THE WALKING DEAD "Without An Accident"

Article first published as THE WALKING DEAD Recap Season 4 Episode 1 30 Days Without An Accident on Seat42F.


It’s been months for both fans and the characters of AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD since the last new installment. So in this week’s season four premiere, “30 Days Without an Accident,” it’s not surprising that things have changed. The group is now under the leadership of The Council, rather than a single man. New recruits have been welcomed. There’s a school and children present, as well as crops and livestock. It seems things are finally getting good for the survivors.

Of course, by the end of the hour, that has started to change, but we’ll get to that. First, what this episode revealed about our heroes.

Daryl (Norman Reedus) is happy! He is part of the leadership for the prison, his romance with Carol (Melissa McBride) has clearly progressed, and young’uns like Patrick (Vincent Martella, Phineas and Ferb, Everybody Hates Chris) worship him. Daryl still goes out on raids, but that allows him to feel important and needed. Even bringing home a deer wins him admiration and appreciation, so he has been fully accepted by those he cares for.

This is a shift from wounded loner who follows orders. This is a step up for the guy who really deserves a break. If anyone wasn’t getting what they should be getting in this new world order, it was Daryl, so it should please fans to no end that his station has improved.

And he’s not the only one. Carol is running a school. Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) has a girl, too, Karen (Melissa Ponzio, Teen Wolf), and gets to decide if he wants to kill walkers at the fence or go on supply runs, neither of which he enjoys, but the choice is his. Carl (Chandler Riggs) is acting like a kid and obedient son again, and gets to bond with Michonne (Danai Gurira) over trivial things such as comic books. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has settled into farming under Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) tutelage. All is right in the world.

One would think that these characters wouldn’t relax. They’ve been comfortable before, on a farm no less, so why should this time be any different? I think they’re likely feeling secure because this is an improvement over other places, with a larger contingent and stronger barriers. But they shouldn’t take it so easy that they lose their edge.

Glenn (Steven Yeun) realizes this. He hopes Maggie (Lauren Cohan) isn’t pregnant because he doesn’t want to bring a child into this disaster. This, despite the fact that there are relatively normal children in the group already. Still, Glenn has been burned before, and he’s not about to just sit back and relax.

Carol, too, has a sneaking suspicion. Although not as overt about her concerns as Glenn, she secretly instructs the children of the compound on knife fighting after story time. It’s not a bad idea, of course; anyone living in the walker world, even kids, should know how to defend themselves. But it’s telling of everyone else’s complacency that Carol doesn’t make her skill session publicly known.

Glenn and Carol have a right to be concerned. There are walkers pressing against their fence, more every day, and starting to gather in select places, making the barriers less than sure. Is this a sign of growing hoards coming together, something the comic book version faced, or is something else afoot, with the walkers being lured there, as Nathan Fillion suggested during the aftershow, Talking Dead?

And there’s trouble within. A pig, whom Carl names Violet, is sick, and then so is Patrick. Is there a new virus threatening our heroes? Why now, and where did it come from? Isn’t it enough that they have to fight walkers and psychos like The Governor (David Morrissey), who still hasn’t been seen again yet, but will be soon enough? Do new and sudden illness have to present a problem, too, and how will they defend against them?

THE WALKING DEAD is a story of survival, so I guess it’s not surprising that these dangers must come, even on the heels of so many other threats. These characters face anything and everything, and it’s their ability to persevere that is admired and celebrated. They wouldn’t earn such respect from viewers if the path were an easy one. And while “30 Days Without an Accident” may not be extremely action packed, there is definitely promise (and plenty of rumor from those involved with the show) that this is just the calm before a very intense storm.

Is Beth (Emily Kinney) the most emotionally prepare to weather such events? She seems uncaring when Daryl tells her that her boyfriend, Zach (Kyle Gallner, Veronica Mars), dies in a raid. Admittedly, Zach’s demise is a cool one, with a literal raining of walkers and a helicopter crashing through the ceiling of the store the supply run party is in. But for Beth to be so callous is sad. Yes, death is a part of her life, but has she turned humanity off completely?

Rick also faces someone who may have forgotten what it is to be human, a girl named Clara (Kerry Condon, Luck, Rome). Clara looks a bit like a walker herself, dirty and disheveled, clothing in tatters, hunched over and not walking so well. Of course, that’s because she’s been alone in the woods with her love’s walker-turned head in a bag, so anyone in her shoes would go crazy, as she clearly has.

Yet, this speaks to a greater trend, the slipping away of what makes a person a person, and a new kind of moral compass. One of the themes of the series has long been how far can one go and retain who they are? What kind of changes must one make to adapt to this new lifestyle, and is life still worth living after those sacrifices are made? These questions aren’t answered, but “30 Days Without an Accident” gives us much to ponder.

There are still the old-fashioned problems, too. Newcomer Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr., The Wire) is definitely wrestling with alcoholism. But that may be the least of his problems for the time being.

