Hey, dead-heads, we’re back! I’ll be writing quick discussion pieces again for each new episode. My apologies for only starting up again mid-season, but there’s always that vexing issue with time and there never being enough of it. I’ll stick with the previous format of offering a quick synopsis and then going on to ask some lingering questions. So, without further ado, let’s tear into the meat and bones of “Internment”.
The season of the virus has been getting some flak for not being packed with pulse-pounding, white-knuckled action, but I think it’s an interesting change of pace. Like the foggiest of fever dreams, the group is finally up against a threat they have no defense against.
Hershel is risking everything to provide that sliver of hope and support that only he can offer to those in quarantine, stricken with illness. Even with Hershel’s ironclad optimism, the situation still looks grim. Glenn is just barely holding on, Dr. Caleb is at death’s door, others are succumbing to the virus at an alarming rate, and this all inevitably leads up to a second in-prison walker incident. Almost simultaneously, the horde pushing against the outer fence finally breaks through and floods into the yard.
In an impressive display of undead eradication, both potentially disastrous events are contained. Rick and Carl funnel the fence horde into a straightaway and systematically whittle them down with concentrated gunfire. Hershel, aided by Maggie, put an end to the flu walker uprising and even get Glenn stabilized with a particularly disgusting breathing tube while they’re at it. Daryl’s group conveniently arrives with the medicine after all the action dies down and everything seems to have worked out awfully well.
Until we cut away to a shot of the Governor spying on the prison. Crap.
Does it make a difference that Hershel de-walkered the dead flu victims out of sight? I think it does. I have no doubts that the people in quarantine know what has to be done to them if and when they croak. Knowing what happens and actually seeing it happen can be two very different things as people tend to mentally distance themselves from trauma. Keeping the aftermath out of sight helps keep alive what little morale is left. Additionally, there are children there that probably don’t need to see that.
Did Carol really do what she claims? This doesn’t pertain much to this specific episode, but I think it’s still relevant. There have been musings going around on the internet concerning whether Carol actually murdered those people or if she’s covering for someone. Perhaps Lizzie, in an attempt to redeem herself for being too weak to de-walker her dead father, killed those two quarantined people who she may have perceived as being without hope for survival. Lizzie seems cool, calm, and collected in this episode and very odd with her bloody phlegm foot stirrings. I can see it happening. Lizzie might be the only person Carol would take the banishment for.
How will Daryl and Tyreese react to Carol’s banishment? Tyreese was definitely a raging psychopath when his love interest was murdered and stuck to that frame of mind for a good while after. He seems to have cooled off now and I’m not sure he’ll go after her, especially after that whole “letting go” episode we had. Daryl, on the other hand, is exceedingly stubborn and extremely capable. He may understand why Carol had to be banished, but I think there’s a very good chance he’ll want to go find her.
Now that we know the Governor is here, how much might he be behind? This is a very big, very bad question. It’s been roughly six months since we’ve seen this lunatic’s face and he had known the location of the prison the entire time. Does he have spies/saboteurs inside the prison? Possibly. It could be whoever’s luring walkers to the fence with rat snacks. Did he trigger the flu outbreak? I’m not sure how someone could accomplish that specific intent in an apocalypse scenario, but maybe he’s been tainting their food and water and the flu epidemic was just a pleasant side effect. Does he plan to attack the prison again? From the previews, it doesn’t look like he’s rustled up any new, fanatical followers. It’s just him and the two henchmen he left with originally. However, the Governor is cruel, sadistic, and cunning. He has nothing better to do than cultivate his perfect vengeance upon Rick’s group. This is what leads me to believe that the massive walker herd in the previous episode that forced Daryl’s group to detour might be, in an amazing twist, the Governor’s new “army”. It’s entirely possible that he could be baiting them along directly towards the prison. It would certainly take a good, long while… but he’s had six months.
Whatever happens from here on out, you can bet it’s not going to be pretty.
