Response Paper #1

HW 2/28 Response Paper # 1

            I choose to review the television show The Walking Dead S4 Ep12 directed by Julius Ramsay and written by Angela Kang. The episode follows two characters, Daryl and Beth, and their journey together after the entire group splits up after an attack on their camp. This episode reveals new information on both characters through somewhat touching conversation. I chose this show and episode because of my connection to the entire series since day one and figured its perfect for this assignment because I actually want to talk about it (plus zombies). The message of the episode looks at what both the characters have become after and who they were before the apocalypse. The event that illustrated the message was when Beth, age 17, had the sudden desire to find alcohol and try it for the first time (background info: 3 episodes earlier her father was killed in front of her, he was the voice of reason in the group but had suffered from alcoholism in the past). She had convinced Daryl to go with her in search of a luxury many would view as idiotic for their situation. They stumble upon a high class golf club house littered with rich corpses. Beth eventually stumbles upon the club’s bar and finds “Peach Schnapps.” She struggles to drink and breaks down prompting Daryl to grab the bottle and smash it against the ground following by saying, “Your first drink sure as hell aint gonna be peach schnapps.” He then leads her to an ex-moonshining shack where they find booze and an argumentative but touching conversation occurs after drinking. The episode relates to the whole “finding yourself” cliché in everyone’s life and how the opportunity to start over presents us with new looks and hopes about the future. I watch the show every Sunday! The episode seemed action-less and had me really disliking Beth, which I’m sure wasn’t the show’s intention. The insight to their past lives was interesting but late as fans wanted it a while ago and have since forgotten or not cared by now. Beth’s acting was average and consistent but Daryl’s heavy emotional presence was a refreshing surprise as he’s usually contained or reserved. The walker (zombie) takedowns were gory and entertaining as usual, on a scale of one to ten I’d rate the episode a six.