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Walking Dead Postmortem: ‘Four Walls And A Roof’

By Ed Carroll

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Looking for a place to discuss or mull over last night’s “The Walking Dead” episode? Welcome to Walking Dead Postmortem (working title), a new regular feature on Fansided which will debate and review the juiciest parts of every Walking Dead episode the day after it airs.

Welcome to Walking Dead Postmortem! Before we can dive into last night’s episode, “Four Walls and a Roof,” let’s explain why we have this new regular feature, and why it will run on Mondays.

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AMC’s The Walking Dead is a pretty great show, and its popularity is undeniable. But not every fan of the show watches it via cable; I cut the cable cord a few years ago, and other than the occasional live sporting event, watching The Walking Dead live, and the reactions and discussions that follow doing so, have been one of the things I’ve missed the most. But I still keep on the show by watching it online the next day, and this column will serve to both review the previous episode, and allow fans who’ve had a chance to digest the mayhem a place to come get some deeper thoughts on the episode.

I should note that while I’m mildly familiar with the original comic book series, I’m not an avid reader of those, and I’m aware the show is starting to mirror the comic far more closely than it ever has (such as, for example, the final scene in last week’s episode, “Strangers,” which is nearly identical to comics). But for all involved, I’ll try to keep comic spoilers to a minimum, and ask that anyone commenting do so as well.

As far as “Four Walls and a Room” goes, I must say right off the bat I’ve been impressed by the improved pacing for the first three episodes in season five.  This show, while good through most of its run, has been plagued by pacing issues, often holding off on dealing with an issue, putting it aside, only to hastily (and usually messily) confront the issue.

This episode didn’t waste  any time; we’re immediately put back into the scene of last week’s “Bob-b-que,” with the Terminus freaks (can we openly call them cannibals yet?) feasting on poor Bob’s leg and their leader, Gareth, finally dropping the full-on creep on us; the show had danced around the likely cannibalistic tendencies of this group until the end of the episode last week, and his opening monologue was certainly bringing the chills that his character (and Terminus in generally) had lacked thus far. Though it was pretty sweet that Bob ended up with the last laugh when he told them he had been bitten while slogging through the water-logged basement last week.

Bob’s death has been the first major death this season (by my memory), and it’s really a bit of a unique death for The Walking Dead, a welcome change. Most of the deaths on this show are, by nature, sudden. This world the suvivors live in is cold, unforgiving and people obviously die. But the show has had a hard time balancing the grim reality of its world and the reality of character development in our world. Put bluntly, the show has been prone to really cheap deaths (T-Bone, we hardly knew ye), but Bob’s death offered both the viewers and the survivors a chance to say goodbye, particularly when the Terminus crew freaked out and dumped Bob back at the church. The show cleverly asked (but sidestepped) some necessary questions about the cannibals eating an infected Bob, but didn’t try to ram any answers down our throats (I can’t get away from hunger jokes).

Really, the show hasn’t had this type of chance to say goodbye to a character we know will die since probably Jim, all the way back in season one (when he seemed to survive half the short season with a walker bite). Bob wasn’t necessarily a great character (he’s an alcoholic, he’s in love with Sasha, and he’s not a terrible guy is about all we know about him, really), but Lawrence Gilliard Jr. has made the most of some limited background, and that helped make Bob a likeable character. The writing appeared to be on the wall for him last week but we (thankfully) got some closure this week, as everyone got the chance to say goodbye, leading to Bob getting perhaps the most dignified death the series has had. There were some really great moments, particularly between Sasha and Tyreese, with the latter taking the knife from his sister to make sure Bob didn’t turn.

Bob had a nice meta-criticism of the show itself, when he was talking to Sasha on his death couch. When Sasha began asking Bob why he didn’t tell her he was bitten (which is a really fair question given that we’re five seasons in and EVERYONE knows you can turn, no matter how you die), Bob gave a touching line that also seemed to be an indictment of how past showrunners have viewed the series:

“It’d become about the end,” Bob said to Sasha. “And I really like the middle.”

The Walking Dead, for better or worse, has too often in the past put its eggs into the “MASSIVE SEASON FINALE” basket, and well, sometimes it really hasn’t worked out (with season three being perhaps the biggest offender). Bob’s statement about really liking the middle seems to indicate the show will continue the path it started last year, and take full advantage of its popularity (and knowing it won’t be cancelled after a bad week) to really explore the characters and build to entertaining stories, rather than just an end-of-the-season bloodbath.

But I must admit I really wasn’t expecting “Four Walls and a Room” to bring such a swift conclusion to Gareth and his hungry helpers. On one hand, it’s slightly disappointing than when we finally get a glimpse of how messed up Gareth and his people really are (after weeks of simply alluding to it), that they’re simply killed off in a ambush, with Gareth’s pathetic groveling unable to save him. I really just didn’t feel the weight of this scene at all, was more surprised at just how quickly and easily they were disposed. It was really odd they made Andrew J. West, who plays Gareth, a series regular for this.

Credit: Zombie Prophet

It was slightly disappointing at first, but in reality there were a few too many threads going this season anyways; in addition to the Terminus freaks, we still have the mysterious (but now slightly-less sketchy) Fr. Gabriel, Eugene and the military crew heading to Washington for the cure (now with Glenn, Maggie and Tara in the fold), and the end-of-the-episode hanger of just who Daryl brought back to the church (with the assumption that it’s Beth’s captors). That’s probably more than enough to deal with, even if the trip to Washington is punted till down the season (or next). Either way, it doesn’t look like the show plans to settle down much, which is a good thing.

Quick final thoughts on various points in the episode:

— Tyreese has really become a strong character, and I’m starting to wonder if the show could be preparing for a world in which they have to let either Andrew Lincoln (Rick) or Norman Reedus (Daryl) go, though I doubt either character or actor leaves the show in season five.

— Michonne had some nice lines last week about not needing her sword, but man, I’m really glad she has her sword back.

Credit: Zombie Prophet

— What on Earth does this symbol mean, if anything?

Credit: Zombie Prophet

— Sending Glenn, Maggie and Tara with the Washington crew could simply be another method to split the survivors up (and then have them reunite later), or it could be an interesting method to focus on some of the other characters for awhile (Carl and Michonne spring to mind as not getting too much attention lately, although this could also be a good opportunity to learn more about Gabriel, if he’s gonna be around).

— They’re really hammering home to Rick that he’s not a bad person, after spending the second half of season four convincing him he’s a monster. I’m willing to roll with it, but it’s slightly jarring.

Verdict: Season Five continues its strong start, answering questions and giving us time to enjoy the creepy vibes without cheapening anything or any other character. Losing the Terminus freaks was slightly disappointing, but a solid send-off for Bob and strong showings from some other survivors meant this episode kept The Walking Dead in the right direction.

7.7 out of 10.

Thanks to Zombie Prophet for the GIFs and feel free to leave your thoughts on this episode in the comments below!

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