The Walking Dead Review: “The Grove”

“The whole world is haunted now.”
–Tyreese

Of mice, men, zombies, and psychopathic little girls.

Title: “The Grove”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Michael Satrazemis
Written by Scott M. Gimple

Melissa Suzanne McBride as Carol Peletier
Chad Coleman as Chase Tyreese
Brighton Sharbino as Lizzie Samuels
Kyla Kennedy White as Mika Samuels

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Tyreese and Carol consider settling down and raising the girls. Their gothic world and some twisted world-views won’t permit things to happen as they otherwise might have.

High Points

Some beautiful shots contrast with the disturbed and disturbing world views, and the uneasy parallels between Carola and Lizzie. I liked the uncompromising way the story addressed the issues inherent in its premise, and in the character’s personalities.

Lizzie plays with the dead.

Low Point

I’m nitpicking, but I’m not nitpicking. They just had an episode where the characters identified a neat, tidy, dusted house as a sign someone is about. I can suspend disbelief but, so soon after the previous episode, could they have at least tried to make the house look untenanted and abandoned?

The Scores

Originality: 3/6 I liked the tribute to Steinbeck, excessive thought it was—and I did not see that first twist coming. I knew something would come to conflict over a certain character; I just didn’t anticipate the form it would take.

Effects: 5/6 The zombie effects remain strong as ever, even in the close-ups, and I liked the originality of the “fire walkers.”

Story: 5/6 This week gave us a solid story dealing with some very disturbing issues. The pacing at the start was a little slow.

Acting: 6/6 Melissa Suzanne McBride and Chad Coleman invested those final scenes with real power.

Emotional Response: 6/6

Production: 5/6

Overall: 5/6 Overall, we saw one of the season’s strongest episodes. Two more to go before the season ends.

In total, “The Grove” receives 35/42

Final Comments

Does the NRA sponsor this show? Should they?

Spoilers:

3 replies on “The Walking Dead Review: “The Grove””

  1. While watching the episode, it struck me that Carol could have killed Lizzie in such a way that she would have become a Walker. It would have been interesting take on the situation to curse her with being a Walker. I understand Carol doing what she did, and it was certainly “in character”, but in some ways I felt Lizzie should have had to be a Walker for a little while.

    • I disagree, turning Lizzie into a walker would endorse her belief that the walkers are alive, but that belief was wrong. Not successfully countering that belief got Mika killed. Accommodating her delusions would miss the point of the episode, the world has changed so some beliefs have no place. This includes Mika’s kindness which may have enabled Lizzie to kill her.

      • Actually, we’re not completely sure what walkers “think” outside of the fact that they’re very hungry. We know from the CDC episodes that they have very little brain function, but they do have some. Perhaps walkers have a very, very limited form of consciousness. Lizzie believed that. The only way for her to find out would have been to become one.

        When push comes to shove, yes, you have to kill the walkers that chase you in the world they live in because they’re dangerous, but perhaps they are “alive” on some very basic level.

        That said. In character, I’m not sure Carol would have felt that way after she experienced seeing the change in her daughter.

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