The Walking Dead season 4, episode 1 premiered on AMC Sunday night. Our recap breaks down the big events of the episode and if the show is off to a good start.
Rick the gardener. The episode kicked off with Rick heading onto the prison grounds one morning so he can maintain a new garden they’ve built. The prison has been noticeably spruced up. Potted flowers are around the area and outdoor living areas have been constructed. The character is noticeably more relaxed. Finding a gun in the ground and then looking at the zombies just over the fence, he decides to take the ammo out of the weapon and continue gardening.
… and Rick the humanitarian. Checking out traps in the woods, Rick comes across a woman who hasn’t eaten in days and is trying to get some livestock to bring back to her husband who’s also starving. Looking absolutely miserable (and almost like a zombie), she asks Rick if she and her husband can come back to their campsite. He says that before he decides definitively, he needs to ask three questions to them both.
Three questions, but for only one person. “How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? Why?”
Rick asks the sickly, Bjork-looking woman those three questions as promised, but it was only after she stabbed herself because upon arriving at her campsite, Rick sees that her husband has already been turned. To make matters worse, she’s been keeping him around.
New relationships! Regular characters Tyreese and Beth appear to have new romantic interests that they’ve built up over the past month at the prison. Unfortunately, the latter’s gets attacked by a zombie at the food store. Upon being told of his death, Beth doesn’t seem too shaken by it and instead resets the “Days Without An Accident” sign. “I don’t cry anymore,” she tell Daryl. “I’m just glad I got to know him.” He agrees, but admit he’s tired of losing people.
Speaking of love, apocalypse power couple Glenn and Maggie are not about to have a baby and are relieved by the revelation.
And new characters like Bob. Discovered by Daryl in the month that’s past since we’ve seen the humans, Bob was a medic in the army who’s looking to become a bigger player within the group. On a mission with several others, he appears to be familiar with the store they’re at because there’s an army helicopter that crash landed on top.
Unfortunately, he’s got some learning to do. While on their mission in the store, he picks up a bottle of wine and contemplates taking it back to the prison. When putting it back on the shelf, it collapses and sets off the zombies on the roof above. He makes up for his mistake, however, by earning cool points when he rips apart a zombie’s head with his bare hands.
Carl is brighter. Now showing more of an interest in comics, Carl seems to be in a better mood and has a good relationship with his father. He also has a new friend named Patrick who he seems to get along well with, and he acts like an adult towards the new Woodbury kids at the prison. For example, when the kiddies were naming the zombies, Carl discouraged them in a parent-like manner.
Carol is darker. We see her teaching kids about knives and how to handle them. While giving her lesson, Carl comes in and sees what she’s doing which alarms him. She asks him to not tell his father.
No Governor in sight. Michonne went looking for the Governor but couldn’t find him. She’s got another idea as to where he is, but Daryl talks her out of risking it. Later in the episode we see Michonne plotting a route to go find him.
Everything’s brighter at the prison. The new and improved prison allows all of the humans to “have a sanctuary, keep people fed,” in the words of Carol. There’s also a story time event for kids on a daily basis (Carl doesn’t want to go to it, despite Rick’s request). The new characters from Woodbury are helpful around the prison. For example, they’re able to kill zombies that are up against the fence trying to claw their way in.
… Or is it? Carl’s potential new friend comes down with a bug, and at the end of the episode it looks like he has a problem much larger than just a stomach virus. The question is, how did he get it? We’ll be interviewing the actor who plays Patrick – Vincent Martella – on Monday about what’s up with his character.
What did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 4 premiere?
Tonight’s premiere felt like more of the same, but that – in our opinion – isn’t a bad thing. The show had an intense action sequence in which the humans had to fight off the zombies taking control of the store, and an interesting new infection is set to plague those at the prison for an unknown reason. The two big scenes set the show off to a great start, and we’re looking forward to the weeks ahead.
The next episode of The Walking Dead season 4, titled “Infected,” airs Sunday, October 20 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on AMC. You can watch a preview for “the weeks ahead” below:
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