Monday, December 2, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 4 Episode 8 - Too Far Gone


Hello Walking Dead fanatics!  Welcome back for our discussion of the mid-season finale.  Thanks for everyone's understanding with the unforeseen circumstances of last week and my inability to write a recap of any sort.  I am finally caught up and WOW, that was one crazy episode!  They did fool me for a brief second though into what our 2nd half of the season would be about.  But, I should've looked at the episode title as well as all of the clues they gave us in previous episodes of how this would go down.   Anyway, let's dive in and see what's worth discussing.  (I think we can think of a few things)
Discussion Points
  • First off, we finally revisited Rick and crew so Daryl and Rick finally had their discussion about Carol.  As predicted Daryl was NOT happy.  But, it seemed like he reluctantly agreed with the way Rick handled things.  It also is clear that Rick was going to tell EVERYONE the truth on what happened.  Of course, with the way things went down something tells me someone will be running into Carol sooner or later.   My bet is on Tyreese, Lizzie and crew.   
  • Speaking of Tyreese, he brought Rick and Daryl to some crazy rat corpse or something down in the tombs or some place dark.  He indicated this is probably the same person that killed Karen and Dave (I think that's their names...it's been so long!?).  Of course, Rick knows that isn't the case.  I didn't realize they all knew someone was feeding rats to the walkers beforehand.  But it was mentioned.  I think by process of elimination, we have to assume it's Lizzie now right?  Well, whoever it is, they're running around with one of our groups of survivors.  
  • We had enough time to see that the sick at the prison were on the mend, but not at 100% just yet.  Glenn and Sasha were still having problems maintaining balance.  But it wasn't long until ol' Governor was knocking on the door of the prison with a tank and 2 prisoners (Hershel and Michonne).  
  • Maybe I'm just gullible, but with our reformed characters of Rick and supposedly the Governor (we knew he wasn't based on last week), I really did think there was a chance they were all going to live together.  Rick gave a convincing speech which filled Hershel with a sense of pride, like he did his job in getting Rick to the right place.  For once, I forgot the rules of television.  If you introduce a GUN, it is GOING to be used.  In this case, the gun was a TANK.
  • Phillip seemed to have some conflicting personalities going on.  It definitely felt like he had the crew's best interest in mind.  But, there was always the hidden sociopath personality rearing its ugly head.  Just the simple fact of his ascension in the ranks of this new crew.  I do love how he said this has nothing to do with the past, but then during Rick's negotiations he said he'll never forget Woodbury.  Good times.  
  • So anyway, the standoff ended with the swing of a sword.  The Governor called Rick a liar and sliced half of Hershel's head off.  Ouch!  Of course, he finished the job in a brutal manner merely moments later.  This, being after he told Hershel he's a good man and indicating he didn't want to hurt him.  Still Hershel's last look was with a smile on his face.  We've seen this coming for seasons now.  He was the guy who was supposed to die but never did!  So, I think we should congratulate him for making it this far.  And a well deserved RIP!  
  • Naturally, this was the catalyst for all out mayhem.  Lots of explosions, lots of red shirts taken down.  Basically the Governor's entire new crew of innocent people.  (and Charlie from Fringe who was a major a-hole on this show!)   The tank barged down the gates, the gunfire attracted the walkers.   The prison folk apparently had a contingency escape plan ready with a bus out back.  They loaded that up with the sick and the kids were supposed to get on board too.   But Lizzie decided to listen to Carol's advice and she wanted to help out.  I'm sure it was no coincidence that Lizzie killed 2 people that were about to kill Tyreese.  If Tyreese does learn about Carol, he'll now have some conflicting emotions.  (Which is why I think they're going to run into her first)
