[thelastpaul]

Poor Karen, we hardly knew ye.

Will Judith be written off by simply succumbing to the "infection"? That would be a "nicer" way of writing off a baby from the show, as opposed to having her be murdered by the Governor or eaten alive by Walkers.

Are these 2 girls the new Ben and Billy from the comic? Certainly seems like it could go that way. Hell their dad even reminded me of the twins dad from the comic, looks wise.

Looks like it only took 2 episodes for Rick to snap out of his funk.. Everything in this season seems extremely rushed to be honest. Not liking it so far. Season 3 was so great, until the last episode. Ever since then this show has just been meh to me.

[Stan]

I thought it was incredibly well done on more than a few levels. The walker cell assault shows how relaxing guard after over 1/2 year of relative peace can result in death. More to the point, it highlighted a facet of Carol we're seeing now which can be very unsettling. She is not only teaching survival skills to kids, but in this instance pressuring them to kill their own father when he's infected and dying, then calling them weak when they cannot go through with it. With this sort of training you need compassion for the students and their psychology. Carol appears to be bypassing that in favor of feeling compassionate about training them to keep alive. I wonder how Ed first was when he was grooming her and later her own daughter in a controlling relationship?

The virus which appears to be striking the prison has been likened to the 1918 influenza outbreak. As such it can be devastating but can also be survivable, which means that a coughing judith or maggie need not concern us too much. Isolation and maintaining healthy habits will go a long way towards mitigating it, and despite the explosive nature of these exposures it has been caught and acted on quickly.

I regret the loss of Karen, but it will serve very well to up the ante for the prison group, even more so than the rat feeding is doing.

Great character spotlight on Michonne with the kid this time around. LOVED that little gimme we got! It was also nice to see her in danger this time, with genuine feeling of concern and not just that face of determined anger she wore all last season.

The pig slaughter at the end returns us, like Carol does, to the concept that the living really are the walking dead in this world. To have to maim and create such fear in the pigs to keep the walkers from your fence for a few (albeit precious) moments is a stronger moral compromise than many of us realize at the outset. I bet it stays with Rick somehow.

The scene with Maggie and Glenn in the beginning is so much better than the recent wake up naked moments. They show love and concern for each other, respect for each others abilities and decisions, and it also highlighted a major concern for the people on the tower...something can happen inside the prison and you'd never know about it until it was all over.

This is a great second episode, it's nice to see such a good step forward this week!

[Deadpelican]

can we talk about how awesome Carol is this season? I've never been a big Carol fan, if anything I've been the opposite. but shes really stepped it up this season. Shes probably been my favorite character in both of these first two episodes.

Yeah same here. I'm liking Carol much more because she's interesting and has demonstrated value to the group in teaching the children to defend themselves and to be strong. Lots of interesting story potential with Carol this season and possibly beyond.

I've been liking Glenn and Maggie a lot less since season three, but even more so this season. Their lovie dovie stuff gets old and I'm not sure what the point is of having them around much longer.

[Bitergram]

When they were killing the walkers on the fence when Maggie knocked over, Glenn tried to help up but they both knew they have to stay away from each other with Glenn being exposed. That's going to be interesting, they will have to split up for a little while.

[Serenity@sea]

Yeah same here. I'm liking Carol much more because she's interesting and has demonstrated value to the group in teaching the children to defend themselves and to be strong. Lots of interesting story potential with Carol this season and possibly beyond.

I've been liking Glenn and Maggie a lot less since season three, but even more so this season. Glenn telling maggie not to go on the run and her pretty much agreeing with him irked me.

The group is headed to the store and they're short handed but Glenn doesn't want his girl friend risking her neck.

At the time, he thought she may be pregnant, so it was understandable.

[bigbro263]

I've been following the walking dead for a while now but I've never seen this site before now and I'm happy to have joined it.

Overall I thought this was a great episode and there wasn't much to complain about.

-One thing that did bother me is that as soon as Rick saw Patrick he seemed to immediatly know that he wasn't bitten without any real investigation of him. Honestly they should've never really even known that Patrick wasn't bitten unless they had thouroughly checked every walkers corpse for bites.

