‘The Walking Dead’ Season 4 Premiere "30 Days Without an Accident"

Welcome to the season 4 premiere of The Walking Dead. I am not going to lie I found the episode to be a tad disappointing if only because they killed off Beaver Casablancas. How many times does that poor guy have to die before he is made a series regular on a show? I mean really now. Other than that, I thought it was a great beginning to a new season.  Just enough crumbs laid out to whet the appetite, but not so much that you can guess what is coming next. There is nothing worse than knowing what is going to happen before the end is in sight.  Of course, this isn’t a problem our survivors currently face. No, they are too busy worrying how they are going to live to see tomorrow. Because right when they think they have it all figured out something new comes at them to throw them off their axis.
Sometimes what threatens their lives the most is not a walker or a man hell bent on domination, but their own sanity. Take Rick for example, it is no secret that he has been fighting that particular battle from the beginning. Oh sure he was able to hang onto to the remnants of his sanity up until TS-19 when he was told there was no hope for normal. Normal as he knew it died while he had been in a coma.

Since then he has had to shoulder the belief that he was responsible for a little girl dying, getting his kid shot, killing his best friend, losing his wife, and taking on the added lives of dozens of people. Is it any wonder he spends his days pretending to be Farmer Ted and going off with a reject from The Hills Have Eyes? What’s worse is that the people closest to him know that he is losing it and they desperately need him to be okay if not for his sake than for their own.

Carl, meanwhile, is trying to hang onto his childhood if only to please his father. The poor kid was trying his hardest to be a “normal” kid like his dad wanted, but he knows as well as anyone that there is no such thing as normal for him, not anymore at least. For Carl normal consist of killing zombies, dodging unsavory folks, and helping to make sure, the people he cares about live to see another day. Let’s not kid ourselves people Carl is not the same kid we met in S1, he has grown up tremendously over the past few seasons – even if he does name his food.
Glenn, on the other hand, is simply trying to make sure he and Maggie live to see tomorrow. Frankly, he is more concerned that Maggie lives than he is with himself. It is no wonder the idea of impending fatherhood left him paralyzed with fear. This was of course when he wasn’t saving his friends from a raining horde of zombies. Well all accept for Beaver – sorry, I mean Zack – who was sacrificed for the greater good and by greater good I mean the wrong place and wrong time. Good-bye Zack, we barely knew you.

The one person who did seem to know him took the news of his death in what I can only describe as nonchalance. I guess from her point of view she has seen more death than most people have in a lifetime so it has become so commonplace that the days of crying hysterically are over. Hell I wanted him to live if only so he could keep guessing as to what Daryl did in a previous life. Somehow, in spite of everything or perhaps because of it, Beth has gone from a frail and helpless young girl to a strong and independent young woman. I’m not sure if he way of coping is healthy or not, but I imagine in a Zombie Apocalypse anyway of coping that lets you live to see another day is a good way of coping.

Why is it that the ones who seemed the most likely to break are the ones standing strong? For instance who would have guessed that out of all the people from the first season Daryl was going to be the one who stepped up to the plate in times of crisis? In the first season Daryl went along with the group because it meant his survival – although I suspect that somewhere deep inside being with those people was the first time he ever truly felt safe – in the second season it was about proving something to himself, and in the third season it was about accepting people into his life. I have a feeling the fourth season will be the one that really allows Daryl to shine. Hell he may even get him some – yeah, probably not. Of course, Carol seems a little preoccupied making sure the younglings know the proper way to handle a knife. Smart woman that Carol is.
Our motley gang has made it through another day in the new world; however, they still face many challenges. Whether it is from the walkers at the gate, their own demons, or something not yet discovered one thing is for sure not all of them are going to survive. Of course, as long as the kid who resembled Harry Potter doesn’t end up killing any of them I guess I can’t ask more for more, can I?

Stray Observations:

I’m worried about Tyrese, the big guy doesn’t seem to be adjusting to his new world all that well.

I know they lingered for quite a minute on the water after Harry Potter showered in it leading one to believe whatever “It” is its in the water, but I can’t help but wonder if this all goes back to when Dr. Jenner informed Rick that they were all infected and the incubation period in a live person is longer than one who is dead or dying. Just a thought.

Loving the obvious friendship that Carl and Michonne have struck up.

Remember kids, alcohol kills. Especially when you’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and there is a crashed helicopter on the roof.