‘The Walking Dead’ Season 4 Episode 4 Recap: Exiled

Everyone is on a supply run this week — Michonne makes a major decision, Bob’s addiction flares up, Rick and Carol head out for food and one member of the group is cut off forever in exile…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

The latest episode of The Walking Dead started out as one of those frustrating 60-minutes of the show where it seems like nothing much is happening and the story is progressing with the speed of a slug stuck in salt, but business picks up at the end with a major decision to change course for at least one character.

Daryl and his happy band of wanderers are out wandering for supplies still after avoiding the zombie herd last week, while Rick and Carol venture off into the suburbs to look for food and medicine while waiting for the bigger group to return.

With that let’s chat about the latest episode of The Walking Dead titled “Indifference”

Carol is Becoming Numb to This World

For the first season of The Walking Dead, Carol was the battered wife who struggled to stand up to her abusive husband Ed in the wake of his verbal and eventually physical attacks before he was eaten alive. Season two saw Carol as the grieving mother trying to find and then getting over the loss of her daughter Sophia. Season three saw Carol morph into a bit more of a standard character, part of the group while randomly flirting with Daryl along the way.

Season four has brought out a new side of Carol — one that’s cold and detached, business like in the way she dispatches the undead while still showing glimpses of emotion whenever she’s dealing with a pair of sisters she’s adopted after watching their father die of the flu strain that’s running rampant through the prison. Carol admitted last week to killing Karen and David, and doesn’t back down from her decision at all in the latest episode telling Rick that it was the right thing to do.

Rick wants to keep an eye on her so he invites her along on a mission to look for food and supplies while Daryl’s group is still out on the road. They venture out to a neighborhood where they run into a couple staying at an abandoned house, surviving on fruit while getting by with some physical ailments. The girl has a burnt foot after getting caught in a fire while escaping a refugee camp while the guy has a separated shoulder after running into what they call ‘skin-eaters’.

So far we have walkers, biters and now skin eaters — could one person on this freaking show just call them zombies already???

Anyways, Rick proceeds to give them the mythical three questions he’s cooked up and they pass, so he sends them off to gather supplies while he and Carol do the same. Two hours later they will all rendezvous and head back to the prison.

Bob’s a Drinker, Tyreese is a Loose Cannon, Michonne is Done Running and Daryl is Daryl

So this group picks up where we left off last week still moving forward on their quest to find antibiotics for the sick folks back at the prison. They stumble upon a gas station and find a minivan they can requisition after losing the car on the road to the horde of zombies. A few slices and dices through the undead still at the gas station and they are on a mission to find a new car battery, supplies and then get moving again.

It’s here that we learn two things — Tyreese is the latest survivor to lose his shit. He’s not dealing well with Karen’s death or the sick folks back at the prison so he’s full of rage with a heaping dose of pissed off on the side. Also, Bob is a drinker, loves the sauce and admits to Daryl that his desire to find alcohol is what cost someone their life back at the supermarket when they got bombarded with zombies back in the season premiere. Bob says that in the quiet moments drinking something, anything just made him fall asleep easier.

The group makes their way to the veterinary hospital, finds the medical supplies necessary but they are soon overrun by dead people looking for a snack. All four escape out a window, but Bob almost loses his bag, which he desperately clings to like an old family picture was in there or something. Instead once he rescues the bag, they discover that Bob found a half full bottle of liquor and when he almost pulls his gun on Daryl to protect it they have a come to Jesus meeting. Daryl takes Bob’s gun and warns him that if he takes one sip before they get the medicine back to the prison, he won’t live to take another drink.

Also, Daryl finally convinces Michonne that the trail for the Governor has gone cold and she gives up her vendetta to stalk him out on the open road. That decision pretty much seals the deal that the Governor will return in the next couple of episodes.

Bye Bye Carol

Back at the suburban houses, Rick and Carol commiserate over their shared sad lives. She tells him about her abusive relationship with Ed, he talks about Lori’s awful pancake breakfasts — not quite the same level of emotional distress, but still they shared. He asks why she can’t say Sofia’s name and she responds that Sofia is dead, why bother to mention her name. Finally they find the girl from earlier being eaten alive by the walkers and her boyfriend is nowhere to be found when they are supposed to meet up.

So Rick and Carol head back to the car to leave except only one of them is going back to the prison.

Rick tells Carol that deciding to kill Karen and David was wrong, and she shouldn’t have made that call on her own. He no longer wants her around because she’s detached and making bad decisions without the good of the group in mind. So he packs her a car full of supplies and tells Carol buh-bye, hit the road jack and don’t you come back. And with that Carol is exiled forever…

Takeaways and a Look Ahead

— Carol is now out on the road by herself which means she will soon encounter one of two things — she’s either going to run into the Governor, which will be his entry back into the show or she’s going to meet up with Abraham’s group because we know he’s coming onto The Walking Dead sometime this season.

— How will Daryl react to Carol’s exile at Rick’s lone decision?

— How will Tyreese react to the woman who killed Karen being sent out into the open road without being punished first?

— Will Rick even bother to tell the group that he actually sent Carol packing or make up a lie about how she’s dead?

The preview for next week’s episode looks like we’re back at the prison with Herschel and Glenn tending to the sick and infected as this flu story line continues to push forward no matter how mind numbingly bad it’s been thus far during the season. It would appear that if season one and two were about the undead threat and season three was about the human threat, they are damn sure working hard to make season four about a disease being the biggest threat but thus far it’s not been very compelling. Will The Walking Dead turn the corner before season four is over? Tune in next week to find out!