-Another thing is, I know they wanted to get rid of the pigs so I can understand why they sacrificed them, but if their main goal was to get the walkers away from the fence, why didn't they just drive out in the truck making loud noises to draw them farther away? It wouldn't have been a permanent solution obviously but it would've worked better than just dropping the pigs off a several yards away from the fence.

-Also I haven't really seen any mention of this, but is anyone as suspicious of Bob as I am? The guy came into the group just a week ago and he was alone so I think he could've easily been planted in their by the govenor. I'm not sure about this but I think he also said he was a medic but I could just be remembering things incorrectly. So he might've had some experience with diseases and is the one spreading the sickness around. Anyone else have an opion on this?

[zachariahpope]

JesusMonroe, let me just say I really enjoyed your review and critique. It was pleasurable to read, and I found myself laughing in agreement with a lot of things that you had to say. I found "Infected" to be superior to its predecessor "30 Days Without An Incident/Accident" mainly because Rick is no longer farming, and has come to realize he functions most efficiently for everyone in the group as a leader. No but really, the premier wasn't bad when you consider the inevitable fact that it HAD to be a set up episode to compensate the time jump as well as introducing new characters and such. I digress on that though... LOTS of good action this episode as well as character development, romance, and death. What more could you possibly ask for? I know the big question on everyone's mind has to be the burned bodies... so let's all hash out some theories!

Ok, first I'd like to point out what Karen said after the council meeting when she was walking back with Tyreese to his cell block to "rest" as she was hacking up her lung. She said "David, one of the guys from the Duluth group doesn't seem to be doing so good either" of course implying that both she and David alike were coming down with the cough a lot, then die plague. Now, when she said this, the only people in the area to hear it were herself, Tyreese, Glenn, Carol, Daryl, Hershel, Sasha, and Rick. Ok, so in the Talking Dead episode tonight that featured the incredibly talented and adorable Hayley Williams, Greg Nicotero openly said that the other burned body that was found next to Karen was David's... well actually he said it was an insignificant no name character from the premier episode that was poking Walker heads through the fence... then he said "David. Yeah, that's his name, David." Ok so those two were definitely moved to Cell Block A to be quarantined from the others... but Rick & the other council members I mentioned above were the only ones to know about this, right? To our knowledge anyway as viewers.. so it had to be one of them that burned the bodies, right?

I'm really thinking though that it could be Lizzie, or what ever the hell the new Sophia's name is. I don't know how she would have known that they were down there in Cell Block A especially considering how much she went through already in this episode/day ... what with losing her father, and keeping up with what Nick the Walker is up to at all times.. so why do I suspect her? Well lil sis said it best "She has problems" ... no but really she does.. and think about it, it kind of makes sense psychologically. Girl just lost her daddy... was going to to stab him herself, but lost her nerve... she goes out to see her walker boyfriend Nick, but ultimately decides that she's stronger than that and learns to hate walkers for what they did to her daddy.... so she dumps Nick as Carol so stupidly hands the crazy bitch a knife.... what better way to get your nerve back than to go kill the people that are putting other people that you love at risk of ending up just like your walker daddy?

[tommyferretti]

I do agree however that Glenn and Maggie's romance is really boring me. I'd love to see them interact with other characters alot more. Although it is more realistic, how many of us have had friends that when in a relationship completely disappear to spend all their time with their significant other.

[Creeper]

This was a very moving episode for me. For one, I could hardly watch the pig-slaughter scene. I know human lives matter much more than some little piggies, but I always struggle with seeing animals dying and especially being laid down like that, afraid and unable to get away. It was so disturbing. And obviously it was meant to be...Rick's reaction Growing up on a farm and continuing to ranch as an adult you would think I would get used to seeing dead and dying animals, but I just don't. Sigh. I wish I were more practical sometimes!

The other part was Michonne of course. I lost a baby of my own 4 months ago(stillbirth). That scene had me in tears for sure, I know just how she feels. There isn't really a term for those of us who lose children and it is sort of a taboo subject too. Nobody knows what to say, so most just say nothing and try to ignore it, like they never existed.

There were some criticisms of course, like not taking the pigs far enough away for it to be a very useful action. I don't care about Karen.

