The Walking Dead season 4, episode 8 brought numerous surprise twists and a whole lot of emotion for the final new show of 2013.
The Governor is hoping to make it third time lucky with his assault on Rick and the other survivors. Having returned to the prison, he kidnaps Herschel and Michonne in order to use them as hostages. After delivering a chillingly effective speech to his gullible flock, they launch an impressive assault against the prison. But when hostage ‘negotiations’ break down and Herschel winds up dead, the two opposing sides collide in a final, bloody battle that leads to the destruction of the prison as well as several shocking fatalities.
The series doesn’t return from its hiatus until February, but there are plenty of gruesome, hard-hitting moments that will likely remain etched in viewers’ minds for weeks to come. Of course it’s the deaths (or near-deaths) that everyone will be talking about. The little girl that The Governor was protecting Mehgan ended up as zombie food, but not in the way we expected. And Daryl’s near-death experience led to his brilliant ‘zombie shield’ recovery.
It’s true that this episode (like much of this season, in hindsight) belonged to Herschel, who has ascended to an almost angelic level of moral purity over the past few instalments, which inevitably meant he was going to have to kick the bucket. When it happens it’s agonizing to watch (it’s almost never-ending), and the reactions from the rest of the cast (Maggie and Beth in particular) are heart breaking in their own right. And as for Judith… mercifully we’re spared the horror of having to witness that particular tragedy, but it’s a brave decision that is likely to have major consequences for the Rick/Carl relationship.
Of course the truly controversial event in this episode is the demise of the Governor, a decision that is likely to split devoted fans. It feels somewhat strange that his death comes so soon after his two-part arc it’s likely that some fans will feel cheated, as the preceding episodes allowed viewers to get to know him better as a character. It seemed possible that his character could be incorporated into the central group. But either way it’s a fitting and memorable end for an iconic villain, a man who is definitely in touch with his tyrant side in that final act.
In the end leaving the prison is a very good idea now because of the flu outbreak that happened a few episodes ago but now we lost a few of the main characters and it got a lot of the viewer’s upset so it’s a good idea to keep Part two of season 4 until next year so some of the viewers can get over the deaths in this episode. In my opinion this should have been the Season 4 finale but maybe the dictator of the show has something in plan for the show. We will just have to hope part 2 is as good as part 1 was.