The Walking Dead 4-2: Get Down With the Sickness

Woo boy. The Walking Dead took a giant leap into Sufferingville with “Infected.” This episode keeps a pace that only Usain Bolt can keep up with. So far the writers have nailed these first two episodes of season four, filling them with tons of delicious personal darkness and gruesome zombie action. One problem that might form, however, is that the show could become so is the show becoming so dark and painful that it makes it unbearable to watch. Would that be a problem for you?

But, as always, before we get to the recap let’s check in with Dale.

Dale, whatchu doin’ out here with a sleeping bag, man?

Well, Shane, m’dang RV’s still all burnt up thanks to that potato, and I’m not done repairing it yet. Anyway, forget about that and help me look through this Disney catalog and find a gift for my granddaughter.

All right. How old’s she?

Heck if I know. I can’t keep track of how old my grand kids are- I ninety-two of ’em for goodness’ sake.

Come again? How’sat even possible?

Son, my second wife and I got it on like a couple’a hogs in heat, and my many kids, bless their hearts, they got around. They. Got. Around.

Thanks, Dale! Now onward, to the recap!

Patrick, a.k.a the clone of the best friend from The Wonder Years, died at the end of the last episode, and now he’s a zombie. As a freshly-zombified dude, Patrick’s pretty hungry, so he sets about chowing down on the citizens of Cell Block D. Rick’s Rebels lost many people (though no one important) before realizing that the bites were coming from within the jail. The sequence of them fighting off these zombies really showed off the kind of gore this show’s known for, no doubt pushing the limits of what you can show on TV. There’s intestines everywhere, ripped throats, and a massive, almost unnecessary, curbstomp.

Here we also learn that up until this point, Rick has been refusing to lead Rick’s Rebels, who have instead formed a council to determine what actions to take. He’s also refused to carry a gun to stray sane and took Carl’s gun away to keep him from going full-on terminator. They both seem to have regained some humanity and turned their cold black hearts lukewarm and pinkish. However, with the attack from within the prison, Rick and Carl both were forced to fight the undead once again, ultimately leading to Rick arming himself and his boy once again. Is the day of humanity over, or will these two be able to hold on to the little pieces of their souls they managed to recover? I hope so; for the past two episodes, Rick’s been the best and most interesting he’s been in a long time, and I’d like to see more of him trying to take the high road again without veering into the Dudley Do-Right Rick of season one.

I’ve figured out that there’s only so much humanity to go around, and if one character gains some, another character loses some. Rick and Carl gain, Carol loses. Two young girls lose their dad in the attack, and, when the eldest girl couldn’t bring herself to stab their dad to prevent him from rising, Carol (gently) chides her about it later. On the one hand, she’s being practical by teaching the kids how to use weapons and protect themselves. On the other, she waits like, what, two minutes to berate these kids and call the older girl weak for not stabbing their dad? Jesus, Carol! Daddy’s not even cold yet and you’re trying to line up everyone to take a whack at him- are you trying to turn everyone into robots?

We’ll hit a quick hit-list of the rest of the good stuff from this episode: Michonne comes back, gets hurt, curses herself, and acts weird around baby Judith while implying that she had a baby once, but lost her. The outer prison fence almost comes toppling down because of all the zombies piling on it, the gang discovers that someone’s been leaving rat carcasses near the fence to rile up the walkers, they also discover that the attack inside the prison is possibly the result of a deadly sickness making its rounds within the group, (and they’re all potentially infected). Tyreese’s girlfriend is top on the sick list and gets immediately quarantined. When Tyreese goes to check up on her, he finds what seems to be the scene of a murder, a blood trail leading outsidel, and her burnt corpse next to another similarly unfortunate soul. Fin. So now we’re wondering: were they murdered, or did they turn? Who burned them? One thing’s for sure, whoever did this does not want to come face to face with Tyreese because he is one armed, angry, wall of beef.

Likes:

• Great attack within the prison.
• Glen slicing off a zombie’s head on instinct.
• Daryl ripping the gun out of a citizen’s hands and handing it to Rick.
• They figure out quickly that it’s some kind of sickness, not just them being overrun by outside zombies.
• Rick getting his gun back out.
• The mystery of the scorched bodies.

Dislikes:

• Rick using his farm piggies as bait to lure the walkers away from the fence. Watching him cut into those squealing oinkers was kind of tough to watch.
• Carl being a tattle tale, but it’s kind of nice to be annoyed with Carl again instead of shocked by his lack of humanity.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!