Took me longer than I thought to get round to a review of The Walking Dead Season Four but I have finally got round to it.
Taking place a few months after the events of season three the prison now seems to be a really stable and flourishing camp. With the inclusion of the Woodbury survivors in their group now, Rick and co are now trying to make a proper life for themselves again. Rick however, wanting to set a better example for Carl has resigned from the leadership position and is now basically the farmer along with Carl. However the peace they have created does not last in the form of the hordes of zombies, a deadly virus and the Governor who is gunning for revenge.
I have been really looking forward to this season because my favourite parts from the graphic novel is the attack of the Governor and the events that happen after and for the most part it does not disappoint. I will now go in to three of my favourite highlights of this season and be warned; SPOILERS AHEAD!
First is the story of a deadly virus that sweeps through the prison and infects many of the residents, this is also why they included a lot of red shirts. I did like this part a lot because it was a good original plot they made for the series, plus Hershel gets an episode all to himself on dealing with the virus which is one of my favourite episodes. I have always like the casting of Scott Wilson and he was just so good as the main character for the episode.
Next is the second attack of the Governor, which unlike the last season, was not a disappointment. It included the tank from the graphic novel and it was all guns blazing and zombie action. They also include the Governor's famous decapitation scene of a major character and that was just so cool. The only let down though the extended flashback of the Governor of what he did after season three that covers two episodes. While this was interesting in its own way it suffers from what a lot of original series content suffers from; it just dragged on!! The flashback really could have just been one episode or just a half an episode, it was just really slow in some parts. Also again I praise David Morrissey as the Governor and again I feel like it is the writers who let down is character a bit not the actor by dialling down the brutally of him.
Thirdly is the introduction of three of my favourite graphic novel characters; Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos) and Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt). Not only was their acting just for the characters was perfect but they really, really look like who they are supposed to be. I really want to see even more of these three in the next season.
There are however a couple of let downs in this season and that has mainly to do with some of the characters during the second half after the attack from the Governor, while the group is split. While this does include the introduction of the three characters above from the graphic novel it also includes ALOT of original series content that spans across eight episodes. While some of this original content is good it is the same as with the Governor's flashback; it just drags on too much. Whole episodes are given over to pairing of characters like Daryl and Beth and Tyreese and Carol and while I like these characters I felt a lot of screen time was wasted on them.
Also I think that this season really messed up three events from the graphic novel by mixing it in with original content, the first with the two sisters Lizzie and Mika. These two obviously took the place of Ben and Billy and if I'm honest I never really liked them that much. Ben went crazy and killed his twin because he had psychopathic mental problems and never understood what he did. For Lizzie killing Mika they had her being sympathetic to the zombies and wanted to be friends with them, I never liked that and I found her scenes when she is playing with the walkers just very annoying.
Another event is the group Daryl ends up with for a short while after Beth is kidnapped by an unknown person. I admit I really liked this group when they were introduced and also liked the group's leader Joe (Jeff Kober) because he as a really dark and interesting antagonist. I even thought he could have been a new main enemy for Rick and the rest after the Governor and before the introduction of Negen but I was wrong. After such a hype Joe and his group got they merely took the place of the three rapist that attack Rick, Carl and Abraham for a few pages before being quickly dispatched and that is what happen here. That was a major disappointment for me.
Finally the thing that bothered me the most out of this whole entire season is that Judith is still ALIVE! Don't get me wrong it is not like I want a baby to die but she does in the graphic novel along with Lori and it is the biggest failure Rick has done that haunts him ever since. At first I thought it would be best if they did not kill her off but when they showed the blood stained baby chair at the end of the Governor's attack I thought; "wow the writers actually did it after all, they killed her off but in a way that is more appropriate for TV." But then she was shown with Tyreese and Carol. Sorry but I do not know were they are going to go with this and I don't want Rick to be burdened with looking after a baby for the entire rest of the show. This is also another example of the writers dialling down the brutally of the graphic novel like the stuff the Governor does, Rick losing his hand and now this! Makes me worried about what they are going to do with Negen?
Before I end this there are few other good points to mention like the episode Rick and Carl to themselves that adapted really well from the graphic and the inclusion of Bob Stookey (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) who has become one of my favourite characters. He is a lot different from his graphic novel counterpart but I defiantly prefer this one because he has such a larger and important role. His struggles with alcoholism he touched more in this and when he had his flashback of being alone for ages I think that was acted just so well, I really felt sorry for that guy and you really feel that he has just been through hell. My hats off to Lawrence Gilliard Jr, I hope you continue to be a member of Ricks group for a good long while.
And that is it, overall it was a solid season but the first half was a lot better than the second and they messed up some iconic plots form the graphic novel that I really cannot forgive them for. However the action and casting are great as always and I really hope it gets back to the proper story of getting to Washington soon.
SCORE: 7/10
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