Review: The Walking Dead ’Internment’

Last week’s episode left The Walking Dead fans with one less Carol to worry about, though things in zombie-land are, as always, falling apart at the seams.  This week we see the conclusion to the sickness story arc as well as the return of various characters to the compound and, a slight spoiler, a brief look at The Governor, still alive and kicking.

As we’ve seen for several episodes now, there is a very nasty flu going around the prison population, one that seems to kill almost everyone it touches.  Since medicine isn’t exactly falling out of the sky, Daryl and his crew went out to find some.  In the meanwhile, Rick ran Carol off and, the meat and bones of the story, Hershel is neck-deep in people who are about to die and turn into carnivorous baddies.

So Hershel does what he can, keeping people alive and disposing of those that don’t quite make it.  Glenn and Sasha are there to assist him, being the tougher of the prison’s residents, though they too are slowly but surely falling victim to the plague.  Hershel, miraculously, seems unaffected, as does a select few that were exposed early on but never got put into quarantine.  Whether this means anything for later, we shall see, but for now it seems an oddly placed clue.

Eventually, even Hershel and his assistants can’t keep disaster from striking.  When a few patients die at the same time, zombies start wandering and then everything goes straight to hell.  Out in the non-sick prison, the zombies are congregating on the fence again, and with one too many bodies on it, down it goes.  So it’s up to Rick and Carl to defend the compound against a wave of walkers.  Of course, everyone comes out victorious in the end, but with a few less citizens to show for it.

This week was not as strong as the previous few episodes, though that was not for lack of action or decent writing.  The director didn’t bring out the best of the actors, unfortunately, and what were some very emotional and tense scenes lost a lot of their impact as actors walked through their lines instead of displaying some of the skill they’ve shown since the season started.  In that regard, it was like a step back into season three.

As far as action and pacing went, this episode was truly superior.  Everything that was happening across the scope of the story carried an impact that left you on the edge of your seat, from Hershel’s struggle within the sick ward to Rick and his crew fighting against the inevitable collapse of the fence.  If the actors could have stepped up their game just a bit, this easily could have been one of the better episodes this season.

Next week looks to be hit-or-miss, as the show is bringing back The Governor, though in what regard remains to be seen.  He could drag the show back into the mediocre pacing that marred season three or he could bring some new tension, depending on how they write him back in.  For a (very limited) sneak peak at next week, head to this site and check it out.

Photo Credits -           

Internment courtesy of comicsalliance.com