Hey everyone, I know this isn't a book review, but I've seen so many reviews about last night's Walking Dead episode, I had to post my own. I've read a few that were all positive or mostly positive and then there were some who stated that last night's episode was just awful. Well, I have an opinion on the show as well and this is my blog so I can share it, goshdarnit!
Last night's episode, "The Grove," is one of my favorite episodes this season, maybe of all the seasons so far. Granted, the last ten to fifteen minutes or so I was near tears but that's when you know a show is good - when a scene comes along that punches you right in the feels.
For the past few years we've come to know all the characters on the show. Some of them we love. Some we hate. Some we hate to love and some we love to hate. But no matter how we feel about them, they've all become a part of our Sunday night traditions. We can't wait to see what happens next and when tragedy strikes them we feel it. Oh, how we feel it.
Last night's episode focused on Carol, Tyreese, Lizzie, Mika and little Judith. The Governor's final attack on the prison left the survivors scattered, though we can see that for the most part, they're all missing each other by a mile or two there, an hour or two here. It's frustrating to know that they're so close to each other but are just a few moments too late to see the other group in the same spot. Anyway, I digress. Carol and company happen upon an isolated house in the middle of the woods. Tyreese is dealing with an infected cut on his arm and they have three little ones with them, so they decide to stay in the house for a few days. After clearing the area of zombies, they begin to think that instead of moving further down the tracks to the mysterious Terminus, that maybe they could just stay in the house forever.
Some of the reviews I read stated they thought most of the episode was dull, boring, even. And to you, I say..."what is wrong with you people?!" Personally, I didn't find anything about that episode dull or boring. It seemed to move at the same pace as the last couple of preceding episodes. And I think they had the right idea on this one - all of that peaceful, "we could stay here" footage lulled the audience into a false sense of happiness and security. As the episode progressed we started to feel happy for the little group - everything was going so well! They were finding food, there weren't that many walkers around - life was good!
And then....
The writers ripped that rug right out from under us. The last fifteen or so minutes of Walking Dead hell came crashing down on us as Carol and Tyreese, back from a hunting expedition, come back to their new home to see Lizzie, hands bright red with blood past the wrists, standing over the body of her younger sister. Poor, sweet, little Mika lay on a blanket spread out on the lawn, eyes closed, mouth slightly ajar, while little baby Judith crawled around her still body. Lizzie explains that she wanted to show everyone that walkers weren't bad - they were friends!
Several writers of the reviews I read said they didn't believe Lizzie's slip into madness, that the script felt forced or rushed. As we've seen, this has been building for quite some time now, as it is revealed that Lizzie is the one who fed mice to the walkers at the prison, which eventually leads to the weight of the walkers bringing down the gate. Just a couple of episodes ago we watched as she nearly killed Judith in the woods. Granted, yes, the baby was crying and they didn't want to attract walkers - but as she held her hand over the baby's mouth and nose, her face wasn't an expression of terror, it was something else...something dark, twisted and a bit sinister. Therefore, given that we've had all this evidence piling up that Lizzie's going through some kind of mental breakdown/future serial killer training, I don't find it that hard to believe that she could suddenly snap the way she did. I mean, the poor girl's been living in a world where, no matter what a person dies of, they come back and start nomming everyone else. She watched her father get sick and die, then stayed nearby as Carol shoved a blade into his head to keep him from coming back to kill. She's had to put bullets in the heads of things that were once human. The community they were living in has fallen apart, she saw countless people die during the Governor's attack, they have no idea who, if anyone, may have survived. Hell, if it had been me in her situation I would have cracked a long time ago! So, as sudden as her complete and utter breakdown was, I find it absolutely plausible!
I was so incredibly saddened by the death of Mika. She was so adorable, so sweet and though she could a bullet through a zombie's head almost as well as the trained adults, there still seemed to be an innocence about her that I just loved. But the writers weren't done yet! Oh no, definitely not! A few hours later after Carol had taken care of Mika's body and they'd settled Lizzie upstairs (away from sharp, pointy objects) Tyreese and Carol sat at the kitchen table discussing what to do next. Carol said she would take Lizze and they would go off together, leaving Tyreese to live at the house with Judith. Tyreese, however, didn't want them to be out on their own like that. But...as Carol says, Lizzie "can't be around people." Separating isn't an option and finding an open psychiatrist's office is quite difficult in the zombie apocalypse. So, there's only one thing to do.
"Look at the flowers."
The deaths of Mika and Lizzie are so much more than what they seem. Aside from Judith, those girls were the two youngest characters still alive on the show. There's Carl but he's different from the girls. He's already been able to accept what's happening in the world around him - he's come to grips with it, while the girls are still clinging to the life they had before. This is what makes them seem so innocent to me. Watching as both girls' lives were ended, well....to me, that symbolized the death of innocence in the zombie apocalypse. And when you lose that...you've got to wonder what will happen to people - how they'll change.
Here's to hoping Terminus isn't another Woodbury!
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