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TV REVIEW: FTN reviews The Walking Dead SO4EO7: Dead Weight

November 28th, 2013 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

 

For the second week in a row we’ve been given an episode that focuses solely on The Governor. He and his new family have been discovered by Martinez and his new group. They were told that if they decided to stay there were only two rules: no dead weight and Martinez is in charge. Jump ahead to a supply run with Martinez, “Brian”, and a couple of other guys. Up until this point, aside from a couple of incidents in which he and his new family’s lives were put in danger, Brian has been a docile human being. Once a group of walkers puts the group of scavengers in danger, we see the transformation of “Brian” back into The Governor. You can even see it in his eyes. (David Morrisey is wonderful in that role!)

Now that The Governor is back in office the first rule of business is to take back the role of leadership the only way he knows how…by killing his way to the top. Martinez is obviously his first target. Much like the Governor forced him to do in Woodbury, Martinez forces Gov. to be his personal caddy while he plays golf and drinks heavily. While this is going on the Governor obviously has a plan, knocking Martinez out with a club and dragging him into a walker-pit to be eaten alive while making it look like an accident because Martinez was drunk. The next was Pete, who wanted to do right by the group, steps up as the next leader. He’s obviously no match for someone as evil and twisted as the Governor and is quickly murdered and dropped into the bottom of a lake. (Gov. takes special care not to kill his brain and leaves him as a walker beneath the water a la his collection of zombie heads in fish tanks!) At the end of the episode we’re left with Governor walking aimlessly around until he stumbles upon the prison. He aims his weapon at an unknowing Carl and Rick. After deciding against that route, the episode ends with him looking down his sights at Herschel and Michonne. CLIFFHANGERS! DAMN YOU!

This episode was an excellent look at the duality of Rick and Governor. They’re both natural leaders, although for different reasons, and can’t escape their fate. While we’ve watched Rick grow back into a leadership role in the prison, we’ve now witnessed the transformation of “Brian” back into the Governor. They’re not all that different in the respect that they’re both capable of making the hard decisions and don’t shy away from it when the chips are down. The only difference is Rick works for what he has while the Governor will take what he wants by any means necessary. That includes his role as a leader.

These last two episodes have been a great look into the Governor “starting over” after losing Woodbury. He once said that if he acted like the Governor when his daughter was around, she’d be scared of him, but she’d also be alive. This is the culmination of that statement. It’s evident that he considers Meghan family and he’s going to go to the extreme to protect that.

4.5 out of 5 nerds

Be sure to check out the mid-season finale predictions from Space Chief and myself, only here at Following the Nerd!

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.