The apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead, based on the comics, concluded its fourth season this past Sunday. Broken into two parts, the second half of season four begins with seeing how Michonne, Rick and Carl fared after the governor’s attack on the prison. The episode was interesting mostly because of the flashbacks to Michonne’s past, which hasn’t been talked about much in previous seasons. Michonne’s character is fleshed out more in season four, which is excellent considering she is one of the most distinguished and strong characters.
The following episodes switch between the various groups of characters, who were separated after the governor’s attack. TWD has a ridiculously large cast, many characters who come and go, disappearing or dying. It can be tough to keep track of everyone, but even tougher when everyone is split up into different groups. Splitting up the characters was the largest flaw in this season. While I appreciated an up-close look at each character, it made the plot progress slowly, and made things that much more confusing.
Shocking yet intriguing is the episode “The Grove”, where Lizzie and Mika die. It is obvious Lizzie has a mental illness of some kind, which makes her perceptions of reality much different than the other characters. Lizzie believes the walkers are people, just in a different form. She feeds the walkers mice, and even seems to express desire to become a walker. Her sister Mika is sweet and kind, but also vulnerable since she is so young. Lizzie wishes so badly to prove that the walkers are people, that she plans to turn Mika and baby Judith into zombies. Lizzie succeeds in killing her sister, but not Judith. Carol and Tyreese, who are taking care of the children, have to decide how to proceed with Lizzie. Carol tearfully prevents Mika from turning into a walker by destroying her brain, and then shoots Lizzie in the head.
This episode prompts questions of morality. Was it best to kill Lizzie? How could Carol and Tyreese have protected the children? As terrifying as it is to kill a child, Carol needed to shoot Lizzie in order to protect the others.
Tyreese and Carol take Judith, and begin walking to “Terminus”. Signs for Terminus have been posted along the railroad tracks, and luckily all of the surviving people from the prison see it. The characters, although segmented into different crowds, all head toward the ominous place, which promises “those who arrive, survive”.
However, as Daryl, Michonne, Rick and Carl arrive at Terminus, they realize that it is a false promise of security. The organizers of Terminus have kept Glenn’s group inside of an empty train car and stolen their belongings for an unknown reason. The fourth season concluded at this point, leaving viewers to wonder how the characters may escape the mysterious Terminus.
Beth has been kidnapped, and Carol’s group is still heading to Terminus, so the characters aren’t yet all together. It was a slow season, but had incredible character development. TWD has so many characters that I thought there might never be an in depth look at the characters. The season was rather confusing, so I’m hoping that future episodes will be more compact and concise by keeping the characters all in one unit. The show has been renewed for a fifth season, but for now viewers can only speculate as to what will happen.
By Sophie Whyte
What were your thoughts on this season?