Good to see Rick back in the saddle again. Good to see him shirtless. Daryl needs a haircut. So who is the psycho? I'm guessing Bob. Those kids are weird. I'm not sure what to think about Carol this episode. Mostly I think she is right, but she also doesn't have very good bedside manner. I don't think she should have encouraged/allowed the one girl to try to knife her dad. Their first "kill" doesn't need to be the person they love more than anyone.

Anyway, really enjoyed it. So far, I'm impressed with this season. It has a lot of soul.

[zachariahpope]

I do agree however that Glenn and Maggie's romance is really boring me. I'd love to see them interact with other characters alot more. Although it is more realistic, how many of us have had friends that when in a relationship completely disappear to spend all their time with their significant other.

^ Very true, good point. I guess even when the world is ending, it's like this.. SMH

[Serenity@sea]

This was a very moving episode for me. For one, I could hardly watch the pig-slaughter scene. I know human lives matter much more than some little piggies, but I always struggle with seeing animals dying and especially being laid down like that, afraid and unable to get away. It was so disturbing. And obviously it was meant to be...Rick's reaction Growing up on a farm and continuing to ranch as an adult you would think I would get used to seeing dead and dying animals, but I just don't. Sigh. I wish I were more practical sometimes!

The other part was Michonne of course. I lost a baby of my own 4 months ago(stillbirth). That scene had me in tears for sure, I know just how she feels. There isn't really a term for those of us who lose children and it is sort of a taboo subject too. Nobody knows what to say, so most just say nothing and try to ignore it, like they never existed.

There were some criticisms of course, like not taking the pigs far enough away for it to be a very useful action. I don't care about Karen.

Good to see Rick back in the saddle again. Good to see him shirtless. Daryl needs a haircut. So who is the psycho? I'm guessing Bob. Those kids are weird. I'm not sure what to think about Carol this episode. Mostly I think she is right, but she also doesn't have very good bedside manner. I don't think she should have encouraged/allowed the one girl to try to knife her dad. Their first "kill" doesn't need to be the person they love more than anyone.

Anyway, really enjoyed it. So far, I'm impressed with this season. It has a lot of soul.

As usual, I agree with you assessment but more importantly, I am so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your husband.

[Deadpelican]

I do agree however that Glenn and Maggie's romance is really boring me. I'd love to see them interact with other characters alot more. Although it is more realistic, how many of us have had friends that when in a relationship completely disappear to spend all their time with their significant other.

Yeah, but it's really annoying to watch in a survival situation where everyone is supposed to be watching everyone else's back.

What do they bring to the group, exactly?

Michonne, Daryl, Carol, even Beth have earned a distinctive place of their own within the community.

What do Glenn and Maggie really contribute that's unique?

Beth is pretty good at taking care of Judith at least.

Carol is educating the children.

Tyreese is a big guy who is just good to have in a sticky situation.

Same thing with Michonne and her sword.

If Daryl, Tyreese, or Michonne were to die I'd think, man they're a lot weaker without that person. Can't say the same thing about Glenn and Maggie.

[zachariahpope]

Oh Lizzie definitely seems psycho material and I wouldn't be surprised if she did start killing people but I highly doubt she has the strength to be able to drag bodies anywhere. I do think it WAS someone from the council, how about Sasha? Since she IS coughing out of nowhere. Maybe from coming into close contact with the only other two people who were quarantined from coughing.

OK, very good point... The blood trail made me think they were knifed down first, but you're right that'd be hard for that little girl to do alone.

[tommyferretti]

Yeah, but it's really annoying to watch in a survival situation where everyone is supposed to be watching everyone else's back.

What do they bring to the group, exactly?

Michonne, Daryl, Carol, even Beth have earned a distinctive place of their own within the community.

What do Glenn and Maggie really contribute that's unique?

Beth is pretty good at taking care of Judith at least.

Carol is educating the children.

Tyreese is a big guy who is just good to have in a sticky situation.

Same thing with Michonne and her sword.

If Daryl, Tyreese, or Michonne were to die I'd think, man they're a lot weaker without that person. Can't say the same thing about Glenn and Maggie.

