That was the main theme of last night episode. Last week, I believed Brian could be a good man and make the right calls. How wrong I was…
Martinez welcomed Brian, Megan, Tara and Lilly (finally been able to catch their names) to his camp. Yeah 1) he has a camp, a big one actually, full of ex army people and 2) he is the leader of this camp. His number one rule : no dead weight. Girls, you gotta show how strong you are.
Then, Brian went on a little trip with his new mates. Mitch and Pete are introduced. Mitch really reminds me of Shane, I don’t like him at all. They came across decapitated bodies with paper on them, reading “liar” or “rapist” and a last one “murderer”. The guy probably shot himself. He carried a family picture just as Brian’s. Is that a parallelism with The Governor ? This is what could happened to him ? He already killed his last crew but he did not kill himself. He is not that desperate.
While searching the house for supplies, they found walkers. Only two, but they came across something much scarier : zombies heads on the floor. Those nasty things can bite you. Luckily, One Eye is one hell of a killer. At night, drinking beers between guys, Martinez noticed Brian has changed, he is different. He even agreed. But can you really trust that guy ?
The next day, after a nice lunch with beers (again !), Martinez and One Eye started a little golf game. You gotta find ways to spend time in this new apocalyptic world. But when Martinez started talking about risking to lose loved ones and wanting to share the crown with Brian, his reaction was really surprising and shocking. I could have not expected more from The Governor, still I was shocked. He hit Martinez’s head with the golf club and then he pushed him in the zombies’ hole. What a horrible death, being eaten alive from his head. Poor Martinez. Brian said he doesn’t want it. He made his point.
So, after killing the leader, Brian did not have much choice left. Go or be the new leader. Oh, by the way, I love how they fast concluded Martinez’s death was an accident. Silly army boys. Pete was made new leader by himself, and Mitch supported him. They went on a new trip with Brian and found a new camp of survivors. They argued what to do : steal their stuffs and kill them or keep searching for other supplies. Pete made the right decision : they don’t kill people. But only when they came back, the camp had been attacked. Who attacked them ? Did Brian had enough time to do it ? or did Carol kill some new people ? I don't know. I guessed it was Brian's way to tell them they need to stop argue and do anything to survive.
Anyways, when night fell, Brian took his new family (only girls!) and they tried to escape. It could have been a good idea, expect there were many walkers trapped at the exit. Now, Brian has only one choice left to survive.
On the next morning, he paid Pete a little visit. He didn’t say a word and stabbed him directly in the back ! Oh The Governor, you are back ! As he xplaned to Mitch, he has to protect this camp now, because he has a new family. And according to him, there is no right or bad decisions, the only thing that matters is survival. You do what you have to do. His logic is terrible but I can understand him. But that means no justice in this world anymore, it’s every man for himself. It’s not evolution, it’s devolution. He made his point to Mitch with a childhood souvenir from his brother and himself. His brothers made the right thing but it doesn’t mean things got better. It can happen but if everybody stops trying, stops caring about others it’s the end of humanity. Brian, you are a bad man.
But on the other hand, The Governor showed he has a softer side, he has feelings, yet he is human. He cares for Megan as she was his own daughter, he has romantic feelings for Tara. He is not all that dark and cold, but the effects of his love are terrible. He is willing to kill anyone just to be sure, in his mind, that his family is protected. Pete's decision did not threaten Tara and Megan. He is clearly deranged. I can’t wait to see how Tara will react when she finds out about the real Brian. Megan stated her father was a bad man, violent. So is Brian. I'm guessing this will end their fling.
I really enjoyed the underwater scene with Zombie Pete. It was so much fun. I’ve never expected that, actually I’ve never wondered what happened to a corpse tied to a rock after being thrown into a lake, so I enjoyed watching Zombie Pete trying to reach out of the water. The Governor kept looking at him, looking at what he did and clearly his conscious was not too heavy. He could have put a bullter in Pete's head but he chose not to. He is so cruel. I kinda like him but still, I can't wait for Michonne to cut his head.
