After months of anticipation, The Walking Dead season 4 returned with a special emphasis on Michonne
The show began where it left off last season at the prison, now inhabited by walkers due to the governor and his followers’ failed attempt to be the new occupants. The Governor you will remember, lost his life in that attempt and Rick and his people were scattered, trying to escape the fighting and the zombies invasion.
The show opened with Michonne returning to the prison grounds where Hershel was decapitated. She paid her last respects to the fatherly figure’s zombified head and was on her way, resorting back to using two hand less, mouth less zombies as her protection.
Meanwhile, Rick and his son Carl are having some parent/child issues.
Almost beaten to death by the governor in the last episode, Rick struggled to keep up with Carl and at times, tried to put his one good foot down. But Carl apparently lost respect for his father and questioned Rick’s leadership style. An explosive scene showed Rick, unconscious on the couch of a home the pair settled into, with Carl unleashing a verbal assault on his father.
We get to see a different side to Michonne. Usually the callous, unabashed zombie killer who always rejected emotional contact, part of Michonne’s past was revealed to the audience in a dream. We saw her as a happy mother and “lover,” living her carefree life despite the apparent start of the zombie apocalypse. We also saw the first two zombie victims she used as her protectors.
The season 4 premier lived up to expectations. We watched as Michonne fought with herself and her emotions. She was finally beginning to trust the people and accept her new existence at the prison only to have it all ripped away again. We watched as she aimlessly wandered the plains, surrounded by zombies, then snapped out of her mindless stupor, slaughtering 21 zombies in the process.
The show ended with her searching out and finding the home occupied by Rick and Carl.
Next week’s show will focus on other members of the scattered prison compound, as they struggle to survive and reunite.
