The Walking Dead - Recap: Four Square
Recap video and review of The Walking Dead - Season 4 Episode 10 - Inmates:
Managing expectations is a difficult thing when you're a show as popular as The Walking Dead. Lost could get away with having entire episodes centered around one character, or a very small group, because -- at least in its early seasons -- it was every bit as character-driven as it was propelled by plot. The show has already come under fire this season for dedicating two whole episodes to the backstory behind The Governor's return to power. Last week's episode was a fairly solid episode of isolated, character-centric drama, but I'm still not sure if the segregated approach to storytelling is one that entirely works for the show. Which is why it's largely a good thing that "Inmates" avoids being a character study and, instead, focuses on what the show does best: ratcheting up the excitement and tension, while doubling-down on straight-up plot. Because this is a show that benefits from water cooler-style, "Did you see what happened on the show last night?" plot developments, not brooding, introspective character reflections.
Credit: AMC
"Inmates" feels like a short story anthology, as it follows four separate trajectories that ultimately come together by episode's end: in the first, a borderline catatonic Daryl (Norman Reedus) trudges through the wilderness with an increasingly desperate Beth (Emily Kinney), facing the reality that their options are few and far between; Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman), who has become a surrogate father to Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino), Mika (Kyla Kenedy), and baby Judith, who's every bit as alive as fans assumed, after the midseason finale; in the third, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), and Bob (Larry Gilliard, Jr.) as they search for the bus containing Glenn (Steven Yuen) and the other prison survivors; and, finally, Glenn fends for himself back at the prison (yes, he's still at the prison). Each story is a self-contained narrative that draws each group closer towards an inevitable intersection, although that intersection doesn't actually come. Not this week, anyway. And while that might frustrate some viewers, I'm mostly just glad this didn't turn into each separate group getting its own episode, because it's something I easily could see the show doing if there were a bit more time in the season. The episode may be hit-or-miss, but it's never boring.
Credit: AMC
Daryl and Beth's story is the weakest of the four, but also the most atmospheric, as it's a ponderous narrative that focuses on the hopelessness of the situation. In short, Beth is intent on following a set of tracks with the hope that they'll lead to survivors. However, after some close encounters with hungry walkers, Beth and Daryl discover that the tracks lead to dead bodies. Hopelessness prevails, all to Beth's ironic narration from her diary entries prior to the fall of the prison. It's a bit of an overwrought narrative touch, but hey, at least this the story that comes closest to intersecting with one of the others. Turns out the bodies Beth and Daryl discover are those of a group of travelers Tyreese fails to save in his side of the story. From Tyreese's end of things, we see just how difficult it is to remain incognito when you have a screaming baby in your arms at all times. Worse, he has to contend with Lizzie, who's turning out to be a tiny sociopath in the making. First, she says out loud, in front of Tyreese, that the difference between Mika (her sister) and Sasha (Tyreese's sister) is that Mika is still here with them. Then, later, she contemplates suffocating baby Judith when the child's cries threaten to bring walkers their way. Yes, she's a child, but she's basically the worst, and had it not been for the fortuitous arrival of Carol (Melissa McBride), they might well be goners. Of course, while Carol earns the praise and thanks of Tyreese for saving their asses, Tyreese still doesn't know that Carol is responsible for the murder of his girlfriend, Karen (although I still maintain Carol is covering for Lizzie, to prevent the girl from being exiled on her own). The group goes off in search of greener pastures, but frankly, things aren't looking too good for anyone right now.
Credit: AMC
Well, except for maybe Maggie. Her storyline this week centers on the search for the prison bus, on which she assumed Glenn had made his escape with the rest of the prison survivors. However, her brief search, alongside an optimistic Bob and a begrudging Sasha, results in heartbreak, as she stumbles upon the prison bus, packed with walkers. And so she has Sasha and Bob open the bus so she can kill each walker one at a time, and survey their faces to see whether or not one of the dead is Glenn. But the walkers crowd the door, and they all come out in a rush, leading to one of the episode's most potent action scenes. Maggie's rage-filled, cathartic smashing of a walker's head against the bus is unflinchingly gory, and tells us a lot about what the character is going through, without requiring her to voice her frustrations. Lauren Cohan is pretty great at wordlessly conveying Maggie's internal struggles, particularly when she kills the final walker on the bus, one which looks like Glenn from afar. When she realizes the walker isn't Glenn, she breaks down in a laugh/cry of despair and relief. Of all the moments in the episode, it's the most effective from a character-building perspective.
Credit: AMC
Less successful is Glenn's story, as he awakes in the prison, dons riot gear, and bails with Tara (Alanna Masterson), who confirms that her sister and niece are dead. Glenn tries to snap her out of her catatonic phase of grief, but the arrival of three new, threatening strangers looks to take this story in a completely new direction. While not the weakest story of the episode, Glenn and Tara's story is good for little else but his daring rush through the throng of walkers, followed by the climactic use of a Molotov cocktail to provide an out for the trapped pair. But if there's anything to be gained from the splitting of Maggie and Glenn, it's that their inevitable reunion should be good for a few tears.
Credit: AMC
"Inmates" isn't exactly a bad episode, but it is a necessary episode. The structure is split, much like last week's, but it's also flattened out in such a way that nothing really connects with anything else. This might be a problem to some viewers, but the anthology approach is an exigent solution to the problem of a stagnating narrative. Whether or not this will be the best half season of The Walking Dead remains to be seen, but at least it's proving to be a decent one, so far.