The survivors have made it to the prison complex. They've survived blasting out the area, they've encountered some dudes in the prison who seem less than friendly, and they've lost a few members of their team in the process - like Andrea, who was left at the farmhouse in the scuffle when the zombies invaded. She met up with Michonne, the samurai-sword wielding woman who has kept Andrea safe from harm even during a sickness.
"Walk With Me" chooses to focus entirely on Andrea's journey as her and Michonne stumble upon a safe haven town run by a mysterious man named the Governor. Things seem peachy-keen here - there aren't any zombies, people walk freely down the street without worry, and Merle's also here! The Walking Dead finally decides to tackle that subject, letting us know that Merle did make it out alive and now he's looking for his brother.
He seems like a changed dude thanks to the Governor, and Andrea takes a liking to the easy living of the town. But Michonne distrusts the Governor, and for good reason: he kills people off for supplies for his city, not worrying about the consequences.
We know that, but Michonne and Andrea and the rest of the town don't. They live in quiet, naive bliss, never wondering where their supplies come from. In a way, the goggles that Andrea wears when thinking about the Governor make sense - in her situation, it would be nice to just settle down for a while without worrying about walkers or food. But it also highlights the failures of Andrea's character throughout the series, a woman too quick to jump to the first conclusion available.
"Walk With Me" isn't the best episode of the season so far, if only because the split from the group leaves little in the way of pacing. There's a relaxed tone to this episode, and it doesn't work with the immediacy of last episode. But the introduction of the town does work to eliminate the stagnation that occurred last season; with dual settings, the show can jump on the fly when things in one area die down.
This is the type of thing "Killer Within" does - it switches between camps at the prison and at the town in order to tell a more complete story. It's a better-paced episode, one that ends in a huge surprise. Much of this is packed with action after someone begins to let walkers into the prison.
Unfortunately, the perpetrator isn't anyone in the group, it's just some random prisoner who wants to take over the prison. There's no tension with this outcome, and the group just shoots the guy and moves on. It does bring in two new characters to the mix thanks to the trustworthiness of Axel. Overall, though, it's disappointing that the mole in the group has such little point at the end of this episode.
That's because other events take precedence, though, and it's handled with a finesse that works well. Though this character hasn't been my favorite overall, they deserved the send-off that they got.
It's exciting to think where The Walking Dead will go from here. There's no sense that the intensity will stop or falter; there will be bloodshed, and the complications of the town and the Governor hint at something sinister in the mix.
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