The Walking Dead Episode 407: "Dead Weight"
Huh. Well, I have randomness and I have thinky-thoughts.
Everything under the cut contains spoilers for Episode 407: "Dead Weight" which aired last night. Do not read further if you haven’t seen the episode!
ALVAREZ. HI DUDE. I hadn't bothered to watch any previews for this ep, because Governor, meh, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see Kirk Acevedo (Alvarez in Oz) in this ep. Love him.
I think I've really only got sort of random thoughts for this one.
01. Martinez is dead. YAY LET THE JOYOUS NEWS BE SPREAD.
02. So this is the quarry camp from season one, except Pete the good brother is Rick and Mitch the bad brother is Shane. Who who WHO would think that an outdoor camp surrounded by... what... hobby horses?... is good protection 1.5+ years into the apocalypse, with massive herds of walkers about? That's One Month In, This Might Blow Over thinking. (Also, those guys did not look like a "Pete" and a "Mitch". Especially Mitch. That's such a rich college boy name.)
03. I quite liked Pete and was kind of hoping that he'd stick around. For some reason when The Governor dumped him in the lake I didn't clue in that he wasn't head-shot. And that image of walker-Pete hampered by the chain and trying to reach The Governor from under the water was super creepy and cool.
04. I really want that annoying little girl to die. Also her aunt. And her mother. And everybody who was like let's fight over who gets to be leader coz THAT's such a great job. Alicia might be able to stay, the jury's still out.
05. So I keep hearing about redemption, everywhere I turn. There is no redemption. The Governor's past murders are not wiped out because he saved a little girl and was trying to help people. Merle was not redeemed for trying to murder Glenn just because he made an attempt to kill the Governor's people and thus keep his brother safe. If Rick had gone through with his plan to turn Michonne over to the Governor, nothing could redeem that act. Nothing will redeem the fact that Carol murdered two innocent people. There's not, like, a big chart somewhere that says that THIS GOOD THING wipes out THAT EVIL THING. There are just people, who are flawed and three-dimensional and have their own agendas and reasons for doing what they do. The Governor doesn't *believe* he is evil. Pete wouldn't hurt innocent people, he was "Rick", he was the guy who's trying to retain his morals in the apocalypse. He wouldn't steal from innocent people. His group might go hungry because of his morals. So in the Governor's eyes, Pete had to go. The Governor thinks he killed Martinez and Pete for a good cause. In the Governor's eyes, he killed them to protect his new family and keep them safe.
And see, Carol thinks she killed Karen and David to protect and keep HER family safe. Back in S3, Rick thought that turning over Michonne to the Governor would keep HIS family safe. In the end, Rick couldn't do it... he couldn't sacrifice one person on the off chance that it might save others. Carol did.
So what's the difference between what Carol did and what The Governor is doing? In my opinion, there's not really very much difference at all. And that's... I think that's sort of what they're going for, here. (At least, I hope so.) Your opinion may vary.
And what I've found scary in the last few weeks of reading recaps and opinions in the days after the ep airs, is how many people say that The Governor or Carol or Shane is the person you WANT in charge in the apocalypse. I mean, is survival really the ultimate goal even at the risk of losing your empathy and your compassion? Do people really think that if you need something that someone else has and you're bigger and stronger, you should just take what you want from the weak? Should you outright murder someone because they might pose a risk to you -- whether it's by having more guns and possibly refusing to accept your authority (the military dudes the Governor and his men killed in Season 3) or by catching the flu?
I'm also drawn to the two different solutions Carol and Hershel had to the sickness dilemma. Carol solution was to take lives. Hershel's was to risk his own life to save lives. I know which one I want in charge and also which one is the bigger badass.
(Sorry, that totally turned into a bit of a previously-on-The-Walking-Dead thing. But it's just where my mind went after this episode.)
Anyhoo...
07. After alllll is said and done, I appreciate some of the themes they're trying to explore this season. They make me think (and also, a little angry, so there's that.) But it still felt a bit like these were filler episodes. In the end we're right back where we were at the end of S3, with an impending Governor vs. Rick showdown. I just feel like if this is what they were planning, there should have been a less clunky way to get there.
If you want to talk about the ep, feel free to comment! BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE: NO SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC BOOKS OR UNAIRED EPISODES. I know almost nothing from the comics and I don't want to know. Spoilers seriously ruin my enjoyment of a show. So please… be careful. Thank you.
This is my last week of mini_wrimo craziness -- at which I'm kicking ass, btw -- and I really do eventually hope to get back and respond to any comments. I've still got a LOT of writing planned for December, though. Just sayin'.
