The Walking Dead - S04-E07 - "Dead Weight"

The Walking Dead

Season Four, Episode Seven.

"Dead Weight"

"Keep the change, ya filthy animal."

Twitters;

@the_lazy_gamer

@BlairMFink
Shameless Movember Plug

TRAILER PARK BOYS

“Family really brought you back.”

I had started forming a theory that family was the only ingredient that could keep The Governor sane (or at least vaguely sane) and less villainous. The Governor plus Family equals Not (Very) Crazy. The Governor minus Family equals Crazytown Bananapants. So when Martinez said that to him I felt a real sense of confirmation. Pin a blue ribbon on my brain because…hold up…never mind. He apparently can have a family and still be a psychopath. Now he’s going to be a murdering bastard because of his family, to protect them. Oy.

At this point I’m not sure anymore whether The Governor has actually become a complex character or if he’s been so shittily and inconsistently written that it just seems like he’s got all these dimensions. While my theory got a few holes shot in it, I still think a family is something he seems to need, whether it be to protect or to give his life purpose or both.

So now we have more concrete motivation for One Eye Bri to want to attack the prison. It was a bold move to shelve the main cast for two consecutive episodes in order to fill in The Governor’s story and while the road to this extra motivation was a bit clunky and paved with convenient and contrived plot points, it got us where we needed to be: The Governor back in charge and looking to attack the prison again. Hopefully this assault isn’t as flaccid as the last one.

All The Governor wants is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air…

Ready for war, Steve? How many casualties are we expecting?

How many casualties? Well the preview to next week's episode showed team Gov roll up in their tank so that might give them the upper hand.

So Martinez mentions "sharing the crown" to Bri, he snaps and kills him saying he doesn't want it, then goes and takes command of the camp? What? I really thought he was going to keep it together, at least for a little longer than he did. I have to agree, the phoenix rising new Brian seemed like a huge waste of time now. In two episodes we have seen him go from his lowest to a new man, right back to the same old Governor. Doing whatever it takes!

The other camp scene got me. Did they go out randomly to hunt or were they checking traps? I thought traps. So if they have these traps already out there how did they miss seeing this camp all those other times? There was no sense of time or distance. The camps are close enough to walk to yet they never heard each other? Seen each other? And that's three groups I'm talking about, the Gov's, the sacked camp and the people who sacked the camp. How are there that many so close and no one heard gun shots or screams? That whole mess of a scene a disaster.

All in all I wasn't too impressed with this episode. Let's hope the mid-finale brings it home with something substantial. I'm looking for a push to a new local and major character deaths.

BURNING QUESTIONS/RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

-More chess metaphors!

-Loved the whole Zombie Pete at the bottom of the lake scene.

-Governor is back on his watery walker collection again.

-They call him Zombie Pete, he’s the king of the zombie beat….

-The part with them coming across that other camp, arguing about how to handle it, leaving for a bit, coming back to find a massacre…so contrived and forced. How long did it take for them to leave and come back? Seemed ridiculous that in the time it took for them to catch a couple squirrels some other people slipped past and murdered that camp. Maybe I’m being picky but it just seemed like a clumsy way to show Pete and Mitch’s contrasting true colours.

-Convienient that the guy that knows how to pilot a tank is the one the Gov agrees with.
-Can't wait to see the tank in action.

Blair’s Episode MVP: One Eye Bri

Steve’s Episode MVP: Mitch
Blair’s Episode Grade: B+

Steve’s Episode Grade: 56%
Blair’s Deadpool Pick: The prison (along with Lily, Megan and Mitch at least)

Steve’s Deadpool Pick: Glenn