The Walking Dead: Live Bait (S4: E6)

I think we can all agree this week was a little surprising. I for one was expecting the Governor to cause trouble for Rick and company, perhaps in subtle ways like feeding vermin to walkers near the prison fence?

Instead, we see the Governor’s journey since the roadside massacre of his community. He and his two minions drive away, then find an open area and pitch a few tents. He’s sitting in front of the fire alone (lost in thought? losing his mind?) when a walker starts moaning and stumbling toward him. Instead of, oh, say, getting a gun he lets her fall in the fire and drag herself almost within chomping distance. Martinez wakes up just long enough to shoot her and give the Governor a look of disgust. When he wakes up the following morning, he’s truly alone. They left his crazy ass behind.

He drives a big Army truck into Woodbury, and in case there’s any question about his state of mind, he burns the entire place to the ground.

He wanders around, looking pretty rough. He seems to be avoiding death by chance rather than design. He collapses next to an apartment building and sees a small girl in an upper story window. He manages to get up and stagger that direction, perhaps believing its Penny.

There’s a family living there: Tara, the over-zealous sister who disarms the Governor and bosses him around, almost as though she doesn’t realize he could snap and shoot them all at any second (weird, I know), Lilly, the lonely mother who perceives him as a potential savior and booty-call provider, Megan, her emotionally stunted daughter, and the patriarch Don, who survived the initial onslaught of zombie mayhem only to die slowly of lung cancer.

He gives up his gun and stays in a separate apartment, only for the night. Lilly brings him spaghettiOs in a bowl. His story about being in a community where the leader “lost it” must have gotten to her. IF ONLY YOU KNEW, Lilly. No, in all seriousness, the Governor seems broken. He’s nothing like the man who lost control and shot his people to shit. He seems as though he’s feeling genuine regret, as though he’s really lost. It’s very intriguing to watch. Honestly, I wanted to hug him. But then, I’m a sucker for a charismatic villain.

Anyway, he’s preparing to leave the following morning when Lilly pops over to beg him to get some extra oxygen tanks from the nursing home down the road. Even one might help their father live a bit longer, and she says Don is the only one who can get Megan to smile. The Governor must be looking for a little redemption, because he does it. He goes and fights off a mess of elderly zombies to get away with the oxygen.

He brings it back, but he’s injured. Lilly, who was a nurse before the world ended, fusses over him and tends to his forehead scrape. She goes to check on Don and Megan strikes up a conversation with “Brian.” (He gave a fake name, obviously. I mean, what if all the people wandering the streets told tales of the horrors at Woodbury? Oh, WAIT.) Anyway, he and the kid hit it off and before we know it they’re playing chess.

It isn’t looking good for Don, and soon enough he dies. The Governor is all throat-clearing and stern, and encouraging them to move their asses away from the corpse, when Don reanimates and grabs Tara’s hair and tries to gnaw on her face. The Governor bashes his head in with the handy oxygen tank. Megan and Tara are traumatized, although Megan acknowledges he was saving her life and she knows he had to do it. Megan isn’t quite so understanding.

He gets ready to take off, but Lilly stops him. She tells him she saw his photo and knows he had a family, but THEY are his family now and he has to take them somewhere better and protect them. I guess he likes being in charge of people, because he agrees and the next thing we know they’re cruising down the highway in the food truck. They stop for the night, and Lilly prods the Governor with her shoulder until he gets the message that she’s looking for some action.

The food truck breaks down. They get their bags and start walking, but a noise spooks Tara and she falls all over herself and twists her ankle. The Governor, having been out in the world more than they have, recognizes that strange noises are BAD and tiptoes to the fork in the road where – NO SURPRISE! – a bunch of zombies are milling around looking for dinner. He shouts at them to leave their bags and run for it. Megan stands frozen. He coaxes her, holding out his arms, and she decides he’s less freaky than the walkers and runs into them. He carries her, running.

WHOOPS, there’s a big motherfucking hole. They fall into it, and there are already some zombies trapped in it. (Is this the zombie pit? Are they outside of Woodbury?) The Governor, revitalized by his need to protect Megan, springs into action and starts killing them. He saves her, and she hugs him, and he promises never to let anything happen to her. Mmmkay. Anyone else feeling like he was a WEE BIT possessive?

He looks up, and Martinez is standing above the pit looking shocked. The end!

Unlike what seems to be a large number of dissatisfied fans, I really liked this episode. It humanizes the Governor, puts him in a different light. We’re reminded that before everything went to hell, he was different. Maybe he’s still changing?

I do have a lot of questions. What’s going on at the prison? What about Daryl finding out about Carol? Are Martinez and the Governor going to take another shot at the prison? WHO IS FEEDING THE WALKERS? Is it Lizzie? Is there another enemy lurking? How long will it take for the walls to come down completely? Is Carol surviving? Maybe next week we’ll get a few answers.