In a culture where shows like Jersey Shore, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo engross TV viewers everywhere, it's important to acknowledge programming that engages audiences with clever writing and stimulating material. Every so often the networks get it right and support a series that is a breath of fresh air with clearly developed characters, perfectly cast actors, and a luring and often intricate plot. In appreciation of such shows, I have started this commentary.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

TWD Season 5 Ep 4: Slabtown

Well here you go kids. We have a Beth episode. For those of you who don't remember Beth, don't worry - most of the characters have forgotten her too. The only Beth moment we've had at all this season was the brief moment Daryl thought he saw the car that she was taken away in. He and Carol went on a Beth finding adventure, telling no one, and in "Slabtown" we finally find out what happened to the girl who only wanted Peach Schnapps.

Sleeping Beauty
Beth wakes up in a hospital bed and finds herself locked in a room. Dr. Steven Edwards and Officer Dawn Lerner enter the room and inform Beth that she's in Atlanta. Dawn's officers supposedly found her alone, being chased by Walkers. "If we hadn't found you, you'd be one of them. So you owe us." Apparently Dawn runs the show at Grady Hospital. 

Beth starts to learn her way around the hospital and tries to pick up on how things operate there...so to speak. She encounters Officer Gorman, who claims he saved her from the Walkers. He explains that nothing in the hospital is free and everyone works off everything they "owe" based on the care they've been given and the food they eat. The patients are not allowed to leave until this debt is paid. I'm not sure how all of this is tallied and monitored but Gorman is a douche. Steven seems like a good guy though and he tries to make Beth feel comfortable. He even offers to split his guinea pig dinner with her. Chivalry is not dead y'all.  

Better Than Terminus?
A couple of patients arrive. The first one is Gavin, who fell from a first floor apartment trying to get away from some Walkers. Dude is bleeding internally and Steven thinks it's a lost cause. For some reason Dawn is hell bent on saving Gavin and slaps Beth when Steven says it's a waste of resources. I have no idea what's going on right now. The next person brought in is Joan, who apparently was in the hospital and escaped left at some point. Joan's arm is a hot mess so they cut it off. Neat.  

After a really weird effing day, Beth drops off some laundry with Noah. He's apparently in charge of washing and ironing the scrubs which is probably one of the better jobs at the hospital. I'd certainly rather do that than hold amputees down and dump dead bodies down the elevator shaft. Anyway, Noah says that "management" at the hospital has gotten worse and worse in the year he has spent there and people do not get to leave of their own free will. Well, no surprise there. Noah has been quietly plotting his own departure back to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia....and he's awfully brave to trust Beth with this information. Must be her kind face. Maybe he liiiiiikes her. 

Noah hits a snag in his plan though when Beth accidentally administers the wrong drug to Gavin. She thought she followed Steven's instructions but it doesn't end well. Gavin seizes and dies and Noah takes the blame, saying he must have bumped the ventilator while mopping. Dawn knows he's lying...but Noah gets the shit beat out of him anyway. At this point Beth definitely wants to help get Noah out and she decides to leave with him. 

The Not So Great Escape
Beth attempts to steal the extra elevator key that Dawn keeps in her office. She makes two discoveries. 1) Gavin was a doctor (Dawn had his ID in her desk drawer) and 2) Joan is dead. Looks like Joan found a pair of scissors in Dawn's desk, cut her bandages, and let her arm bleed out. Bummer. Gorman finds Beth and says no one has to know that she was trying to take the key. He goes from douche to sleazeball immediately. Beth sees that Joan is beginning her Walker transition and briefly plays along with Gorman's fantasies. She hits Gorman over the head, tosses him to a hungry Joan, takes his gun and the extra key, and she gets the hell out of there. With Dawn now distracted by a Walker problem, Beth and Noah make it out of the hospital alive. Beth then goes into total badass mode and takes out a ton of Walkers. Daryl would be so proud. In the midst of all of this chaos, Noah gets away but Beth is captured by Dawn's officers. 

Dawn gives Beth a beating (of course) so Beth is further indebted to the hospital. As Steven patches her up, she confronts him about Gavin because, you know, she's pissed she was tricked into killing someone. Steven admits that he told her the wrong drug on purpose. Dawn was too eager to save Gavin and Steven couldn't afford to have another doctor around. If Gavin had lived, Dawn and company could have easily gotten rid of Steven. Well, none of that matters now - we have a new patient. The Queen Badass herself, Carol, arrives on a stretcher. 

---------------------------------------------
The episode ends there and that is quite a cliffhanger. Is Carol pretending? I mean, she blew up Terminus so she's not above going balls to the wall to save people. Maybe Daryl came up with this strategy....but who accompanies Daryl back to the church? Noah? Does Daryl go back to get reinforcements while Carol spies on Dictator Dawn? Soooo many things up in the air right now but here's hoping Carol busts Beth out of there next week. And if Noah survives, Beth can have a new boyfriend, we can get rid of that Beth/Daryl romance nonsense, and Carol and Daryl can become the most kick ass couple on television. Just sayin. 

No comments:

Post a Comment