What do you think was the significance of the major characters death?
Jen Calhoun: It was utterly heartbreaking on so many levels. On a social commentary level, I think it could have represented the loss of humanity and morality in this environment. I think that’s not the only time this happened in this episode. The people in the Governor’s camp were good, moral people, until the Governor gets in their head and convinces them to kill the prison camp. Morality died on several counts in this episode
Leigh Tauss: Not going to lie: I was sobbing in the fetal position. Hershel was the last vestige of traditionalism left in the group. Without his influence, the group may continue to lose grip on what life was like before the apocalypse, and what values governed the old world. Morality may become furthered threatened by survivalism.
People have argued that this season has been a repetitive story line, with the Governor trying to take the prison in a similar manner as in season three. Thoughts?
Jen: I think if you’re going to see a cyclical nature to his actions, it’s not unintentional or lazy. Clearly it would be showing that the Governor hasn’t changed. He might have taken on this new persona, but by going about getting the prison in the same way, it is the most definitive proof that he is not a changed man in the slightest.
Leigh: I think this is a completely different storyline from last season. While season three focused on the Governor losing his grip on power, this season revealed how such a psychopathic maniac was able to rise to power in the first place. In this way, his character arc was able to come full circle.
Who will now take on the role of the show’s moral center?
Jen: The the presence of Judith there is morality, or at least the hope of morality, but we don’t really know how that one’s going to work out now do we? I suppose it could also be Glenn, since he is trying to keep around old world traditions, such as marrying Maggie and wanting to have children.
Leigh: I think that Rick showed he has picked up Hershel’s compassion and is the pretty obvious pick. However, the writers rarely go with what is obvious. So far they have murdered an idealist (Dale) and a traditonalist (Hershel), so maybe our new moral center will be a realist. I could see Carol returning and potentially filling this role.
Who is the animal-mutilating psycho?
Jen: I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the little girls that Carol was taking care of. Maybe they killed and burned the bodies too, who knows? Conspiracies!
Leigh: The scary girl.
When will we see Carol again?
Jen: Maybe she’s the one that killed that camp full of people that the Governor saw in the woods. I don’t know if the timeline matches up.
Leigh: I think Carol will return and be revealed to have not murdered the girls in cold blood, but in fact covered it up to save the real killer, most likely the scary girl.
Who do you think will be the last man or woman standing?
Jen: They’re grooming Carl to be the salvation. Personally, I don’t know how I feel about that, but he’s the person best suited to thrive in this environment. Maybe he and Judith will become the Tyreese and Sasha of the future.
Leigh: If Daryl dies, we riot. I think there is still a lot of room for growth with his character as he continues to take on more of a leadership position in the group.
Overall rating for the first half of the season?
Jen: Four dead zombies out of five. I can’t give it five out of five until there’s a “Sophia coming out of the barn” moment in this season, and I think that could happen with how they play out Carol’s storyline.
Leigh: 9/10. It got a little slow with the two Governor episodes, however this last one really tied them all together with a huge emotional impact. This show hasn’t lost steam yet!
Predictions for next half of the season?
Jen: I don’t think that the prison group is going to come back together by the end of the season. There’s going to be at least one major death (my guess is Glenn … better not be Daryl) and some new threat is going to appear, probably in whoever killed those people in the woods. If there’s one thing “The Walking Dead” has taught us, it’s that in complete anarchy such as the zombie apocalypse, the humans are the real monsters.
Leigh: The end of last episode scattered the group completely, so I think it might take a significant amount of time for them to regroup. Carol will (and must) return and I think Glenn might be poised to be the big death next season.
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