The Walking Dead - Season Four: Too Far Gone

The mid-season finale has arrived, and it is a real game-changer for the show going forward. I think it is one of the best – certainly in terms of stakes – episodes in the shows history. I have seen various series’ put out stellar episodes in terms of drama and stakes (such as ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Breaking Bad’) but in the case of Too Far Gone I felt genuinely nervous, and completely drawn in because I had no idea who was going to make it out alive. The show has set the precedent that nobody is safe – anyone can be killed, at any point – and the teaser trailer for this episode guaranteed that there would be major character deaths.

To everyone who felt let down by the Season Three finale, Too Far Gone provides the showdown at the prison that you were hoping for.

The episode begins with The Governor rallying his troops together, tactfully phrasing his speech to portray himself as a victim of Rick’s group, in order to get everyone on side. There is a much stronger sense of loyalty towards The Governor’s leadership with this group than there was from his Woodbury army (so there’ll be no need to gun them all down if they refuse to obey him). The scene is interspersed with footage of the Governor knocking out Michonne, and taking herself and Hershel as hostages – giving him an added edge, alongside the tank and heavy artillery. He orders everyone to arm themselves and get ready to take the prison in case it should come down to a violent confrontation – which it inevitably will. 

Just after making his speech he is approached by Lilly, who has just overheard all that he said, and consequently received a strong insight into exactly what kind of man he really is. He tries to defend his intentions by saying that although there may be good people at the prison, there are bad people amongst them: killers. She responds by asking if she is in the company of bad people herself.

Back at the prison, there is a short scene between Maggie and Glenn (who is still looking rough, due to his flu symptoms). He points out that their anniversary is approaching, and that they’ll have to find some way to celebrate it. We then cut to the aftermath of Rick’s reveal to Daryl about his decision to banish Carol. Rick tries to rationalise his decision, but Daryl is clearly unhappy about it. Nevertheless Daryl knows that it is not a good idea to drag things out, so makes the executive decision to tell Tyreese straight away.

They never get around to breaking the news though, as a hysterical Tyreese insists that whatever it is they have to tell him, it can wait. He then reveals an unsettling discovery: a rat carcass, which appears to have been ritualistically dissected. The saboteur who fed rats to the Walkers at the fences must still be on the loose. There is no time to investigate however, because a loud boom is heard, which shakes the prison, forcing everyone outside.

The Governor’s army have arrived!

He wants to talk to Rick, who says that he doesn’t make decisions on behalf of the group anymore, as they have a council now. Unfortunately The Governor has a couple of members of the council as hostages, and he drags them out for all to see. Rick then makes his way out into the courtyard – completely exposed to The Governor’s entire army – in order to talk peace terms. Meanwhile, Daryl slyly distributes guns amongst the rest of the group, so that they’ll be ready in case things get ugly.

The Governor’s demands are simple, Rick has until sundown to get his whole group out of the prison, or his entire group will be massacred. The Governor has hostages, and he has a tank, so there doesn’t seem to be any counter-offer that Rick can make. Nevertheless he attempts to offer a treaty: they all live together in the prison, and forget about all past disputes between them. They will live in separate cell blocks, and never have to see each other. Everyone has had to do terrible things in order to get this far, but they are not too far gone – they can all endure. It is an impassioned speech, which gets a sincere smile from Hershel, and momentarily appears to have broken through to The Governor’s sense of humanity.

But it isn’t to be, and using Michonne’s katana, The Governor brutally slashes Hershel’s neck. I had feared that Hershel would die in this episode, and his situation in this episode seemed inescapable, so I couldn’t entertain much of a notion of him surviving. Nevertheless it was still upsetting to see Hershel go, as Scott Wilson had given some tremendous performances this season, especially during Internment. Ever since Dale’s death in season two, Hershel had filled his role, always being the voice of reason – and possessing great wisdom due to his advanced age. He was a moral compass within the group, and a rational thinker when Rick was going off the rails whilst coping with Lori’s death. Hershel’s death is a big deal, and when the season resumes in February, the effects of it will more than likely still be felt.

