The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 5 "Internment" Review

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE

        We have now had a streak of episodes that possess a title which starts with an “I”, as this is the fourth week to do that. Though, this episode is much different than this season has been so far. This is the episode we have been waiting for. And this episode is so big that I cannot separate my paragraphs by what happens with each character. I have to go through the episode in a chronological order.

            In the prologue of this episode, we have Rick driving back to the prison, but this episode is hinting at something with his character: He might be going crazy again. This is because at one point when we see reflection in the mirror, he gives a look that all of us have seen before: The crazy look. Then, it immediately switches to a scene in which Sasha, Glen, and Hershel are attempting to keep an extra from Woodbury alive. This is a somewhat disturbing scene; and in this scene, we really see what this disease really does to you. Then, we get a great conversation between Hershel and Maggie of what he does not want people to see. It dialogue was really compelling and it kept my interest. Then, Sasha has to help Hershel put another extra from Woodbury down, and it just brought back what The Walking Dead had in the first two seasons: The disturbance it gets when you see humans having to stick knives into other humans’ heads. Then, the theme comes on.

            After, the theme plays, the episode abnormally does not switch to commercial and continues, which I thought was odd while watching. Anyway, we see Hershel taking care of more sick people, and then Rick comes back and has a great conversation with Maggie in which he tells her that her that he had to do this and that Carol would be killed anyway and that the prison could turn into anarchy. I was expecting to roll my eyes because there was about to be some forced drama… but there was not. Maggie just says “Alright” and says that she would have done the same. I really liked that we just got past that conversation and we could move on. Then, we see Hershel having to put someone down by himself, which is even closer to being painful to watch. After that, Rick comes up and talks to Hershel about what is going on right now and what it will be like after the passing around the of illness ends. Hershel says that the prison will still not be the same (and he certainly was correct) and Rick seems like he knew it, but was in a state of denial. This very compelling dialogue really made me want to hear what was coming out of these characters’ mouths. It really worked that way. Though, the best aspect about the conversation is that the dialogue about what transpired in when Rick and Carol had left happened off screen. As I had already said, we do not need forced drama. I am glad that we did not have to hear it again. After that, Hershel goes back into the cell block, and then something happens…

            As he is closing all of the cell doors, a very sick man comes out and almost immediately turns into a walker. Then, when someone tries to save Hershel, another walker gets him. But, a shot is heard, and Maggie is drawn to the cell block. Though, more walkers in the cell block are coming out, and Glen is starting to get into the state of turning. This show is very good at being intense when it is attempting to, because this scene was intense and riveting. I even wandered what was going to happen with the little girl luring the walker somewhere. Then, Rick and Carl are outside, building up fences and bonding. And in their conversation, Rick said that Maggie could handle it and they do not need to start a huge panic. That is a huge breakthrough in the writing with a very strong line that just made me feel like Rick is a real person. But, shortly after, walkers suddenly push the fence completely down and go after Rick and Carl. That really surprised me and pulled me to the edge of my seat as I was riveted by all of the intense caused by the greatness of everything that is happening all at once. Rick and Carl then run into the prison area, trying to figure out what to do, when the walkers immediately break the second fence down. Then, they have to get automatic rifles to mow down all of the walkers. It was still a very intense scene, even though you then got the feeling that they were going to be fine.

            So now we have two extraordinary scenes transpiring at once as the camera switches between all of the mayhem in controlled amounts of time. Then is when I realized why the commercials were saved for this part the episode. At this point of the episode, it is absolutely 100% riveting. You see Maggie really trying to get into the cell block when she cannot and Hershel having to sacrifice nearly everything he had fought to stop and Glen laying on ground, nearly dying and Rick and Carl mowing down walkers. With Maggie, I really went for her and I really felt that she absolutely needed to get in there and help save the day. I really felt sorry for Hershel as he was still trying to let the children keep their innocence from witnessing him killing walkers with a shotgun and trying to save everyone’s life. I also really needed him to succeed. It would have been hard to take him not succeeding. And with Glen nearly dying, I was afraid that he might die. This show has been known to kill off some of the very main characters; for example, LORI. He almost dying just added to the riveting factor of this episode. I really needed him to survive. Then, Maggie comes in and is about to possibly ruin Glen’s chances of living. Hershel is yelling at her not to shoot because she might hit the back, but she knows that she will not miss it. I was afraid that she might hit the bag, but she does not, and Glen gets to survive. The entire structure around that short conflict Maggie and Hershel had was handled flawlessly, and made for one of the best scenes in the episode.

            Then, we get the perfect ending/conclusion to the main conflict/struggle in this episode. We get to back to Rick and Carl, and they have mowed down all of the walkers. Then, Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese, and the military guy get there to get all of the medicine to the diseased that they need. Then, we see every character as they are dealing with the aftermath of this horrific encounter with walkers. We see that Hershel gets out a bible and starts crying while reading it. That brings more depth to his character, and more depth to the show.

            Then, it shows the next day, which brings up one of my flaws with the episode. As the show has progressed, it has started to get bad about showing a great action sequence, but then showing the aftermath at the end of the episode. The aftermath of the sequence should be in the episode. And even though this episode had a clear reason for showing the next day, it did show too much of just characters. For that, the characters attending to their duties were enjoyable, but it did slightly bring the show down. But I think the entrance/return of The Governor was handled in an excellent way. We get a slow build up, and we know that something is coming. Then we get a huge change in musical score to become incredibly dramatic, as we get an outside shot of the prison, that pans to the left, revealing The Governor, just standing there and looking out at the prison. I loved nearly everything about that shot. The return of The Governor is exactly what this show needs and I am pumped for next week more than I have been for a new episode of The Walking Dead the whole season. This is, by far, my favorite episode of the season. And, in my opinion, it is the best episode of The Walking Dead since Season 3 Episode 10 “Home”. I thought this episode was excellent and almost exactly what we needed after the first four episode of the season.

            On the grading rating system, I give the episode an A.
            On the out-of-10 rating system, I give it a 9.6/10.