The Walking Dead - Season Four: Us

The numerous storylines finally start to merge together as the season finale approaches. After a number of isolated episodes, ‘Us’ sees the return to a pacier format, juggling multiple stories, as opposed to just one.

Glenn and Tara, still accompanied by Abraham, Rosita and Eugene (who both received a bit more character development this week) discovered one of Maggie’s messages telling him to go to Terminus. Glenn is no longer aimlessly wandering out of a vague hope that he will find Maggie again, instead he now has something more solid to go on, and it shows on his face as the opening credits roll.

It seems like ever such a long time since we last saw Rick, and even though he appears in this episode, it is only for one rather short scene. Seeing a smile on his face was something of a rarity, as he took some enjoyment from Carl and Michonne’s “bet”. It’s very nice of The Walking Dead to give us these acorns of light relief every now and then to fortify us, particularly as the season overall continually threatens to venture into darker (and darker) territory.

Daryl underwent an initiation process as Joe, the leader of this gang, seemed intent to take him under his wing. Daryl found himself caught up in a rivalry with Len: who fittingly is also a bowman. Daryl’s lack of understanding concerning “the rules” lead to a couple of confrontations between the two. Ultimately it seemed as though Daryl had been chosen to replace Len, as Joe administered a severe beating to Len (severe in this circumstance meaning ‘fatal’) and continued to offer counsel and advice. Daryl even began following the group’s protocol by the end of the episode. Perhaps Stockholm syndrome will come into place here…

Clearly this group are not good people, but in the grand scheme of things does that really matter? This is a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world after all. As harsh as their way of life is, there is an undeniable logic to it. They have certain codes and rules in place to keep their group united; they adhere to their codes and rules; and they work as a unit when it comes to dealing with Walkers. Since survival is the name of the game now in the world of The Walking Dead this group seems to have things worked out – and in this episode they showed how they deal with potential trouble-makers (in this case Len).

Glenn was determined to continue along the tracks until he was reunited with Maggie, even if it meant not resting, but Abraham and his group were not entirely of the same mind-set. When they reached an ominous tunnel – from which the sound of Walkers could be heard – Abraham was unwilling to go through, for fear that he wouldn’t be able to get Eugene out the other end alive. In the brief time that they’ve been together it seems that all that Glenn and Abraham do is come to disagreements, and then agree to part ways.

Eugene was able to come through on this occasion, stubbornly insisting that he be allowed to navigate, and then leading Abraham and Rosita to the other end of the tunnel. There is something very odd about Eugene, he seems endearingly clueless about how to talk to people, never seems to smile (or really to show much emotion of any sort) and he speaks with a constant monotone. It’s very difficult to figure him out, but his actions in this episode lead to positive results.

Glenn and Tara ventured into the tunnel, and found evidence of a collapsed roof, under which numerous Walkers had become buried. Once they got past the rubble, however, they realised that there were still quite a few Walkers still roaming freely in the tunnel, too many for them to get past at any rate. Using some clever ingenuity they distracted the Walkers by planting a flashlight next to one of the trapped zombies, causing its shadow to attract the attention of the others. Unfortunately Tara got her foot trapped underneath some heavy rock, and the two of them lost their advantage, as their resultant shouting drew the attention of the Walkers. Glenn emptied his handgun (scoring several headshots along the way, nice going there!) but the ammo shortage really came into play. Luckily it is not yet time to say goodbye to these characters, and a timely intervention from Abraham’s group, unified with Maggie’s group, was enough to save the day. This was the first unifying since the attack on the prison, and I can only assume that the season finale will bring the rest of the groups together. Supposedly…

Glenn and Maggie had their emotional reunion, while some Lost-style music played. Having fought to get themselves back together again, Maggie convinced Glenn to burn his photo of her, as he now has the real thing.

