The Walking Dead takes a week to focus on the return of The Governor and his dark path since he gunned down the remaining citizens of Woodbury last season…
By Scott Harris — Staff Writer
There was always a chance that maybe that guy we all saw at the end of the last episode of The Walking Dead was a different guy with an eye patch, and not actually the sudden return of the show’s arch villain. Maybe we jumped the gun, and in our lust for The Governor’s return mistook Carl’s wayward Halloween revelry for the psychotic mortal enemy of everything good in the post-apocalypse.
In the interest of clearing up any such confusion, this week The Walking Dead devoted its entire episode, titled “Live Bait,” to The Governor, with the goal of answering one specific question: where you been, man? There was no Rick, no Hershel, no nothing. All governor, all the time.
While the episode was interesting, it wasn’t the most consequential of the season. That’s OK, I suppose; never a bad thing to take and offer a break every now and then and just do some storytelling.
That said, not much from this episode is going to stick with me. In a nutshell, it was governor gets deserted by remaining supporters, governor loses zeal for life, governor grows long beard, governor finds small group of people including small daughter-like girl, group gives governor reason to live again, group sets out for new pastures, group rather incredibly stumbles on same supporters who deserted him. See how it all comes back together? Amazing.
But there are some moments from “Live Bait” that can and should endure. First, the song from the opening segment was “The Last Pale Light in the West” by Ben Nichols, the singer from Lucero, one of my favorite Southern rock bands. Not only is it a great song, but hearing a band you’ve known for years in a TV show or commercial is almost like seeing an old schoolmate in the cast. It’s bracing stuff.
Second, it’s worth noting the makeup of the group with whom he’s moving forward. It’s a very familial atmosphere, with two women and a young girl. In fact, it’s almost too familial. It allows Guv to re-create the normal nuclear environment he clearly craves. But on the flipside, Guv is a murdering insane person. He craves it the way Norman Bates craves it. That way lies creepiness.
Third, though it remains unclear how or why he finds the prison colony, he does reunite with at least some of his old Woodbury bandmates, at least those he didn’t massacre at the end of season three. Apparently among the leaders of whatever amalgamated group has absorbed the Woodbury castoffs is Martinez, one of Guv’s top enforcers in the salad days and a particularly mean sumbitch. Think of him as Darrell’s bad-guy equivalent. It’s bad for the good guys that Martinez is still in the mix, but good for viewers like me.
Overall, though, this is the first leg in what appears to be a multi-episode detour from the season’s main thread. We’ll just have to wait and see what the writers and the Guv have in store for us. On to next week.
Check out the track from the episode below titled ‘The Last Pale Light in the West’ by Ben Nichols
