Initially I found the decision to stay at the prison a poor decision that went against what the third season had been about (much in the same way that keeping the Governor alive felt contradictory to the season's aims), but now it feels like a more appropriate decision. The Walking Dead is a television show and television shows need some level of stasis both more budgetary and narrative reasons. Eventually the show needed to settle into a comfortable rhythm and this appears to be it -- for now at least, as the cliffhanger at episode end suggests. On the other hand, the last time the show went into deadlock focus on one location was season two at the farm and that produced a dreadfully uneven, and far too often boring, stretch of episodes. The prison is a more interesting central location and the show is further along so that hopefully we see less of that.
And yet still not much of anything happens in this premiere. Things are far too cheery for their own good, which of course means things are going to go south quickly soon. But not much is done to advance the story. Little amusing details are thrown at us about what's happened in the interim -- including an adorable kid's story time/knife lesson (Good on you Carole!) -- but really: what's actually happened? Rick meets a woman in the woods who turns out be crazy and kills herself. A run for supplies ends up going, not all that unexpectedly, really badly (which, admittedly, was pretty entertaining). If the show weren't serialized may be it could get away with little weird side stories but think about it: what's the story for this season? The third season had some major problems but it was obvious that the central story was the Governor and Woodbury versus Rick and the prison. And before it was that it was: oh, here's a prison that needs to be made habitable.
Or put it another way. It's sort of nice just to hang out and kick back with this group of people who we've come to know and, in some instances, like. But it's also the essential antithesis of what makes The Walking Dead work and dramatically satisfying. The best stretch of episodes the show had was the first half of season three in which there was a relentlessly paced series of action sequences that were intense and exciting. The Walking Dead is at its best when something, anything happens. The moment it slows down it gets stuck. It gets stuck because this is miserable fucking world. There is nothing to look forward to or be happy for. Even bringing life into this world -- as Glen and Maggie discuss -- is kind of pointless and heartbreaking because you're sentencing new human life to a shitty existence. Any time the show takes a breather is a time where it forces us the viewer to consider we're just watching shitty things happen to people for our own enjoyment. And when it's not something thrilling such as zombie killing, it's just people mourning the loss of civilization, and most, if not all of, their friends and family, and coming to terms with living in a post-apocalyptic world. When you actually stop to consider that's what you're watching, it's kind of depressing and empty.
But, hey, look on the brightside, some nonentity character just turned into a zombie inside the prison. That should make for a fun time, right?
Grade: B+
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