‘Isolation’ picks up just minutes after where last week’s
episode ‘Infected’ left off, Tyreese has just found the burned bodies of Karen,
his girlfriend, and another community member burned beyond recognition. The
assumption is that, since the two were sick and under quarantine, someone
inside the prison killed and burned them to prevent further spread of the
illness. Fans of the comic will recognize this setup as the start of a major
turn for Tyreese…the events are drastically different but the emotional result
is the same. Honestly, this episode should have been called “Tyreese’s Bad Day”,
because things only get worse for the big guy, but more on that in a bit. Rick
and Daryl arrive to find Tyreese standing over the bodies, demanding justice.
The sleeping giant is awake, it’s not that I never noticed that Chad Coleman,
the actor playing Tyreese, was a big guy, it’s more that his character has been
so passive until now. The site of his girls burned body was enough to flip the
switch which leads to one of the best moments of acting that the series has
given us so far. Coleman really digs deep to show Tyreese’s rage and damn do we
feel it, he goes from a big teddy bear to the most physically intimidating
person on the series in .2 seconds. This is where we run into my first problem
with this episode. While Rick is trying to calm him down Tyreese loses it and
decks Rick, Rick gets up, face intact, and beats the hell out of Tyreese until
Daryl pulls him off. Rick Grimes is about 5’10” and a malnourished 150lbs at
best, Tyreese looks about 6’2” 250lbs solid, there’s a better chance that the
zombies learn the Thriller dance than there is of Rick getting up after Tyreese
puts him down. It seems like a small thing to gripe about but in the bigger
picture it really sets Ricks character back about 2 steps. He seemed to be
pulling his sanity and leadership abilities back together but it all goes to
crap the second he’s hit, for Rick to have taken the hit and remained calm
would have been a major turning point. As if all this wasn’t enough for Tyreese
to handle, we find out that his younger sister, Sasha, is among the sick…and
getting worse by the moment.
The group decides, on Herschel’s urging, that the only way
to cure the sick is to get more antibiotics from a site 50 miles away. Daryl
begins putting together a scouting party with he, the very suspicious Bob, and
Michonne, who Daryl seems to have some serious chemistry with. This brings us
to an interesting place that could have us finally getting to some storylines
that we thought were ditched. It’s been hinted several times that Daryl, who
seems to have taken on some of who Tyreese was in the comics, is in some manner
of relationship with Carol. If he and Michonne get together, well, those who
read the comics will know where that leads. If this episode shows us anything
it’s that your favorite moments from the comics may still pop up, even if they’re
not where you expect them. Anyway, back to the show, Feeling a little light on
muscle Daryl tries to get Tyreese to go with them. While it doesn’t go well at
first, Daryl shows some major potential as group leader (better be careful
Rick) when he’s able to reason with and convince Tyreese to go with them.
Herschel finally gets a chance to prove his worth once again
after Dr. S, the acting community doctor, gets stricken with the infection plaguing
the prison. It’s actually a really cool series of moments for Herschel who,
since he was bitten early in Season 3, has had to weather being put in his
place by everyone from Rick to his own Daughters and was only able to
contribute as a reserved voice of reason throughout the Woodbury saga. It ends
up being Carl who drives Herschel to start being his own man again, I suppose
realizing that a 10 year old has no problem ordering you around will do that to
a man. After being confronted by Rick and co. about his insistence to go into
the quarantined cell block to treat the sick Herschel has had enough and gives
an inspired speech that’s hard to argue with, I’m paraphrasing here but it was
to the effect of “We’re all in danger, every hour of every day. The only thing
we get to choose is what we are in danger from”. Herschel heads into the sick
wing and begins trying to break the fever’s that threaten to kil the sick
before Daryl and his crew get back. Oh…yeah, almost forgot, Glen is among the
sick. It almost pains me to realize that I really don’t care too much about
Glenn anymore, he was always one of my favorites but seems to have dropped off.
Beth and Maggie have a moment while talking about Herschel which just confused
me even more, I may be trying to make too many connections to the comic but I
would have sworn after Beth’s non-reaction to her boyfriend’s death that she
was going to assume the suicidal crazy person role…this time around we see her
saying the same things as before but you can see in her face that she is far
from void of emotion.