  • Meanwhile, while all this is going on, The Governor's new gal pal and her daughter, Megan were "safe" away from the conflict.  The mom (Lily?) had already expressed doubts in what kind of man the Governor really is and was not on board with the prison takeover.  But, she went along with it.  Phillip brought them to a river because Walkers have trouble crossing the river.  Megan was playing in the mud and eventually pulled out a warning sign that mentioned this was a flash flood area.  And I don't think it came as any surprise that there was a walker buried in that mud.  If Lily didn't hesitate watching some Walker cross the river (before getting taken by it), she may have gotten to Megan in time.  But, by the time she got there, it was too late.  She carried her daughter's corpse to the prison, and Phillip immediately took Megan and shot her in the head.  Yikes...brutal episode! 
  • All out brawls happening everywhere, but the one we were looking most forward to was Rick and the Governor.  And it was an old fashioned fist fight!  Rick did get in some good licks, but in the end he was about to be choked to death.  We knew our girl Michonne couldn't be too far.  We had last seen her trying to get out of her bindings.  But, she made a promise in this episode and several episodes back that she would kill The Governor.  So, as I watched Rick getting the life choked out of him, I wasn't thinking "Wow, are they really going to kill Rick?"....instead I was thinking, "Wow, the Governor is going to die this episode!?!?"  And sure enough, a katana blade came right through him and he let go of Rick's neck.   Of course, I had the same reaction as Chris Hardwicke on Talking Dead.  I couldn't believe she didn't finish him off!   No fear, the final blow was saved for Lily, deservedly so.  And the final shot related to the Governor was the chess piece King with the eyepatch drawn on it, fallen on its side.  Once again, we get the metaphor Scott Gimple!   So...RIP Governor?  Hell no!  Good Riddance you crazy lunatic! 
  • Of course it was a great plot device to bring this conflict to the prison and basically END the prison storyline.  It ended in a manner much like the farm being destroyed.  Everyone ended up scattered.  So let's try to figure out where everyone is at the end of this episode. 
    • Glenn got separated from Maggie and was put on the bus with a bunch of the people we never met.  He tried to get off the bus, but she wouldn't let him.  And the bus took off while Maggie was looking for Beth.  
    • Beth was running around gung-ho with a machine gun and surprisingly not singing.  She ran into Daryl after he used a walker corpse to get close to the tank and blow it up.  YEAH DARYL!  So Beth and Daryl escaped together but I don't think with anyone else. 
    • As mentioned before, Tyreese left with Lizzie, her sister and maybe some other kids?   Which we should mention, the last time we saw Judith was with those kids.  She was in the car seat, but we didn't see her in the scene with Tyreese.  
    • Maggie was with Sasha and some other dude (was Bob Stookey with them?).  They saw the bus leave and said they'd figure something out.  
    • I don't think we saw Michonne team up with anyone.  We just saw her slice down the Governor and walk away.   
    • Of all the Governor's people, I think the only survivors were the 2 sisters Lily and Tara.   So, I'm guessing we'll see them again.  
    • And the last people we see are Rick and Carl emotionally reuniting and then falling apart with the fact that they can't find Judith.  Carl unloaded his gun's chamber into a walker until Rick stopped him and they got a good cry in.   They left the overriden prison with Rick's instructions to not look back.  And we should do the same!  We'll remember our time at the prison fondly, but it's time to go on the run with these guys!  
Whew, that's a lot to keep track of!  It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting 2nd half.  I'd argue that a prison setting with Rick's crew and the Governor's crew may have been an equally interesting story, but it probably would have been reminiscent of Woodbury so not worth revisiting!  So we have a beaten and partially ill crew, separated and on the road.  How will they find each other?  Will they find each other?  The actress who played Maggie gave a hint on Talking Dead that if they had a contingency plan with a bus, there may have been a contingency meeting destination for that bus also.  So, maybe they'll all be heading to the same location but run into trouble along the way.  But, it's kind of a nice unsettling feeling on the unpredictability of where they're going to go.  But, we'll all find out on February 9th when season 4 resumes.  Until then, I think we all earned a nice little hiatus, after we discuss this episode of course! 

