The Governor made his return in an episode vaguely
reminiscent of Breaking Bad’s “Granite
State” earlier this year – inasmuch as it was able to generate a feeling of
sympathy for a man who has done terrible things. Other than David Morrissey,
none of the main cast members appeared in this episode.
The pre-credits scene brought us back to the Season Three
finale, just after Philip Blake gunned down most of his own army. There was no
dialogue at all for quite some time, as quite a lot of ground was covered: he
awoke the following morning to discover that Martinez and Shumpert had
abandoned him, leaving him all alone; he then returned to Woodbury and burned
it down; and then wandered aimlessly for an unspecified amount of time, growing
a long scraggly beard in the process.
He eventually finds himself in the company of the Chalmers family;
consisting of two sisters Lilly and Tara, their infirm father David, and Tara’s
young daughter Megan. Having read Robert Kirkman’s tie-in novel series
(including The Rise Of The Governor)
this set-up was not too unfamiliar to me. However the storyline in the novels
occurred under very different circumstances, so I’m not sure where it is
leading in the TV series. He also assumed a new alias, Brian (the significance
of this name choice was also not lost on me) Heriot.
Many of the scenes carried a strong feeling of tension,
because it has already been demonstrated that the Governor is not of sound
mind, and as such there was always the sense of threat that he might do something
terrible, but yet he never did. He demonstrated that, although vaguely
skeletal, he still had strength in him, as he was able to lift the aging David
with considerable ease. He also put himself at risk, first to retrieve a
Backgammon set from a dingy apartment upstairs, and then to obtain oxygen tanks
from and old folks home, full of decaying Walkers. (How did the Chalmers' sisters not know to shoot Walkers in the brain? Have they survived this long without killing any Walkers at all?)
The more time he spent with the Chalmers family, the closer
he grew to both Lilly, and Megan (who became a surrogate daughter figure to
him, having lost her real father before the outbreak). He told her about how he
lost his own daughter, although leaving out most of the details.
Things got nasty when David passed away, and Philip/Brian
had to take drastic action when the corpse reanimated. He wasted no time in
brutally smashing in the skull of the Walker, but did so right in front of his
family, including young Megan. This put a bit of a strain on their relationship,
but they forgave him since he did save their lives in the process – and such
events are a fact of life in this post-apocalyptic world. In spite of this he
packed up his things and got ready to leave, but Lilly stopped him and insisted
that they all stick together.
They abandoned the relative safety of their apartment, and
set out on the road. During the night he and Lilly slept together, and the
following day after their van broke down, Megan put her trust in him allowing
him to carry her to safety. Having burned a photograph of his wife and
daughter, he found replacements for both.
After falling into a dugout pit, Philip/Brian demonstrated
just how fiercely protective he had become of Megan, brutally killing three
Walkers with his bare hands. Having lost his own daughter, he received a chance
to redeem himself – in his own way. However, he was then discovered in the pit
by Martinez – and with that the episode ended.
David Morrissey gave a very strong performance in this
episode, showing off the complexities of the iconic character. It is hard to
know what to think about the character after seeing an episode such as this.
After all, he is still the man who massacred a whole group of people, and
performed numerous terrible deeds back in the previous season. Next week’s
episode will likely continue with The Governor’s storyline, so perhaps it will
be easier to draw conclusions then.
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