Thursday, November 28, 2013

What I’m Watching: The Walking Dead


The Walking Dead: Season 4, Episode 7 “Dead Weight” (B)

This was an intriguing episode, but I do take issue with the fact that this show really is being filmed and put together in such a segmented way, where we forget completely about Rick and everyone else at the prison to focus on the Governor’s path to that same moment for two episodes. Seeing the Governor fall back into old habits and always resort to violence when things are perfectly peaceful makes sense given what we know about him, but he was a fascinating character to begin with when he was in charge, and I’m not sure we need to see him in full-on self-destructive mode, killing everyone around him to make sure no one gets in the way of his new family’s survival. I’m not sure which was more brutal: dragging Caesar into the walker pit or chaining Pete to the bottom of the lake. Both are signs that the Governor truly can’t exist unless he’s making someone suffer, and it’s extremely troubling. This episode had two major guest stars familiar from other TV roles: Enver Gjokaj from “Dollhouse” as Pete and Kirk Acevedo, seen recently on “Person of Interest” and “Prime Suspect,” among others, as Mitch. Ending the episode with the Governor pulling out his gun and aiming it at Michonne was certainly a good cliffhanger, but I do hope that the eventual merging of the two groups ends up being complex and layered, with the Governor attempting to spin the situation to his advantage and not let his former tendencies be revealed to his new family.

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