The Walking Dead Review: “Inmates” (Season 4, Episode 10)

After weeks of speculation, discovering that Tyreese had indeed rescued little baby Judith came as both blessed relief and with a whole heap of problems. The ethical quandary of raising a baby in this world aside, having Judith alive does mean that we definitely still have a chance of seeing a zombie baby, which I’ve hoped for since the very beginning of this show.

I’d really, really like to see a zombie baby, I’m not sure how much clearer I can make that. As long as Judith is onscreen, there’s hope. Zombie baby dreams aside, having Tyreese rescue her, Lizzie and Mika bodes well for the direction of his character and for his evolution from sulky strongman to father figure. Having baby Judith on board, however, means crying, which means noise, which means zombies. As exciting as this is for fans of zombie babies, a lot of tension is mined from those circumstances and it’s surprising how affecting Mika and Lizzie are when, by rights, they should be an annoyance. They feel less like weights around Tyreese’s neck and more like possible tools for their salvation (there’s that word again). They make you believe, like Beth made Daryl believe, that maybe life is worth living, even at the expense of seeing a zombie baby.

The cherry on that particular positivity cake is that, while Tyreese is out tracking, Carol rescues the children from a zombie attack. Just out of nowhere, Carol appears, like she’d been tracking them. What this also means is that Daryl and Carol getting together is definitely on the cards, and I couldn’t happier. I don’t know if it’s because of their obvious chemistry or their rhyming names, but I really ‘ship those guys. That’s a word people use on the internet.

So Daryl and Beth are accounted for, as are Tyreese, Judith, Carol, Lizzie and Mika, but what of the others? Well, we also catch up with Maggie, who finds herself trapped with Sasha and Bob. Maggie goes hunting for Glenn, coming across the prison bus as they do so, but they just find walkers. Little do they know that Glenn is still at the prison, where he decides to let bygones be bygones and helps Tara to escape alongside him. This feels more like the old Glenn, season one Glenn, jumping around and all by himself Glenn. Bad ass Glenn. Maybe the prospect of finding Maggie has fired him up, or maybe he’s just bored – who can say? All I know is it’s good to have him back, and I really hope he finds Maggie eventually. He had a close call with the virus in the first half of this season, would they try and kill him again? Surely not.

All that’s left is how the episode ends – Tara and Glenn escape, and are picked up later on by three people traveling in an armored truck, which must seem like manna from heaven at this point – Abraham Ford, Eugene Porter and Rosita Espinosa. Fans of the comic book will recognize the names as those belonging to a group of doctors who are on a “very specialized mission.” Quite what that mission is we’ll find out soon, but Abraham’s line to Tara, “You got a damn mouth on you, you know that? What else you got?” takes on a whole different meaning if they’re doctors. It implies illness and information, rather than what it seems like at first, which is items and belongings. We’ll see how it pans out, and whether or not they can find their way to “Terminus” as well. Or “The Grove” even.

Random Robservations:

• I’m really coming to like Tyreese – I think he has a great future ahead of him. My support means that he will die next week.
• I’m lobbying long and hard for a zombie baby. It’s great Tyreese saved Judith, this might position him as the show’s true hero – he’s carrying on Rick’s legacy. Also, zombie baby!
• Wasn’t it great not having to deal with Rick’s bullshit for one week? Talk about a sigh of relief. Kill Rick! Zombie baby!
• Could Judith kill Rick? That’d be great.

See you next week for more of The Walking Dead.