Rick then somehow manages not to get gunned down, despite being right out in the open and completely exposed to gunfire from The Governor’s entire army. He also manages to not kill The Governor, even though he has pulled off countless headshots throughout the season. Rick does manage to find some cover, but takes a bullet wound to the leg.

Meanwhile back at the encampment, Lilly is left waiting for everything to be over, and Megan is digging in the mud. A lone Walker stumbles through the trees on the other side of the lake, and slowly tries to make its way across the water, but then stumbles and is swept away by the current. This draws Lilly’s attention away from Megan, who unearths a sign in the mud, which happened to be covering the corpse of someone who was buried in a flash-flood. The corpse forces its way through the mud, and grabs hold of Megan, who screams, finally getting her mother’s attention, but it is too late, and Megan is bitten in the shoulder.

This prompts Lilly to arrive at the prison, just as things are taking off, carrying the body of Megan in her arms. The Governor sees this, just after messily finishing off Hershel’s decapitation. He is well and truly too far gone however, because the sight doesn’t devastate him, and he callously shoots Megan in the head without a moment’s hesitation. If there was any doubt in her mind, Lilly now realises exactly what kind of a man he is.

From here on out, the episode gets rather hectic, with a great deal happening all over the place. The tank smashes through the fences, and begins blasting great big holes into the prison. Everyone fires their guns with great abandon, rarely hitting anything, and prompting me to shout at the screen: “stop wasting so much ammo” (not the first time I’ve done this whilst watching this show). 

Many nameless characters get gunned down, while the prison group attempt to survive, but are widely scattered in the process. Maggie orders Beth to gather as many people together and get them onto a bus, so that they can drive away to safety. Maggie manages to drag Glenn onto the bus, but then realises that Beth isn’t there, and leaves again to find her. Consequently Maggie and Glenn are separated, as the bus drives away before Maggie gets back. 

Tyreese looks to be pinned down, but is rescued by Lizzie (this may elevate her status from supporting cast to main cast) who pulls off two perfect head-shots. However, there is further confusion as Lizzie and her sister run in the opposite direction than where the bus was. Bob takes a bullet to the shoulder, but it is a treatable injury – and Maggie and Sasha escort him away.

Out in the yard, Rick tackles The Governor as he makes his way towards the prison, and the two engage in a brutal fist fight. The Governor gains the upper hand though, and after battering Rick’s face into a pulp, he begins to choke the life out of him. It genuinely appears that Rick will die, before Michonne stabs The Governor right through the chest. She appeared to contemplate finishing him off, before leaving him to die out in the open. This made me assume that there would be a Governor-Walker, ready to snag another beloved character before the episode ended. But this didn’t happen, as Lilly appeared and shot him in the head, to pay him back for killing her daughter.

A severely battered Rick desperately searched for Carl, and found him gunning down a couple of stray Walkers. They then looked around for Judith, but found only an empty baby carrier, stained with blood, which saw them both reduced to tears. What actually happened to Judith wasn’t shown, so there is an ambiguity surrounding whether or not she was rescued.

And of course, to compensate for the loss of a beloved character (and also the loss of the series’ main villain) viewers were treated to a scene of Daryl being awesome. First impaling a Walker using a rebar, in order to use it as a shield, and then killing several members of The Governor’s army with a grenade. Then, destroying the tank with another grenade, and finally killing the evil brother Mitch, with an arrow to the chest. You’re welcome!

The episode ended with Rick and Carl staggering away from the sight of all the destruction, with Rick saying to Carl: “don’t look back”. 

This episode was easily one of the best, delivering action, tension, and changing the complexion of the show for when the season resumes in February. A lot was left unclear; what happened to Judith? Who survived? What’s going to happen now that the prison is gone, and the group are scattered?

There are many questions that need answering, but they will have to wait. The writers of the show have certainly upped their game this season, delivering some very strong episodes based around character development, and delivering action and a big pay-off to The Governor’s storyline in this mid-season finale. 

While we wait for the season to return, and provide answers to what happened next, this episode is certainly worth re-watching. I know I’ll watch it again, now that I’ve calmed down!