Last week we saw what happened to On-Death's-Door Rick, Turd-Face Carl, and Bad-Ass Michonne. It was great (minus Turd Face) but who else was impatient to see the rest of our crew? Ask and ye shall receive - this week's episode brought us up to speed:
It's like in the movie "Clue" (one of my all-time faves) - there are some random pairings of people in the group, no doubt not really "random" choices by the writers but rather an intentional move to show how some characters interact with each other. I'm cool with that.
We start with Beth and Daryl, polar opposites. Beth is sweet and still pretty naive when it comes to the ZA. Daryl is a man of action and few words. So to fill their screentime, we have Beth doing a voiceover from diary entries she wrote back at the prison. The VO highlights some major optimism on her part, which is just sad when juxtaposed with the scenes we're seeing on screen - running, fighting zombies, seeing what looks to be the dead body of a child who had previously been in their group. The only plus is that they seem to be on the right track (Literally! They're on a railroad track!) to meet up with the others.
Next up Lizzie (Children of the Corn 1) and Mika (Children of the Corn 2) and Tyrese. Oh, and Tyrese turns around slowly to reveal... Judith! See, I told y'all. First rule of TV - they're not dead unless you see them die. Which unfortunately means my poor Hershel is deader than dead. I'm still pretty sure I'm never going to get over that.
Anyway, Tyrese and the Kids (funk band name?) have a few rough encounters and we see Lizzie in an even crazier light. First, she kills bunnies just to kill them. I mean, we didn't even see the group eat them so I'm pretty sure we figured out who was doing those weird science experiments back at the prison. Then, Tyrese (stupidly) runs off to help someone screaming and leaves the kids alone in the woods. Mika flips when she hears a noise (understandable) and when Judith starts crying Lizzie starts to smother her and only gets stopped in the nick of time by...Carol! She's back. And not a moment to soon. Everyone needs to sleep with one eye open around this Lizzie chick. Carol and the kids (definitely not as cool of a band name) meet up with Tyrese the Zombie Slayer, and luckily for Carol, Tyrese doesn't know she's the confessed (doesn't mean it's true!) killer of his lady friend and that other dude. So they team up and head down the same tracks. Oh, and left a man for dead among some zombie remains. Why not mercy kill him? I guess Tyrese likes to minimize his killings and Carol doesn't want to show Tyrese how easy it is for her to slay humans.
Next we see Maggie, Sasha, and Bob. No-Booze Bob is a mighty cheerful lad. And he seems to be putting the moves on Sasha, while she's simply trying to bandage his wounds. Maggie doesn't give three hoots because she wants to find Glenn. Not that I wouldn't want the same in her position. But she pulls the same crap every idiot on this show does and insists on going to find him even though they should probably find food and shelter, and then inadvertently guilts the rest of the group into coming because they don't want to leave her alone.
Note to the world: you would totally want me with you in the ZA. I would never go all macho pants and declare I was going off on my own while secretely hoping you'd come along and help. Nope, I'd stay put and help gather food and build a shelter. And then if you told me to move on, I'd move on. I'd be helpful and complacent. Pick me! Pick me!
So Must-Find-Glenn Maggie and her crew magically find the school bus that Maggie is sure Glenn is on. It's filled with zombies so they let them out one-by-one to kill them/check for Glenn. Of course the zombies get the better of them and it gets tense but of course they kill them all but of course the last one standing keeps its Glenn-looking head down until Maggie kills it. And we only find out it's not Glenn when we segue to...
Glenn! Alive! At the prison! Once he gets his bearings, he does the other thing I would do in the ZA - STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES WHILE YOU CAN. It's amazing these knuckleheads have survived as long as they have when they go off on stupid missions and spend half their time talking instead of gathering supplies. I would have a backpack on me at all times and if someone wanted to talk I would remind them of the old adage for restaurant workers - "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean." But I would modify it to "If you have time to talk, you have time to pack supplies and kill zombies and contribute to the group." Not as catchy but very applicable.
So props to Glenn for stocking up before heading out. Then more props for devising a smart plan (Molotov Cocktail + riot gear = Glenn's escape route throught the zombie horde that has invaded the prison). And even more props for saving Tara because while she's not my favorite character, she has a moral compass and potential. They make their way to the bus (so they're probably close to these tracks everyone eventually ends up at) but then they get stopped by three people who are clearly straight out of the comic books. Oh, excuse me, graphic novels.
Something tells me these people aren't good, but could they just for once not be totally bad? I'm kind of sick of all the baddies. There are, like, hardly any people left on the planet but instead of banding together they all have to kill each other? I'm not asking for drum circles and noodle dancing and eating shrooms (actually, that DOES sound like a fun way to pass time in the ZA), but people could at least pool resources and stop killing each other. I love this show (and I know they're somewhat limited by what happens in the comics) but COME ON. I could handle things being just a smidge less bleak, if only for a short time.
We'll see if I get my wish next week!