Yeah you're right. The only reason either of their deaths would matter is because theyve been around for so long. It just sucks because Maggie and Glenn have come a long way into becoming bad asses. But so far this season they've been kind of in their own world, together but separate from the rest of the group.

[Deadpelican]

Yeah you're right. The only reason either of their deaths would matter is because theyve been around for so long. It just sucks because Maggie and Glenn have come a long way into becoming bad asses. But so far this season they've been kind of in their own world, together but separate from the rest of the group.

Maybe they'll turn it around and Glenn and Maggie will become more part of the group again. It's just a little annoying at the moment. Not ready to give up on them just yet but man oh man.

[tommyferretti]

Maybe Maggie and Glenn aren't sleeping up in the guard tower by choice but were kicked out of the cell blocks because no one wants to hear them getting it on as it seems they do regularly.

[Lurwalker]

I thought it was a good episode but am a bit irritated by continued lack of communication and dumbing down of characters.

I was glad to see that the writers flushed out a bit more of Rick and Carl's relationship and how they've gotten closer and Carl is being allowed to act his age but we can all clearly see this will be shortlived. I'm also a bit tired of crazy Rick and was glad to see him put his gunbelt back on.

I love who Carol has grown into but hate the way she is being written in a way. When the dad of the 2 daughters was bitten she lays him down and takes out a small knife to amputate his arm to save him. Come on, at least Rick took an Axe to Herschel's leg, couldn't she have called out for help and at least an axe to be brought as that little knife isn't going to cut through bone. This scene was a bit ridiculous; however, the 2 kids scene as dad died was heartbreaking.

Sorry Tyrese lost Karen so quickly but it just wasn't meet to be for her because if she wasn't killed then the flu would've probably gotten her.

It was good to see the council at least attempting to act quickly to handle a problem. I can see how the writers are using the little things to big on a bigger picture (fencing not being able to hold, the saboteur within, the possibility of Michonne's backstory).

However, there is much for the group to learn and a lot of it should've been learned from the one person who locked himself into the cell because he was a sleepwalker. Of all people who shouldn't have lived 2 years in a za they should've taken his past 2 year history of survival to heart.

[Serenity@sea]

Just a reminder that discussing the Promos for next week is considered spoilers (even in tags) and should be discussed here.

[slimymeteor]

-Also I haven't really seen any mention of this, but is anyone as suspicious of Bob as I am? The guy came into the group just a week ago and he was alone so I think he could've easily been planted in their by the govenor. I'm not sure about this but I think he also said he was a medic but I could just be remembering things incorrectly. So he might've had some experience with diseases and is the one spreading the sickness around. Anyone else have an opion on this?

I'm not sure he's the one that spread the infection (he'd be potentially exposed to it himself) but I do feel like Bob could be a plant working for the governor. Maybe he is the one feeding the rats to the walkers to try to cause a build-up that breaks through, weakening their defenses? The only problem with the theory is that I'm not sure how the Governor could motivate Bob to do that to these people that he can clearly see are decent people, but then again he is a pretty persuasive person.

[Judari]

Initial thoughts:
-Definitely has to be the girls feeding the rats to the walkers.

-The "watch tower" looks like its just and excuse for Maggie and Glenn to play tree house rather than do any real patrolling

-I like the big sis/little bro relationship Michonne and Carl have. I think with Lori gone Michonne is just the right feminine influence he needs.

-I STILL don't understand the huge controversy over Carol teaching the kids how to use weapons. However, that said I think she needs to reign it back a bit. Although stronger, its clear Sophia still haunts her thoughts as calling a little girl who lost her dad and is pretty much alone in the world besides her sister weak is out of line. Especially considering Carol was 10x worse as a grown woman.

-Most promising this episode though was Michonne and perhaps upcoming tales of a back story with her where she may have lost a child.

-I still haven't made up my mind about how I feel about the "flu" epidemic. I feel like its reaching a bit but I may have not just gotten used to it yet. I feel TWD shines when it brings in outside elements of danger but it seems to be looking to be a lot more internal this season. For that to work though we are going to need a lot more character development. I like Gimple but not sure of his skills to be able to juggle multiple characters like GoT does.


