The Walking Dead “Claimed”: Stranger danger

The Walking Dead continues to trudge along. Is it just me or does it feel like this latter part of season four feels like an afterthought? I don’t know, it just seems calm. And that’s what “Claimed” was, calm and just filler

(BE WARNED: If you haven’t seen the episode, stop reading! Spoilers ahead.)

The episode starts with Sgt.Abraham Ford and Tara having a lighthearted moment clearing some walkers. Now play the intro in your head. Next, we see Carl and Michonne eating cereal, and playfully arguing over soy milk. Eventually, things turn sour (as most of the milk supply in the world has probably gone) when Judith’s name comes up, (cue the weekly Carl emo face!) The episode is split up with three stories within; Michonne and Carl on their supply run, Rick trying to get some reading back at the house, with some uninvited guests, and Glen and Tara’s adventure with the newbies Sgt. Ford, Rosita and Dr. Eugene Porter, who’s context provides the gravity for this episode.

Michonne and Carl go scavenging through some house in the neighborhood. While searching the place, Carl becomes curious of Michonne’s pre-apocalyptic life and they both start a game of quid pro quo; Carl ransacks every nook and cranny of a room for an answer from Michonne. The whole exchange is a sweet distraction from the other stories. But it turns macabre. Michonne stumbles upon a little girl’s room. In ironic fashion, the brightly pink room, with plush and dollhouse abound, is filled with corpses: two on one bed, two on the other and one sitting in a rocking chair, her brains painting the wall behind her bed. They all committed suicide. All the sweet banter before is replaced with a somber feeling. Michonne prevents Carl from witnessing the contents of the room. Their chapter didn’t advance the story. We learned Michonne’s son’s name, Andre Anthony. Their story mostly served as the emotional part of the episode.

Former sheriff Rick Grimes just wants to catch up on his Jack London. He dozed off but something woke him up. Footsteps, talking; There’s someone in the house! Actually, more like someones. Rick’s side of the episode deals with him trying to escape the house before Michonne and Carl return into a mousetrap, (somebody found Michonne’s shirt and called dibs first, for you know what, for criminy’s sake!) Rick hides under the bed, and then later two ruffians fight each other for rights to the bed. This is where the first of the “on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments” happen. A dude gets knocked to the floor and sees Rick. At this moment, you’ve probably been “c’mon thug, choke out your fellow skinhead!” And he does. The guy didn’t have much time to sleep. Eventually he’s called down by his peers, and this gives Rick the chance to escape. While playing cat-and-mouse with a survivor, who’s annoyingly bouncing a ball the whole time, Rick eventually ends up in the bathroom. But wait, there’s someone in there. Awkward! A small scuffle ensues, where of course Rick comes out on top. With a sub-machine gun in hand, he goes through the window and jumps down the roof. He’s home free… but wait, there’s that dude with the bouncing ball again. Grr. Unnoticed, with Michonne and Carl in sight, Rick decides he’s gonna have to assassinate him before he sees them and alerts the others. But he too is called inside, hallelujah. Rick runs towards them and they all run off. Rick’s portion of the episode was mainly filler. It provided those grind your teeth moments, and was just a way to get them on the road again.

The real meaty part of the episode was that of Glen, Tara, Ford and company. A huge bomb was dropped in their segment, which may, and I say that lightly, provide the final stretch of the series. Dr. Eugene Porter, he of the sweet mullet, knows what caused the zombification of the world. Shocker, right? And it is Ford and Rosita’s prerogative to get him to the Capitol with other experts and potentially save the world. But alas, it is put on hold. During a brief confrontation between Glen and Ford, that lead to punches, walkers start to surround the truck. Everybody but Porter is trying to stop Glen and Ford. Wait, what? The key to saving the world is all alone on the sidelines, with walkers closing in, the rest unaware, and he himself incompetent with a gun? All ingredients to Porter becoming walker mulch, but no not yet, damnit. The others recover and come to the rescue, but not before Porter perforated the truck’s gas tank. Well, either way Glen was returning to the prison area to search for his wife, Maggie, with Tara in tow. Rosita follows along, then Porter and finally Ford.

I like Ford. Second episode in and he’s already one of my favorite characters. His optimism and affability is belied by his gruff, stocky look. It’s refreshing seeing a character that’s not so cynical, both on his outlook and actions. He seems genuine when he says he wants to get Porter to D.C. to help end the pandemic. In this episode, Rosita was just there to provide the eye candy, in the same vein as Michelle Rodriguez. You know, with the skimpy tomboy-ish look. Porter potentially holds the key to the end of the series. It’ll be interesting to see what direction they go with him. Glen is is hell bent on finding his wife, nothing new. And Tara, in my eyes, is still this sympathetic figure. She shows loyalty for a guy she only knows for a couple of hours and was ordered to kill.

Seeing as to how the season has been, it’s simply just another filler episode to get the characters shown back on the road, which is not a bad thing. We don’t want to have to sit through another camp out in one location. Although Terminus is on the horizon. But who knows how it’ll go. I wonder how the great reunion will take place, and where. Terminus, perhaps?