TV recap: The Walking Dead S5 Ep03 – Four Walls and a Roof

After one of the most jaw dropping moments in the show’s history, the writers did not let up. Nope.  Opening on close up shots of Gareth and the Termites eating Bob’s tasty leg, Gareth ponders existential questions. Good to know that they left those marks on the trees so they would know how to get back, but back to what? For a nanosecond I can see how Gareth was beaten down to his current incarnation; then he goes and taunts Bob with hoping to have Sasha next on the dinner table because ladies always taste better. Of course we do because, everyone sing along with me….”anything you can do, I can do better.” (Did I just age myself again?)

Seriously, poor, poor Bob. A man is eating his leg while lecturing him and threatening his loved ones. He mourns these awful moments and then bursts into what looks like insanity to the Termites. Nope. Bob has been bitten you stupid pricks! “I’m tainted meat!”

TAINTED MEAT!! Bob, that was epic. (I will be patiently waiting for the Soft Cell redux version of Tainted Meat, thank you.)

It’s easy to pass judgment on Gabriel when you are not the one battling for survival in the zombie apocalypse. We all want to believe that we’re a Rick or a Daryl, but truth be told, a lot more of us would be a Gabriel. Gabriel saved himself and I believe a lot of people would have frozen in that same kind of moment; the emotional and mental torture he has put himself through is penance enough for me. He believes Rick and the group were sent as his reckoning which explains why he keeps succumbing to imminent death so easily.

O.K., so, Gareth returns the tainted meat and leaves a scarlet letter on the church. What does that mean?

Abraham is really treating Eugene like Private Ryan, huh? Does Eugene have a special kool-aid that only Abraham has imbibed? Also, how is Eugene maintaining that mullet of his? I was a little too excited over the prospect of Rick and Abraham engaging in a fight; way to ruin it Glen.
While everyone is rallying to take Gareth and his gang down, Tyreese is looking exceptionally sullen. Is he worried that he will come face to face with the baby killer, is he concerned that the group will realize that he didn’t actually murder the baby killer or is he concerned that, once again, he won’t be able to perform? Or a little of all the above? A lot of our characters are really starting to show the emotional and mental drain of this life. It is really beating some of them down.

The second half of this episode was a mini revenge/suspense movie and it was fantastic. The sight of Gareth’s group descending upon the church in near silence was menacing and beautiful and it set just the right tone for what was about to happen. The Ricktatorship is still in full effect and he definitely had all of the best lines of the night. Rick was a little bit Rambo, a little bit Charles Bronson and 100% badass and I couldn’t get enough of his awesome one-liners.

“Put your guns on the floor and kneel.”

“We didn’t want to waste the bullets.”

“Besides, I already made you a promise.”

LOVED seeing the red handle of that machete at the corner of the screen right before Rick went caveman on Gareth. The sight of this slaughter was too much for everyone to handle and Rick had to remind them, “it could have been us”, but that didn’t seem to relieve anyone’s immediate guilt and this is exactly what separates Rick’s group from Gareth’s group; they choose not to succumb to the easiest way of survival. Bob put it best when he thanked Rick for taking him in. Bob didn’t think there were any good people left, but Rick proved him wrong. “These days shouldn’t end who you are.” Well, Bob, that is the finest dead man’s opinion I have ever heard.

Also, here’s what; the fact that Gareth has already been removed from the situation is a good thing. Though he was a fine villain, we didn’t need another Governor lurking for far too long in the shadows. Most people agree that the Governor’s storyline was dragged out a bit too far and it seems as though the writers have learned from that. Terminus and Gareth lasted just the right amount of time. They swept in, caused all kinds of suspense, terror and death, lit a fire under Rick’s ass, brought everyone back together and then left just as abruptly. I do wish we could have learned weather or not the tainted meat would have caused any additional problems, though. It was amusing to see Gareth treat the virus as nothing more than salmonella while everyone else was flipping out. As we learned a couple of seasons back, everyone is infected, so would it really matter if you consumed tainted meat? It’s such a wonderful question to be raised only to have it not followed through.

So much for our group reuniting. Not sure how I feel about Glen and Maggie leaving with Abraham. Yes, Daryl and Carol have returned to the group by the end of the episode but something is, clearly, off about the situation. So, what’s it going to be Walking Dead family? What did Daryl and Carol find? What is the deal with Beth and how did she get to…..Atlanta? Will the group be going after her or not?

Sidenote; I never noticed that Michonne wore one of those gold initial necklaces.
Gareth, I’m very disappointed in you begging for your life. Even Merle didn’t succumb to that.

Lisa Fremont