At the end, Brian took his car and went right to the prison ! He watched Rick, Carl, Hershel and Michonne and then aimed his gun ! Bastard ! Guess the old Gouvernor is back, he is the same, killing innocents to “protect” his family. He already lost one family and a village, he should understand by now he is on the wrong way. But no, he is still acting the same.
So, what will happen next time ? It’s the mid-season finale ! Things will be crazy I’m sure. It’s the big showdown at the prison between The Governor and Rick. I hope it will be the last time we see the prison ! And maybe The Governor (I don't care about this rumor of him being back for season 5!)
Finally, I just wanted to state that Alicia is my favorite new character. She is damn funny and strong, I like women like that ! And it was missing on The Walking Dead. Lorri shown only strength in her last moments, it was powerfull but kinda late, Andrea kept making stupid calls, just when Carol got darker, they made her go. Luckily Michonne is still here, and now smiling and talking. Alicia can be another great addition to the cast. And I like her relationship with Lilly, it’s really nice to see them together.
What did you think of Dead Weight ? Did you think it was awesome or just a filler episode before the mid season finale ? Hit the comments !
Otherwise, I’m also very fond of cats, I own 5 of them. I work as an administrative assistant, in one of the greatest place to work in France. I also enjoy sunbathing, reading and having fun ! I hate doing sports !
You might want to go back over that and grammar check it. There are a lot or errors that really makes it hard to read/follow. :( As for the review it's self, I agreed with most points. I don't like Alicia and Lilly. I'm not homophobic, at all, but the problem I have with it is that it's just so blunt and cliche. Pretty girl sees pretty girl, instantly they fall for eachother and are running off to be alone. /instantly/. Love might happen that way sometimes, sure, but it very much just looks like the show trying to attract more of the community with 'look! We have a gay couple! You like us now!'.
ReplyDeleteI would be insulted more then attracted to the concept, just as I'd roll my eyes over a guy and girl meeting, talking for one minute, and jumping eachother's bones the next. But at least with that, I'd know it wasn't some publicity stunt, it'd just be bad writing.
As for the rest, I generally enjoyed the episode. No great surprises for me, though it did make me a little sad. I knew the gov would go back to his evil ways, but at the same time I was hoping for him. I can't say anything he did that was good redeemed him for all the horrible stuff, but I /can/ grasp the mentality behind his actions. He and rick are very much alike, I believe. Except for the separate paths they went down.. The gov has clearly lost his mind. The actor's facial expressions throughout this episode were fantastic and you could see and feel the gov's horror at times at his own actions. It didn't look like he wanted to kill his old 'friend', but at the same time, he was severely unstable and terrified. He didn't want that responsibility, not when he was possibly starting to heal. Not when it meant the weight of survival for all of those people on his shoulders again. So.. He lost it. Again.
I really liked this ep. I didn't know what to expect and was surprised that the Gov came back in full force. But you can tell he had hoped to run away from leadership, but in the end, he accepted he was going to be the leader again. This ep was powerful in alot of ways. And I found I was liking the characters, which is going to make it harder to watch the big fight between this group and our regular group.
ReplyDeleteThanks, well I understand what you mean about Lilly and Alicia, it sure came fast but in my opinion it was still nice to watch. It brought some light in this dark world.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes The Governor is a total psycho now. He always has been, but last week he tried to be a better man, he failed.
I can not wait to see him attack the prison !
Yes they have nicely introduced new characters and it felt good. I hope Alicia and Lilly will make it out alive but I'm expecting lots of casualties next week in the big fight.
ReplyDeleteThe Governor is forced to be a leader, because he wants to protect his family, and in his mind, he is the only one who can do that, because he is willing to do anything for them. He's a terrible leader
I completely disagree with your assessment of Brian / The Governor.
ReplyDeleteThere is no good and evil in the world of TWD, only those that survive and those that do not. This is the message they are trying to hammer home.
