TWD 4x10 "Inmates" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN**

[Harleydude666]

Wow, So much went on this episode. And let's hear it for me and those others who called it that Carol would return once the Prison was no more. Even better, Tyreese is with her, Lizzie and the sane sister (her name escapes me ATM). So we're gonna get to see Tyreese seeing what Lizzie really is...and knowing "the truth" about Carol, when all the others just know the story Carol told. Smothering a BABY? You can't tell me NOW that Lizzie isn't the odds-on favorite as the killer. No, I'm NOT saying that Carol is "INNOCENT"...because she truly does believe in euthanizing when someone has reached the point of no return and there isn't sufficient manpower to have someone watch each terminal individual waiting for the moment they expire. That, and Tyreese knew he dropped the ball when he heard that first gunshot. He's seeing all these people go down like dominoes...unable to save anyone, and then the shot...and his facial expression was all "Oh, DAMN. What did I just do, running off and leaving those girls." Then Carol comes to the rescue (which is going to create a real damned conundrum for Mr. "If everyone else died, and it was just me, you, Carl and Judith...I wouldn't want you around my kids" Rick. Having saved Judith, Rick can't very well at some later point go "While I appreciate you saving my daughter and the two young girls who look to you as a mother-figure, we've been through this already so I'm kicking you out AGAIN." Not to mention that with everything that went down at the Prison, Rick's dilly-dallying about coming clean to Tyreese has (inadverdently) created what amounts to an accidental "Conspiracy of Silence"...since Tyreese has now been thrown into Survival Mode with the woman ostensibly believed to have murdered his squeeze and that other guy. A problem that is only going to become more exacerbated if and when Carol ends up saving Tyreese's life from a Walker he doesn't see or somesuch...If Tyreese doesn't "even it out" by saving Carol in return before finding out what the others believe to be the truth. It's kind of difficult to walk over and strangle someone whose watched your back and saved your ass when there was no one else. That, and given how fragmented the group currently is...and given all the losses....Rick can't justify ousting a proven survivor/combatant at this juncture. So I'm guessing he's gonna initially remain quiet about the Carol issue...and then realize that initial decision is more binding than he wants it to be. Because if Carol sticks around for X period of time, during which everyone "in the know" stays silent, how would they later tell Tyreese? At that point they're complicit in the whole mess, and Tyreese would be unable to trust any of them. It has Group Fracture written all over it, and (assuming the majority of the people eventually re-coalesce into one large group) NO ONE is going to be in a hurry to splinter the group all over again. Let's remember that Daryl wanted to go looking for Carol, but Rick played the "You're needed here, you've got responsibilities" card to keep him from doing so. I believe it would be a completely different story with Daryl if Carol was actually standing there. All in all an excellent episode. I loved the stuff with Glenn...and the bus tension was ACTUALLY tense. Don't know what to think of this Sargeant Abraham guy. My first impression was that he's cut from the same cloth as the military commander in 28 Days Later. I could be wrong, since it's a snap judgment...but that's my initial impression. I'm liking the back 9 of this Season a lot so far. My ONLY concern is how long it's going to take for everyone to group up. The Woodbury/Prison back-and-forth has demonstrated that consistently jumping from one setting/group of characters to another setting/group of characters beyond the short-term is problematic, to say the very least. There's a lot more rattling around in my head after this episode, but it all hasn't yet gelled into a coherent whole as yet. Regarding jumping from one setting to another. I think it works here because they are not jumping back and forth like they did with the Woodbury story. This past episode they did a great job spending about 12 minutes on each group instead of going back and forth, it worked for me because we got continuos straight up story telling. I'll tell ya what I'm hoping they will do if they have balls enough, one group just never reunites and we never see them like the Morales family, another group is killed off and if they really want to shock us...   either Glen or Maggie gets eaten by the so-called hunters. That'll really show me something

[Morto Vivente]

