 2 sick people?

I thought that was pretty obvious.. it was the girl who was in love with the zombie 'nick' and kept treating them like people; she was feeding them rats. She asked for the knife after the conversation where she was told feeling for zombies was weird, and they gave her the knife. She went back to exact some vengence for her zombie boyfriend

 

[joshEH]

Rick slicing those screaming pigs up was the first time I've ever had to look away from the screen on this show (well, except maybe for the second episode, with Rick and Glenn smearing zombie-guts all over themselves). Veganism has its price, I suppose.

I have to say...I often sleep with my door locked in OUR world -- no way in HELL I'm sleeping around a bunch of relative strangers with a sheet for a door if there's another option. And that's before the zombies come out and play.

(Anyone else find Michonne doing abdominals sort of hot?)

 

[Eric Chamberlain]

Yeah, the pig (Violet?) is sick and let's not talk to Herschel was a big bag of stupid. I'm a little more forgiving on the big box store because one of the party was stuck under the shelf so they couldn't just retreat to the front door without writing him off. - Walter.

I can see how the pig thing could skip one's mind after being almost gutted and fed to a Walker head by some crazy woman in the woods.

 

[ChristopherG]

I thought that was pretty obvious.. it was the girl who was in love with the zombie 'nick' and kept treating them like people; she was feeding them rats. She asked for the knife after the conversation where she was told feeling for zombies was weird, and they gave her the knife. She went back to exact some vengence for her zombie boyfriend

I can buy her being behind the rats but I don't see her being the one who burned the two sick people.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another nitpick. Why are they allowing the walkers to congregate outside the fences? They have a large group of survivors. Every day they should out by the fences killing the walkers up against the fence. They should never allow so many outside their perimeter.

I thought the show did a good job of showing that they had a crew to deal with the problem, but as time went on without a serious incident, complacency set in. They had trouble rounding up enough people to get the job done, a point that was made repeatedly in the first couple episodes before things came to a head near the end.

Rick slicing those screaming pigs up was the first time I've ever had to look away from the screen on this show (well, except maybe for the second episode, with Rick and Glenn smearing zombie-guts all over themselves). Veganism has its price, I suppose.

For me, it wasn't awful so much because of what happened to the pigs as it was the concession Rick was implicitly making that this new society where he and Carl could be farmers and keep any more blood from getting on their hands wasn't realistic. The shit hit and, as Daryl pointed out, Rick once again had to be the one with the shovel.

I have to say...I often sleep with my door locked in OUR world -- no way in HELL I'm sleeping around a bunch of relative strangers with a sheet for a door if there's another option. And that's before the zombies come out and play.

I thought the shot of the row of cells with the doors open and the privacy blankets billowing captured perfectly the place these survivors had found themselves in. A prison is an inherently dehumanizing place. They made a choice that served to make the prison a little less dehumanizing. I thought it was a very human reaction, and I also think it captured well again the complacency that had set in among the prison population.

I can buy her being behind the rats but I don't see her being the one who burned the two sick people.

I agree. There's something wrong in the older girl's head, but she's not a plausible fit for the burned bodies. If I had to guess, I'd bet on Bob Stookey, the guy who got pinned under the shelf of booze at the mega-mart. He's gotten an outsized amount of screen time for someone with no apparent storyline of his own. If you understand that the most effective defense against infectious disease is containment, than whatever the mystery person did has a perverse sort of logic to it. This way, nobody else risks exposure bringing them food or nursing their illness.

 

[spshultz]

What I was thinking during the car scene:

"Why are you stopping?! Just run them down! You're in a car!".
Pans out to show the college in the distance.
"Oh CRAP! Go back go back!"

 

[TravisR]

What I was thinking during the car scene:

"Why are you stopping?! Just run them down! You're in a car!".

Yeah, I was even willing to give them a break and say that Daryl was trying to careful with the car (a functional car might soon be a rarity and who knows what kind of damage you might do with getting all that corpse goop in the car) but then I saw that swarm and that shut down my critique.

 

[joshEH]

Rick (to the forever-dwindling prison population): "WHO THE HELL HAS BEEN BURNING ZOMBIES AND THEN SMOKING THEIR ASHES TO GET HIGH?!!?"

Hershel (Huge exhale, high-pitched voice): "...Guilty."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Melissa McBride's been absolutely phenomenal so far this season.

 

[joshEH]

Rick's decision makes sense. Sucks to see Carol go right when she got more interesting.

An entire episode away from the prison was kinda nice.

 

[TravisR]

Sucks to see Carol go right when she got more interesting.

As I was watching the episode, I thought to myself "How did Carol become the most interesting character on the show?" I assume she'll be back even before the mid-season break but it'd be oddly cool if she was never heard from again.

 

[Jeffery_H]

For those thinking Carol won't be back, she will, at least according to the actress saying only "just keep watching, there's always twists on this show" in a recent E Weekly insider. Some people think it may follow some of the plot from the comics and she isn't the REAL killer, but covering for someone she cares more about than herself. That would imply it was:

Spoiler

The young girl that she talked to in the beginning of the show about how the zombies are NOT real people and the girl was really mixed up about this. She is the one that is the REAL killer and a total psycho. Carol believes it is her but feels so deeply due to losing her own little girl and is acting like her mother. That is why when she called her "Mom" on the show Carol reacted the way she did and told her NOT to call her that. The rumor is, the girl is very psycho and is going to get worse before being killed. It's Carl that takes her out in the end.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Not really feeling the alcoholic subplot, but I guessing it's telling he'd rather lose his life hanging onto the bottle...

 

[ScottH]

I really enjoy the episodes when they're "out in the wild" so to speak. Part of that is because I am getting tired of the prison and hope they move on from it soon.

You knew that one girl was toast as soon as they showed the tattoo on her leg. I was surprised they really thought her boyfriend might have survived. If you look at one of the walkers that was eating the girl it actually looked like the dude, so I was thinking he probably got bitten before she did and had already turned.

Can't say I'll miss Carol at all, but was surprised by Rick's decision. I think I would have swept that one under the rug if I were him. Or at least given her the option to risk staying and if Tyrese finds out, you're on your own.

I used to like Tyrese, but his cry baby act is getting old.

 

[TravisR]

Can't say I'll miss Carol at all, but was surprised by Rick's decision. I think I would have swept that one under the rug if I were him. Or at least given her the option to risk staying and if Tyrese finds out, you're on your own.

Given the situation, me too. What she did was brutal but it was also pragmatic and could have worked.

 

[ScottH]

Given the situation, me too. What she did was brutal but it was also pragmatic and could have worked.

I suppose you could say if Rick brings Carol back to the prison and Tyrese or someone finds out it was her, he runs the risk of blowback if they find out he knew all along and didn't say anything. But I'm curious as to what he's gonna tell the group when he comes back without her.

I'm definitely now thinking she's not the one that killed those two people though.