Piers McCarthy reviews the ninth episode of The Walking Dead season 4….
I opened my last review with this: “The mid-season finale of The Walking Dead’s fourth season is pivotal in shaking things up; paving the way for what will hopefully be a tense and exciting latter half.” From watching the ninth episode – the first episode in the second half of the season – I’m still holding onto the notion that things will become excitingly different.
Major spoilers follow
The chaotic end to episode eight was excellent at creating dread and the sense of opportunity in equal measure. I mean this in relation to the characters and for the audience. We understand that the unknown path the main group must all take could lead to death, but it could also lead to a better life. Frankly, the prison was becoming a dull environment, monotonous in its aesthetic and the plot it was enveloping. As Rick and Carl trudge away from the charred remains of their old home, there’s a refreshing feel to stepping away from the all-too-familiar spot.
The season return starts with Michonne slicing her way back to the prison. The motivation is unknown to begin with, until she finds two walkers perfect for becoming her new set of camouflage dogs. The zombiefied head of Hershel also makes an appearance just before Michonne moves away – a sad reminder of the pain Hershel experienced before death. If Michonne’s entrance makes you think of action and mystery initially, Hershel’s cameo reiterates the dramatic and melancholic parts of the show. It’s not a spectacular prologue after such a long wait, but it does enough to get you excited once again.
Rick and Carl then take up the majority of the narrative (with a few moments dedicated to Michonne), for an episode that has its moments of tension, but is largely an exploration of the maturing Carl character. Rick, beaten so badly, has to take a back-seat for the most part, leaving Carl to deal with most skirmishes. Love or hate Carl, “After” will definitely have fans debating over the character’s impact.
The anger Carl feels towards his father, for the upset and ruin that have come from Rick’s leadership, is consistently seen throughout. Carl’s embittered attitude does few favours for liking the character and a large portion of “After” has you yelling you at the screen for the bolshie boy to be more considerate.
A third of the way through the episode, Michonne’s mystery finally gets chipped away at. We see a flashback with her “lover” (Mike), their son and Mike’s best friend before the apocalypse. Executed brilliantly, the brief back-story reveals to us who Michonne’s original jawless, armless walkers were, while also showing us a little bit of Michonne’s old life. The scene plays out as an odd dream, with the lighting, set and costumes changing to signify the destruction. There are subtle shifts in the atmosphere and behaviour (cued with music and lighting), making it an intriguing dream sequence. It doesn’t have to pinpoint every incident that happened to Michonne, Mike, their son, and Terry but it does enough to indicate the loss and devastation they experienced.
Back to Carl and Rick and in the home they’ve sheltered in, Rick’s weak state has left him unconscious, unable to be woken. In trying to wake his dad, Carl yells and yells, attracting two nearby walkers. Heading out the door to lure them away, Carl behaves idiotically – apparently with a plan of where to lead them but not watching his surroundings. It’s the first in a few near-death experiences and Carl is set upon by three zombies, snapping away at his limbs. He’s fortunate to get away from the lot, firing off too many precious bullets and barely making it out alive. Somehow, however, this gives Carl an impulse to explore the dangerous, unknown territory more. He goes back to the house where he and Rick are staying, irately damning his unconscious father for past issues, and heads back out.
The walker win of the episode comes from the undead character that very nearly bests Carl. Exploding out of a door Carl quietly opens, he gets a few good grabs on the boy. Carl tries everything to get away but has inadvertently left himself with many obstacles. He eventually manages to get away, locking the walker in a room and then writing, “Walker inside. Got my shoe. Didn’t get me.” He smiles on at his amusing message and eats pudding on the roof of the house. The mild arrogance in that short space of time, paired with some ridiculous decision-making has not helped this character in the slightest. Before the episode ends there is a moment of redemption where, believing Rick to be undead, Carl nearly shoots him in the head; thankfully he can’t bring himself to do it and realises the moans are not of having turned, but from sheer tiredness and injury. Carl’s empathy in that moment does allow him some behavioural recovery.
Michonne’s final part in the episode includes a mass decapitation as the anxieties and nightmares take over. Cutting through the group she’s travelling amongst, she’s back to being the lone warrior, haunted by her past. That is, until she finds Carl and Rick’s tracks and knocks on their door, crying with joy as she sees them. So, three are joined once more and it’s up to the next few episodes to hopefully see more of our band finding their way back to one another.
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Originally published February 13, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