To assume The Governor's actions are because he's 'bad', is to make assumptions and use the same childish logic as Megan. There is no black and white here, because this world does not operate under the same rules as the old. Survival is a harsh game, something Rick should have considered before he exiled Carol. And survival is something that Brian understands better then most.
While the Governor/Brian is still a man dancing on the edge of madness, he has found an anchor for his sanity: Megan, Lilly and Tara. As they're leaving camp he say's to Lilly, "I can't loose you again". In his mind, the girls are the family he lost, and loosing his wife and daughter are what pushed him over the edge in the first place. He knows that his sanity depends on keeping the girls alive. They are what give him a reason to live and not just survive. He's desperate not to go back to being the monster that he was, though truly the only thing that changes is he has someone besides himself to care for. That's another message here: To survive is a basic instinct of any animal, compassion is what truly makes us human.
His actions are a result of this desperation. The murders he commits reflect this. He kills Martinez because Martinez wants the old Governor back, an insane man who ruled ruthlessly and cared for nothing and no one. Martinez wants this because he knows that Brian knows how to survive at all costs (something Martinez is not capable of yet, except as a follower). He kills Pete because he's already seen Pete is unreliable under duress and cant make simple decisions especially when it counts. Pete is weak, and a weak leader is a danger to his new family, and he cant have that.
These are all setups for the showdown with Rick's group. The confrontation coming is not between the 'good' and 'bad' guys, it's between two groups of people desperate to survive who know its them or us. The writers are trying to layer in complexity to the writing and raising the stakes.
Think about it, there is almost no difference between Rick and Brian. Both men do what they must to survive, be it the 'right' thing or not. Both do what they do to protect their 'group'. Rick after all lead an attack on Woodbury and did not care that innocent people were caught in the crossfire. He's left many innocents behind him on the road to die. He even exiled a friend to keep the status quo in the prison. And Rick also almost lost himself to madness after Lorrie died. He may not be quite the mass murderer that Brian is but when Brian was killing people, he was not a sane man and as 'temporary leave of sanity' is a valid legal defence in a murder trail, I'll apply that to Brian here too.
Brian knows the only way he can keep his new family safe is to find a defendable haven with supplies. The only place that he knows could possibly offer that is the prison that Rick & co occupy. He cant go to them and ask to be let in and be forgiven. There is too much bad blood between them and both Rick and Brian know joining the two groups would mean the burden of too many mouths to feed... aka 'Dead Weight'.
To survive in a world like this, you have to do things that change you as a person, and cross the old moral and ethical boundaries that no longer really exist. Holding on to your humanity may come at the cost of your life. Those that keep 'living' and not just surviving are the ones who find that fragile balance between the two.
Thank you for your comment :)
ReplyDeleteI still disagree with you. I understand what you mean, but for me, living like this has limits. Okay, you may survive a little longer than others, but at the end, you will be all alone and unsafe.
Living as there is no bad or good makes you loose your humanity. And, I'm sorry, but it matters. How can you keep on living excluding other people ? You can't. Human beings are social animals, we are made to live in society. We can not survive alone and therefore, we do need rules. We need to know that murderer is not accepted and will be punished. Otherwise, it's the end.
Brian is totally crazy. He wants to protect his family but he killed Pete because of something he might have done. He just let another group survive, he decided not to attack them. It was his mistake for The Governor.
The difference between Rick and Brian is that Rick is trying. He has his didactor moment but he realized it was not the way. At the prison, they have a council, they are doing things together and they are surviving. The Governor will attack them, putting their lives at risk.
You completely missed the point of my post and the meaning behind the episode. You're looking for good guys and bad guys but the writers are challenging these conventions and trying to make the story much more complex and compelling.
ReplyDeleteThese last two episodes have shown Brian is trying, and that he needs to be with people, especially his new 'family', to keep hold of his sanity and his humanity. When we first saw him last week, he is a shell of a man haunted by his conscience. He is existing by sheer instinct to survive but he is not 'living'; he even shuffles along like one of the walkers.