The larger group made their way to Terminus, and the sanctuary was finally revealed. The main building looks rather like a warehouse, surrounded by chain-link fences, and with gardens growing vegetables within its confines. The group were greeted by a woman named Mary, who addressed them politely and offered to “fix [them] a plate”.

Now, if this was the last season, then this would be a reasonable way to close out the proceedings, the weary travellers are reunited, and at long last arrive at a safe haven. However, this isn’t the last season (the fifth season has already been commissioned) and there is another episode still to come. There must be more to this sanctuary than meets the eye, everything seems a bit too idyllic right now. Something has to be amiss.

This season has been the first that I have watched on a week-by-week basis, and I am firmly of the belief that The Walking Dead makes for much better viewing when one can watch episodes back-to-back. I am eager to find out what will happen next, and in some ways wish that I’d waited two weeks and just watched this episode and the finale together.

Season finales always have a certain level of expectation hanging over them, and this season in particular has a lot to deliver. We need to unify all of these separate storylines, we need to find out more about Terminus, and we need to set events in motion for season five. The finale episode has a lot to deliver, so what’s going to happen?

The Walking Dead - Season Four: The Grove

This could possibly be the bleakest episode of The Walking Dead to date (or if not, it’s certainly a strong contender). ‘The Grove’ is yet another isolated episode, which is surprising considering that the season finale is rapidly approaching, and yet it is one that has significant plot developments within its isolated confines. Even by the standards of The Walking Dead there is some pretty horrific stuff in this episode.

Carol, Tyreese, Lizzie, Mika and baby Judith, continue on their way to ‘Terminus’ but their progress is temporarily halted when they discover an isolated grove with a house at the centre. They decide to rest there for a couple of days, and this shows signs of developing into a more permanent arrangement when suggestions were made that they abandon the trek towards the almost mythical sanctuary, and instead settle down and make this house a home.

This feeling of contentment doesn’t last – of course – as Lizzie’s unstable mental state comes to the forefront. Throughout the season she has been exhibiting unusual attitudes and behaviours concerning Walkers, and this episode brought all of that to fruition. Her naming of the Walkers outside the prison gates (and getting upset when one of her favourites was killed), feeding rats to the Walkers causing their numbers to build up and eventually overwhelm the fences, trying to control one of them when the cells were attacked, etc. This is something that had been building up throughout the season, and the payoff was both surprising and unsettling.

It became apparent that Lizzie’s unstable state was something that pre-dated the outbreak, as Mika used calming techniques on her, after she reacted badly to the death of a Walker. Then it was revealed that from Lizzie’s perspective, the Walkers don’t kill people: they just want people to be like them.

Insert my usual gripe about: ‘how has she survived this long?’ here.

In spite of this Lizzie rescues her sister, and partakes in a mass Walker-shootout when a group of severely burned Walkers emerge from the trees. The burned Walkers was a creative way to make a shooting scene a bit more memorable (and their designs reminded me of the Uruk-Hai). The scene didn’t really make a lot of sense though considering what happened next.

Carol and Tyreese shared a very tense scene, in which Tyreese talked about his nightmares – and how much he misses Karen. The dramatic-irony was very clear throughout this scene (and also beforehand, ever since Carol was reunited with – of all people – Tyreese) and Melissa McBride did some great facial acting as the camera lingered on her throughout Tyreese’s speech. There were several moments during the episode when she looked ready to confess, but she held back.

As the two of them returned to the house they happened upon a very distressing scene: Lizzie standing over the body of her sister, with a bloody knife in her hand, and a strangely positive look on her face. She had murdered her sister, and was convinced that it was okay because she would come back (as a Walker). I really didn’t expect this, particularly since Lizzie had just rescued her sister from being bitten. She then revealed to Carol and Tyreese that she had planned to do the same thing to Judith next.

The Walking Dead is already a very dark show, that challenges and raises questions about the nature of humanity under extreme circumstances, but this episode moved into even darker territory because it placed young children – and mental illness – at the centre.

