It’s hard to believe that an entire year has passed since Rick was reunited with Morgan in the Season Three episode
Clear. Written by Scott Gimple, the man who is now Season Four’s show runner,
Clear demonstrated just how profound
The Walking Dead can be when it truly gives its characters room to breathe. Having said that, I must admit that I was rather hesitant after I saw the promos for
Still; coming off the back of the intensely focused episodes
After and
Claimed, an episode devoted entirely to the misadventures of Daryl and Beth did not seem to hold much promise. Much like Michonne and Carl’s mini-arc in
Claimed however,
Still not only provided the audience with some brilliant scenes between the two characters, but also managed to remind us of just how far these two have come, for better or for worse.
I feel as though I can attribute much of my apprehension about this episode to the fact that Beth was promised to have such a large role in it. Don’t get me wrong, Emily Kinney does a fantastic job with the material that she is given, but aside from a rather striking battle with grief in Season Two, and the occasional sing-song around the campfire, that material has proven to be rather sparse. This also happens to be the reason why
Still works so well, as we (and by extension Beth) are forced to confront a rather unlikely pairing between two characters. Yes, we caught glimpses of this pairing in
Inmates, but that was little more than a teaser of we were given in this latest episode.
It has been quite a while since any meaningful attention was paid to Herschel’s family, and with his recent death, now seemed like the best time for the show runners to play catch up. For someone who had been content with a quiet, unassuming life behind the walls of the prison, it was great to see Beth rise to the challenge of being on the road with Daryl. Much like Rick, the loss of the prison has forced her to abandon her docile ways, and even though her enduring naivety was underlined by her quest for a bottle of peach schnapps, she served as a brilliant foil to the angst-ridden, moonshine-drinking Daryl. Her alcohol fueled-speech about essentially being ‘most likely to become zombie-chowder’ probably put into words what a lot of viewers were thinking prior to this episode. Yet in managing to bring out the best and worst of Daryl that we have seen in a long time, holding her own against a fair number of zombies, and generally just standing up for herself, I am led to believe that Beth will have much to bring to the table for many episodes to come.
And then there was Daryl. Everyone’s favourite redneck seemed to have undergone a dramatic change since Season Two. We aren't often reminded of the lone wolf who made rather macabre daisy chains and once tortured a kid for information, but his breakdown inside the still proved that in the right conditions, that side of his personality is very much alive and kicking. I genuinely felt Beth’s unease in the aftermath of her drinking game faux pas, which really is a testament to how convincingly Norman Reedus plays his character. While Daryl seems to spend much of his time trying to convince everyone that he couldn't care less about them, it’s clear that he has become quite fond of his little band of survivors, and his misadventures with Beth only further cement his place at the heart of the group.
As yet another episode that exchanged action and plot for a greater focus on character,
Still went a step further by revolving itself around the exploits of just two of the survivors. While this made for some great moments between Beth and Daryl (fans of Mr Dixon will have a lot to take away from this particular episode, even though Beth’s experiences were its primary focus), peppered with a small amount of zombie action, those who are already restless with the show’s direction will find no solace in what was easily one of the slowest paced episodes of the season so far.
7/10
As late as this review is, I refrained from looking up other reviews on the episode until today. As expected, there is quite a furor among fans over the way this season is playing out. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.