Walking Dead Review: “Infected”

…widows and orphans. What do you call someone who lost a child? You’d think they’d have given that a name.

Title: “Infected”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Guy Ferland
Written by Angela Kang

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee
Melissa Suzanne McBride as Carol Peletier
Danai Gurira as Michonne
Norman Reedus as Darryl Dixon
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene
Scott Wilson as Herschel Greene
Emily Kinney as Beth Greene
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes
Chad Coleman as Chase Tyreese
Sonnequa Martin as Sasha Tyreese
Melissa Ponzio as Karen
Sunkrish Bala as Dr. Subramanian
Larry Gilliard, Jr. as Stookey
Victor McKay as Ryan Samuels
Brighton Sharbino as Lizzie Samuels
Kyla Kennedy White as Mika Samuels
Frederick Carpenter as Fence Walker
??? as Rat-person

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

The rotting horde continues to imperil the prison, while a virulent disease threatens it from within.
People die.

High Point

The script does an excellent job depicting mourning in Zombieland. These scenes, enacted by a strong cast, work nicely to balance the corpse-desecration free-for-all that the genre has engendered.

Low Point

…However, they relied rather heavily on characters we don’t yet know to bring out the emotion. This is always a dicey choice.

The Scores

Originality: 4/6

Effects: 6/6 The effects are frequently disgusting, but no on can argue they’re well-done, right to the zombie face being sliced in the fence.

Story: 5/6 This week delivered a thoughtfully-paced episode, and it bodes well for the season.

Acting: 5/6 We had some nice moments between generations. Rick and Carl grow in their relationship, while Carol demonstrates how dangerous circumstances and survivalist ethics can change a person, for better and worse. We also receive some hints regarding Michonne’s past, about which we know very little.

Emotional Response: 5/6 The final scene does not bode well for the survivors.

Production: 6/6

Overall: 5/6 I’m hoping the disease spread naturally, instead of from some primitive form of germ warfare. A small, close community would face exactly this problem, especially in a world riddled with rotting corpses.

In total, “Infected” receives 36/42