AMC’s The Walking Dead is finally back! Season four’s first episode, “30 Days Without an Accident” started off on a leisurely walk, but started to pick up the pace towards the end. Season’s three finale left us with a Terminator Carl, a Rick trying to come back from the edge of insanity, a dwindling team of Rick’s Rebels, and Woodbury left without a governor, the last of which lead to Rick offering to let the surviving Woodburians assimilate into Rick’s Rebels. As the title says it has been 30 days since the last accident in which the group has lost anyone. But that’s all about to change. But first, let’s check in with Dale.
Hey there, Dale. So much has happened since we last spoke… I-
Andrea! You look amazing! Whatever you’re doing to your hair, it’s workingOHMYGOD I FORGOT TO REMOVE THE TIN FOIL FROM MY MICROWAVABLE POTATO!
HIT THE DIRT!
Well. That’s certainly gonna take all dang afternoon to clean up.
Thanks, Dale. Now onwards, to the recap, and, as always, spoilers below!
Talk about some powerful sound editing in the opening scene! Rick is out digging in the prison yard, with everything seeming nice and serene thanks to the lovely song playing throughout the scene, but the second he takes out his ear buds there’s a deafening roar from the ever-growing zombie horde gathering around the prison fences.
From there things get slow, and they stay that way for a while, but we do get a chance to reacquaint ourselves with everyone and get updated on what they’re up to right now: Beth has a man, Tyreese has a woman, Maggie and Glenn have a pregnancy scare, Carl is deep in the throes of puberty and a few glimpses of that humanity he seemed to lose in season three are starting to return for him, and for Rick as well. The prison has been fortified as balls and made suitable for living; Rick’s Rebels managed to set up crops, farm animals, a library, etc. And, final update: Daryl’s still a badass.
Rick has his own adventure apart from everyone else, exhibiting that he isn’t as hard and crazy as S3 Rick- the Ricktator. While he’s out checking the snares for small game, he comes across a woman who asks for help. Instead of immediately killing her, or telling her to go screw herself, he gives her food and agrees to go back to her camp to assess her and her husband to see if they’re appropriate material for Rick’s Rebels. He might not be The Ricktator, but he still isn’t Officer Rickly DoRight from S1, because he keeps his eyes honed in on her and keeps one hand on his gun throughout the entire walk. There’s even a subtle bit where he tricks her into exposing a lie, though she doesn’t realize it, and you can see on his face that he’s disappointed in her answer. All in all, it looks like season four Rick is a well-balanced Rick: he’s trying to regain some of his humanity and it seems to be working… though it is just the first episode.
When the woman inevitably pulls some BS, Rick whomps her in the head. Turns out her husband is nothing more than her husband’s zombified head-in-a-bag, and she wanted to feed Rick to him because she worried he was “slowing down without food.” She then offs herself, and Rick just walks away from it all; he’s gotten too old for that shit.
Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese, Glenn, Expendable Guy 1 (Beth’s guy), and Expendable Medic all go out for a supply run at Big Sp!t, which is pronounced Big Spot, not Big Spit. At the store, Expendable Medic gets caught under a shelf when the rotted ceiling gives way and it literally starts raining zombies. Expendable Medic actually makes it out unharmed, but Expendable Guy 1 gets eaten. When Daryl tells Beth, she calmly walks to the board that’s counting the days since the last accident and puts it back to zero with nary a tear. “I don’t cry anymore,” she says as she gives Daryl a hug to comfort him. Looks like Carl might have a contender for that Terminator spot. Also, Carol is secretly teaching the kids how to fight with weapons during what Rick thinks is “story time.”
At the very end of the episode, one of the kids gets sick and passes out in the showers. When he opens his eyes they’re pure zombie. Oooh! But he wasn’t bitten? Between this kid’s death, and the untimely demise of one of Rick’s hogs, it looks like there might be a new way that the zombie virus is spreading. No matter what, it means that Rick’s Rebels won’t be feeling safe for much longer.
Likes:
- The improvements to the prison.
- Rick’s softened up a bit, but is still pretty intense.
- Carl softened up a bit.
- Carol calling Daryl “pookie.”
- Daryl’s snort at being called “pookie.”
- Michonne destroying the cardboard cutout of a zombie.
- A walker hanging from the ceiling by his guts.
- They are getting majorly creative with the zombie makeup.
- Rick: “If you try anything, you’re going to be the one that loses.”
Dislikes:
- This was a slow start compared to the breakneck awesomeness of season three’s opening few episodes.
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
Dale’s Deeds by Alex Langley.
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Am I the only one who thinks Beth looks like a young Nicole Sullivan?
My dislikes are nitpicking the production side. I still don’t like the visual of brand new cars being used , the interiors are spotless , mine is filthy after a month if I dont vacuum and clean let alone zombie apocalypose. I know they’re the sponsor , but I wish they would cut ties with the car companies and start going “Road Warrior” with its vehicles. Also the sets still look more like an “organized mess” than a post apocalyptic landscape, areas looked swept and cleaned with a knocked over box and a clean newspaper on sidewalk to signify “chaos”.
Still get my poops and giggles overall from this show. Great to see Dale’s face again. Its the sign of a new season.
Hey there K! I couldn’t help but think of Lee and Clementine when Michonne was scanning her map and briefly stopped to look at Macon. Was I the only one to catch that? It was a great nod to The Walking Dead Game!