The Walking Dead Ep. 408: Too Far Gone

The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 8: Too Far Gone

TV rating

TV-MA

ZPAA rating

Late teens and up

Offensive content

No sex, nudity, language, drinking, smoking...but lots and lots of death and gore.

Synopsis & Review

I thought the Governor showed amazing restraint in not immediately killing Michonne when he had the chance (she was in his gun sights at the end of the last episode). He kidnaps her and Hershel and plans to use them to take over the prison. He makes a stirring speech to rally his troops. The Governor says he will take over without bloodshed if he can. Even Hershel sees through that bit of mental gymnastics. In a compelling scene, Hershel tells the Governor that his daughters are in the prison, and since he, the Governor, knows what it is to have a daughter, how could he let someone's daughter come to harm. The Governor simply replies, "It's not my daughter." He takes most of his people and his two prisoners (and his tank) to negotiate with Rick for occupancy of the prison. Rick doesn't want to go; in fact, he doesn't want to make decisions anymore but he's drawn back in. Rick and the Governor can't see eye-to-eye, which means bad things will happen.

Fans of the comic book finally get to see the tank assault on the prison that was so dramatic in the graphic novels. If anything, the show manages to squeeze even more drama out of this version, including the deaths of many major characters just like in the book. It's a draining watch for viewers and it leaves a lot of little pockets of characters running on their own.

The show is going on hiatus until February, so this episode is just the middle of the season, but it puts many other season finales (and series finales) to shame.