Article first published as THE WALKING DEAD Recap Season 4 Episode 3 Isolation on Seat42F.
Three episodes into the fourth season, AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD only continues to get more intense. The latest installment, “Isolation,” finds the prison population continuing to struggle with the illness that had taken hold, more and more people displaying symptoms. Separating the infected from the others isn’t helping, and the possibility of antibiotics is far away. Also, Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) wants Karen’s killer found.
Three episodes into the fourth season, AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD only continues to get more intense. The latest installment, “Isolation,” finds the prison population continuing to struggle with the illness that had taken hold, more and more people displaying symptoms. Separating the infected from the others isn’t helping, and the possibility of antibiotics is far away. Also, Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) wants Karen’s killer found.
It’s understandable that Tyreese desires
justice, and no one wants to deny him that. This just isn’t the
opportune time to investigate, with a major crisis going on. Daryl
(Norman Reedus) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) try to explain that to him,
but Tyreese is not in any position to hear, his mind extremely one-track
at present.
We don’t know a lot about Tyreese yet.
He’s portrayed as caring, compassionate, and non-violent, but something
about Karen’s death makes him snap. He slugs Rick, which earns him a
beating. Then, later in the hour, he hesitates to engage in battle with
walkers, only to come out slaying in a massacre-like fashion. Does this
man have anger issues he is trying very hard to control? Does he know he
can be dangerous and deadly under the right circumstances, and fights
against that nature? This is a new side of him.
Tyreese’s power could be quite useful.
The group could use someone who can kill dozens of walkers while
managing not to get bit themselves, a moment reminiscent of the comics.
But if Tyreese resists the urge to act like this, he’s not really
helping. And the question is, if he gives into the rage, might it
unleash something he can’t control around people, as well as walkers?
Rick has the same rage-addiction, though
perhaps is not as big or strong as Tyreese, and so poses less threat.
Rick still has enough strength, though, to beat up Tyreese, who is not
fighting back at full power, leaving Tyreese with a black eye. Rick
would do worse if Daryl didn’t pull him off, not intending to stop
wailing on Tyreese himself.
What about the apocalypse triggers such
extreme reactions? Rick has been through a lot, sure, but he wasn’t
particularly violent prior to everything going down. Now, he’s spent
months acting like a farmer and trying to control himself, as well as
set a good example for Carl (Chandler Riggs), which is working, at least
for his son, Carl resisting the urge to unnecessarily kill walkers. Is
Rick really still so on edge that he can snap again at a moment’s
notice? Or does he just need to be careful not to fall back into
familiar habits until they become unfamiliar, which may take a while
longer?
“Isolation” finds way too many people
getting sick. Pretty much all of the newbies, including Sasha (Sonequa
Martin-Green), Doctor S. (Sunkrish Bala), and Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino)
are ailing, and soon Glenn (Steven Yeun) comes down with it, too. Is
this what will wipe out the heroes once and for all? Not walkers or a
murderous governor, but a microscopic disease?
This is expounded upon in dialogue, with
Glenn lamenting the situation. He’s right that this sucks, something
they can’t easily fight after all the struggles they’ve been through.
Yet, it also makes sense, a bunch of people living in close quarters
without the modern hygiene and disease prevention techniques they were
used to prior to everything falling apart. It’s a really frustrating
danger, with no clear solution.
Everyone deals with this in a different
way. Beth (Emily Kinney) tells Maggie (Lauren Cohan) that they’re not
allowed to be upset and worried. Hershel (Scott Wilson) risks his life
getting herbs, then further endangers himself by personally delivering
the folksy medicine to the patients. I can’t see any of these being a
“right” or “wrong” approach. Yes, Hershel may be putting himself at an
unnecessary risk when the group needs people to stay fit. But it also
shows the depth of Hershel’s caring to be so unworried about himself.
And Beth can’t be blamed for wanting to turn her feelings off, having
suffered enough, but is she losing her humanity?
I love that THE WALKING DEAD poses
questions like this without answering them. It depicts a great many
different personalities, each of which has different thoughts and
beliefs. We are allowed to observe and make our own judgments, with much
open to debate. The strength of the series is in sparking those
conversations and making their viewers think for themselves, rather than
explicitly telling us what should happen. Even after a decision has
been made by a character, we don’t know if it’s the right one, and it
could come back up later on.
For instance, Rick determines that Carol
(Melissa McBride) is the person who killed Karen. Carol freely admits
this when questioned, then walks away without further comment. Without
being told, fans know that Carol killed Karen to try to stop the illness
from spreading, in the name of protecting everyone. Yet, Rick, as a
lawman, might feel the need to punish Carol. Or at least tell Tyreese.
And we don’t even know how Tyreese will react when he finds out, as he
clearly holds Carol in high esteem earlier in this hour. Carol’s actions
wills have consequences, but she might have been in the right, even if
the disease still continued its rampage. Even if she is correct, can she
be forgiven?
If Hershel’s natural remedy doesn’t pan
out, the only hope is to get medication, which could possibly be found
at a veterinary hospital fifty miles away. Daryl, Michonne (Danai
Gurira), Tyreese, and Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) set off to retrieve
the life-saving antibiotics, but run into a megaherd of walkers. They
are forced to flee their vehicle, meaning it will take much longer for
them to obtain the drugs and get home.
I feel like they might be too late, at
this point. People are dying within a day or two, not lasting weeks.
Fifty miles is a lot of ground to cover on foot. They may find an
alternate mode of transportation, but not even having made it to the
college yet, it looks like they still have a distance to travel.
Also, when did the walkers form such
huge herds? Megaherds are something the comic deals with later in the
story. This has to be a sign that the show will go there, too,
eventually, if not right away. A megaherd is not something easily turned
away, and we’ve seen what a much smaller group can do to the prison’s
fences. This kind of threat is super deadly, and if it reaches the
group’s stronghold, I don’t see how they could possibly defend against
it. This may be why the prison must be abandoned.
Lastly, before leaving the car, the
supply party hears a voice on the radio. This means other survivors are
out there, nearby. That makes sense, given that the main characters have
run into others before. But it also looks like they won’t be able to
stay “Isolated” much longer, if others are actively seeking out
survivors. Will this be another Woodbury situation, or might the new
people offer assistance?
“Isolation” is a busy hour, with a lot
of developments and implications for future events. It’s an excellent
installment, full of exciting drama and moral quandaries. Let’s hope the
show stays this good.
THE WALKING DEAD airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
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