After such a horrific event, it was clear that Lizzie was not a safe person to keep around, and in a scene reminiscent of the ending to Of Mice and Men it was up to Carol to put her surrogate daughter down, releasing her from her torment.

After this Carol didn’t seem to care what happened to her, she had already lost her own daughter, and now in quick succession she lost both her surrogate daughters as well. She finally confessed to Tyreese that she killed Karen and David, and offered him a gun with which to finish her off. Tyreese has always been an amiable character, who tries to do what’s right, and retain as much of his humanity as possible, but something in his expression during Carol’s confession leads me to believe that he might not be quite the same again after this. He forgave Carol, because he could tell that she was sorry for what she had done, and also because she will have to live with her actions. The pair of them then left the house and continued on their way to ‘Terminus’ except with fewer in their party than before.

I don’t know if the acting from the young girls was of the highest standard, but I can’t really complain about it too much – it is a very big ask for any actor to convincingly pull off such disturbed characters, let alone actors who are so young. Both adult actors did a fine job, playing tortured characters who were encountering wildly unpredictable situations with the two girls.

The reason for this isolated episode occurring so close to the season finale is now clear, as it resolved a number of ongoing plotlines, and also saw the deaths of two characters. I felt particularly bad for Mika, who just seemed too young to cope with this harsh and unforgiving world. It will be hard not to have a heavy heart upon re-watching this episode, particularly considering how excited she was to discover a doll (although I’m not sure that this particular episode will be one I’m likely to re-watch in a hurry). 

Follow You Home (Single) - Embrace

Since the release of ‘Refugees’ Embrace have been gathering a significant head-of-steam in anticipation of their upcoming album Embrace (due out at the end of April). The band have got themselves booked for a number of summer festivals – including ‘V Festival’ and ‘T In The Park’ – in addition to their first UK tour in nearly eight years (I’m very excited to have a ticket to see them live in Bristol). They are set to make a big impression with their comeback, and their latest single ‘Follow You Home’ seems to have been written with chart success in mind.

In a contrast to the much darker sounding ‘Refugees’, ‘Follow You Home’ begins with a much livelier sound: a commanding drum beat, and a heavily guitar-driven melody. Then the layered lead vocals from both McNamara brothers come into play, and despite the mainstream aspirations of the song’s sound there is something inherently charming about Danny’s unmistakeable Northern accent breaking through.

The chorus is certainly one that was composed with stadium performances in mind, and while it is instantly catchy, it does start to lose a bit of the identity of being an Embrace song – this chorus sounds as though it could be coming from any number of mainstream artists. Fortunately the song has enough merits to counterbalance this: first of all the upbeat nature of the chorus is offset by the darker nature of the lyrics. The song is about the distraught (and obsessive) state of the narrator following a break-up, which certainly makes the title seem a lot more sinister than at first glance. The narrator seems to be seeking validation – “I’m not your stalker, it’s just my need / I said it to see it you’d follow me” – both from himself and his ex.

The song really gathers momentum during the middle-8 where the arrangements and the vocals take on a sense of urgency, and it really elevates the quality of the overall song leading into the third chorus. Then the song closes out in a similar manner to ‘Refugees’, with Danny completely taking over the lead vocals in more of a spoken word manner.

For me this song has improved with repeated listens, when I first heard the chorus I was afraid it sounded a little too generic – or anonymous – but the lyrics really allow the song to quell those early doubts. Also the second half of the song really ups the ante – I’m already looking forward to hearing it live.

The Take Off And Landing Of Everything (Album) - Elbow

Elbow have become national treasures in recent years, ever since their 2008 album The Seldom Seen Kid won the Mercury Prize, they have ascended in the general public eye. Their status was enhanced further when they were called upon to write the BBC theme for the 2012 Olympics. Consequently the release of a new Elbow album feels as though it needs to be treated with a certain degree of reverence. There isn’t really much call for apprehension at this stage, especially since they have already proven that success has not affected the quality of their output.

