The latest episode
of The Walking Dead,
"Killer Within," opens on a hazy morning at the prison where Rick
(Andrew Lincoln) and his band of survivors have settled down. The serene
atmosphere is offset when a lurking figure opens the gates and baits walkers
into the facility. With its dreamlike, foggy setting and a conspicuously
waist-down perspective of the saboteur, a peculiar sense of disconnect
underlines the implications of what's being depicted. The scene ends with a
single close-up of a heart placed on the cold cement. It's a foreboding image
that gains magnitude as "Killer Within" gives way to a sudden strike
of tragedy. Moreover, the pre-credit sequence lends insight into how the
episode amounts to a particularly poignant, if also problematic, entry in the
show's run.
I'll return to the significance of the opening scene in a moment.
First, let's take a look at how the episode builds to its ultimate disaster
through stark tonal contrasts. With apocalyptic shows like this, moments of
levity are few and far between. "Killer Within," however, goes so far
as to offer something resembling a sustained cheerful mood as it gets going.
Now having fortified the prison, Rick guides the crew about the mundane tasks
of building a home. Small character moments are peppered along the way and gel
nicely together as mini-portraits. Hershel (Scott Wilson) shows progress
walking on crutches; Glen (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) get busy in
the watchtower; even Rick and Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) share a brief hopeful
exchange from a distance. After a tense encounter with the surviving inmates
and a conversation among themselves about whether to allow the prisoners to
join their operation, the group is still in better spirits and apparently in
control.
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