The Walking Dead -- "Killer Within" Review

The Walking Dead

Channel: AMC

Day and Time: Sundays at 9/8 CST

Release Date:

Buy Links:

Amazon

TV Show Description:

Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

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"Killer Within" -- Review by Angela D. Williams

Well, I have to admit, I don't usually lose much sleep over television shows, but last night I definitely lost sleep over the newest episode of The Walking Dead, titled, "The Killer Within." This review is chalk full of spoilers so if you haven't watched yet, back away now.

No, seriously. Back away now.

The episode opens with a man whose face you don't see. He's carrying an axe and dragging a deer carcass. He lures two walkers to the carcass and out of his way, then moves over to the fence and kills the chain lock with his axe. Cue opening credits.

Rick, Daryl, Carol and T-Dog are in the front yard of the prison. They've been clearing away bodies. Suddenly they wonder where Glenn and Maggie are, and one of them comments that they had gone up to the guard tower. Daryl yells out their names and Glenn stumbles out onto the balcony. He has on no shirt and he's fastening his pants. The group below is rather amused at what the pair was obviously up to. They're interrupted by the sight of the two prisoners that Rick was allowing to stay in the other cell block of the prison. Immediately he's upset, and Daryl and T-Dog follow him over to where they are. Axel tells him that they just can't stay on the cellblock anymore with all those dead bodies, and that they'll do anything to be a part of Rick's group. Rick gives them a flat no, and they lock the pair outside the prison gates. After, T-Dog argues that he thinks they should bring them into the fold and give them a chance. Rick asks him if he wants to go back to sleeping with one eye open and T-Dog tells him that he never stopped. Carol, Daryl, Glenn and Maggie all side with Rick, leaving T-Dog looking defeated.

Back at Woodbury, Michonne is examining the military truck that the governor and the others brought back last week. She discovers both blood and bullet holes in the truck, making her distrust grow even deeper. The governor is watching her from a few feet away and she comments that the biters must have learned how to use weapons. He admits nothing, and tells her that it's a whole new world out there now, and she knows that much. She gives him a suspicious look and heads away.

Rick, Glenn, and Daryl are out in the woods collecting firewood when Lori, Beth, Hershel and Carl make their way outside. Hershel is using crutches, and doing pretty well with them. There's a moment where everyone seems happy and Rick and Lori's eyes meet from yards away and they both have faint smiles as they gaze longingly at one another.

And then all hell breaks loose.

Walkers begin pouring into the yard right behind Carl and Hershel, Lori and Beth. Lori and Carl both begin shooting the zombies as Beth helps Hershel get away as quickly possible and behind another fence. Maggie, Carol and T-Dog quickly arrive in the yard to help. They are all shooting walkers, and Maggie ushers Carl and Lori inside the prison and away from the zombies. T-Dog gets bit in the shoulder as Carol watches, horrified.

Andrea gives Merle directions to the farmhouse where she'd last seen Daryl. He looks touched for a moment, then asks her why she's helping him. She tells him that if it were her family out there, she'd want to know. He asks her why they never hooked up. She smirks and reminds him that he called her a whore and a rug-muncher. He tells them that the two of them have something in common--they were both left behind by the same people.

T-Dog and Carol stumble inside the prison, but in a different entrance. Rick, Glenn and Daryl finally make it back to the yard, along with Axel and Oscar. He asks Hershel and Beth where Lori and Carl went, and they point him toward the entrance. Just then, a loud siren goes off, and walkers from all around the outside of the prison start moving toward the fences that enclose the prison.

Inside, Carl, Maggie and Lori are trying to find safety, as there are a lot of loose walkers in there, too. Just when it appears that they may be safe, Lori clutches her stomach and says something is wrong. Then she tells them that the baby is coming.

Merle approaches the governor, and tells him he's thinking about taking a couple of the men and going to look for his brother at the farmhouse where Andrea pointed him. The governor asks him what happens if someone gets hurt. Then he tells Merle that the whole community would fall apart without him. (Me: Bwuh? Merle? Really? He's THAT valuable? Uhhhh….) Then Merle tells him maybe he'll just go alone. The governor makes him a deal--if Merle can find something more concrete to go on, he himself will help him look. (I'm sure he keeps all his promises. Really! Ahem.)