The opening track is my favourite from the album: ‘This Blue World’ is a stunningly beautiful song that feels almost like an album in-and-of-itself over the course of its seven minute length. I may even go so far as to call it a ‘perfect Elbow song’. The song unfolds slowly, creating a serene, starry landscape of sound for Guy Garvey’s wistful and contemplative lyrics, pondering the significance of every moment leading up to the start of a relationship: “Was the universe in rehearsal for us?” It's sublime!

The electronic underscore that runs throughout ‘Charge’ puts me in mind of the scrolling text introductions of old Sega games. The song has more bite to it than many of the band’s most recent releases, punctuated through the angrier lyrics: “Glory-be these fuckers are ignoring me / We never learn from history”. ‘Fly Boy Blue’ sounds a bit more like something from the pre-Seldom Seen Kid days, with the occasional blasts of electric-guitar and saxophone cacophony before transitioning into ‘Lunette’ which has a float-y quality that is very akin to some of the quieter moments from Leaders Of The Free World (‘The Everthere’ and ‘Great Expectations’ come to mind).

Similarities to older albums continue at the start of ‘Honey Sun’ before the song actually begins, and a brief glimpse into the studio is gleaned. As the group are practicing there is a loud clatter, followed by Guy Garvey very audibly exclaiming “Jesus!” Moments such as these have been less prevalent in recent years, so it’s nice to hear them make a return. ‘Honey Sun’ itself is also rather similar to some of the band’s older work (it wouldn’t sound out of place on Cast Of Thousands alongside songs like ‘Not A Job’ and ‘Buttons and Zips’).

‘New York Morning’ is the most natural choice to be the lead single out of all the songs on this album, as it’s probably the most readily accessible. That doesn’t cheapen its quality though (not at all) as the song has some beautiful sentiments within it about the idea of possibility. This is all captured through the verbatim, thought-process lyrics and the shimmering musical soundscape which builds into a triumphant crescendo-ing refrain.

When the track-listing was released a couple of months ago there was something that particularly stood out about the song title ‘My Sad Captains’ although I couldn’t be quite certain why this was the case. Then I realised that it is lifted from a Shakespeare play, explaining both my liking for the title as well as my lack of familiarity with it beforehand (Anthony & Cleopatra is a play I have yet to work on/see performed). The track has a steady hand-clapped beat to accompany its deliberate pacing, and includes a very moving distant-sounding trumpet fanfare in between the lyrics. The song describes Guy Garvey’s group of drinking friends (the titular ‘Sad Captains’) “with whom [he] choose[s] to lose [his] mind”. It is a very well-crafted song, and another of the albums highlights.

Title track ‘The Take Off And Landing Of Everything’ is a heavily layered song that begins instantly and maintains its lively energy and pace right the way through until it eventually fades away. From out of the silence that is left behind, emerges the ominous sounding album closer ‘The Blanket Of Night’. The verses trudge along through their own murky bass-heavy depths, before the synthesised chorus erupts from within. This shift in tone is expertly handled and the transition from one into the other and then back again is very slick.

The album overall seems to be an amalgamation of the band’s back-catalogue – taking everything that they’ve released up until this point, and expanding upon it. The album has received plenty of positive reviews already – and to be honest, I don’t think that this album was ever going to be bad – but I don’t think it is the band’s best ever. There are a couple of weaker tracks that fall a little short of the high standards that have been set elsewhere – ‘Colour Fields’ feels a little bit by-the-numbers, and ‘Real Life (Angel)’ doesn’t really do much for me at this stage, maybe it will grow on me. That said, the album has more than enough solid tracks to earn its place alongside its predecessors, and both ‘New York Morning’ and ‘This Blue World’ are masterpieces which deserve praise. It’s worth getting the album for these two tracks alone, but The Take Off And Landing Of Everything has more to offer.