I don’t know that I’d count “30 Days Without an Accident” among my favorite episode of THE WALKING DEAD. However, it does a good job resetting the stage, and I’m glad the show slows down enough to show us the new normal before ripping it apart again. There are some intriguing new characters and surprising problems, and it’ll be interesting to see how both are dealt with in the coming weeks. Plus, the visuals of the raining walker scene are cool, and Clara is very artistically created, with clues to her intent before her true nature is revealed, such as the shot of a spider and its web. Neat.

THE WALKING DEAD airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

The Luck has run out

"Episode 9" is this week's episode of HBO's Luck. Michael (Michael Gambon, Harry Potter) sends a hit man after Ace (Dustin Hoffman). This worries Ace more than usual, because his grandson, Brent (Jake Hoffman, Dustin's actual son) is in town. Thankfully, Gus (Dennis Farina) is able to dispatch with the killer, allowing them to enjoy the Derby. Ace's, er, Gus's horse wins, but as it does, Michael looks on, plotting his next move.

This is a bittersweet victory. Ace stays safe, and manages to keep Brent from harm, too. Ace's plans for the horse track are on course, he has cut business ties with Michael, and his steed, whom he cares dearly about, wins a major race. But the threat of Michael, sinisterly sneering down, literally, does dampen the mood. As does the discovery of Israel's (Patrick J. Adams, Suits) body in the ocean.

Ace feels responsible for Israel's death, but is he really? Ace does send Israel to Michael, but is not intending or expecting bloodshed to result. Ace clearly doesn't think Michael will harm Israel, at least not badly. Israel is a simply a business go-between. The tragedy of his murder upsets Ace. Michael is a bad man, Ace knows that, but apparently Ace hopes that Michael's business side will control his temper. Not so.

"Episode 9," the season one finale, is billed on HBO's website as the series finale of Luck, although one episode of season two was filmed before production shut down permanently, due to on-set animal deaths. As to whether that single episode will ever see the light of day, well, that's still up in the air. As a season finale, "Episode 9" serves it's purpose quite well. As a series finale, it leaves much to be desired.

The battle of wills between Michael and Ace is just getting started in "Episode 9," which makes it a shame that there will be no more to the story. These are two titanic actors, who can both perform circles around most people in the industry. Pitting them against each other in this story makes their struggle seem larger than life, as their characters are. The disappointment at their conflict going unresolved is heavy.

Worse, it's hard to know who would have won, and at what cost. Michael might have the upper hand, as it stands, because he is ruthless and willing to go further than Ace. Ace is soft, whether because of love or prison, and seeks peace in his life, not war. There is little doubt that Ace could defeat Michael, because of the threat Hoffman allows to simmer in the role, but at what cost? Would he have to sacrifice the soul he is cultivating?

At the crux of this question is, what kind of man was Ace before his stint in jail? Would a slip into darkness be a return for him? Or was he always more of a caring, loyal individual, as he is now, but is he turning dark because of Michael's betrayal? This isn't answered in Luck.

Ace's win in the horse race means that Walter (Nick Nolte) loses. He takes it well, and why not? Second place isn't horrible. Victory only draws more attention to the horse, whom a snotty young man is trying to take from him. Plus, Walter respects Escalante (John Ortiz). They both work towards the same goals, and Walter isn't bitter enough to deny a fellow trainer, whom is an honorable man, his due congratulations.

Walter would be more upset if he knew the truth about his jockey, Ronnie (Gary Stevens). Ronnie is the real loser. Walter gives him back his spot because Ronnie cleans up his act. But viewers see that Ronnie is back off the wagon almost immediately, snorting coke. Did Ronnie's impaired condition have anything to do with the loss? Either way, Ronnie is heading for a big melt down, which will not be good for anyone.

Really, Walter's mount should have gone to Rosie (Kerry Condon, Rome). She works very hard to shape that horse into a victor, and then loses her position due to inexperience. Rosie does get to ride in an earlier race on Derby Day, though. Which might be what she actually deserves, considering she is still young and relatively new in the industry. And she wins that handily. Still, there is some regret that she doesn't ride for Walter, even if the two remain on good terms.

Rosie's win is lucky for the Foray Stables. Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Lonnie (Ian Hart), Renzo (Ritchie Coster), and Jerry (Jason Gedrick) have a heck of a year, buying a winning horse, and betting smartly. A couple of them even find a possibility of love. Chance is on their side, and they all end the year in better shape than they started. Which is gratifying, as each of them have shown that, despite flaws, they are good men at heart, who deserve a happy life. Their luck may not always hold out, but it certainly does through "Episode 9."

Sadly, Escalante's luck isn't so good in "Episode 9." He wins two races, to be sure, but Jo (Jill Hennessy) loses their baby. Escalante is a little scary as the series begins, his thick accent not helping matters any. But as the weeks pass, he is revealed to be a man who cares deeply about his job and those that get past his walls. Jo's pregnancy affects him a lot, and as he stands by her through the loss, he will surely take it to heart. It shows the strong fiber this man is made of. He may be the best character, and that's saying something.


And that's the end for Luck, sadly. It is an excellent show, and delivered a great season, full of complex, interesting characters in a fully developed world. But circumstances can't always be controlled, and the show did not have the best luck in that regard. Thank you to all involved for creating such a memorable run.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter. Article first published as TV Review: Luck - "Episode 9" on Blogcritics.