The Walking Dead, Ep. 414: The Grove

The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 14: The Grove

TV rating

TV-MA

ZPAA rating

Adults only

Offensive content

Some zombies shot; some burnt zombies (they are still smoking but not on fire); feeding a live mouse to a zombie; humans killing humans (including children).

Synopsis & Review

The narrative switches back to Tyreese, Carol, and the girls. They're following a set of train tracks to Terminus (much like other groups of characters) and get side-lined when they find a house with a working well and lots of pecan trees. Could life be idyllic here in the grove?

The problem is they have all brought their problems with them. Tyreese is still haunted by the death of Karen; he's found purpose in taking care of infant Judith and the older girls but is not ready to go to Terminus and deal with strangers he isn't sure he can trust. Carol is still haunted by killing Karen; she's found purpose in taking care of Lizzie and Mika but can't get Lizzie to see the walkers aren't human any longer and can't get Mika to toughen up and kill even in self defense. Lizzie still believes the walkers are people who are just a little different but is frustrated that no one agrees with her.

Mika is the lynchpin here. Her problem according to Carol is that she won't kill someone in self-defense and doesn't even want to harm animals. She'll kill a walker if she has to, but she has the sort of innocent most other characters have lost. Is it really a problem though? Practically speaking, it makes life among the walkers more difficult but not impossible. Mika says she can run away; Carol doesn't accept that as a solution. She wants Mika to be harder, like her. Mika is resilient in her outlook.

Lizzie is also resilient in her view, with disastrous consequences. She won't kill a walker because she thinks they are people still. She wants to keep them as friends. To prove her point to Tyreese and Carol, she kills Mika and promises that they'll see when Mika comes back that the walkers are people. Even after such a horrible act, Tyreese hopes to help her see how messed up she is. Carol says she'll take Lizzie away since Lizzie can't live with other people. Sadly, Carol takes the easy route of killing Lizzie.

Carol returns to the house where she and Tyreese have a heart-to-heart talk. She hands over her gun and tells Tyreese that she killed Karen at the prison. She tells Tyreese to do what he's got to do, which clearly means shoot her. Tyreese struggles with himself a bit and then forgives Carol. He says he'll never forget what she's done but he knows she has to live with it. He's learned to live with it too. They set off with Judith for Terminus at the end of the episode.

This episode is probably the bitterest bittersweet episode of the series so far. It has a lot of darkness and sadness, but also hope. No one expected Tyreese and Carol to reconcile that way and it opens the door for Carol to change in a way that she assumed Lizzie couldn't. I hope she does.