The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 3, 'Isolation': review

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Acting is not getting better, as most shows age I have noticed this to be kind of true. The amount of people that live in the prison seems to be about 20 or so? I can’t figure it out. They claim to have built a council and some sort of Govt, but you see no communication to the people.

I liked the nod to the comics with Tyreeses’ fight with Rick. Too bad this didn’t last more than a 1/3 of an episode. Why do adults seem to be afraid of Carl? All he says is " I’m gonna have to tell my dad", and they buckle to his boyish gaze and surrender to him. Why isn’t killing helpless zombies a good thing Herschel? Why are you making tea and not seeing that the water may be contaminated? Shouldn’t they be boiling the water in the first place before drinking it?

The PSA for not grabbing for a CD while driving a car, looking up seeing at least 1000 zombies surround your car was a bit hard to grasp. (It was a stunning scene but highly forced unreality.) I was hoping for some plowing through a bit more. Not a good Ad for Dodge either as it would not storm a zombie attack if you use reverse. Don’t get me started on Talking Dead after. Do we really need a discussion with one major person who works on the show and two guests that slop praise on how good it is? It’s “Fox News” for the show. I know I don’t have to watch it but I really wish they could do better.

By now, are there still zombies in the show? Or is it pure torture porn, all the time?

Carl did murder somebody just because he was a member of a group that might be a threat to their group later, didn’t he? Seems a decent reason to be afraid of him. But I actually didn’t get that vibe in this case. He threatened to tell his Dad, Hershel basically said “Okay,” and, realizing he was going to do it anyway, he came along. The situation was one where neither of them could really stop the other from doing what they were going to do (without stupid violence), so they went along with it.

As for killing zombies… there’s always the threat at least with a gun, of drawing more… Carl had a makeshift silencer, but if he needed two shots, it’s a risk of a loud bang, and, fundamentally, bullets are probably more valuable than taking out two more zombies (out of thousands in the area) that were basically crippled in one way or the other. Hand-to-hand is always a risk, especially with a one-legged man and a child. Just walking away was probably the right call.

The initial review mentioned that the leap to Carol came out of nowhere (I saw it coming, myself, due to her rather harsh criticism of the child for being ‘weak’ because she couldn’t destroy her father’s brain right after he died), but there’s one piece of evidence he missed, Rick examining the hand-print, from which he could presumably gauge the size of a hand and know that it was at least probably a female. From that, her behavior, and her general pro-active nature lately (Carl already told him he was teaching kids to use knives), it’s probably still a leap, but not as much of one, and it’s not like he accused her in front of everyone, he asked to see what she’d say.

Marilyn Manson on Talking Dead was just horrible. It was really painful to watch him interrupt everyone with his inane, slurred ramblings. But, I guess it could serve as a pretty solid anti-drug PSA.

I noticed this as well but I wasn’t certain what he deduced from that blood. Your explanation sounds likely. I think it’s safe to say Rick had good reasons for his conjecture. Thanks.

It was nice see Daryl check the oil before jumping in the car and taking off, but wouldn’t it have been nice to check the spare tire also? Actually, any vehicle should have a check list to make sure it is in running condition.

And off they go armed with a sword, two pistols, a crossbow, and a hammer. Seriously? Nobody thought to bring a rifle and ammo?

In a sedan? Shouldn’t they have Mad Max vehicles at this point? At least pickup trucks with heavy brush guards for the front grill and some heavily reinforced shell campers.

And even if the car is surrounded, the guys in the back should be shooting from the back with .22 caliber pistols to get the zombies off the car.

Probably the silliest trope in zombie shows is that people inexplicably mash the accelerator and crash the car. They need to go all OJSimpson-in-the-white-Bronco and leisurely mow down the zombies,

Because the survivors are slowly going insane. Every violent act, even zombie kills, costs them a bit of sanity.

By not killing helpless zombies they stay a little more mentally stable which can help keep them alive.

And on another topic, can the reviewer not post spoilers from the comic in the review? (ie Glenn’s fate)

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