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and I'll see you next year!    

11 comments:

Leslie said...

Wow!!! This show never disappoints!

Yeah, in an earlier episode, someone saw the dead rats at the fence and realized someone was feeding the walkers. Don’t remember who it was now, but there was a conversation about it. Not sure why Tyreese connected the rat with whoever killed his girlfriend and the other guy.

The Governor was a great villain! I was kinda surprised he killed Hershel and not Michonne, but then again, he knew killing Hershel would have more impact on the group! Great that Hershel went with a smile that showed his pride in how Rick was handling things. Loved the image with Lizzie and her sister with guns….Carol’s little soldiers! She would be so proud! Didn’t think about the connection with Tyreese and Carol, but that sure makes sense. Good call, Mike.

With the empty car seat, part of me expected to see a little toddler walker, but I tend to think Judith is okay with someone. It was sweet when Lauren on TD kept getting choked up about losing Hershel/Scott.

Mike V. said...

@Leslie - I vaguely remember them talking about the rats. Guess I just forgot! lol I think at one point we theorized that whoever killed the 2 people also fed the rats. They happened in the same episode so we just thought they could be related. I'm sure Tyreese was jumping to the same conclusion.

Governor certainly was a good villain. Your guess on why he killed Hershel is as good as any. I just think he was too far gone in his insaneness to even put any logic into what he was doing. lol And thanks for the good call! We'll see.

Sounds like this scenario did happen in the comics. Governor tried to overrun the prison with a tank....except in that battle...Lori died as well as Judith. So the empty carseat is probably one of those scenarios where the comic fans will just assume she's dead...or will acknowledge that they at least paid homage to the comic even if there is a different result.

I saw a good theory that Michonne probably took the baby. Considering the one bonding scene they had, it makes sense.

Agree on Lauren Conrad getting choked up on TD. It's funny how awkward those TD episodes can be if people can't come up with comprehensive thoughts on the fly. Lauren kept having things to say and never knew how to end her thoughts. lol Robert Kirkman was surprisingly quiet. But, he did an interview on TV Guide so I'm going to go check that out.

Mike V. said...

I guess EW stopped the weekly interviews. Anyway, here's the Kirkman interview I just mentioned:

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Walking-Dead-Robert-Kirkman-Season4-Spoilers-1074084.aspx

Leslie said...

On the rats, yeah, we did wonder if it was the same person. I leaned toward Lizzie feeding the rats when we first saw that because she was also calling them by name because of the one with the name patch on his shirt.

Ahhh...Michonne taking the baby! That IS a great idea!

On TD, I sorta got the feeling that Kirkman was being quiet because of all the emotion toward Hershel being killed off, but obviously he has a different perspective. It was good that he explained that the more likable a character, the more memorable death they have.

Thanks for the link. I'll have to read that interview.

Mike V. said...

Yeah, I've been leaning towards Lizzie too...but I keep doubting it because it seems too obvious! lol

I guess that's why Kirkman was being quiet. I know he couldn't say much because it may spoil what's ahead. But usually he has good insight on why they do certain things and what's different from the comic. Basically, everything he said in the TVG interview. lol But, there were 3 people sharing the time so I guess it happens! lol

Mike V. said...

Didn't realize EW did an interview with Kirkman too. A lot of the same Q&As but some different ones in there.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/12/02/the-walking-dead-robert-kirkman-midseason-finale/

MJ said...

So behind at work after 5 days off. Haven't read the recap yet

TWD - Am I the only one who was 100% disappointed by Daryl's reaction to Carol's
banishment ? Besides his feeling for Carol - they should all be mad that Rick thinks
he had the right to make a big decision like that by himself. And what was that rat
on the wood thing all about ?

Ugh ! I was screaming at Carl and Daryl to kill the governor ! LOL I so knew
Hershel was biting the dust and desperately did not want it to happen. They
made him (Gov) extra slimy in this ep - all the lies he told the new group about who is in
the prison, his statement to Hershel - they aren't my daughters. But watching him
kill Megan to stop her from turning - brutal ! Glad Michonne was the one to do it.
And Lizzie calling the kids out for not acting like Carol taught them !

I hope Judith is note dead - for two reason. 1 - having an infant while being on the
road could make for some very tense situations. 2 - I would hate to think that with
all the creativity and cohones this show has that they would shy away from showing
us her death just cause she's a kid.

So jeez - Glenn is the only one on the bus right ? Just like when they left the farm. No very original !

And many many questions still lingering.

Mike V. said...

@MJ

I don't think Daryl really had enough time to process what had happened. I think he was pretty PO'd from where I was sitting, and he was happy to let Rick get a further beating from Tyreese, but then they had another issue to deal with in the Rat stuff. Whatever the rat on the wood thing was...it's tied to the rat at the fence which we'll be getting into in the 2nd half.

I really doubt Judith is dead, even though she did die in the comics at this same point (just what I've read in interviews and from people that do read the books). Once you catch up on the comments you may agree with where we think it's going!

I think the difference between them leaving the farm and this is that they reunited pretty quickly (outside of Andrea). I don't think that's going to happen this time. And from what I read, they're going to be in-line with the comics for much of this 2nd half. Granted, I have no idea what that means. lol

mj said...

Leslie -agree on Lauren on TD.

Gov prob had othetr plans ahead (ha) for Michonne.

Yeah I read kirkman too where he said they won't find eachother as quickly and saw guesses that Michonne or Lily could have Judith.

When does it come back?

Mike V. said...

MJ - I actually wrote it at the end of my recap (it was announced on Talking Dead). It will return on February 9th! I'm guessing that's the week AFTER the super bowl. lol

mj said...

Ah - thats right