The Walking Dead Episode 304
“Killer Within”
Written By: Sang Kyu Kim
Directed By: Guy Ferland
Original Airdate: 4 November 2012
In This Episode...
Let’s start in Woodbury. Andrea and Michonne are planning on leaving. Michonne is still untrusting of the perfection of Woodbury, and she takes a look at the recently acquired military vehicles and sees evidence that the National Guardsmen were killed by humans, not zombies. She has made a plan for her and Andrea, to head out to the coast in the hopes that the water will offer them some protection. Maybe they will even take a boat, find an island, and live without fear of the dead. The thought of not seeing any other humans ever again does not appeal to Andrea. After arriving in Woodbury, she realized how much she missed human interaction. She meets with the Governor, who tells her if things get too hairy out there, she is always welcome back, and he tells her his real name: Phillip. Andrea drew out on a map the farmhouse, the last place she saw Daryl, and gave it to Merle. Merle goes to the Governor, asking permission to take a couple guys with him to go find Daryl. The Governor doesn’t want to put his men at risk, and when Merle offers to go alone, the Governor proclaims that he needs Merle too much to let him go.
At the prison, our group is planning another supply run. Axel and Oscar come to them, begging to be part of their group. I mean, truly begging. The cellblock they are in now is filled with corpses of their friends, and they can’t get them outside because of holes in the fences that have the yard crawling with walkers. T-Dog is inclined to believe that they will be productive members of the core group, but Rick disagrees. So do Maggie, Carol, Daryl, and Glenn. So they are given the options to stay put or leave the prison. Rick offers them a vehicle and a week’s worth of supplies to get out.
As they are setting up for a supply run or something, walkers descend. There is a mad scramble to kill them and find safety. Rick, Glenn, and Daryl are locked in the chain link “safe zone,” cutting them off from the weaker members of the herd. Beth and Hershel (who has recently regained mobility with the aide of crutches) find safety in a small gated area; Oscar and Axel find a similar caged-in area. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn finally make it inside and set about killing. T-Dog and Carol help until they are overcome and run to the catacombs. Maggie, Lori, and Carl face a similar problem, and race into the prison.
On the way inside, T-Dog gets bitten in the shoulder by a zombie. Carol is worried about him, but he insists on fighting as long as he can, and getting her to safety. they are cornered by a couple of walkers, and T-Dog sacrifices himself to them so that Carol can escape.
Alarms start to go off, which is attracting more walkers. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn go with Oscar and Axel to find the emergency generator and shut it off. They finally find it, and discover that it had been triggered by another prisoner - a human prisoner. He attacks Rick with an axe and the two fight mightily. Neither has the upper hand, both lose their weapons, and it is clear they will not stop until one of them is dead. Oscar grabs Rick’s gun off the floor and points it. Rick thinks he is going to be shot, but Oscar instead shoots the punk who attacked Rick - then hands the gun back to Rick. If that doesn’t earn you a spot in the circle, then nothing will.
Carl is trying to scout ahead to find a safe place to hide with Lori and Maggie. Lori, naturally, goes into labor. Carl finds them a machine room to hide out in while Maggie gets in there to help Lori deliver the baby. She pushes until Maggie says to stop - there is a problem, and there is blood. Lots of blood. Yeah, we all know where this is going. Lori wants her baby to be saved at all costs, and insists Maggie cut the baby out. Maggie does her best, following the C-section scar from Carl’s birth. She needs Carl to come help her hold back the flaps of skin so she can see the uterus and make sure she isn’t cutting too deep. Maggie removes the baby, and it is still. She pats it a few times, and it starts to cry. Carl gives Maggie his jacket to wrap the baby in, but there is one more thing that needs to be done. Carl insists that, since Lori is his mom, it is his responsibility to kill her. Maggie moves away with the baby, and we hear a shot, followed by a stoney Carl who marches Maggie out of there.
Outside, Rick is ready to go in and do another sweep for Carl and the girls. But he doesn’t need to. He hears a noise. Turns around. Sees Carl. Maggie. The bloody infant. And no one else. It takes a moment to register. Lori is dead. Rick is overcome with grief. Maggie sobs. Carl is in shock.
Dig It or Bury It?
I think that cutting between the prison and Woodbury tonight was a mistake. The prison stuff was so intense, and the Woodbury stuff was so... not. Normally this can be very effective, but I found the Woodbury stuff to be repetitive, boring, and lacking any tension. And wow, that ending was pretty intense.
Kill o’ the Week
This one is fairly obvious: Lori. Her death took place completely off-screen, which just made it all the more effective. You didn’t need to see her child put a gun to her head. You just needed to hear the shot, and see the grim-faced Carl, aged far beyond his years and irreversibly scarred.
Prophecies?
Woodbury celebrates, Rick goes crazy, and the infant is in bad shape.