Megan, Tara and Lilly bring him back to life and we see him begin to change symbolised by cutting his hair and shaving his beard. If he was truly a simple 'bad guy', he would not have continued to protect the girls, nor suffered the effects of his conscience after killing Pete and Martinez. Nor would he have taken leadership of the group and worked with them to set up defences... he would have simply left with the girls. These are not bad people, or killers. Brian eliminated those from the group like Pete and Martinez, because he realised those are the true 'dead weights' not innocents like Megan.
Brian learnt his lesson from Woodbury and is trying to make a difference to this new group just as Rick did when he killed Shane (because Shane was a danger to his groups survival, just like Pete and Martinez) and established the new group in the prison. These are all very blatant parallels intentionally written in.
The people of Brian's group see him as a strong leader, which is why they follow him. As twisted and fucked up as it is, he's doing what he feels is his best to protect this new group, even committing 'murder' when necessary. But there is a killer in every character.
Just look at the last few episodes. Brian killed potentially dangerous men out-right yes; but Rick gave Carol, a loyal friend, practically a death sentence by exiling her too.
Rick and the others have killed to survive. Even Carl has killed needlessly to survive and protect his father (and his only punishment was to have his gun taken away). That's the whole point, no one is 'good' and no one has a clear conscience. It raises the stakes for next week's episode, we have two groups who are fighting for survival. No good guys, no bad buys, just survivors.
Maybe the moral to learn this season is it's not 'them or us' and that merely surviving by any mean's necessary is not living.
Why is it that the same people who post that Rick giving Carol her walking papers for killing someone who was not dead also compare that action to Carl killing that kid? What show were they watching? Did Hershell not order Toby to throw the gun down? Did he not advance towards them with gun still in hand? Did no one notice the other weapon he was carrying? Dont they remember that kid came there with an army to kill team prison?
ReplyDeleteAnd why do they insist on pushing these ideas that that the Gov. actions ie killing Pete, killing those soldiers in season 3 etc... are actions that should be sanctioned.
If we turn into savages we are truly done as humans. Wrong is wrong, no matter how you slice and dice it.
I'm not saying any of these actions are 'right' or trying to justify them, I'm saying look at the motivations behind those actions. Murder is not the simple taking of a life, if that were the case all soldiers would be murderers and there would be no such thing as 'self defence'. Motivations behind actions determine what the taking of a life ultimately is, crime or justifiable killing. The point is the writer's are trying to build up parallels between Rick and Brian and the two groups they represent, so that no one is truly the good or the bad guy in the simplest definition of that idea.
ReplyDeleteThey're trying to add complexity so that its not simply a good vs. evil show, so it's a show about survival and all the fucked up consequences, losses of humanity and blurring of the lines between right and wrong (where the hell is the line in this world anyway?). And I hope ultimately, that no matter how far we sink into darkness, there is always a light in the darkness to be found through connection to others. What other hope is there in this story? We exist in a small part of the world, there little chance of outside help, no possible chance of one of them finding a 'cure' and the only end in sight for anyone right now is how they die.
If you want to use Carol as an example, she killed two people who were dying horribly, 'drowning in their own blood' and had no hope of survival; then burnt the bodies to prevent infection. Murder or Mercy? It's got shades of euthanasia, a complex subject which has very hard questions being discussed in today's society; what side you stand on depends on what your definition of morality is on the subject. Carol made no excuses for what she did, only that she made a hard decision to protect the group. She also risked her life to restore the water supply showing her commitment to the group and its survival. Rick gave her no chance to justify her actions to the group, he acted as judge, jury and executioner even though he has been shunning the role of leader. It should have been the council's decision, and he has yet to explain his actions fully to everyone. I'm sure thats coming and the resulting fall out might fracture the group (jeopardising it's survival) ultimately more then Carol's actions.
