Walking Dead Review: “Isolation”

Last week, Walking Dead shambled out the gate with a very strong episode. This week, the show does not really tell a story but, rather, sets significant events in motion for the season.

Daryl reminds us all of the dangers of distracted driving, while Rick learns who burnt two infected members of the community.

Title: “Isolation”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Daniel Sackheim
Written by Frank Darabont

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Danai Gurira as Michonne
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon
Melissa Suzanne McBride as Carol Peletier
Chad Coleman as Tyreese
Scott Wilson as Herschel Greene
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene
Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha
Emily Kinney as Beth Greene
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Bob Stookey
Sunkrish Bala as Dr. Caleb Subramanian

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

 

Premise

A small group heads to a veterinary college fifty miles away in search of medicine that might halt the disease. Instead, they find herds of zombies—and evidence of other survivors.

The survivors at the prison deal with quarantined members.

Herschel steps up his healing game.

Rick learns who killed Karen and the other diseased survivor.

High Point

We learn that a major character has made a very sinister wrong call. Whatever that character’s motives, the actions didn’t turn out well, and Rick has to decide how many secrets he can keep in order to maintain a semblance of civilization.

The show’s deeper questions have been juxtaposed with a tense action sequence that still hasn’t ended.

Low Point

I certainly hope Tyreese survives, but I don’t see how he made it through that thickness of zombies with his particular choice of weapon.

Come to think of it, armaments remain a bit of a problem. I’ve addressed the issue of Carl’s pistol. In a similar vein, why have the survivors not acquired a better vehicle for this mission? An armored car or a paramilitary vehicle would be a better option.

The Scores

Originality: 4/6

Effects: 6/6

Story: 4/6 This week introduced many key developments, but the strength of its plot can only be determined after we’ve watched a few more episode.

Acting: 5/6

Emotional Response: 5/6

Production: 6/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Isolation” receives 35/42

Lingering Questions

1. We see zombies rotting in the field. We know that zombies rot. If zombies rot, they have a shelf life, so to speak. Clearly, they don’t rot at the rate of a normal corpse, or (as others have noted), they would be very short-lived indeed.

So, how long does a walker last?

2. Who was on the other end of that radio?

3. Has anyone written a parody yet where the castaways from Gilligan’s Island face the zombie apocalypse? ‘Cause that’d be pretty funny.

5 replies on “Walking Dead Review: “Isolation””

  1. In a similar vein, why have the survivors not acquired a better vehicle for this mission? An armored car or a paramilitary vehicle would be a better option.

    But that was the fastest car they had. Sure it’s not the best at driving through a horde, but if you get in a zombie car chase you want all the speed you can get!

    • That’s what I don’t get. They call them “walkers” for a reason. They’re not exactly speedy. Given that sheer numbers have been the problem more often than not, I’d be opting for protection over velocity.

    • Well as a vet of a number of end of the world tabletop RPGs I’d go with gas milage. A humvee gets ~9 mpg for example. On the other hand it seems like they never run out of gas unless it serves the plot…

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