The Walking Dead: Too Far Gone (4.8)

I have SO MANY FEELINGS about the mid-season finale. I needed two days just to digest what I saw. HERSHEL! JUDITH! I’m getting slightly ahead of myself, but I’m ready now.

Michonne and Hershel are busy burning dead walkers, minding their own business, when Michonne makes the bad choice to walk past a tree and BAM, the Governor clobbers her in the face with his gun. She drops like a stone, but what can Hershel do? He’s an old guy with a bum leg.

He takes them captive in his camper (oh, how the mighty have fallen). Michonne is full of silent rage and verbal promises to murder the Governor, but Hershel shushes her and tries to negotiate. He can sense that the Governor has changed, and suggests they all live together in the prison. The Governor scoffs at the idea; he believes they all hate each other too much to coexist. He plans to use Hershel and Michonne as leverage to get Rick and the others to skedaddle.

The Governor, aka Brian, rallies his new group to take over the prison. They’re better prepared this time (not that Lilly or the others have a clue about last time) – they have a TANK. And as usual, the Governor proves he’s exceptionally skilled at spouting bullshit. He says Rick and the prison crew and the ones who destroyed Woodbury. He says all the good places are taken, and they won’t survive where they are. He tells them they need to steal the prison to survive. Probably still shaken after Megan’s near-death experience with the walker under the camper (GOOD TIMING, GOVERNOR), they all agree it’s what they need to do. Lilly is very reluctant – when the Governor assures her the walkers can’t get across the river she suggests finding a place near a body of water. He pats her head and tells her to stay put with Megan, he’ll be back to get them. There is a brief, touching scene where he’s hugging Megan and playing with her in the mud, and she’s worried about getting him dirty and he says she’s only making his jacket better and I REFUSE TO BE MOVED because based on the preview things could go very badly for Megan. (Also, the Governor is an asshole.)

At the prison, Daryl is finding out the unfortunate news about Carol. He’s angry, but they have a lot of shit going on – walkers breaking through fences, sick people who are still recovering…Daryl is still struggling to cope when POW, the whole prison shakes and Rick is like FUCK WHAT NOW and everybody runs outside and sure enough, the Governor and his mini-mob are on the other side of the gate looking all menacing because they have a tank and shit. Oh, and because they have Michonne and Hershel on their knees at gunpoint.

Rick tells Daryl to alert their people and strides out to face the Governor, stopping just inside the inner fence. He pleads with him to let Hershel and Michonne go, but the Governor has already shifted his gears all the way to WAR. He’s standing on the front of the tank all cocky and full of shit, giving ultimatums – Rick and the prison crew have until sundown to get the fuck out or they’ll attack. Rick looks at Hershel and Hershel looks at Rick, sending silent messages with his wisdom and cataract-filled eyes. Rick seems to hesitate, then extends the offer that they all live together. Hershel looks proud. The Governor refuses, and gets Michonne’s katana to hold against Hershel’s throat.

Farther back, Daryl is quietly arming everyone. The children are ordered to go get on the bus in case of a worst-case scenario, such as fleeing for their lives.

Lilly is perched on top of a camper, watching the river. She sees a walker shamble out of the woods and into the water and stands up looking more and more freaked out. Megan calls to her – she wants help digging. Lilly tells her to wait a minute. The walker falls, and gets swept downstream. Lilly relaxes. Megan digs up a sign that says, “Warning: Flash Flood Area.” A hand claws its way out of the mud right next to Megan. She starts screaming and Lilly looks over to see the walker using Megan to pull itself out of the muck. She scrambles down from the camper roof as fast as she can and runs over, but before she can reach her daughter or fire her gun, the walker chomps into Megan’s upper arm. Lilly kills it, but Megan is toast.

Rick gives a rousing speech about how NO ONE is too far gone. He says everyone has done things they’re ashamed of, things they want to take back. They had to, to survive. His eyes are shining and sincerity is pouring out of him when he tells the Governor they CAN coexist, they can make it work. The Governor looks as though he MIGHT be convinced, as though the part of him who was a husband and father wants to believe Rick. He slowly eases the katana away from Hershel’s neck. The people he brought with him look more than ready to put down their guns and declare peace. Then, tragically, the larger, crazypants portion of the Governor takes over and SWINGS THE SWORD, CUTTING HERSHEL’S NECK ALMOST IN HALF. He falls backward, dying at a rapid pace. Maggie and Beth are watching from the prison, and they scream in agony. (I may have screamed too.) I mean, THAT WAS HERSHEL. Hershel has been the linchpin and provider of common sense since he joined Rick and the others! HERSHEL, you cannot be replaced. The writers, however, ARE ON NOTICE.

People start shooting and Mitch rolls the tank through the gates. Rick gets hit in the leg and crawls behind the tipped over bus for cover. Michonne crawls out of line of fire, behind a vehicle, and gets busy cutting her restraints off with a rusted license plate.

Zombies are shambling in from all directions, listening to the gunfire and screams and preparing for a feast. Rick and the Governor engage in hand to hand ass-kicking.

Lilly appears behind the vehicles, holding a lifeless Megan. She hands her child to the Governor, who doesn’t hesitate to put a bullet through her brain.

Lizzie - stupid, DISOBEDIENT Lizzie stops the kids on their way to the bus and insists that Carol wanted them to be strong. They should get weapons and fight! It’s a great idea, really! The other idiot kids go with her. Away from the bus, dragging poor Judith with them.

There is a moment when Daryl is firing at the Governor’s flunkies and a walker is sneaking up behind him intently. I was muttering threats and pleas about keeping Daryl alive, and thankfully instead of killing him they provide him with a zombie shield.

Maggie realizes the kids are NOT, in fact, on the bus when she shoves Glenn on board. He’s still pretty sick, and she tells him to stay on the bus and not to wait for her – she’s going to get Beth and the brats.

The Governor is beating Rick to a scary-looking, squishy pulp when he realizes Michonne just put the katana through his midsection. He falls over, stunned, and she debates killing him before delivering an evil victory smirk and walking away, leaving him for the walkers to gnaw on. She helps Rick up and to safety.

Tyreese is hiding behind some planters, getting shot to shit by Tara’s new girlfriend, when Lizzie and her sister stroll up and shoot her through the head. Tyreese is shocked but extremely grateful. He says they have to get moving and Lizzie and her sister go the opposite direction. He follows them, panicked.

In a lovely twist, Lilly walks up to the Governor and shoots him in the head. He didn’t have time to ponder where he went wrong, but her message was pretty clear.

Rick runs through the prison yard shouting for Carl, CARL, CARL! Thankfully Carl appears, although they find Judith’s car seat empty and spattered with blood. I would like to take this time to extend a sincere thank you to AMC for keeping the zombie-eats-baby scene off screen.

Daryl finds Beth and they all run/limp/stumble in the direction the bus went, when it left without them. Walkers are flooding the prison, and it’s a get out or get dead situation. The episode ends with Rick and Carl rushing through the woods with the prison in the distant background, looking destroyed.

I loved this episode. I thought it was everything a mid-season finale should be. I was sorry to see the Governor go – his character was so conflicted, I think they could have done much more with his storyline. It was far more upsetting to see Hershel die. I loved Hershel. As for Judith, well…I strongly suspect it was a pain in the ass having a baby on set and realistically, a baby wouldn’t do well in an apocalypse. I’m surprised she made it as long as she did.

Deaths aside, I’m wicked excited to see what will happen in February. The prison is finished. They no longer have a safe haven, and there are problems apart from the walkers – such as whoever robbed that camp Mitch wanted to rob, and killed all those people. AND maybe they’ll run into Carol on the open road! Check back in February!