In last week’s episode, we discovered that Carol is the one who killed Karen and Dave and torched their bodies. It was also revealed that the group going out for medical supplies is royally screwed and Tyreese apparently has a death wish.
Cold Hearted Carol
The episode opens with Carol telling Lizzie to do whatever she needs to survive while Rick packs up the car (which has inexplicably been washed and waxed) to go on a supply run with her. He also imagines how Carole must have killed Karen, which was a fairly jarring thing to witness.
There’s also a moment where Lizzie accidentally calls Carol “mom”. This is made even more awkward when Carol coldly requests that she never call her that again.
Road trips and Rationalizations
On their way out to look for supplies, Carol and Rick sit in silence. It’s finally broken when Carol tries to explain that she was doing something that needed to be done. Rick barely acknowledges her sentiment as he marvels at his awesome (and perpetual) five o’clock shadow in the rearview mirror.
Meanwhile, the medical supply group looks for a new vehicle to get them to the veterinary college. They eventually find a gas station with an abandon car. It actually looks to be drivable, but needs a new battery. Unfortunately, the path into the store is overgrown by vines.
Tyreese starts hacking away like a madman until the group is predictably assaulted by ninja zombies that had managed to stay quiet while fresh meat had been wandering right in front of them. As each one of them breaks free, though, Tyreese engages in a gigantic physical metaphor of the entire episode and refuses to let go of his zombie attacker so that Michonne can slice it to death. When the pair falls onto the ground, Bob is able to kill the zombie with a gunshot to the head.
Hippie Red Shirts
Carol and Rick come across a minivan that looks like it’s been recently used. As they enter one of the homes, the pair is surprised by a walker which Carol easily kills. They are then even more surprised by a couple of kids who look like employees from a co-op grocery offering them fruit.
The boy (whose name is Sam) has a dislocated shoulder, which Carol is able to snap back into place. The pair then explains that they have been hiding out in various places over the last few months and then ask Rick where they came from. This causes Rick to begin asking the infamous 3 Questions they need to answer before anything more can be revealed.
What About Bob?
Back at the gas station, Michonne scolds Tyreese for being a complete dumbass and almost getting himself killed. She goes onto to say that he needs to let go of his anger or it will get him killed.
Tyreese responds by asking her if she’s still mad about The Governor. Rather than giving him a swift boot the face, however, Michonne replies that she is not (yeah right).
Meanwhile, Bob and Daryl work on getting the car up and running. Bob laments that it was his fault Zach got killed when they went to the grocery store a few days ago; if he hadn’t been looking for booze, the shelf would never have tipped over on him and made the whole situation go out of control.
Daryl also lets Bob know that he needs to let go of his anger, but does it without any speeches or philosophical probing, instead just stating “That’s bullshit” while keeping his mind on the task at hand. Bob also relates how he just happened to be the last survivor of two different groups he was in before this one…which is probably a giant load of bullshit, as well.
Addressing the Murderous Elephant in the Room
The two hippy kids must have answered Rick’s 3 questions correctly, because we next seem him revealing their location and extending an invitation (but with a warning about the flu, as well). We also learn that no one in this world can seem to bring themselves to call the undead zombies (“Skin Eaters”? Seriously?)
Rick asks them to sit tight while they look for more supplies, but Carol suggests that they sweep the area and help them look for more. While Rick and Carol continue their scavenger hunt (and completely ignore a full roll of toilet paper in one of the bathrooms), she finally asks Rick why he isn’t talking about the fact that she killed two people.
When Rick continues to evade having the conversation, Carol pulls out the Shane card. Rick tries to explain that killing Shane was an act of self-defense, to which Carol replies that the same could be said of how and why she killed Karen and Dave.
“You don’t have to like what I did, Rick. I don’t. I just accept it,” she says to him earnestly. That may be a good line of thinking to have for farting in a crowded room, but not for killing two people that could have possibly been saved.
When they go back outside, Rick sees an intact tomato patch and lets his farmer instincts take over. While he’s picking them, the he asks how Carol was able to relocate Sam’s shoulder. She explains that it was from years of having to physically treat herself while living with an abusive husband.
This leads to them discussing what their lives were like before the zombie apocalypse and how much they have changed (both for the better and worse) since. The pair then notices a trail of broken fruit that eventually turns into blood…and then into the hippy girl getting eaten by a group of walkers. Carol barely bats and eye while telling Rick that they should get back to their rendezvous point to meet up with Sam (if he survived).
Bumbling Boozer
While packing their bags full of medical supplies, Daryl’s group is attacked by walkers. As they escape out a window and onto a nearby ledge, Bob’s bag nearly falls onto the horde of zombies on the ground.
But even as the group tells him to give it up, he refuses to let go (starting to notice a lot of that “not letting go” stuff going around) until he snatches it away from them. Daryl then looks inside and sees that Bob (and potentially the entire group) had risked their lives for a bottle of booze.
This causes Daryl to go full-on angry redneck and almost throw Bob into the horde until Tyreese talks him out of it. The group heads back, wary of one of their members who has revealed himself to have a debilitating addiction he still can’t kick.
Casting Off Carol
After Sam doesn’t show, Rick and Carol head outside. That’s when Rick informs her that she’s not coming back to the prison with him. Despite her pleas, he sternly refuses. Instead, he assures her that despite how much she’s changed for the worse, it’s also part of why she’ll be able to survive and find a new group.
After dropping her bags on the ground, Rick drives off and leaves her with a Ford Taurus station wagon, which might as well be a death sentence.
8.0
- Powerful (and unforseen) resolution to the Carol killing storyline.
- Getting to see that Daryl can still bust out the angry redneck persona when it’s needed.
- Michonne is a total badass.
- Tyreese needs to get a grip.
Final Thoughts
While it was shocking to find out that Carol was the killer, it had been foreshadowed for a while, going all the way back to when she instructed Andrea on how to kill the Governor. But I honestly did not see it coming when Rick left Carol and banished her from returning to the prison.
Of course there will be fall out; Daryl will undoubtedly be mad and Tyreese will want to know why he wasn’t allowed to have justice. But bringing her back to the prison was going to be potentially even more problematic, so Rick made the hard decision to leave her behind.
The theme of change and not letting go was a little over done (especially with Tyreese), but a powerful ending to both of the episode’s main plotlines more than made up for it.
Need to catch up on The Walking Dead: Season 4
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