TWD S4, E6: “Live Bait”

I know that everyone was probably expecting the inevitable showdown between Rick and Daryl, but it just wouldn’t be TWD’s style to show you the Governor at the end of last week and then not spend this week catching us up on his story.  We were gifted with a lot of action at the prison last week, so, let’s just look at this episode as a tiny breather.

We begin the episode learning of what the Governor has been doing since we last saw him go berzerk.  It was a teeny bit sad to see him amongst the ruins of his once perfect society. While watching him roam and become a shell of the man he once was,  we hear him admit that he “just lost it”; this truthful, human moment makes me not hate him as much as normal. When he finally stumbles upon a safe place to take refuge, he is met by two sisters who are caring for their terminally ill father and his granddaughter, Megan.  As usual, he is not welcomed kindly, but they end up letting him stay. They even ask him to try to get some oxygen tanks for their father.  Since he’s no longer “The Governor”, but now Brian Harriet, he selflessly risks his life and brings two tanks back.

Now that Brian Harriet is a super awesome and friendly guy, Megan (could they be any more obvious about this character’s magical appearance?) becomes attached to him very quickly.  Megan has the magical ability to make him laugh, do pinky swears and be a, dare I say it, nice guy. Well, this fairy tale only lasts up until the point that Megan watches Brian beat her grandfather’s skull in after he turns. How this family has survived this long without the knowledge that a head shot is necessary to kill the walkers is beyond me.  Despite this little kerfluffle, Brian ends up taking responsibility for these ladies and sets out on the road with them:everything is very Kum Ba Yah. The end of the world is really starting to look bright for this group until their truck breaks down and they head out on foot. Of course, they come upon a horde of walkers. Nice guy Brian is trying to save all of his ladies when little Megan freezes. There is an eye contact moment between Brian and Megan and she instantly trusts him again, running into his arms and being carried away to safety. Well, safe until the two of them fall into a pit with walkers. When Brian’s instinct to save Megan kicks in, The Governor returns and kicks walker ass!! Welcome back, Crazy Town; way to pull a Road House throat kill move!  As he promises to never let any harm come to Megan, he is greeted by his former group. (Ominous music here)

Basically, this episode was a necessary evil to explain where The Governor has been, how he has transformed and where he finds himself currently. I enjoyed learning all of this, but I also missed my group back at the prison. Next week is looking a lot like another Governor/Brian centric episode. My real question after tonight is, if Brian’s head has replaced The Governor’s then who’s to say that he and Rick won’t join forces rather than battle one another? We still have no idea how Daryl is going to react over Carol….could there be a major shake up in “teams” on this show? This entire episode was a ploy to make us forgive Brian’s transgressions and see him differently. I don’t know about you, but I can’t be won over that easily.