I'm confused about Glen. Wasn't he on the bus at the end of Too Far Gone? Wasn't there some back and forth between Maggie and Glen, where it appears that he'll remain on the bus. Another twist in a great episode though. The individual story lines really hit a lot of notes, plus the walkers were excellent. The theme of survival was right in your face this time. The Lizze and Judith sequence didn't shy away from it at all....Quite chilling. Not every episode can achieve this, with the group being completely divided and seemingly at their weakest. What's everyone prepared to do? GLEN WAS GREAT, not only was he willing to cooperate with the lesbian chick, even although he knows she was involved in Hershel's death (to at least some extent)... BUT ALSO PUSH HIS WAY OUT OF A WALKER PILE ON!!. Tyreese was prepared to leave two kids alone with a baby. You could argue that it was to save the people in trouble, or maybe he realized he was up to his neck in shit, and desperately needed help? Carol saving the girls may really mess with his mind later, if she's the killer and not warped Lizzie. Possible spoiler but I doubt it...   Could they have done it together? Initially Daryl looked like he was ready to give up, but Beth was prepared to walk into the woods, at night, alone. I wonder if any of the mini groups will break the "code of the prison" aside from the as yet unknown killer? AND WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED ON THAT BUS?!! Perhaps I'm jumping the gun here, but could this turn out to be the best season of "The Walking Dead" so far.....Anyway, loved the episode. I'm off to watch it again.

[Zombie Snack]

Solid episode...keep them coming.

[Morto Vivente]

A great line from Sasha after the bus carnage..."And they got away?"

[zomtom]

That Lizzie is turning out to be one scary little girl. Those poor bunnies and poor little Judith!! Lizzie went into some sort of psychotic haze as she was smothering Judith. She didn't even react to the oncoming walkers!! I'm still sticking by my guns with my original theory; Lizzie killed Karen and David. I've been to a number of other Walking Dead sites and a lot of people are coming to that conclusion as well. Carol called Lizzie weak. Shortly after Karen & David showed up dead. I can't help but feel she had something to prove to Carol and Carol feeling guilty, took responsibility. I guess only time will tell. Over all, another solid episode. Good God, I LOVE this show!!!

[Trencher]

I am glad I was not the only one on the board that noticed the baby strangling scene. Judith will probably have brain damage if she gets to grow up. Very uneven episode. Lots of great stuff only the weak ass zombies not being able to pull one guy to the ground when they were a whole group dragging down the episode for me at first but the awful introduction to Abraham and his group really soured an otherwise mostly great episode. The whole group looked way way to comic booky not realistic at all! From the preview it sounds that the actors are okay though so if they get them in some less gimmicky clothes their characters might be salvaged.

[MinionZombie]

I'm confused now. The midseason finale seemed established that they had a rendezvous point in the event of emergencies. So, did the writers forget or something...why didn't the characters just go there?! And how in the heck did everyone on the bus become zombified or zombie-chow? I wonder if any of the mini groups will break the "code of the prison" aside from the as yet unknown killer? AND WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED ON THAT BUS?!! There was a brief mention during the gunfight that they had a rendevous point - but my impression was that, because they were too comfortable in the prison, their plan wasn't that solid - and I don't think they'd really drilled that escape plan either. Plus, it's one thing to make a plan that you'll get in your vehicles and go to a particular spot in theory, and it's entirely another when you've got walkers, machine gun fire, and explosions all around you - everyone gets split up, people start to panic, and the plan quickly goes to pot. As for the bus, the sick people were on that - they got their meds just in time (for some), but for others (maybe even just one or two) they didn't make it and reanimated on the bus - it's close quarters, people are pretty fried in their minds, many of them are weak (some of the walkers clearly had been bitten), so chaos ensues, automatic gunfire in a confined space - maybe some were killed accidentally ... general chaos. Glenn was in the bus, but he was clearly rather annoyed about being weak and not being able to help out in the fight (and letting Maggie go out there without him), so obviously he hopped off the bus at some point and was on/near that catwalk when it was blown up so he was knocked out. Or maybe he was in the prison itself - but was feeling pretty ill - and collapsed just when he found out the catwalk was blown up. It's a bit of a cheat as you don't see anyone there when it blows in 4x08, so perhaps my second reasoning is more likely for that event, although in the making of featurette on YouTube they seemed to suggest he was knocked out by the explosion. Anyway - they certainly kept the tension in the scene before they reveal where Glenn actually was. I liked the intro shot of Abraham & Co - if you're going to introduce three new characters, do so in an exciting way - an iconic way - think of the way they introduced Michonne in 2x13, which was a very iconic graphic novel kind of way. You clearly get to see these three new people, you get a sense of their physicality and their personality very quickly, and it plays to the hardcore fans as well.

[bassman]

Loved the reveal of Abraham and friends, but thought the other two big reveals of Judith and Carol were kind of lazy. Anyone could've seen them coming from a mile away. In all though...great episode. The two back from the mid season break have been quite good. It's been nice to see the group back on the road. Or railroad, depending on how you look at it...

