By: Heather Seebach
**Warning: The following contains spoilers about episode 4.10**
Much like last week's episode focused on the whereabouts of Carl, Rick, and Michonne, this one tells us where everyone else has been since the prison attack. "Inmates" has a couple big surprises but overall it's a relatively mediocre episode. I was not bored but as usual the show takes no risks and follows a comfortable, predictable path. This episode, while not bad, just felt more like a stepping stone onto other things. So here's hoping what follows will be more exciting and/or interesting.
The episode begins with Daryl and Beth on the run from walkers. I like the way this sequence was handled, with voice-over from Beth reading her journal (circa their first arrival at the prison). It was a nice depressing representation of hope lost. I did have to stifle laughter, however, at lines like, "That ain't walker blood." How the fuck can you tell that, Daryl?!
Next, we catch up with Tyreese, Lizzie, Mika, and - just as I predicted - baby Judith. While my initial reaction to the mid-season finale was that Judith was dead, I soon came around to realizing Lizzie must have grabbed the kid after saving Tyreese and then running off in the direction of the baby. That foreshadowing, plus the producers saying we would soon get an answer about Judith, told me all I needed to know - she was alive and these show-runners have no balls.
The more interesting thing about their group is how Lizzie is once again acting like a freak and so is her little sister, Mika for some inexplicable reason. Lizzie is killing rabbits and saying shit like, "You're not like Sasha because you're still here" (Ty's face was priceless, though). Meanwhile, Mika is scratching Tyreese and saying shit like, "You don't understand [the walkers]!" Don't even get me started on Lizzie almost smothering the baby to death!
These two creeps need to become zombie food and quickly. I've long theorized Lizzie would follow the Ben storyline from the comics, but the writing seems to jump back and forth between her being normal and helpful, and her being a total fucking psycho! The inconsistencies make it so I don't even care anymore. I am started to wonder, however, if this is the writers trying to misdirect us away from Mika being the real psychopath. Chances are it's still Lizzie though, predictable as that has been since she first showed up.
While I'm on Tyreese's group, why the fuck did he leave three little girls alone in a forest full of walkers to investigate some random scream? Right after he scolded Mika for running off and not sticking with the group. Last time someone left a little girl by herself, Sophia ended up a fucking zombie!
Anyway, this episode jumps around a bit, telling the story in a non-linear fashion. We see that Daryl and Beth are following the tracks of Tyreese & co. So no doubt everyone will meet up within an episode or two. That will be super awkward considering, SURPRISE, Carol conveniently shows up and Tyreese does not know what she did yet. The gang finds a sign on the train tracks advertising a place known as "Terminus" and they decide to follow it. Fun fact: Terminus was the original name of Atlanta, Georgia. But go ahead, follow that sign because, hey, the last time you went to a town promising refuge, that turned out SO great.....
Meanwhile, Maggie, Sasha, and Bob go looking for Glenn along the highway. They find the bus Glenn was on last time Maggie saw him, but it's now full of walkers. As Maggie kills each of them one-by-one looking for Glenn, I kind of hoped he would be among them, but if he was, it would have been a complete repeat of the Sophia-barn scene. Besides, all the commercials for this episode showed Glenn still alive, so there was hardly any suspense anyway. I still can't tell if Maggie was crying from stress, relief, or sadness when she stabbed that final bus walker in the face.
Glenn wakes up at the prison alone. He gathers supplies and heads out in riot gear when he runs into Tara. Glenn lobs a Molotov cocktail (thanks for the booze, Bob!) and they escape. We learn that Tara's sis was swarmed by walkers after shooting the Governor. The duo is attacked by walkers, Glenn passes out, and while Tara is bludgeoning a zombie with a gnarly mouth, a jeep pulls up and reveals the characters we comic fans have been dying to see! This final shot revealing Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene is the best moment of "Inmates", especially the way it recreates the cover of issue 53 almost perfectly!
It's a nice geek-out moment for fans of the comics but I imagine it means absolutely nothing to non-comic-fans. "You've got a mouth on you...what else you got?" I love that final line because it could be seen as either quip or threat to those unfamiliar with Mr. Ford. I always imagined Abraham being a taller, more muscular actor but I hear Michael Cudlitz is pretty awesome so I'm down for it. David Morrissey proved you don't have to look anything like your comic counterpart to be awesome.
Overall, the final shot was the only thing I got remotely excited about with this episode. Judith being alive was disappointing (yeah, yeah, I'm heartless); Carol ex machina showing up spontaneously and all-too-conveniently was silly; and the Lizzie/Mika stuff is just annoying now. Hopefully these new characters mean we can drop some of those loose ends and move on already.
Finally, as always, here are some humorous thoughts from Reddit users:
