Reviewed: The Walking Dead - 'The Grove'

Just a quick warning that there will be spoilers in this review. So read on at your own risk...

Many Walking Dead fans, me included had been very disappointed with the series of late, after such a incredible episode in the half season finale, the show struggled to live up to the high expectations that it had created in the second half of the season by mainly focusing on character development, 'Still', episode 12 from season 4 was the standout down point from the season. The Walking Dead was beginning to become nothing more than a weekly countdown for return of the Game of Thrones.

Then came this episode, 'The Grove' one of the darkest and most brilliant episodes in the show's history. The only main characters in this episode were Carol, Tyreese and the kids; Lizzie, Mika and Judith. Doesn't scream classic, does it? The episode revolves around Carol, trying to deal with Lizzie and her feelings towards the 'Walkers' while she also struggles with the guilt of killing Karen and David when she was attempting to stop the infection back in the prison. Watching Carol wrestle with the decision to tell or not tell Tyreese what she did throughout the episode was great.

It seemed like it was going to be another ordinary episode, as the group find an abandoned house while on their way to Terminus. Carol was continuously trying to teach Lizzie that the Walkers are a threat, not people that are "different". This likely stems from when Carol killed Lizzie and Mika's dad to prevent him from becoming a walker after he was bit in the prison. It was a really interesting dynamic, when dealing with a post apocalyptic show it can be easy to forget that kids are kids, especially with how Carl acts in the show. Lizzie is a very young girl who has witnessed countless people be killed by walkers, including her own father, that is always going to screw a kid up. 

Lizzie's actions grow worse as the episode goes on, it starts seemingly innocent by her stopping Tyreese from killing a walker that was trapped, because it wasn't a threat to them. Later when Carol and Tyreese were inspecting the house they came across, Lizzie and Mika were attacked by a walker that almost got to Lizzie while she was holding baby Judith. You would have thought that something like that would have made her realise that they aren't different. But sadly, you can't fix crazy easily as that. But it just got worse from there, as she feeds mice to walkers like she did at the prison and when a walker starts chasing her in the garden, she thinks that they are friends and that she is playing. Her descent in to madness was fairly quick, and it culminated in her murdering her own sister.

The way Mika's death was revealed was perfect, we follow Carol and Tyreese as they return to the house after talking about they think this place could be a home. Then we see Lizzie standing with a bloody knife with Mika laying dead behind her and Judith next to her. She had killed her own sister to prove to Carol that even though she was going to become a walker, she could still love her. Lizzie obviously had absolutely no idea of the magnitude of what she had done, she kept saying she just wanted to make Carol understand and showed zero remorse.

Then Carol and Tyreese had to discuss what they would do with Lizzie. They obviously couldn't keep her under the same roof as Judith, especially after Lizzie said she was about to make Judith change too. They discussed alternatives including Carol leaving with Lizzie but they knew they wouldn't make it. But in the end Carol and Lizzie walk out to pick flowers for Mika when she comes back, then Carol shoots Lizzie in Steinbeck fashion. 

It was an unexpected and brutal death for Mika who grew in this episode more than she did since she was introduced. Lizzie's death was almost as big of a gut-punch, even though she had killed her sister, she didn't do it because she's a bad person, she didn't know any better and the writers do a great job of making you feel for both girls, and Carol who effectively lost her second and third daughters in this episode. Carol felt so guilty about everything that had happened that she confessed to Tyreese that she was the one who killed Karen and David. She explained why she did it and handed him her gun, told him to do what he had to do expecting him to kill her. Tyreese's reaction to hearing this now was likely different from what it would have been prior to the events of this episode. Tyreese was obviously mad but after seeing the lengths Carol would go to do what she thought was the right thing for the greater good, he forgave her. So on to Terminus with Judith they go.

The way this episode was written and acted out was brilliant, it may be no 'Ozymandias' but it showed that the Walking Dead still is capable off pulling of such powerful episodes like this. My interest in the The Walking Dead has certainly ramped right back up and I am very much looking forward to next week's episode named 'Us'. Episode 15 of season 4 airs Sunday 23rd March on AMC in the US and one day later on FOX in the UK.