[AcesandEights]

I do like the pacing, action and themes for this episode. Very well done! I just hope we see some storylines getting pushed forward eventually. I like that there isn't too much metaplot going right now and I realize they are taking a slow reset approach these first episodes back and doing a solid job of it, but they will need some meat and conflict later on. the awful introduction to Abraham and his group really soured an otherwise mostly great episode. The whole group looked way way to comic booky not realistic at all! They did look a little cosplay, didn't they? It struck me right away. Forgivable, though. Hopefully it will work out in the end and the actors will pull it out.

[bassman]

Abraham and Rosita looked fine, I thought. Eugene's mullet was really the only thing that looked "comic booky" and "off" to me. Which is kind of funny when you consider how people were thinking Michonne would ruin the show. Instead, the woman with a samurai sword is accepted and a guy with a mullet looks strange. I can drive five minutes down the road and find a guy with a mullet....

[zombieparanoia]

Good episode all around I thought, I liked that carol came back, I like the beth/daryl dynamic and want to see where that goes. I didn't like that glenn didn't go to the gun barrel or grab extra ammo before he left with the lesbian. I also didn't like the physical appearance of the actor who plays Abraham, in the comic   Abraham was a former marine and talks about how his wife and kids died and how "he literally tore those guys apart with his bare hands" that guy looks like he could maybe tear into a bag of chips I just pictured him as being more of a Viking y'know? Big, tough, strong, kind of scary thousand yard stare, hard looking mofo, this guy is kind of average, a bit doughy.

[AcesandEights]

I just pictured him as being more of a Viking y'know? Big, tough, strong, kind of scary thousand yard stare, hard looking mofo, this guy is kind of average, a bit doughy. I know what you mean. This actor is a big burly guy, but Abraham was always drawn as completely diesel, though that may be a bit unrealistic in of it self, as I don't know if he'd be able stay supah ripped over a year into the zombie apocalypse.

[bassman]

Weren't most or all of the guns from the barrel dispersed by Daryl while Rick was talking to The Governor in 408? Daryl and Beth had one or two in 410, but I believe the rest were scattered about, lost, or out of ammunition during the prison battle?

[AcesandEights]

Weren't most or all of the guns from the barrel dispersed by Daryl while Rick was talking to The Governor in 408? Daryl and Beth had one or two in 410, but I believe the rest were scattered about, lost, or out of ammunition during the prison battle? Yeah, I don't think the prison yard was the place to play pick up sticks and search for a gun here or there with that horde in it. Not when Glenn still (apparently) felt like crap.

[Wyldwraith]

Re: Carol Vs. Lizzie as the Killer: At this point it's functionally irrelevant who did it, unless/until Lizzie escalates further and becomes a problem all by herself. Carol is thick in a survival situation with Tyreese, and likely to remain that way for some time. Rick's hesitance to go talk to Tyreese when he had the chance has, as I said, become a more binding decision than Rick wants it to be. Ie: Imagine them all regrouping, and Rick telling Tyreese after all this time. Nothing good comes from that, at all. That, and as things continue to happen I think Tyreese is going to find more and more reasons to see himself in the situation of wanting to be able to go back and change something's that happened. He already would be, except Carol saved the day. So far as the jumping around from group to group. SO FAR I've enjoyed it, and believe its been done well. My point focused on the fact that the jumping around can't be kept up LONG-TERM, without running afoul of the same pitfalls Season 3 did. Yes, right now it makes perfect sense as a vehicle for the story. It won't be a sustainable technique is all I'm saying. However, they seem to understand that...as each episode someone has found some others who were on their own. As many times as we saw that "Hitchhikers may be escaped inmates" sign from different PoVs, they're making it very apparent that, whether they know it or not, most of the group is within the same general area. Which makes sense, since they're all on foot and had to move into the woods to lose the Walkers. It may LOOK nice and flat, but anyone whose spent much time in the great outdoors knows that no path = slow going. Case in point, Michonne finding two different location/direction of travel-oriented clues which helped lead her to Rick & Carl serves to underscore the point that, at least as yet, no group has gotten very far from the Prison. (BTW, if we're accepting the logic of the jawless/armless Walkers serving as active Walker camo...by extension then two listless/inactive jawless and armless Walkers standing passively at the ends of their tied-off leads like a horse that's been left at a hitching post SHOULD serve to keep other Walkers from going into hunting mode concerning the house Carl, Rick and Michonne are in. Sort of the reverse of the daisy-chain-herd effect. Ie: In "Walker Logic" other Walkers see those two Walkers in "Passive Standby Mode" and, barring any loud noises or eye-catching sights through a window or somesuch, other Walkers should consider the house devoid of prey. At least that seems to be the logical extension of Michonne's "Walker Camo Technique" IMO.