‘The Walking Dead’ Review: “Internment”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 4 brings to life its fifth episode of the year with “Internment,” as Hershel struggles to take care of the ill, while Rick returns to the prison and aids Maggie in keeping up the fences, unaware of being watched by an old enemy ...

Last week’s ‘The Walking Dead’ episode -- “Indifference” -- saw Rick taking Carol on a supply run to sort out their differences, while Daryl and his group continued to the veterinary college in search of needed medical supplies, so what does the latest episode of season 4 bring?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘The Walking Dead’ season 4, episode 5, “Internment!”

Rick continues on his way home, as Sasha, Glenn and Hershel intubate Henry, one of the residents struggling to breathe. Glenn prepares to put down another survivor who has already succumbed, but Hershel has them take the man out on a stretcher, lest the others have to see his fate. After sending Lizzie to go read, Hershel meets with Maggie through the isolation glass and assures her that Glenn is fine, that they’re all holding on.

Maggie returns to thinning out a cluster of walkers along the fence just as Rick returns, concerned for Carl and Judith’s safety. Rick reluctantly answers Maggie’s questions about Carol, revealing that she killed Karen and David, though they should keep her exile quiet for the moment. Rick goes to deliver supplies to Carl and Judith, but Carl seems restless over continually being kept in isolation with the others, away from a position of being helpful.

Hershel pays a visit to Dr. S, who seems to be suffering from the final stages of the disease, refusing Hershel to treat him any further, and offering Hershel a shotgun he’d brought with him just in case. Another survivor stumbles into the cell block and gasps his last breath as Hershel realizes all of the others are watching him. With Sasha’s help, Hershel wheels the stretcher into isolation, hesitating before finally putting him down. Hershel realizes that Rick is behind him, watching through the glass, as Hershel recalls a Steinbeck quote that inspired him to deal with the fallen patients out of sight. Upon hearing news of Carol and returning, Hershel finds Sasha passed out, while another female survivor rises as a walker within her cell.

Rick and Maggie continue stacking logs against the walkers pressing on the fence, one of which manages to grab Rick’s leg and knock him to the ground. Inside, Hershel manages to stabilize Sasha, who deliriously thanks him for everything he’s done, while Glenn continues to intubate his patien, performing CPR when he realizes Henry has stopped breathing. Hershel sets about closing the other survivors in their cells, apprehensive of one man who wishes to remain locked up with his “sleeping” family member.

Glenn goes to warn Hershel about his dead patient, but first collapses, and begins coughing blood. Lizzie discovers Glenn, but is quickly distracted by Henry rising, as the female walker steps out of her own cell. The man with his family member pulls a gun to help, but is quickly overcome by his kin, as general panic breaks out. Lizzie attempts to lead Henry away, his intubation tube still in mouth, forcing Hershel to come to her rescue. Outside, Rick sends Maggie to investigate the gunshot, pulling Carl out of his ward for assistance keeping up the fence.

Maggie finds herself locked outside of the cell block, forced to shatter the isolation glass for a way in, as Hershel finds Dr S. to have become a walker. Outside, Rick and Carl find their efforts shattered as the logs holding up the fence give way, allowing walkers into the outer perimeter that chase them toward the guard tower. When the walkers begin attacking the inner fence, Rick and Carl load up with automatic weapons, taking a measured approach to mow down the advancing herd

Hershel attempts to prevent Glenn from choking on his own blood, realizing the needed intubation tube to still be in walker Henry’s mouth. Hershel struggles with the zombie, forcing Maggie to make a difficult shot so as to avoid puncturing the bag. Once successful, Hershel and Maggie manage to save Glenn at the last second, intubating as Lizzie watches. Rick and Carl put down the last of the walkers, just as Daryl and his group return with the needed medicine. Bob goes to stabilize Glenn, while Tyreese cradles his sister, and Maggie finally relieves Hershel of his exhaustive duties. Hershel returns to Dr S.’s cell, contemplating his bible before weeping to himself.

The next day, Carl and Rick go to attend their daily farming, while Hershel informs Daryl to ask Rick about what happened to Carol. Hershel and Michonne eagerly saddle up to take the walker bodies outside, while Rick and Carl indulge in some beans, unaware that the Governor lurks outside the fence watching them.

OUR REVIEW:

Well hooray, the Governor's back. That lone shot of the season 3 villain ominously eying (heh) the prison in broad daylight certainly seems like it was worth waiting five episodes for. You see, admirable an attempt to create drama from something other than the living or the dead as the "plague" was, its use as a storytelling arc carried with it certain inherent limitations. We had no means with which to define the risks and limitations of the illness, whose only real purpose up to now has been infecting nameless characters we neither know, nor care for. It's been a fun little diversion while it lasted, but it had only been a matter of time until the Governor returned, hopefully with a less short-sighted (heh) approach to his character arc this time around.

"Internment" itself plays mostly like a B-side of last week's "Indifference," showcasing Hershel's Herculean efforts to keep all the narrative plates spinning, while the nameless Woodbury survivors sink deeper into despair. There's a running thread of Hershel's faith, which seems largely to have been broken by the episode's end, though most of the running time devotes to Hershel racing from cell to cell, or Rick, Maggie and Carl's various efforts to keep the fence up. It wouldn't be a zombie TV series without hordes of the living dead getting mowed down from week to week, though ultimately very little feels to have been at stake. Glenn looks to be circling the drain for a moment, though once again, all of our main cast surprisingly make it through the hour.

More than the Governor's return however, "Internment" pushes back the more interesting confrontations of the season, as we're not yet privy to Rick facing Daryl or Tyreese with news of Carol's ultimate fate. Their late return within the episode would have alotted far too short a time to truly explore the issue, but the end result has "Internment" squeaking out the last pathetic rolls of wheel-spinning before the action can truly pick up this season. That isn't to say that "Internment" lacked in entertainment value for the hour, though it's clear the writers wanted to pad things out another week with further character work.

Well, what say you? Did you get your fill of thrilling zombie killing?  What did you think about tonight’s latest episode, “Internment”? Check out all our other ‘Walking Dead’ season 4 coverage, and join us next week for another all-new episode recap of episode 6, “Live Bait,” on AMC!