Back on the road Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob are on
their way to scout for antibiotics when they run into an ocean of walkers. In a
true “Oh SHIT” moment Daryl gets the car stuck on a pile of walker bodies while
trying to get away. With no choice but to ditch the car and make a run for it
the crew empties out of the car and makes for the woods, until they realize
that Tyreese hasn’t moved. He’s alone, sitting in the car surrounded by walkers
and totally emotionless. There’s a tense few moments when we question whether
they could kill him off so quickly, has he simply given up and resigned himself
to his fate? Then it happens. Tyreese emerges from the car, hammer in hand, and
begins to decimate zombie after zombie. HIS GYM MOMENT IS HERE! The group sees
him hopelessly surrounded by dozens of zombies and takes off for the woods,
leaving him for dead…but we know better! Several minutes later the crew stops
to catch their breath when two walkers emerge from the woods, before Daryl can
pull the trigger out comes Tyreese, killing one of the walkers with his last
ounce of strength before being helped off by the stunned trio.
Easily my favorite episode this season thus far, ‘Isolation’
wouldn’t have been complete without a last minute reveal. Remember what I said
earlier about Beth assuming the crazy Carol role? Yeah, looks like Carol’s got
that covered. Not only did she have a possibly suicidal moment about midway
through the episode but right before the credits role Rick asks her one
question, did you kill Karen? Her icy cold and matter of fact response? “Yes”. I have no, no idea how this is John's favorite episode of the season so far. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL. Because this episode felt really, really cheaply written to me. Sure, it progresses the "everyone is getting sick" storyline, and yes, the final "Carol killed them" reveal was important. But again, I feel like we're regressing back to the previous season of "The Walking Dead," in that things don't feel earned. I feel like the writers are taking these half-steps to give the characters background and development to get them to how they're introduced in the comics, but why not just introduce them that way from the get-go? Oh, Tyreese is a badass now - because he was ALWAYS A BADASS in the comics. Always. He didn't need to get swarmed by zombies in some my-girlfriend-was-killed death-wish to show us that. It's infuriating.
So I don't know if I really have good stuff to point out this week; my thoughts might all be negative or, at the very least, punctuated with an eyeroll. Here we go:
Meh: Oh, I totally forgot that Beth and Maggie are sisters. Like, COMPLETELY FORGOT. So their heart-to-heart this episode was fine, I guess, but it can't be good that I didn't remember that essential relationship among our group of survivors. Maybe if Beth had more to do than just be Rick's daughter's babysitter? Maybe if her boyfriend, the one and only Beaver Casablancas, had stuck around for more than a half-episode? GIVE BETH SOMETHING TO DO.
Eyeroll, part 1: Rick being able to beat up Tyreese? Shut up, no.
Eyeroll, part 2: All of the rest of Tyreese's storyline. I understand that I sound like a broken record when I say things like, "The comics did it better," but seriously, guys, with Tyreese, THE COMICS DID IT BETTER. I think what is most frustrating about this whole storyline with Karen is that I did not give a fuck about Karen. I know nothing about Karen. I don't care about Karen. Tyreese's puppy-love relationship with Karen did not matter to me in the slightest. I want to understand Tyreese separately, as his own character, and as his own man, and I think this episode wanted to do that and didn't accomplish it. I still don't understand what Tyreese's priorities are, or what his life was like before the zombie apocalypse, or why he cared so much about Karen, or how her death is going to shape him moving forward. The most important thing this episode did is show us that Tyreese is loyal to the group, and for right now, still loyal to Rick. How that changes given what Rick found out at the end of the episode will be important, I suppose, but again, it will define Tyreese in relation to Karen, not as his own person. And I think that's a serious problem; it undermines Tyreese overall and, I fear, won't let him develop into the really important character he is supposed to be, yes, in the comics. The comics did it better; sorry I'm not sorry.
Blergh: So Carol killed Karen and that other guy? Oh, OK. Overall, I must admit that I think Carol's transformation over these seasons has been done really well! I like her going from hopeless to more badass, and I think her friendship with Daryl, her motherly role over the children, and her place on the council are all important. Which is why her going rogue and killing two people does not make sense. Overall, I think it would have been a far better storyline if the culprit had been Bob, because at least that character would have been developed into a murderous asshole. Now he's just a fringe character played by a recognizable, good actor, with nothing to do. And Carol, who up until now has firmly played within the democracy structure of the group - how is she going to react after her admission to Rick? Will she defend her actions? Try to make her case to Tyreese? Is this going to be the break within the group that draws the Governor out of hiding? Blergh.
Ultra BLERGH: Glenn is SICK? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE IN EVERY WAY. NOOOOO.