.
Everything under the cut contains spoilers for Episode 407: "Dead Weight" which aired last night. Do not read further if you haven’t seen the episode!
ALVAREZ. HI DUDE. I hadn't bothered to watch any previews for this ep, because Governor, meh, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see Kirk Acevedo (Alvarez in Oz) in this ep. Love him.
I think I've really only got sort of random thoughts for this one.
01. Martinez is dead. YAY LET THE JOYOUS NEWS BE SPREAD.
02. So this is the quarry camp from season one, except Pete the good brother is Rick and Mitch the bad brother is Shane. Who who WHO would think that an outdoor camp surrounded by... what... hobby horses?... is good protection 1.5+ years into the apocalypse, with massive herds of walkers about? That's One Month In, This Might Blow Over thinking. (Also, those guys did not look like a "Pete" and a "Mitch". Especially Mitch. That's such a rich college boy name.)
03. I quite liked Pete and was kind of hoping that he'd stick around. For some reason when The Governor dumped him in the lake I didn't clue in that he wasn't head-shot. And that image of walker-Pete hampered by the chain and trying to reach The Governor from under the water was super creepy and cool.
04. I really want that annoying little girl to die. Also her aunt. And her mother. And everybody who was like let's fight over who gets to be leader coz THAT's such a great job. Alicia might be able to stay, the jury's still out.
05. So I keep hearing about redemption, everywhere I turn. There is no redemption. The Governor's past murders are not wiped out because he saved a little girl and was trying to help people. Merle was not redeemed for trying to murder Glenn just because he made an attempt to kill the Governor's people and thus keep his brother safe. If Rick had gone through with his plan to turn Michonne over to the Governor, nothing could redeem that act. Nothing will redeem the fact that Carol murdered two innocent people. There's not, like, a big chart somewhere that says that THIS GOOD THING wipes out THAT EVIL THING. There are just people, who are flawed and three-dimensional and have their own agendas and reasons for doing what they do. The Governor doesn't *believe* he is evil. Pete wouldn't hurt innocent people, he was "Rick", he was the guy who's trying to retain his morals in the apocalypse. He wouldn't steal from innocent people. His group might go hungry because of his morals. So in the Governor's eyes, Pete had to go. The Governor thinks he killed Martinez and Pete for a good cause. In the Governor's eyes, he killed them to protect his new family and keep them safe.
And see, Carol thinks she killed Karen and David to protect and keep HER family safe. Back in S3, Rick thought that turning over Michonne to the Governor would keep HIS family safe. In the end, Rick couldn't do it... he couldn't sacrifice one person on the off chance that it might save others. Carol did.
So what's the difference between what Carol did and what The Governor is doing? In my opinion, there's not really very much difference at all. And that's... I think that's sort of what they're going for, here. (At least, I hope so.) Your opinion may vary.
And what I've found scary in the last few weeks of reading recaps and opinions in the days after the ep airs, is how many people say that The Governor or Carol or Shane is the person you WANT in charge in the apocalypse. I mean, is survival really the ultimate goal even at the risk of losing your empathy and your compassion? Do people really think that if you need something that someone else has and you're bigger and stronger, you should just take what you want from the weak? Should you outright murder someone because they might pose a risk to you -- whether it's by having more guns and possibly refusing to accept your authority (the military dudes the Governor and his men killed in Season 3) or by catching the flu?
I'm also drawn to the two different solutions Carol and Hershel had to the sickness dilemma. Carol solution was to take lives. Hershel's was to risk his own life to save lives. I know which one I want in charge and also which one is the bigger badass.
(Sorry, that totally turned into a bit of a previously-on-The-Walking-Dead thing. But it's just where my mind went after this episode.)
Anyhoo...
07. After alllll is said and done, I appreciate some of the themes they're trying to explore this season. They make me think (and also, a little angry, so there's that.) But it still felt a bit like these were filler episodes. In the end we're right back where we were at the end of S3, with an impending Governor vs. Rick showdown. I just feel like if this is what they were planning, there should have been a less clunky way to get there.
If you want to talk about the ep, feel free to comment! BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE: NO SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC BOOKS OR UNAIRED EPISODES. I know almost nothing from the comics and I don't want to know. Spoilers seriously ruin my enjoyment of a show. So please… be careful. Thank you.
This is my last week of mini_wrimo craziness -- at which I'm kicking ass, btw -- and I really do eventually hope to get back and respond to any comments. I've still got a LOT of writing planned for December, though. Just sayin'.
.