Last week I remarked that although I had enjoyed each of the first three episodes of The Walking Dead, I was concerned that the episodes did not seem to share a consistent structure or style. While the first episode was a masterful exercise in building and sustaining tension, the second was more like an action-adventure story and the third took an entirely different approach, focusing on dialog scenes between background characters to begin to flesh them out. Rather than alternating between styles, I suggested, the series would need to find a way to balance these elements within each episode and to develop supporting cast characters to make us care about their fates.
To my delight this week’s episode, ‘Vatos,’ not only does a great job of finding that balance between action and drama but it also did something the series seemed to be in need of. It killed off some of the human characters, reminding us just how dangerous the world is for them and giving the action sequences much higher stakes. After several episodes in which zombies have been easily evaded, seeing how much devastation a handful of them can cause makes them seem all the more threatening and makes it clear that we cannot take any character’s survival for granted.
Throughout the episode supporting characters get moments that tell us a little bit about them. For instance, in a moving sequence at the beginning of the episode, sisters Andrea and Amy are in a boat and start to discuss the differences in how their father would treat them on fishing trips. Though we learn very little about their old lives from this conversation, it reveals each character’s core nature and helps us understand how they relate to one another.
Of all of the supporting characters though, the one who we learn most about is Jim. Up until this episode he had been a pretty unmemorable character, usually stood off to the side helping Dale to repair his camper van. In this episode however the character becomes the focus after he begins to act strangely, digging hole after hole in the ground and refusing to talk with his fellow survivors.
Confronted by the entire group, who tell him that his strange behavior is frightening the children, Jim blows up at them and argues with Shane, making it clear that he is unhappy with how he had dealt with Ed. The characters never really get around to answering his question of who made Shane leader but, after a brief struggle, Jim begins to break down and we see that he is suffering from survivor’s guilt. The scene is well-played and is certain to forever change the way we look at this character.
While the characters interact with each other at base camp, Rick and his team are in Atlanta, looking for Merle having discovered his severed hand on the roof of the store. Realizing that they will have to search the city to find him, they agree that they will need the bag of guns if they are to have a chance of saving him. Working together, they devise a smart plan to get the bag but complications occur when they are ambushed by a street gang. Though they manage to secure the weapons, Glenn is kidnapped and dragged back to the gang’s base. Rick and the others decide that they will seek out the gang and try to negotiate for Glenn’s freedom.
The first few scenes with the gang had me a little concerned as the characters seemed to be little more than lazy stereotypes. This concern disappeared however as the storyline played out, as we learn that they are more complex than they initially appear to be.
This encounter would seem to be of little significance to the wider story and no doubt some will feel that it was a waste of time. Certainly I would be surprised if we ever see the Vatos again, yet I did find it to be a worthwhile sequence in some other respects. I appreciated that it reminded us that we cannot take characters on face value in this show and that things may not be as they appear. More importantly, it is a great piece of storytelling sleight of hand.
For much of the episode we are waiting for Rick and the Vatos gang to start shooting at one another, so when the situation is resolved we let down our guard. The episode’s main threat appears to have been averted and so, we may assume, everyone will be okay. Within minutes however the episode springs a much more devastating conclusion on us, hitting the characters at base camp with a devastatingly effective nighttime zombie attack.
What is more striking about this sequence is how quickly the zombies seem to be moving, making the most of the element of surprise. The sequence is disorientating, gruesome and very effectively staged. The zombies who are creepy by day become something much more terrifying by night, swarming into the camp from the darkness and picking off several of the group.
After this attack, the survivors seem more powerless than ever and clearly there will be enormous fallout from what has happened. These characters have been reminded that they are not safe in the campsite and clearly there is a risk that more zombies are on their way. The situation at the end of the episode seems dire and it will be fascinating to see what the group does next.
– Aidan Brack
