The Walking Dead - Indifference

** / ****
In all honesty, besides Daryl, Michonne, Ty, and Bob locating the vet college for medicine after finding another vehicle (and conveniently an auto shop right next to it with just the right battery needed inside), and Rick kicking Carol to the curb when the two go out looking for supplies in a nearby suburban locale, Indifference is the equivalent of paint drying. I guess the loyal fans might consider it a “character development” episode. I reckon a case might be made for that. I didn’t consider Indifference much, besides Rick ditching Carol for parts unknown because he didn’t want the murderer of Karen and David anywhere near his children and Daryl getting absolutely pissed at Bob for concerning himself more with bagging booze instead of much-needed meds. I like how Norman Reedis plays Daryl’s reaction to finding the wine bottle in the bag (a bag Bob fought tooth and nail to attain from reaching zombie arms) when they escape from the vet college onto a catwalk outside the window upstairs. Pressing his forehead against Bob’s, it was akin to two rams butting heads…it was letting Bob know that Daryl wasn’t the least bit pleased with his actions. Bob taking ownership of Zach’s death because he wanted a bottle and caused the shelf to fall on him at the Big Stop back in the first episode of the fourth season as Daryl dismisses it as bullshit sets up that catwalk scene so the reaction out of it seemed appropriate. Bob says he wants it for the “quiet nights” while Daryl has tried to give him the benefit of the doubt when out on missions with him. But Bob has to cut the reckless shit and quit being a liability.  Because the fourth season keeps pointing out just how much of a hindrance he can be. Bob holding onto that bookbag with a vice grip, jeopardizing his own life while putting the others in a vulnerable position when going back to help him because he wouldn’t let go, doesn’t build good will with his peers.

Going on this mission for the vet meds allows Daryl to not as much dig into Michonne for not staying still (and with them)—although he does in his own Daryl-ish way indicate to her through emphasizing her leaving over and over—as questioning the ongoing pursuit of the Governor, instead of being with those that want her around (to stay). Daryl also tries to steer Ty away from being such a raging, out-of-control, seething danger to them all instead of a source of assistance in warding off zombies and collecting supplies. So Bob’s attention gearing towards liquor instead of medicinal supplies to help fight the flu is a gum in the works Daryl doesn’t need to be contending with.

Zombies in the college building offer a bit of a threat to Daryl and company but Michonne lops off enough heads, Tyreece bashes in enough skulls, and Bob even shoots when need-be to hold them off until they can get to safety. Much like Rick and Carol’s adventure into abandoned suburbia, the rural Georgia Daryl and company drive through to get to the building is dressed as should be, as if unoccupied by a thriving society, left to ruin and overgrowth. There is always a place in my heart for this backdrop…its decadence and decay is an obvious zombie apocalypse fan’s dark idyll.
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Indifference has Carol telling Lizzy not to call her mom, mistakenly uttered by the child out of a stuttered ma'am. Carol tells Lizzy to stay strong, run for safety if zombies endanger them, and to quit looking at the undead as "changing humans". Lizzy sees zombies as another stage not a shell simply concerned with devouring live human bait.

The drive to find any supplies (whether possible medicine for Hershel, food, and helpful goods) available in nearby suburbia is quite a cold one as Rick wishes not to say anything while Carol wants them to just discuss the murder of Karen and David outright and get it over with. Rick understands what the ramifications of her decision could incur while Carol sees what she did as reasonable under the circumstances of safety against an outbreak. But this didn’t stop the outbreak so her justification of it falls prey to argument. Yes, at the time Carol felt it was the right thing to do for those yet infected. But tell that to Tyreece, fit for a volcanic eruption at a moment’s notice. Rick and Carol half-speak about it, both uncomfortable with the topic yet realizing it must be discussed. Ultimately Rick feels it best to part ways with her, essentially ex-communicating her perhaps for her own well-being. With another vehicle available for Carol to inhabit, Rick thinks she’ll be okay. Carol discusses her abusive husband and how stupid she felt about remaining with him, but recognizing the survival of it, persevering for as long as she has a survivor. Rick takes that as an excuse to bid adieu to Carol, having somewhat convinced himself that she can make it outside the prison, away from those he loves. Carol is rather taken aback by Rick’s inability to trust her, but her recent actions simply concern him.

The encounter with Ana and Sam (Brina Palencia and Robin Taylor) sets up a potential recruitment of two fresh faces, but it is all a ruse as Rick feels them out, considering them okay to come to prison with him (while also warning them of the flu), as Carol encourages them to help find supplies. Rick would have preferred them wait in the house while he and Carol search the neighborhood. While they have survived up until this point, Ana has a bum leg while Sam has a dislocated shoulder. Carol helps Sam much to Rick’s surprise until she reminds him of her own sufferings in her abusive marriage. Carol considers her change in attitude as essential in this ugly world they are left to try and live in while Rick doesn’t want to lose that human part of himself. Rick sure as hell wants to just farm and build a life without so much violence, but the harsh reality won’t allow it.

When Carol and Rick find Ana’s torn-off leg plopped by a fence, looking out at her upper torso splayed out while two walkers munch on her entrails just a piece away, it appears Sam might not have been so lucky either. When Sam hasn’t yet arrived back at the house, wearing Rick’s watch as a reminder of when to return, Carol is gung-ho on leaving. Rick just has that look of concern on his face…who is this woman? Carol stone-faced with no reaction to Sam probably dead is disconcerting to Rick...she did comment on the nice watch, giving him her own, a reminder of the past, a parting gift.

I could only roll my eyes at yet two more introduced characters given about two dialogue scenes establishing their personalities (two characters with good attitudes, quite likable and engaging) before leaving the house never to be seen *alive* again. This world just isn’t meant to have positive vibes. Ana’s bad leg might have been her undoing, a specific tattoo called to our attention when we first see her, and later once it is revealed without the body attached. Sam and Ana were opportunistic, seizing upon a chance to no longer just fend for themselves…until the neighborhood's walking dead seize upon them.

Indifference, Episode 4 of the fourth season of The Walking Dead.