The Walking Dead 4.3: Death in Every Corner

There was death in every corner of The Walking Dead 4.3 last night - I can't think of a single major character who didn't have a close encounter with death, whether zombie or flu-plague or whatever. This heightened in-your-face peril is making this the best season of The Walking Dead since its debut  a few years ago.

But Hershel provided one of the real profiles in courage, with his decision to go in and treat the flu-ridden patients even though the risk is real that he'll contract it.  Of course, as I've pointed out in previous reviews, and as Herschel mentions himself, people have different levels of resistance to any flu strain, so it's by no means clear that Hershel will get it.   But he's certainly increased his chances of falling ill by attending to the ill in the prison.

What role the antibiotics will play, if our team indeed gets back with them, is also not clear.  The meds could range from curing everyone to just some of the afflicted to no one.  It's hard to imagine The Walking Dead without Glenn, so presumably he'll be saved, but I felt the same way about Lori.

Hershel's bravery was not a transformation but a confirmation of the brave soul that we already knew he was.    Carol's toughness is, in contrast, much more a change from what we thought her to be.  We saw the beginning this season in her teaching the students how to kill walkers, but in 4.3 her revelation as the killer of the corpses we saw at the end of 4.2 is a surprise.  In retrospect it makes perfect sense, as good narrative surprises do, which is the paradox of the effective surprise.

It was good to see Darryl and Michonne fighting so well together.  They're obviously not out of the woods on this yet, and next week bears some high anxiety watching.

See also The Walking Dead 4.1: The New Plague ... The Walking Dead 4.2: The Baby and the Flu

And see also The Walking Dead 3.3 meets Meadowlands ... The Walking Dead 3.4: Going to the Limit ... The Walking Dead 3.9: Making Crazy Sense ... The Walking Dead 3.10: Reinforcements ... The Walking Dead 3.11: The Patch ... The Walking Dead 3.12: The Lesson of Morgan ... The Walking Dead 3.13: The Deal ... The Walking Dead 3.14: Inescapable Parable ... The Walking Dead 3.15: Merle ... The Walking Dead 3.16: Kill or Die, or Die and Kill

And see also The Walking Dead Back on AMC ... The Walking Dead 2.2: The Nature of Vet

... The Walking Dead 2.3: Shane and Otis ... The Walking Dead 2.4: What Happened at the Pharmacy ... The Walking Dead 2.6: Secrets Told ... The Walking Dead 2.7: Rick's Way vs. Shane's Way ...  The Walking Dead 2.8: The Farm, the Road, and the Town  ... The Walking Dead 2.9: Worse than Walkers ... The Walking Dead 2.11: Young Calling the Shots ... The Walking Dead 2.12: Walkers Without Bites ... The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale

And see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3:  Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season

-> Just in time for the new plague on The Walking Dead, win a free copy ofThe Consciousness Plague on Starpulse!


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