The Walking Dead - S4E14 - The Grove
Previously on The Walking Dead, ‘Alone’
Wow.
This episode finally confirmed what I’ve been saying since the first half of the season: Lizzie was seriously mentally ill, beyond a child who just didn’t understand the zombie apocalypse. Lizzie’s issues clearly began before the end of the world. Mika’s “Look at the flowers, Lizzie,” first given in the second episode of the season, was obviously a coping mechanism they’d employed before. “Look at the flowers and count to three.”
Carol mistook Lizzie’s walker sympathizing as her not being to accept that once people became walkers, they were truly dead. There isn’t a small part of the person in there. You’re not going to be able to train them. You can lead them away, but you have to do it smartly. Even Carl’s attempt almost didn’t work out. You damn sure don’t run around with them like it’s a game. But Lizzie was beyond “not getting it.” Lizzie could hear the walkers talking to her, wanting her to be like them.
Lizzie needed medication. Period.
Throughout the episode, Carol (and Tyreese) witnessed Lizzie’s questionable behavior yet continued to leave her alone with Mika and Judith. They didn’t feel like she was a danger to others - maybe just a danger to herself. And they were wrong. Lizzie killed her sister, was about to kill Judith, and pulled a gun on Carol to stop her from destroying Mika’s brain because she wanted to prove that Mika would be fine when “she came back.”
Carol and Tyreese finally realized that Lizzie can’t be around other people. There’s no talking her back. Lizzie has always needed more help than either of them could ever give. Carol, the woman who murdered two people in cold blood because she felt that was what needed to be done for the betterment of the group, was forced to kill Lizzie. “I love you. Things work out as they’re supposed to. Look at the flowers, Lizzie.”
Carol and Tyreese bury the two girls in the yard of the place they’d found. A place they were just beginning to believe could be their home. Before they leave, Carol confesses to what she did to Karen and David. Tyreese is clearly upset; angry, even. But he forgives Carol, though he’ll never forget. However, this revelation means that they cannot stay at this house in a pecan grove. They cannot be a family of three.
What really sold this episode for me were the performances by Melissa McBride and Chad Coleman. Oh, and the crispy walkers weren’t bad either.
Make sure to tune into tonight’s podcast for my scene-by-scene recap and review. Leave feedback below, on Facebook, or Twitter (use #PFTWD) and we’ll read it on the air later tonight.
Art by Ryan Jacobson
We talked at home about this last night after the episode, and they touched on it a little on The Talking Dead, but now I wonder how “cold-blooded” her prison killings were. Yeah, she does what needs to be done, but that doesn’t mean she always does it without empathy or emotion. They completely revoked her villain status last night!