4.07: The Walking Dead - Dead Weight

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The beginnings of a potentially horrifying chapter unfold with the establishment of a camp outside the prison; the possibility of the group finding peace amongst their savage new existence drives them to consider the idea of welcoming new members.

 

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So, Phillip Blake has returned. Abandoned by his men shortly after he ordered the massacre of his own people, the Governor was forced to walk the infested world alone. But if this lonely journey is anything to go by, it looks like the man has changed in his time in the wilderness. After meeting and saving a family (and then adopting them as traveling companions), the Governor may for the first time have found something to give his life meaning. But the question is:

Can a newly kindled love turn man around and send him on a righteous path?

Thing is not only Ramirez saved him from impossible climb from the pit, but he also insisted that if The Governor is going to stay in the camp, he's going to have a full charge. So, knowing how Philip likes to be in the charge I guess we're going to be in for a treat - of a dark kind - and I expect the series is raising tension well for the mid season break that looms in just a weeks time.

 

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*** Spoilers ***

I cannot say The Governor and Rick are far apart from each other, even if Rick has taken moral compass by insulating his family and loved ones from the horrors of the world, by doing farming activities. The Governor however has followed a dark path by protecting his loved ones by smashing peoples face in with a golf club.

He didn't had to do it but he by his confession to Lily it's as if he'd no other choice but to do it or otherwise he could have lost his "new" family. So, in a way, he not fighting to spare Lilly or Meghan as much as he's fighting to save them again. And he'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe. He'll lie, cheat, kill, steal, torture, threaten with a rape ... if you have something he needs. And if you're standing in his way, you're pretty much a dead man, just like it happened to Martinez.

But that's pretty much applies to all Kirkman's baddies. They are all people, who do pretty much anything to make sure their families and loved ones are top candidates to see the next day. There are no police, no military and certainly not feudal knights around to make sure that ones who ventures down the path of strongest survive obey the law of the land. And in a strange way you could even say they are the ones who implement such measures to the groups of people around them.

Surely you could say it could be so easy for those people move on and find some greener pastures, but in the land that's filled with the walking dead kind, it might not just happen. People of yesteryear world are sheep. They don't know how to survive on their own when the times comes and that's why they need people like Rick and The Governor to be the leaders. Or am I wrong? Could the survivors just move and live on their own without having anyone on the top to give them guidance and moral support?

I know only one example of that kind in the series and that's Carol.

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David Morrisey on Martinez and other killings:

I think Martinez makes the mistake of admitting weakness. He says to the Governor, "I'm not sure I can keep this place safe." Had he turned around to the Governor on that day where he was playing golf and said, "There is no way this camp is not going to be safe. I'm going to make it safe. I'm going to do everything I can to make it safe," then the Governor is going to say, "Great, I'll follow you." But as soon as the man admits weakness, then the Governor is going to take control. And the Governor is killing him and screaming, "I don't want it!" What he doesn't want is the responsibility. He doesn't want the responsibility he is forced to take because of this man's weakness. That's very important. He's putting a crown on his head that he doesn't want. But nobody else but him is worthy of wearing it.

And then he kills the one brother, Pete, and takes over the camp because he feels it's the best way to protect this new family he's come across. But once gets back in that seat of power, does he start to become comfortable again in that role?

The reason he kills the brother is because he doesn't want weakness. He's learned form the past that weakness and doubt is a very infectious disease. So he gets rid of the weakness and goes for the strength and the strength is the other brother. For a minute the audience thinks what the Governor is about to do is go kill the bad guy. He's gonna go kill the tank driver. But he kills the good brother because he knows that he's got to take that mantle and he's got to rid of that weakness — the weakness of doubt. His leadership qualities come, I think. He's a man that's not afraid to make tough decisions and that's why he's a force to be reckoned with.
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'Walking Dead': David Morrissey talks Governor | Inside TV | EW.com

 

[Dave]

The reason he kills the brother is because he doesn't want weakness. He's learned form the past that weakness and doubt is a very infectious disease.

I think he was tired of being the leader; being the person to whom the buck stops. However, he realised in that instant that if he isn't in charge, then he isn't safe, and what's more, his new family isn't safe. No one is safe. He wasn't bothered in the wilderness, whether he lived or died, but he is bothered about Meghan; the substitute for his own daughter. Clearly, he is as loopy as he always was and has not changed one little bit.

I thought that was great. I expected to be let down on the Governor back-story when he showed up at the prison, but instead it makes perfect sense.

In the short term, it is a dog-eats-dog world in which small groups (without baggage) and people with morals like the Governor will survive (and the camp that was robbed will not, and people like the brother will not.) In the long run, people will have to build communities with children and other baggage.

So these are the questions Rick has also been wrestling with while he has been out gardening.

 

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But what sort of lunacy is driving him to assault the prison? Sure he has a M60 Patton tank as in his back up, but still, taking that place, damaging it and possibly losing a great portion from the people in his camp is going to hurt him in the long run. Is it not?

Also I would not be surprised if he massacred the people in the woods, just to get that one spot closer to the leadership. I mean sure he drove out in the woods, where he saw the swamp monsters stuck in the mud, but still, why didn't they heard any gun shots, screams or seen any people running away scared for whatever attacked them?

PS. I was wrong about him hauling monsters at the edge of the forest. And I'm still wondering what attracts them in the prison.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

Its about to kick off!!!!

 

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Its about to kick off!!!!

What? The battle? Definitely.

 

[Ice fyre]

Both Dave and CTG have made some impressive points. Yep the Governor is as mad as a box of frogs.

I think Rick and the prison represent what he cant have. Its about a challenge to his authority, Rick is the ultimate challenge to him he is charismatic, caring, able to make hard choices, with compassion something the Governor cant do any more. He has no humanity left, he is just as much a monster as the walkers.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Its really quite simple. He's a general wholost his army, so he's amassing a new one. He cares not a jot fir the other members of the camp. What he cares about is getting revenge on Rick and his group. What I think will happen is that he'll tell his new group that there is a perfect place to move to but they have to fight fir it - the prison.

Personally I don't think he killed those guys in the wood. I think it was the other group they spotted. It showed that whilst the other group were prepared to kill to get what they wanted, Martinez wasn't. The thing is, anyone who stood in the governors way was going to die, but I think that initially only Ramirez had to go, partly because he knew the governors secret and partly out of revenge for deserting him. He then tried to escape the camp , not because he felt it wasn't safe, but because he knew what he would do if he stayed. As I mentioned before, he's insane, but he does still have periods of sanity. He was clearly a good man a some time, but losing his family has sent him over the edge - and he knows it.

What I did find interesting was that when he was in thepit he stood with the child in his arms, whilst Ramirez stood in front of him with a gun. I think he did this to stop Ramirez from gunning him down which I think he would otherwise have done. So he's not quite the protective guardian when his own life is at risk

 

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No comments Paranoid Marvin. You'll see how close you're in the next episode.