Back inside the prison, there are walkers, from all sides, surrounding Lori, Maggie and Carl. For a moment, it appears they're trapped, but then Carl finds a door, gets the women inside, and shuts it. Lori tells Maggie she has to push. Maggie realizes she's going to have the baby before they can get her back to Hershel or Carol, and she tries to see if Lori is dilated at all. She can't tell. When Lori begins to push, Maggie tells her to stop. There is blood all over the place.

Carol and T-Dog are making their way down a dark corridor, also trying to get away from walkers. T-Dog tells her to go on without him and she says she's not going to let him become one of those things; that was the pact they all made. When it seems like they, too, are surrounded, T-Dog throws himself at a group of walkers and screams at Carol to run. She hesitates, then takes off past him.

Andrea is having a drink with the governor. She admits that her entire family is gone, and now she has no idea what she wants. He tells her his wife died several months before the outbreak, leaving him alone with his daughter. They are eying each other in a way that's not QUITE flirty, but there is some interest there, for sure. He tells her if  she decides she wants to come back to Woodbury, she's always welcome. She tells him, "Goodbye, Governor." He tells her his name is Phillip. She pauses, and says she thought he never told anyone his name. He responds that someone recently told him to never say never. She leaves. (Me: Watch your back, Andrea. This guy is BAD news.)

Rick, Daryl and Oscar look for a way to shut down the alarms that are STILL going off, drawing walkers from near and far. They get to the control room and as Rick is trying to shut the things down, he is attacked. By whom, you ask? Why, by the prisoner that Rick threw out of the prison and left to walkers a few weeks ago. (Family and friends? This is me saying I TOLD YOU SO!) The two struggle and both try to get control of Rick's gun. Oscar, however, picks it up and points it at Rick and the prisoner. The guy tells Oscar to shoot Rick, because then they can get control of the prison again. After a moment, Oscar turns the gun on the other man and shoots him in the head, then hands Rick's gun back to him without hesitation. (Think he just earned his place as part of the group.) Rick shuts down the alarms.

Back in the boiler-esque room, Lori tells Maggie that she's going to have to perform a C-section. Maggie protests, saying she's never done that before, that Carol is the one who knows how to do it, not her. Lori begs her, and tells her this baby HAS to live. She also tells her that when it's over, Maggie will have to be the one to make sure she doesn't come back, because Rick won't be able to do so. Maggie tearfully gives in, and Lori points out her previous C-section scar, telling her to cut along there. She tells Carl she loves him, and they both cry as they hug, knowing that she's going to die. Maggie cuts Lori open and Lori passes out almost immediately, blood everywhere as Maggie delivers the baby. For one horrible moment, it seems as though both mother and child are going to die, but Maggie manages to get the infant breathing and she wraps her in Carl's coat. They are about to leave, but Carl says they can't just leave his mom. She tells him no, but he says rather emphatically that it's his mother, and he pulls his gun and moves over to where she is lying unconscious. He flashes back to last season's conversation with his dad about how they are all going to die eventually: Rick, Lori, and all of them, and he hands Carl the gun he'd stolen from Daryl. The camera pans over to Maggie, holding the baby, looking more than a little shell-shocked. She jumps when the gun goes off and she stares at Carl as he walks past her without looking at her.

Back at their shared room in Woodbury, Andrea tells Michonne she doesn't want to leave yet. She points out that staying a day or two more won't hurt anything. Michonne walks away, looking utterly disgusted.

Rick, Daryl and Oscar discover T-Dog's body, and the scarf that Carol was wearing. When they are back in the prison yard again, and Rick is upset when Hershel and Beth tell him there's been no sign of the others. Just then, they hear a baby wailing as Maggie and Carl emerge from one of the gates of the prison and into the yard. "Where is she?" Rick demands, moving toward them. Maggie shakes her head, and Carl remains silent. He knows. He starts to head back inside to find her, but Maggie tells him not to. Glenn moves to her side, wrapping his arms around her and the baby while Rick stares at Carl. "Oh, no," he says, voice hoarse. He begins to wail in grief, and he collapses onto the ground as the episode fades to black.