After Carol confesses to killing Karen and that other dude at the end of episode 4.3, Rick has some tough calls to make—especially as he’s trying to buck the idea of being the group’s leader. Let’s also not overlook the fact that our away team is still very much away. They’ve high centered their ride atop a mound of walkers and taken to the woods in order to finish their task of securing medical supplies for the sick members of their group. Episode 4.4 placed its focus on exploring the relationships between Rick and Carol as well as that of Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob the Medic. There are a few spoilers ahead, so be ye warned, ye lubbers.
“We don’t get to stay the same way we started.”
One thing that The Walking Dead does really well is use the scenes before the opening credits to establish the tone of each episode. During episode 4.4, Carol and Lizzie have a philosophical conversation about change. Lizzie claims that dying and coming back as a walker is a change in the same sense that her growing into an adult would be—they’re still the same person, just different. Carol, of course, disagrees; but her claim that a person changes through fighting through their fears results in the repetition of Lizzie’s words—“We just change.” When an episode starts out in this kind of deep territory, it’s a safe bet that fans of zombie carnage are going to be disappointed.
“Anger makes you stupid. Stupid gets you killed.”
Tyreese isn’t doing so well while out in the woods with the away team. He’s obviously still nursing some serious psychological wounds as a result of Karen’s death. From the way he obsessively washes the blood from his shirt to the way he furiously hacks at the vines that have overtaken a car, we can see that the dude has some anger to spare.
We also get a bit more of Bob’s back story—it turns out the poor guy was the sole survivor of two, yes, two previous groups. The reason he was eying that liquor with such longing in episode 4.1 was because he needs alcohol to get a good night’s sleep after all of the messed up stuff he’s seen since the outbreak. Like Tyreese’s anger management issues, Bob’s alcoholism represents a potential land mine of dangerous possibilities. Case in point, Bob risks his life, and by extension the lives of his friends, for a backpack that we assume is full of medicine. Man, is Daryl pissed when he sees that it contains nothing but a bottle of whiskey.
As a result of the implied mental instability of both Bob and Tyreese, Michonne and Daryl have to step up to the plate and keep them both in check. It’s been interesting to see these two characters, who were basically lone wolves before shit got real, assume these group-centric roles.
“Tyreese Will Kill You When He Finds Out.”
In contrast to the away team’s hectic and emotionally charged storyline, Rick’s and Carol’s supply run is all about demonstrating both characters’ stance on the morality of what Carol did. To be honest, I thought Rick was planning on offing Carol, but it’s important to remember that we’re dealing with a more diplomatic and collected Sheriff Grimes. Their supply run functions as Rick’s chance to put Carol on trial and dole out whatever judgment he deems necessary—hopefully season four Rick is better equipped to assess a complicated situation like Carol’s.
The lynchpin of Rick’s decision, which I’ll cover in a minute, comes with the discovery of Sam and Anna, two spookily upbeat survivors. They’ve been living on their own inside an abandoned house, but they seem to be content with each other’s company. Rick and Carol are at odds twice regarding how involved they should be with this supply run. When Sam and Anna offer to help, Rick wants them to stay hidden and safe, whereas Carol thinks they should split up and cover more ground, apparently forgetting that they are literally inside a horror movie. When they discover Anna’s severed leg and Sam never reports back for their planned exit, we see the result of Carol’s practical, yet unsympathetic decision. Rick wants to wait for Sam to return, but Carol does not.
This is what leads Rick to his decision to exile Carol from the group. In addition to mistrusting the role that Carol has assumed, he reasons that Tyreese will surely kill her when he finds out that Carol killed Karen. It’s a bittersweet moment—I’ve really liked seeing Carol’s transition into a wolf-mother this season, but in a way, she did start to exhibit some uncannily Shane-like characteristics. Maybe Rick was out of line exiling her like that—Daryl’s going to be pissed, that’s for sure—but again, this looks like Rick’s reluctant acceptance of his fate as a leader in the world of the dead.
Verdict, Along With Some Wisdom From Chris Jericho
So far, the guests on Talking Dead have been pretty lukewarm for me. Not so tonight, as professional wrestler/actor/media personality Chris Jericho presented some surprising insight into some of the episode’s symbolism. Most notable was his observation that the whole show was about letting things go—Tyreese hanging on to a zombie that nearly kills him, Bob clutching a bag containing liquor, Michonne letting go of her quest to kill the Governor, and ultimately, Carol’s decision to let go of her home. Turns out, Jericho could probably kick my ass at pro-wrestling and TV analysis.
In terms of character development, this was an excellent episode. Both Andrew Lincoln and Melissa McBride own their scenes together as each one calmly but purposefully attempts to find solid moral ground in a world devoid of morality. It’s also one of those episodes that throws a few red flags up with Bob and Tyreese. The zombie slaying was light, but as long as The Walking Dead keeps presenting us with these polarizing moral quandaries regarding life during the zombie apocalypse, I will continue to enjoy the hell out of it.