The Walking Dead - S04E08 Too Far Gone (2013)

Review

The Governor is putting some backbone into his new found army and is offering security, the chance to right previous wrongs, and gosh Mom and apple pie. He gets agreement to raid the prison and take what Rick and crew have. He also has a couple of hostages in Hershel and Michonne, which somehow fits into this weird notion that they can take the prison with minimal casualties on either side. Clearly IQs have dropped in the undead wastelands if anyone thinks this is going to go down without extreme bloodshed and nasty language.

Meanwhile over at the prison Rick and crew are still recovering from the virus that threatened to wipe them all out, and of course there's the whole Tyreese and Carol thing for Rick and Daryl to sort out. Adding some dark undertones to the mix Tyreese has found some disturbing evidence of psycho in the darkened cells beneath their current living quarters. While this is disturbing enough the Governor decides to make his presence known via a tank shell. He wants to talk to Rick and basically demand the former lawman evacuates the prison. Rick tries to calm the situation but things get out of hand pretty damn quickly and we quickly descend into the firefight we should have had last season. Can Rick, Daryl, and crew take on a tank and defeat a larger and better equipped foe?

Finally an episode in season four that had me rocking to the beat being delivered, also helped that we take a far darker turn than the season had been offering previously. While the Carol situation hasn't been resolved, fingers crossed the character isn't being written out of the show, we certainly get some closure on the Governor finally. Two thumbs up right there.

Full Metal Jacket in the post apocalyptic wastelands

Guess the whole season has been geared toward the loss of the prison, oops spoiler, and the fact the Governor is prepared to destroy something rather than working on making things better overall. The title of the episode pretty much gives it away that the Governor isn't going to play nice and hasn't learnt the single salient lesson the apocalypse should have taught him, he needs others and to survive people have to work together. The Governor is prepared to allow the walking dead to overrun the prison rather than sharing it with Rick's group, many of whom were former Woodbury residents in happier times. Naturally the fact that both sides will be left weakened by the clash doesn't enter into the Governor's calculations, to drastic results.

I guess end of day Michonne keeps her promise to the Governor, sticking the pointy end in, though someone else has the satisfaction of delivering the death blow. There was some speculation doing the rounds that the Governor might not be dead due to the viewer not actually witnessing his final demise, but hey even with poetic licence and all, I think we can all be fairly sure that a chapter has closed for the much put upon team Rick and other challenges will await them in the coming weeks.

For sure the Governor didn't leave the show without one final act of sheer bastardry which was pretty brutal, though we don't actually see much of the metal meeting the flesh. We do get plenty of the aftermath and this single event did unleash the dogs of war. Now if you folk know me you'll be well aware that I thought the television version of the Governor didn't match the total psychotic nature of the graphic novel version, but with this single act he did rise in my opinion to being more than a cardboard villain and become the antagonist we had been hoping for. One of the problems I have with last season and this season thus far is that the Governor Storyline has been stretched out to almost breaking point, but hell this episode went a long way to making me dig the show all over again. Rest in peace Phil, we'll actually miss you.

So Carol has been cast into the wilderness already and now it's the turn of the rest of Rick's crew to suffer the same fate. The Governor may not have achieved his ultimate stated goal, yes I said stated there not necessarily his actual goal, but he has ensured a whole new ball game for the second half of the season. Guess we'll be dedicating individual episodes to major and secondary characters for the next few weeks. We could be in for a wild ride here and hopefully that doesn't include a ton of introspection. After three and a half seasons we are surprisingly in new territory, more the individual and less the group, bring it on.

While the episode surely explores the notion that you have more to fear from your fellow survivors than any other danger, it also for mine explores the notion that in an undead world the walking dead will eventually prevail against the living. Rick's crew have had a hell of a task holding onto the prison with just the undead to deal with, the Governor's intervention proved way too strong a force. Neither Rick's group nor the Governor's forces eventually end up with the prison as the dust settles, the dead eventually claim it with what is left of the living cast into the wilderness again. Something to ponder I guess, or simply enjoy the action going down during the episode.

So half way through the season and we finally get the meaning behind the tagline for this year's festivities, and it definitely looks like we're heading into new territory with no doubt new challenges and dangers. The problem I think for the second half of the season is going to be following multiple storylines, assuming everyone doesn't get together immediately next episode.

Excellent episode with more action than you could poke a herd at. For nearly two seasons we have been waiting for a definitive encounter between Rick and the Governor and finally we got it as war erupted around them. Rick didn't get the final say in the battle but at least Michonne can put aside some personal issues. And hey where else are you going to see a Georgian redneck taking out a main battle tank. Full recommendation, we get action, some character development, and an outcome that will ensure the haters are going to have to keep things on slow heat. Yes folks, most successful independent show out there with a huge following so naturally there have to be haters, people with so little to do that they have to bore the rest of us with their nasty little opinions of a show they don't like and thus have you wondering why they are watching new episodes. For The Walking Dead fans out there this is one episode you are not going to want to miss. Two thumbs up from me, Too Far Gone best episode so far of the season.