The Walking Dead: Season Four - Alone

The established trend of episodes focussing on smaller groups of survivors continues with another Rick-less episode. Daryl and Beth’s adventures continue, and we also catch up with Maggie, Sasha and Bob as all roads appear to lead towards Terminus (“The End”).

I was caught off-guard by the pre-credits montage which followed a bedraggled-looking Bob as he made a lonely trek through miles of forest, deftly avoiding confrontations with Walkers. I didn’t realise at first that this was a flashback until Daryl arrived on his motorbike alongside Glenn. One of the fortunate things about the show’s current format is that it allows for characters like Bob to get more development, which wasn’t very possible back at the prison (he was only significant to me because he played D’Angelo in The Wire, and also because Bob is a relatively prominent figure in the tie-in novelizations).

After a tense near-brush with death as the three of them fought off a group of Walkers in the fog, Bob and Sasha took the majority of the focus as Maggie slipped away during the night, determined to find Glenn on her own. They headed down the train tracks to catch up with Maggie – and to ultimately arrive at ‘Terminus’. Sasha appeared to have lost a lot of hope, and Bob was required to be the optimist. Sasha was fearful of heading to the sanctuary for fear of discovering that Tyreese might have died, and so made the decision to hole-up in an apartment in the nearest town. Bob appealed in favour of continuing on towards ‘Terminus’ because surely other people from the prison would have also seen the signs (good intuition there!).

Maggie was leaving messages in Walker-blood for Glenn to follow – letting him know that she’s still alive, and where to go – which is as good a plan as any other (let’s just hope that there aren’t any other survivors called Glenn or Maggie out there, otherwise they might get very confused!).

Bob remained optimistic, but it wasn’t enough to convince Sasha to abandon her plans: especially when she found an abandoned building to make into her new home. Bob then ‘tried something’ and kissed Sasha – there had been a few romantic implications between the two of them throughout the episode – but she stubbornly made an effort to follow through on her intentions. However it didn’t take long for her to realise that it wasn’t the smartest plan, and it also appeared that fate was on hand to point this out to her as well. Upon looking out of the window she saw Maggie outside, and quickly made her way down to help her fight off a group of Walkers. Nobody can survive in this world alone.

After last week’s episode I was very pleased to see a continuation in the Daryl and Beth saga, although by the end of this episode it appears to have come to an end. The two of them had a number of standout moments in this episode before everything went to hell (as is so often the case in The Walking Dead). One such moment saw the pair of them taking a moment to pause at the grave of an unspecified ‘Beloved Father’, a scene where no dialogue was necessary, and saw the two of them grow closer as Beth grabbed onto Daryl’s hand.

The two of them made their way into a funeral parlour which was suspiciously well maintained (heavily implying that someone was still inhabiting it) and also had a well-stocked kitchen. This allowed for a few brief moments of respite, including a grimly comical scene where Daryl bedded down for the night in a coffin (the most comfortable bed he’s had in years!), Beth played the piano and sang very sweetly, and the two of them were able to enjoy a ‘white trash brunch’ of peanut-butter and jelly, diet soda and pigs feet.

The unlikely romance between the two was growing throughout this episode, but in The Walking Dead moments of happiness or peace tend not to last long, and sure enough – as if on-cue – just as the two of them shared a very palpable ‘moment’, there was the sound of commotion outside as their alarm system was tripped. This brought a whole herd of Walkers rampaging into the house, and Daryl effectively sacrificed himself to allow Beth to escape. Being Daryl, he was able to fight his way out of a room filled with Walkers – using ingenuity and creating barriers – and he managed to get himself out of the house, just in time to see a car driving away (apparently with Beth).

