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EPISODE 11: Claimed
THE HOOK: In the wake of war with Woodbury, Rick and his group have turned the prison into a working community, but danger continues to stir on the outside as well as from within.
The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don’t recommend reading this if you haven’t watched this episode
THE LOWDOWN: Tonight takes off where last week left us, with Abraham, his crew, Tara and unconscious Glenn. We’re treated to Abraham taking out three walkers, and having a blast whilst doing it. Like Tara, I was also pleasantly surprised by his smiling demeanor. I guess Tallahassee (ZOMBIELAND) was right when he said you have to enjoy the little things. It’s clear that Abraham will quickly become a fan favorite, and I for one, am already on the A-Team. I don’t remember him saying anything in the comics about being on his way to Washington to help ‘save the world’, but then again, it’s been awhile since I’ve read that far back. All in all, loving his angle and attitude.
You can almost hear a large sigh of relief back at Rick, Carl and Michonne’s house, and it’s great to see Michonne and Carl laughing over breakfast. The Judith slipup was bound to derail the mood because it’s something Rick and Carl just aren’t ready to talk about right now. It’s obvious Rick hates having to stay back when they run for supplies, feeling like he’s the weak link, but man does he prove otherwise later on, but I’ll come back to that. Michonne is really trying to conquer her demons tonight, opening up to Carl the way she does. I wasn’t sure she’d ever mention her son to anyone, but the situation called for it and she did. The tomb in the upstairs of that house was gut-wrenching, it would be for anyone, but naturally it’s Michonne that has to find it. Her will, strength and courage are put to test and she comes out shining.
Rick’s catnap is interrupted when he hears arguing downstairs. A group of heavily armed men are in the house, clearing room after room, so he hides under the bed. Now before we get into that, is it me, or is there suddenly all kinds of human clusters roaming the streets? In the earlier seasons, people were so rare a find, now they’re everywhere it seems. Well, this group clearly isn’t as family oriented as our group because one guy kills another for a damn bed. Seriously guys? Because you don’t have enough problems. Rick manages to take one out in the bathroom, get a gun and shimmy his way down the side of the house. Luckily the dude they killed upstairs goes walker just as Carl and Michonne come into view and the three of them get away clean. The guy on the porch was played by Jeff Kober (he’s been in a lot of flicks, but lately you can find him on SONS OF ANARCHY playing Jacob Hale), so I’m sure we’ll be seeing him again. As for his crew, the bed fighting aside, I have to wonder how they got the guns and survived this long if the guy upstairs didn’t realize the dude he killed would come back. Dumbass.
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 4’s eleventh episode develops our characters a bit, but also offers up plenty of action and suspense. Now speaking of dumbasses, why are all the so-called smart guys on this show so f*cking careless? Abraham’s scientist dude, Eugene, supposedly the guy who can help save the damn world, suddenly doesn’t know how to work a machine gun and manages to shoot the hell out of their truck while Glenn and Abraham are fighting like bitches. Once again, it becomes obvious that we’re our own worst enemies, even in a zombie apocalypse. When Rosita and Eugene decide to help Glenn and Tara track down Maggie, Eugene actually says to Abraham, “Trust me, I’m smarter than you.” Tell that to the truck, asshat. I also didn’t like his smirk—that just might imply he did it on purpose for some reason. Who knows with this damn show. There’s also the tidbit about Washington not responding for the past couple weeks, and the fact that Rick and crew are heading up the tracks to Terminus to consider, making this a pretty cool episode.
ZOMBIE KILL OF THE WEEK: Abraham gets it for sure. I’m pretty sure Woody Harrelson is a fan of the show, and the way Abraham took out those three walkers made him smile. I did too.
BLOOD AND GORE: We got one big walker throwdown on the street, Abraham’s three walker fight, a grizzly farewell to a family and a couple strangulations.
WTF CHARACTER MOMENT: Eugene. Again, I don’t know what the hell this guy’s problem is, but clearly he has one. Anyone traveling with Abraham would know how to use a machine gun. Period. The guy would have seen to it. So what the hell? I don’t like him already.
COOLEST SCENE: I liked Rick’s Solid Snake stealth mission through the house tonight. It was fun to watch, and the boost he needed to get back in the game. Nice work Rick.
FINAL VERDICT:
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