Walking Dead Episode 4
Vatos
The Walking Dead is dangerously close to developing the same problems problem the comics had early on; introducing too many characters too briefly. As the comics went a great core group was developed, with the excess characters being whittled away by death, and other characters became more important. Season 1 only has 6 episodes, and in this fourth episode, a whole new group is introduced. It is still a fine episode, but the issue is still a bit concerning.
The episode’s story jumps between the survivors at home dealing with Jim who seems to be losing his mind, and Rick and company finding another group of survivors. It’s the later that has the biggest problems. It starts well, with an excellent sequence as the group finds clues of what happened to Merle. It’s pretty powerful stuff seeing broken windows, bloody ladders climbed down with one hand, and a single image a flame that says everything that needs to be said about Merle; he is a tough son of a bitch. He cut off his own hand, went through the hospital and cauterized his own wound. I am happy that my prediction, that Daryl would be a rather useful and even reasonable member of the team, is looking to be accurate. His temper still gets hot, but he seems genuinely concerned for not only Merle, but the survival of the team. He also provided some humorous moments with Glenn, who is proving to be a wonderful comic relief character without being as slight and annoying as most whom carry that title.
When trying to retrieve the guns, the group is attacked by a group of thugs who take Glenn. Luckily Daryl snatched one of the attacker’s men. The groups stand off twice, with Ricky wanting to exchange men, and the leader of the gang, Guillermo wanting the bag of guns. The tension in these scenes are excellent, even if Andrew Lincoln is acting circles around Neil Brown Jr who plays Guillermo. Though I am not sure it’s entirely Brown at fault in these early scenes, or the awkward dialog from Kirkman. Dialog was never the strong point of the comics either. It serves its purpose in that it gets its point across. Lincoln is one of those great actors that can take any line and deliver it as if his character would say it, even if it is written very unnaturally. Brown is not one of those actors, and so Guillermo comes off silly until later, when the two guys are no longer spouting macho but instead, talking more naturally. Here Brown shows himself to be a solid actor.
Introducing the Guillermo team and the hospital of abandoned old people this early feels too soon. Surely Kirkman and Darabont have plans for them this season. However, the terror and deaths that happen back at the camp would be more effective if the precious little time these past 4 episodes have, had been spent more so, on the core group of survivors. Thankfully, Guillermo’s group is far from the traditional gang stereotype that they first appeared to be, and I am very curious as to what role they play. It just would have been better to introduce such elements next season.
The rest of the episode deals with Jim losing his mind and Shane trying to figure out how to help him. This half of the episode is great TV, and classic Walking Dead drama. Jim has lost his mind digging holes in 100 degree weather for reasons found in a dream he had last night, which he does not remember. His behavior is scaring the kids, and worrying Dale. Shane and the camp go to see what the problem is, and how they can help. When Shane confronts Jim, it escalates, with Jim asking if Shane will beat him in like he did Ed if he doesn’t give up the shovel. Shane takes the shovel and brings Jim to the floor as gently as possible. Face in the dirt, Jim quietly reveals “the only reason I got away is because the dead were too busy eating my family”.
This scene is what is best about The Walking Dead. This is a group of people who only share the fact that they are stuck together in order to survive. Who is Shane to confront Jim? Why he was picked as leader is pretty obvious, him being a cop. The show understands this, and so the conflict is less about a struggle of leadership and control, but of something more personal. It is a question of insecurity and fear. These people need to learn that they care for each other as people if they are going to become a strong whole. Jim isn’t upset that he is being confronted or that Shane is in charge. He is upset that the confrontation problem comes out of self-interest and not concern. He is probably right. Lori is scared for her kids, not worried about Jim’s well-being. Shane wants to keep order. Jim is scared and without any family. If his family was here, and he was digging holes, he knows they would be genuinely concerned. It’s when Jim reveals his family’s fate does it strike home, he just needs some human connection. Later, Jim cheers up Carl reassuring him that his dad is “tough as nails” nothing will stop him from coming home. Lori shows him gratitude, and they are one step closer to being real friends.
Vatos was a good episode that just needed more time to breath. Comic writing is paced incredibly fast, with a lot introduced in a single page. With comics, a readers can pause, and take in the imagery. This is not the case with TV. Being that Kirkman penned this episode, it’s not too surprising it felt the most oddly and quickly paced. The series is moving fast and loose with characters. It is not yet a serious problem, but it can become one. The Walking Dead is still one of the most entertaining hours of TV, let’s just hope they continue to expand on what they have, rather than continually introduce new elements.
Random Thoughts
- Woman with his lips melted off was a gross ass zombie
- How much you like the beginning dialog with Amy and Andrea is probably pretty highly correlated with how much you like the series. Its stilted and awkward, but it brings the point home. It paid off in the tragic, and wordless, ending between the two.
- Merle is going to be something fierce when he comes back
- The guy who is the nurse, looks exactly like the ex gang member at the vet where I buy my cat overpriced prescription food so he doesn’t die from a kidney stone.
- They did a pretty poor job of showing how many survivors there were at the camp. A good 2-3 people died that I have never seen before.
- Dale is seriously awesome
nice review-
I enjoyed the episode a lot more than I expected to once the seemingly one note gang showed up with their tats and pistols. You’re right about Andrew Lincoln though – the guy has shown us eight different facets of Rick and doesn’t look to be letting up anytime soon. Even if he does seem to be acting circles around someone else it never feels like he’s isolating anyone – his style brings everyone else up with him.
As someone who hasn’t read the comment, I didn’t think that the Guillermo group was too many characters. Until reading your review, I had assumed that it would be a one time meeting. What they did is update my understanding of how many survivors there are. I had assumed that Atlanta was 100 percent zombies; seeing someone alive was more of a surprise to me than seeing another zombie. Even after the reveal of the hospital, the explanation of Guillermo about how they couldn’t trust Rick because of the scavenging group adds to the suspense. Stumbling across a new group of humans can be even more deadly for the group than zombies.
obviously, replace “comment” with “commic” in the first sentence.
and replace “commic” with “comic”. I’m giving up now.
typos happen
Good observation. That was definitely the purpose of the scene, and I am fairly certain they will return. I would hope so, I think the idea behind them is very interesting, and rather unique. Not often do you have a group of gangsters who protecting an old folks home.
I just think in a mere 6 episodes, more time could be spend on the initial survivors. The show essentially spent the whole first episode only on Rick. So its really only 5 episodes to get to know the core group.
I have to agree on all points here.
Ive been reading the comic series as the show progresses and I like the similarities yet slight differences in both series.
While I definitely agree with the introduction of the hospitasl group, Im also half thinking that these are passing characters in the show meant to display an act of humanity shown and given in a world where it seems quickly fleeting.
Regardless, I have REALLY high Hopes for the future of the show and book!