Where we left off: Glen is suffering badly from the virus going around the jail; Carol tells Rick it was her that killed Karen and David; Michonne, Daryl, Bob, and Tyreese are running aimlessly in the woods after hitting a huge road block of walkers.
Earlier this week, zombie legend George A. Romero called The Walking Dead a “soap opera with the occasional zombie.” You know what? He’s completely right — but that hardly takes anything away from The Walking Dead. So far, the fourth season to me has been inconsistent, the first episode wasn’t great, the second episode was solid, the third episode wasn’t great, so looking at the trend this episode has to be solid. You know what? It works. Indifference focuses on the groups outside of the jail and is methodical in its storytelling process, splitting the groups up into two people with different opinions and thoughts to clash with each other.
We’ll start with Carol and Rick. First off, I was just as surprised as anyone when Rick made the decision to kick Carol out of the group. Maybe this shouldn’t be so surprising, but with Rick giving up his sense of leadership and considering she never really got a fair sort of trial, it’s just something I didn’t see coming. Carol and Rick went on a run for antibiotics just in case Daryl’s group didn’t make it back. Giving these two time to talk made for some of the best scenes in the episode. The Carol we’ve seen recently isn’t the one we first met. This Carol is hardened — this Carol is a murderer. She lists her reasons as to why she did what she did…they were suffering, going to die anyway and she knew she had to stop the spread of illness.
When raiding one of the houses, the pair wound up stumbling across two hippie types with fruits that they found nearby. The guy has a dislocated shoulder which Carol is able pop back into place, which she says she learned from the internet after her husband dislocated her shoulder in a drunken rampage. The two hippies want to join Rick’s group as well as want to volunteer to help look for supplies. Rick is against the idea of them helping, but Carol is all for the help as they’ll cover more area in less time. Unfortunately, Rick was right to be against Carol…they find the girl, leg torn off, being eaten by zombies. The guy never returns.
Carol feels Rick doesn’t trust her anymore…well, she’s right. And it’s while they’re packing up the car to leave that Rick lets Carol know that killing Karen and David wasn’t her decision to make. Rick then states that once Tyreese finds out what she did, he will kill her. Once the rest of the group learn of it, they wouldn’t want her around. Rick says straight out that he doesn’t want her around anymore either. He tells Carol that she’ll find another group, that she’s strong enough to survive. He’s right. But at this point you have to wonder…is Carol stronger than Rick? Hell, does Rick possibly even fear Carol?
Now, moving to Daryl, Michonne, Bob, and Tyreese. Last episode, the four of them hardly escaped a massive horde of zombies. Now they have to push forward to the veterinary college another way, and luckily for them they reach an abandoned mechanic’s shop. They find an old station wagon with a bum battery, and they have to break into the shop hoping to replace the battery. To get to the shop they have to cut through the greens, and Tyreese’s slashing cuts the wire holding the front door shut. And, of course, surprise! Walkers bust through the doorway and ambush the group.
This isn’t much of an issue really, the four of them take care of the walkers quickly. Tyreese makes things complicated for himself, holding on to a walker who grabbed a hold of him. He pulls the walker from the brush and it falls on top of Tyreese. Daryl has to pull it off of Tyreese and Bob puts a bullet in the walkers head. Bob and Daryl walk into the shop to find a battery while Tyreese and Michonne remain outside. The two chat with Michonne letting Tyreese know he has to stop being reckless — ‘Anger makes you stupid. Stupid gets you killed.’ Tyreese brings up the Governor and asks why Michonne keeps looking for him. Michonne doesn’t have an answer but to me it’s clear: she wants to be the one who kills the Governor, not someone or something else.
As for Daryl and Bob, they find a new car battery and go about installing it. Bob confides in Daryl, telling him that twice he’s been the last man standing in different groups. He feels he’s cursed. Bob confesses he almost took the booze from the Big Spot run and feels responsible for the zombie horde attack that took place. With the new battery, the four are able to ride to the college. Simple enough, they get into the school and find where the medicine is. Bob finds a little something extra –a bottle of whiskey and stores it in his bag. Things seem too easy, so of course a group of zombies have now blocked the path where they entered.
The group runs, looking for an alternate route with their bags of medicine. They find a dark hallway with a locked door on one end and a busted door where they came in. Walkers break through the door and they decide to push forward. They head up a flight of stairs and break a window, hopping outside onto a walkway suspended above the group. Waiting for them down below is dozens of walkers. Bob jumps out, loses his footing and almost loses his bag over the edge. Walkers grab the bag from below and as the group tells him to let the bag go, he fights and is able to wrestle it away. What’s inside? The bottle of liquor. With no meds.
Daryl goes to throw the bottle but Bob reaches for his gun. So he walks up to Bob, takes the gun from him, and is ready to beat him for even thinking about shooting him. Tyreese urges Daryl to let Bob go…and he does. Bob tries to explain himself — ‘I didn’t want to hurt nobody. It was only for when it gets quiet.’ Daryl lets Bob know that if he takes one sip before the meds get to the survivors…he will beat him to the ground.
Indifference handles a lot in just one hour, but it’s done so well. Each character has something they have to let go of…but not everyone can just let go. We all have demons. But not everyone knows how to face them head on. Some ending thoughts: What will the rest of the group think of Rick banishing Carol from the group? Will Bob be able to hold out on the liquor until the meds are given to those who need it? What will happen with Carol? What is going on back at the jail? Will The Walking Dead hit the mid-season road block when character development becomes more important than storytelling?
Joshua Kaye (@JKaye57) is a recent college grad with a BA in Cinema Studies. A Queens, NY native, Josh hopes to one day rule all of New York, then the United States, then the world. But after he writes an Oscar winning screenplay.