Overall I thought this episode was good. I am definitely enjoying Gimple's style better than Mazzara but I am having trouble adjusting to it just given the contrast of the whole dynamic from season 3. Not saying that I miss Mazzara's style (because I definitely don't) but its the lack of consistency in some characterizations and storylines. I don't know about anyone else but it feels like I am watching a show that I missed a few episodes on and are now trying to catch up. Anyone else feel like that, or is it just me?

For example with Karen and Tyreese. Karen went from a background character who appeared every few episodes to almost a supporting character. Although I enjoy scenes with Tyreese I found myself wondering what I missed and why I should really care about Karen. They have been writing her (and a lot of other new characters) so casual this season like she had been a supporting character the entire time instead of as an easily missed background character. I understand a little bit more why they chose to focus on the relationship since she was killed off but one scene would have sufficed.

Another character I feel like I am missing info on is Carl. He was headed for a pretty dark place at the end of last season. It doesn't seem like Rick taking away his gun would change that much? Although it does seem like Rick has been spending the most time with Carl since ZA started so perhaps that is the reason. Even so, Carl seems to be more accepting of listening to his dad and acting his age. That is something I am happy about I just wish I could have seen some of it. He is obedient to a bit of an extreme apologizing for shooting off the gun before Rick even knew about it and running to tell Rick the info about Carol.

Rick's changes haven't bothered me as much, they make more sense and the story so far has done well to explain that but he is about the only one they have cared to go so deeply into so far.

[Joseph]

brilliant episode! s4 has been amazing so far. next weeks episode is supposed to be great as well, can't wait!

[zombieprincess]

Maybe Daryl burned the bodies. That'd be a huge plot twist. But I already forgot a lot of the episode so the timing of when it happened and when the walkers were at the fence could be wrong.

And I'd really like to see how a Walker baby would look. That'd be super creepy.

[Chinghis]

I'm not sure he's the one that spread the infection (he'd be potentially exposed to it himself) but I do feel like Bob could be a plant working for the governor. Maybe he is the one feeding the rats to the walkers to try to cause a build-up that breaks through, weakening their defenses? The only problem with the theory is that I'm not sure how the Governor could motivate Bob to do that to these people that he can clearly see are decent people, but then again he is a pretty persuasive person.

Booze! The Governor could have access to liquor, and be dangling that. That was one thought I had.

[Thierry88]

A few things bothered me in this episode:

For a dead guy with no conscious thought process, Walker Patrick sure did pick the perfect spot to bite his victim. Season two we see a walker aim for Daryl's boot because, presumably, it was closest and the walker is too dumb to know foot from face, but this time it really looked like he looked his victim over before biting. I suppose, though, it could be argued that the man was snoring and he was following the rumbling noise.. But still.

I rather believe that the walker biting Daryl's boot was a failed attempt to have Daryl have another close call where he survives despite having all the odds against him. Just like not any walker pulled Daryl from the stack of boxes in the Big Spot. Any other character would be bit at least in his legs. The creators makes it too easy to see they want to keep Daryl as long as possible.
The only unbelievable thing about Patrick biting his victim was that the victim didn't made any sound. He just opened his eyes in shock. Even with your throat being ripped through, you would at least expect some gurgling sounds. But walkers sometimes seem to be attracted to the neck of a victim. Amy got bit by a walker in the neck which bit her on her wrist before. Sophia was bitten in her neck. Zach got bit in his ankle then the same walker proceeds to crawl up to bite him in his neck.

[JesusMonroe]

Yeah, but it's really annoying to watch in a survival situation where everyone is supposed to be watching everyone else's back.

What do they bring to the group, exactly?

Michonne, Daryl, Carol, even Beth have earned a distinctive place of their own within the community.

What do Glenn and Maggie really contribute that's unique?

Beth is pretty good at taking care of Judith at least.

Carol is educating the children.

Tyreese is a big guy who is just good to have in a sticky situation.

Same thing with Michonne and her sword.

If Daryl, Tyreese, or Michonne were to die I'd think, man they're a lot weaker without that person. Can't say the same thing about Glenn and Maggie.

It's kind of annoying for me, too, considering Maggie was my favorite character last season. I'm not a fan of this soap opera storyline and it kind of feels like this story is just falling into, "Had to give them something to do" territory