Walking Dead - Season 4, Episode 9 - After

"After" was, for all intent and purposes, a Carl-centric episode of Walking Dead.  And it didn't completely suck.  That is, of course, an accomplishment in and of itself.  Two seasons or so ago, Carl was one of the most hated characters on television.  His role on the show basically consisted of running off and getting himself into trouble in some contrived way (which often lead to the endangerment or death of a more beloved character).  He also provided countless opportunities for the audience to criticize Lori (another widely disliked member of the Grimes family) for her bad parenting: typically, Lori's only "interaction" with her son was to demand that someone "Watch Carl!" before flying away somewhere herself to do something stupid.

But Carl's role changed dramatically when Walking Dead moved to the prison.  A little more grown up, he had become one of the more competent characters on the show.  The character was still consistent with previous seasons: a bit more hot-headed than his father Rick, he always favored action and often tried to prove himself by doing things on his own.  But the difference was that instead of inevitably ending up helpless and needing saving, the little guy was often able to take care of business himself in those situations.  And with that lone character adjustment, Carl has become a mostly tolerably part of the Walking Dead universe (particularly compared to perennial "What the hell are you still doing here?" faves like Andrea or Beth).

Another good reason that Carl has been so digestible in recent seasons is that the show has wisely done a fine job of keeping him on the periphery.  Carl is always involved in the story, but not usually relied on to carry a scene or an episode.  There hasn't been a "Carl is stuck alone in Woodbury" or a "Carl has a crush on a girl" episode.  The reason, if it isn't obvious, should be: Chandler Riggs simply isn't the greatest actor (of course, he gets a bit of a pass there given that he is 14 years old).  Casting kids on a TV show is always a tricky proposition.  They tend to grow up so fast that they screw up the timeline of the show, or they grow up to be not so cute anymore, or crazy in real life, or in Riggs' case, not a very good actor.  But of course, children do exist in the world, and so casting them on a TV show is unavoidable. Given that restraint, Walking Dead has done a pretty decent job of managing the "Carl situation".

"After" represents a pretty ballsy move, though.  For the most part, this is Carl's show.  Of course, Michonne is there, too.  And I appreciated her segments if nothing else because I always enjoy when the show provides us the slightest insight into her life before the zombie apocalypse.  And her dream sequence was one of the most memorable scenes on Walking Dead ever (the show should experiment with more freaky, dark stuff like that).  But I was preoccupied with Carl. And you know what? He was bad.  Riggs' acting is wooden in the best of times, and the whole thing shifted far too much into that tired "rebellious, wayward teen storyline" that we've seen far too much of.

But there was genuinely some suspense when Carl had his zombie encounters (I should clarify that the kid isn't my favorite character, but I don't want him to die.  Mostly because hasn't Rick had it bad enough already?)  And the payoff was really great in the end.  Andrew Lincoln and Chandler Riggs are a believable father-son duo, and their characters have been through absolute hell.  So their moment together when Rick finally woke up was touching.  Michonne showing up (while ridiculously convenient timing-wise, of course) was also really great.  Those three had a growing chemistry before the prison went down, and I look forward to their adventures together.  And the events of this episode do confirm that our heroes will be split up for a while.  I think that's good.  It leads to more tense situations, and some characters we may not normally see together much should have some interesting interactions.  So far, the second half of season 4 is off to a solid start.