The Walking Dead - S04E07 Dead Weight (2013)

Review

Martinez should have known better but decides to allow the Governor, Lilly, Tara and Megan into the survivor group he leads. While the others start to fit into their new community "Brian" remains withdrawn and clearly still coming to terms with his new situation. During a mission to gain much needed supplies the former Governor certainly shows his worth in the face of a bunch of walkers, undead heads, and darkened rooms. And some coolness here guys, this dude has himself a tank, a working military weapon of destruction that will no doubt be front and centre before the end of the season.

While Brian seems to be marking time he does show concern when Martinez states he may not be able to keep everyone safe, which a nasty result for Martinez. The once and future Governor also shows displeasure at a couple of other people who are not going to make the hard yards he needs to have happening. Things round out with return to the future as the Governor stalks the Prison, noticing Rick and Carl playing farmer, before focusing in on Michonne and Hershel.

Dead Weight is one of those episodes of The Walking Dead that I'm not sure if I like or not. For sure there was some undead action to whet the appetite but overall we're talking deep into dramatic territory here with a very sombre focus rather than an all action in your face blood bath. Unfortunately for me I wasn't digging the atmosphere going down, it was almost as if everything was ankle deep in treacle with the plot unfolding at a glacial speed. If you aren't committed to this show then to be honest you can kick this episode to the curve and move on with your life.

The Rise of the Governor 2

That's not to say there isn't some highly clever scripting going down to at least keep our interest in what is unfolding. I was especially impressed with how the chess game Brian and Megan are engaged in provides a sort of metaphor for the changes going on in Brian's mind as he discovers those leading the community they have joined are not up to the high psychotic standard he maintains. Whether the Governor regaining some level of his previous blood thirsty ways was due to the actions of those around him or was simply the Gov being the Gov is up to the individual viewer to decipher for themselves. What is pertinent is that the Gov mentions to Megan that eventually you have to make your mind up, and make your own choices. There is nothing intrinsically valuable in being ceded a match, for it to have any merit you need to win it on your own merits. Pretty deep huh, and that ends the sermon from the church of ScaryMinds.

What director Jeremy Podeswa does achieve with this episode is adding some needed complexity to the former Governor, with actor David Morrissey nailing the requirements. Brian, as the Governor is now known, is quite happy to fit in with the requirements of settling into the survivor settlement, but is being needled into breaking out and perhaps returning to his old way of approaching problems. The turning point for the big fella would appear to be when Martinez shows some weakness and confesses to being less able to lead than Brian might have wanted. Naturally the former leader isn't about to allow weaknesses to put his new family unit in danger, and unfortunately for those who would be King Brian has a specific response to anything he perceives as putting him or his own into danger.

It should be pointed out that after disposing of the current leader of the survivor group Brian isn't stepping up to the plate or doing anything much out of the ordinary to influence the decision on who to elect a new leader. The psychotic one is packing up the family, getting out of the leaking caravan they are living in, and getting out of Dodge. Unfortunately he is thwarted by a sludge filled pit of the undead. So back to Dodge y'all and apparently the once and future Governor thing. But I still get the feeling that Brian has found a new equilibrium and doesn't want to slip into old ways at this stage; naturally life isn't going to be that simple in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Interestingly while Brian is playing family man in the ashes there are two candidates for community leader with opposing viewpoints, and in one of those twists that only script writers could dream up they are brothers. We have Pete the level headed good guy who doesn't want to raid a nearby camp of other survivors to steal their stuff, and Mitch who is all for raiding the nearby camp and stealing their stuff. Anyone think Brian is going to have an angel and devil situation here? Might be because Mitch has a tank, or because Mitch is "Dead Weight", but Brian pretty quickly through the power of metamorphosis once again becomes the Governor, and the audience are rubbing their hands with glee. And oh watch the episode to catch the whole "Dead Weight" thing and a hell of a good pun on the title in regards Mitch's ultimate fate.

The final scene of the episode reverts to the resurrected Governor hitting the voyeur beat spying on Michonne and Hershel. I'm just pleased there wasn't a washing line available, the Governor strikes me as capable of slipping into snowdropper mode with very little motivation. So with only a couple of deaths and a bit of authority the Governor is back in full revenge mode, which doesn't bode well for Rick's group. Maybe after a few quiet episodes but the pace is about to pick up and some serious action is about to go down.

Not entirely sure I've been hopping with excitement over the last couple of episodes, sure the Governor getting back his mojo promises some decent plot twists in the near future, but it has been overly slow going getting to where we all want to be. The episode did keep my attention throughout and didn't gallop into the land of Boredom so that is pretty much worth at least one thumbs up. To be honest if you are not into The Walking Dead then this isn't the episode that will have you wanting to watch, if you are into the show then you can either view this one or safely give it a miss, your decision. Good enough television with some undead action, but not required viewing folks.