I've thoroughly enjoyed The Walking Dead TV series, but always felt that the first two seasons were leading to something bigger and better. The early episodes of The Walking Dead Season 3 showed a more polished and ambitious season, but "Killer Within" strikes a perfect balance and is the best episode of The Walking Dead to date.
Similar to previous reviews, I will give my impressions on the episode without going into major spoilers. With that being said, you will not want to continue reading if you haven't watched any of Season 3 so far. Also, I strongly urge those who cannot watch the east coast premiere to avoid Twitter and Facebook in order to appreciate this episode.
Episode 4, titled "Killer Within", starts off with a bit of a mystery. Someone has lured walkers onto the prison grounds and the group must not only deal with that threat, but figure out who is behind this. After the introduction to The Governor last week, this episode also takes us back to Woodbury, where Andrea is conflicted over leaving the town so quickly.
One of the many challenges that face The Walking Dead's cast and crew is that the show is constantly changing. This isn't a procedural drama that follows the same formula week-to-week and can more easily be refined. Not only has the main location changed, but we're introduced to a large cast of new characters. In this episode we see more of the prisoners the group met recently, as well as The Governor. What is impressive is that they have already been integrated into the show in a way that feels natural.
As apparent by last week's episode, the world of The Walking Dead is expanding and this episode has a perfect balance of multiple locations, action, and character development. It's pretty amazing that every main character involved in this episode has been given a role of importance, and I have to give both writer Sang Kyu Kim and director Guy Ferland plenty of praise for being able to manage everything successfully. There will also be no shortage of praise for many of the actors who appear in this episode, as there are some very memorable performances here.
I can't go into too many more detail because I need to avoid spoilers, but I will say that there are plenty of zombie kills, along with a number of intense character scenes. Those who are wondering how Hershel is doing after his recent amputation will get to see him this episode. Fans of T-Dog will be happy to see him continue to take a more active role in the group. There's also a number of exchanges between The Governor and other characters, and it will be interesting to see what they lead to in future episodes.
"Killer Within" raises the bar for the series and the events that take place will have a profound impact on the future of The Walking Dead and its characters. The series has now shown that it can balance multiple locations, action, and character drama, and this episode really marks a turning point for The Walking Dead.
Score: 5/5
This is definitely an episode that will leave people talking and we're looking forward to reading what you think tomorrow. If you need to catch up on our coverage of The Walking Dead, visit the following links:
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