Review: The Walking Dead ‘Inmates’

As the second half of the fourth season of The Walking Dead gets into full swing, they bring us yet another episode designed to let us know exactly what the heck happened after everything went to hell at the prison. This time around, it’s Glenn, Tyrese, Daryl, Maggie and… well, basically everyone except for the folks they dealt with last week. Nobody gets too much air time, but the tension is building. And while there were a few things this week that made me shake my head, the majority of ‘Inmates’ was well-done.

In one story, we get Daryl and Beth. Daryl has almost given up hope but Beth, in an effort to not completely break down, drives him on to look for the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Tyrese, the kids and baby Judith make their way, trying to survive and figure out a place to hole up for a while. Unfortunately, Tyreese may be a tough dude, but protecting two kids and a baby isn’t easy. Luckily, Carol (yup, she’s back) shows up in the nick of time. Eventually, they stumble upon a possible answer to their problems - a city of sanctuary that lies at the end of the railroad tracks.

And then there’s Maggie, Sasha and Bob. They’re on a mission to find out if the escaping bus made it out okay and, most importantly to Maggie, to see if Glenn is still alive. The folks in the bus didn’t do so well, but no zombie Glenn, so there’s still hope at least. Finally, we find Glenn, still back at the prison. We’re not sure how he ended up knocked out and surrounded by zombies, but whatever. He runs into Tara, one of the last remaining survivors of the Governor’s group. Together, they set out to find Maggie.

Considering the writers had to jump through four different stories, this one ran pretty well. The pacing was good enough that I didn’t feel like anything was left out. It wrapped up in such a way that I’m looking forward to see what happens next. I did feel that the arrival of Carol was a bit predictable and that the situation with Glenn was forced, but the good points outweighed the bad ones. All-in-all, considering that it’s really a sort of filler episode while the second half of the season gets set up, it wasn’t bad.

One of the high points for me was actually Beth’s character. I’ve been intrigued with the small developments they’ve been adding to the character over this season and am eager to see where they take it (though I feel I may have just cursed her with death by becoming interested…). I’m also, as always, eager to see what the new faces just introduced have to offer the show. Good guys or bad guys? From the trailer for next week (you can head here to watch it), it looks like they’re good guys. But then again, with The Walking Dead you just never know for sure.

Photo Credits -           

Inmates courtesy of comicbook.com