Daryl runs after the car until he can’t run any longer, and upon arriving at a literal (and figurative) crossroads the chances of finding out where Beth was taken seem highly unlikely. Exhausted, he slumps down in the middle of the road, where he is eventually discovered by the villainous group of marauders who overturned the house where Rick was last seen. Fortunately Daryl is a tough son-of-a-bitch, and is welcomed into their ranks. Although this group have already proved their nefariousness, with the finale now approaching, the many separate plot-lines of the latter half of this season are now showing signs of coming to a head.

The episode is able to end on a more positive note, as Bob is reunited with Sasha and Maggie. Bob’s story within this episode was able to come full circle – he’s been separated from groups before, and made his way out on his own, but now he no longer has to.

Then just to give one final tease, we see Glenn discover a sign for ‘Terminus’ as well. I’m now feeling excited as to what’s going to happen when the finale comes around, as it surely has to see the various parties arrive at the mysterious sanctuary. But what will happen when they get there?

The Walking Dead - Season Four: Still

This week’s episode focussed entirely on the characters of Daryl and Beth, which is a bold move on the part of the writers; primarily for the fact that Beth has always been a secondary character, but also Daryl – despite being a clear fan-favourite – has rarely been made the main focus of storylines within the show. Quite a challenge then for Norman Reedus and Emily Kinney – but the two of them rose to the occasion, and their characters both got a lot more focus and development than they ever have before.

It’s becoming something of a trend on the show lately for there to be lengthy scenes without any dialogue – meaning that the actors have to rely on their gestures, expressions and also the strength of their characters to compensate and hold focus. I don’t think that there was a line of dialogue for at least seven minutes (and Daryl held out even longer). The episode started with a very tense and frightening scene which saw the two of them hiding in the boot of an abandoned car, while a group of Walkers swarmed around outside – just inches away. The two of them held their weapons close, and sweat poured freely from their foreheads. The two of them remained there through the night, and then in the morning they stripped a few parts from the car and continued on their way – without a single word exchanged.

Things became tense between the two at several points, Daryl seemed keen to rough it out in the wilderness, but Beth was having none of it – and then in light of all that has happened she embarked on a mission to find some alcohol to have her first drink. Some grim humour emerged from this, in the form of Daryl’s dismissive opinion concerning Peach Schnapps – “Is it good?”, “No!”  - but the uncomfortable, tense atmosphere wasn’t exactly alleviated.

Daryl reverted to his more sullen and distant self, but then he also became a frightening presence following an ill-advised game of “I never” – I’ve often thought of The Walking Dead as being a bit like Lost and this scene reinforced that further.

In a scene slightly reminiscent of the barn shootout from season two (which was conveniently alluded to when Beth referred to Sophia) a drunk Daryl tried to force Beth to learn how to fire a crossbow, and used a stray Walker for target practice. It was a genuinely alarming scene because Daryl is usually a quiet and reserved presence within the show, so seeing him erupt created a feeling of unease because it seemed like he’d completely lost control, and might do something he’d later regret. It made complete sense though, as even the toughest people can’t bottle up their emotions indefinitely.

The references to events from season two really shone a light on how much Beth has suffered, and all that she’s lost. These events seem a lot more relevant now that Beth is getting a lot more attention - up until now she’s just been Maggie’s sister who occasionally had a scene where she looked after baby Judith – but now the show has decided to give her a more prominent role, which has some weight behind it as she has been around for quite some time now.

This episode gave one of the strongest and most grim views of the post-apocalyptic world: people reduced to scavenging, living rough, isolated from any sort of civilisation.  The feeling of hopelessness was palpable at numerous points in this episode, particularly when the survivors contemplated the possibility that everyone else from their group could very well be dead – and they’ve no evidence to suggest otherwise as they seem to be a great distance from where everyone else ended up.

This could potentially open up new possibilities for the show, because it seems like a plausible notion that Beth and Daryl might not reunite with the rest of the group – maybe they’ve ended up too far away. There’s no real way to know how close or how far they are from the others. Will they find their way to ‘Terminus’, or is this episode an indication of the way things will be for these two from now on?