Frankly I welcome a show that asks hard questions, that builds up layers of complexity in it's characters, and seeks to examine subjects like morality. They seem to want us to see characters in shades of grey, not black or white. Frankly I was getting bored with the bad situation of the week, that there had to be a 'bad guy' and the relentless march into dark monotony. And, also for 'hope' in the idea that even the darkest character, with their all their flaws and yes horrible crimes, can in some sense achieve a little redemption.
Its tara and alicia, lily is the one sleeping with the governor
ReplyDeleteWhile you are correct that humans are social animals and that there must be rules for society to function... In this world, it takes a different set of rules to function correctly. It's almost a sort of tribe mentality. It's "My tribe vs your tribe". That's pretty baseline human to me. We used to be pretty tribal like that.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that we can lose our humanity is just a poetic one in my opinion. And who's to say being ethical matters at a time like this? Remember human population in TWD universe is probably down to the millions. Maybe less. And the majority of people are quite spread out. Being ethical like we can in today's age could mean the extinction of the entire human race. Tell me, is being ethical and fair worth the extinction of the entire race?
To me, ethical and fair societies can only work in a semi stable form of government. Which there can not really be in a world like this. Not yet. Don't get me wrong, being kind and fair to your group can be quite beneficial but it's risky to take in outsiders. What if you let someone in your camp who seemed to be starving and then they shoot you in the middle of the night because they had their group just waiting on the outskirts of your camp ready to come in and kill you for your supplies at the right moment when you were not prepared. Where did your humanity get you, perhaps your family, and friends? Death. It could work the other way, certainly. But it's still risky. You can not apply our rules of morality to this situation. Our morality today is even a widely debated issue that hardly anyone can agree on very often. Throw in a apocalyptic event where we lose pretty much everything? Yeah..
Of course, these societies even with the Governor in charge are not exactly stable either.
Agree with the grammar check, it's a little distracting.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for peeps forming quick relationships, it's the ZA people! We could get bit at any time, so if you get chance for some quick happiness, I'm thinking you grab it-literally. Besides probably you or them will be dead before it's time to think divorce...
The governor is now a psychotic serial murderer. Carol is also a murderer. You dont know that they were drowning in their own blood. There was no such scene. She attempted to justify her actions when all she had to do was isolate the sick.
ReplyDeleteShe demonstrated further calousness when she suggested the two hippies go in search of supplies.
The governor cloaks himself with this new pseudo family unit to make himself seem 'normal' but his head is not right - his need to see his victims suffer/Pete, the floating heads in the tank...is ample proof.
Indeed, it is only a show which is now discussed in universities around the world and judging from recent pandemics not so far fetched. In an actual 'zombie apocalypse' I hope that humanity has evolved enough to strive to achieve a better world because if we excuse the actions of individuals/characters such as the governor and Carol we will completely miss the boat.
Indeed, you can see how well Woodbury worked, it didnt. It imploded from within. Sooner or later Humpty Dumpty falls. It is a fine line. Despite all of the comforts and all the good people working with him.
ReplyDeleteRegarding taking someone in that is starving, the woman in the woods is a good example of that. According to her she had her own survival plan but just because she was trying to survive in her own way it does not excuse her actions.
One thing we can be sure of, a situation such as this will break many people. Not only will it weed out the sick, elderly, vulnerable...it will incubate much insanity. Groups of criminally insane will come together and there will be horrific chaos and mayhem. It is sure to be an uphill battle for those who are able to remain "good"
What sorts of governments will arise from situations such as this would be interesting to see.
Are you really saying that killing anyone you don't know, or don't trust, will keep the human race from going extinct? Regardless of whether you think that doing that is right or not, doing that would certainly lead to the extinction of the human race faster than finding a balance.
ReplyDeleteWhen did I mention killing those people? I said it was risky to trust outsiders and it could get you killed. And no, it really wouldn't. Considering humans are kind of still around. The only difference between TWD and ancient humans is that instead of animals and other tribes, theres zombies and other tribes. And TWD guys have guns and such.
ReplyDeleteI also said that being ethical is not always the best option in this kind of world.