Sadé Green reviews the fourth episode of The Walking Dead season 5…
From the very opening of this episode, it is guaranteed everyone had the same thought – ‘Is this seriously an entire episode of Beth?’ Indeed it is, but don’t despair. An excellent episode with a hint of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ass-kicking awesomeness, we stumble upon yet another group of slightly unhinged survivors, desperate to keep Beth (Emily Kinney) as their very own work horse.
Having been absent from the show for many weeks now, Beth wakes up in a strangely sterile hospital with lots of new faces. Instantly, Doctor Stephen Edwards (Erik Jensen) befriends Beth and she soon learns the ropes of Hospital ‘You owe us’ but not before some dark truths have been uncovered. Run by bitch policewoman, Officer Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods), Beth quickly learns who she can and can’t trust and unfortunately, that leaves approximately one trustworthy person, Noah (Tyler James Williams), the janitor of the group, who was ‘rescued’ due to his weak looking exterior and deemed unlikely to make an escape. After a member of the group, Joan (Keisha Castle-Hughes) purposely gets herself bitten, it becomes blindingly clear that Beth needs to make her getaway as soon as possible. Having found an ally in Noah, Beth realises she isn’t alone in her quest for freedom and makes a dangerous plan to try to breakout.
For poor Beth, it is obvious why she was ‘rescued’ from the outside world; to be a brand new play toy for the male policemen who run the Hospital, with one in particular taking a shine to Beth. With her innocence threatened by the disgustingly sleazy Officer Gorman (Cullen Moss), Beth pulls some smooth moves and cunningly gets herself out of trouble, in the most triumphant of ways, but not before a horrendous scene involving a lollipop and the disgraceful Gorman. When Joan confirms to Beth what the audience is slowly realising, one can’t help but think, ‘How many groups of psychopathic survivors are there surrounding the remnants of Atlanta, Georgia?’ By the end of the episode, a very familiar face gets rolled into the Hospital, possibly because they appear rather feeble – but boy are they wrong.
As a character, Beth develops hugely in ‘Slabtown’. Over the past few seasons, Beth has mostly had the role of babysitter or annoying hindrance but she truly comes into her own during this episode. Of course vulnerable Beth makes an appearance but so does cunning Beth, kick-ass Beth and awesomely resourceful Beth. You will be a Beth Greene fan by the end of ‘Slabtown’! Emily Kinney holds the show with the kind of finesse we have all been waiting for. Having been told she is weak and would have been Zombie feed if it wasn’t for the policemen’s heroic actions, we see her begin to shrink before gradually feeling empowered by their negativity. ‘Slabtown’ finally acknowledges what a great character Beth could be and adds yet another female powerhouse to lead the show, alongside Carol (Melissa McBride) and Michonne (Danai Gurira).
Overall, ‘Slabtown’ was a surprising episode. After your initial despair that the episode will centre on Beth, you will soon realise that combined with the excellent writing of Season 5, Beth has developed into the kind of girl you want around in an emergency (however, if you hurt your leg, then don’t expect her to help you run). Although this is the second week in a row where action has been light, the featured violence is shocking (just in case the gore is the only reason you watch The Walking Dead, weirdo), as is the depraved nature of this new gang of survivors. Episode 5, Self Help, will surely be an interesting affair and given the cliff-hanger of ‘Slabtown’, surely full of action.
ZOMBIE KILL OF THE WEEK
Another light week of Zombie death but two moments stand out. As Beth and Noah find themselves surrounded by Zombies in the pitch-black basement, Beth shoots blindly hoping to nail a few; as the each gunshot lights the room for a split second, we see exploding Zombie heads aplenty. Additionally, when finally outside, we see Beth deliver a single stamp to a Zombie laying on the ground, completely flattening the skull to mush. Awesome stuff.
Sadé Green
Originally published November 9, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
