Warning! Spoilers Ahead!
As a proud Walking Dead Fanatic, the excitement over tonight’s premiere episode was almost too much to handle. We return to the prison to find that the group has started their own little farm, they have daily chores to maintain their lifestyle and everyone seems, dare I say it, happy.
As Rick and Carl look over the prison’s sow, Carl refers to it by name and is chastised by Rick for doing so. He explains that you shouldn’t name something that will become your food. Later, Carl will reprimand some of the children whom he has caught antagonizing the walkers at the fence. He tells them that they can’t name them because they aren’t pets and they aren’t people. As you know, I find the Rick/Carl morality teachings and lessons endlessly fascinating. Carl wants to be just like his dad, but the world that he’s been growing up in makes that hard for him to reconcile.
Herhsel pulls Rick aside to let him know that the “council” would like him to start carrying his gun when he leaves the prison; this proves to be good advice when Rick comes across a woman in the woods. Initially, she looks to be a walker, but she’s just a woman on her own, trying to survive. The interaction that takes place between this woman and Rick is suspenseful, bleak, real and heartbreaking.
1.How many walkers have you killed?
2.How many people have you killed?
3.Why?
Rick almost lost his mind last season, but he’s back wearing his heart on his sleeve, upholding gold standard morals and just being an all around great, great guy. Welcome back, sir.
Just when you start wondering where all of the zombies are, the group out looking for supplies finds themselves, inexplicably, being rained on by walkers. Yes, it’s raining walkers and the resulting gore is fantastic! Greg Nicotero, as always, makes any horror lover’s dreams come true! We get walkers hanging from their intestines, walkers splattering onto the floor, tons of gun shots to the head, beheadings, a boot to the skull and some walker bites!! As usual, Daryl and Michonne are total badass fighters and that just never gets old.
Now, Carol has quite the interesting “story time” going on with the younger kids at the prison. She reads and then she starts giving them lessons on how to hold a knife safely and use it to stab and slash. Don’t know where this Carol has been hiding, but I like her. It’s really nice to see Carol finally becoming her own woman and being the brave, strong woman that she is at her core. During story time, one of the boys complains of not feeling well only to end up a walker at the end of the episode.
Overall, this was a “fan friendly” episode as promised by Greg Nicotero. We were given a brief summary of what’s gone on with our group since last season, had an epic walker/human battle in a discount store and been presented with a most drool worthy question:has the virus become water born?!