“And we have fewer people. That makes us weaker.” – Lori
“Wildfire” is the best episode of The Walking Dead since the pilot.
In the aftermath of the assault on the camp, the Geeks are being burned and the slain survivors are getting a pickax to the brain. Andrea (Laurie Holden) isn’t quite ready to destroy the brain of her recently killed but soon to be un-killed sister, even going so far as to point a gun at Rick (Andrew Lincoln) when he comes to talk some sense into her. Eventually, Amy’s dead eyes reopen and Andrea is able to say her final goodbyes before putting a bullet through her sister’s temple.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that Jim had been bitten in the attack. The group has to come to a decision about what to do with the ticking time bomb that he is. Shane (Jon Bernthal) suggests they all head to a military fort some 100 miles away while Rick wants to seek refuge at the Center for Disease Control, back near Atlanta proper. He thinks there’s a chance there for a cure for Jim. Rick eventually convinces everyone, including Shane, but not before Shane ominously aims his shotgun at an unsuspecting Rick. Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) catches him and Shane dismisses it, but Dale clearly knows better.
They head out as a convoy (though Morales, his wife, and his children decide to leave the group to reconnect with relatives in Birmingham), but soon the bumping, jostling ride in the back of Dale’s RV becomes to much for the increasingly delirious Jim and he asks to be left on the side of the road. Rick offers Jim a gun, but Jim doesn’t want to take one away from the group that will need it more than him.
After the convoy moves on, we are jarringly introduced to a new character, a CDC scientist named Jenner, played by reliable character actor Noah Emmerich. Jenner is all alone in the building and spends his days experimenting on what is presumably a potential cure to the disease and his nights drinking and transmitting video updates that are probably going to nobody. When a lab mishap leads to an automated safety measure that destroys all of his zombified tissue samples, he tells the nobodies on the other end of his broadcast that he’s probably going to kill himself the next day.
Much like when Desmond Hume gave up his suicidal thoughts after he heard John Locke pounding on the hatch above, Jenner is shocked out of his own dismay by the arrival of Rick the Quarry Qrew (also the name of my new indie folk band, by the way). They approach the locked-down CDC building, surrounded by downed Walkers, and after banging on the blast doors, realize that there is likely nobody inside. But Rick still has hope. And maybe it’s a desperate, final hope because the group is almost out of gas and food, but he begins screaming at the camera over the door that he’s sure he saw move. Finally, Jenner opens the door and the group is bathed in the white light of the CDC.
“Wildfire” ends on this great cliffhanger, a perfect setup to next week’s here-way-too-soon season finale. I was wondering how the show could really hit a necessary high note before the season ended, but some governmental background about what is going on (or at least what Jenner thinks is going on) could end up being a very satisfying conclusion. And with the CDC in the vicinity of the zombie overrun Atlanta, I wouldn’t be shocked to see some more undead overload as well.
Lingering thoughts about “Wildfire”:
- Man, AMC really doesn’t skimp on the gore for this show. In the scene where Carol pickaxes Ed’s brain, the result is brutal.
- Rick twice tries to call Morgan on the radio, but isn’t answered either time.
Some stats and info about The Walking Dead, “Wildfire”
TV SHOW – The Walking Dead
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 5
AIRED ON – November 28th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – AMC
GENRE – Horror, Drama, Zombies, Thriller
CREATED BY – Frank Darabont
CAST – Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Christian Serratos, Josh McDermitt, Danai Guria, Seth Gilliam, Andrew Lincoln, Ross Marquand, Chandler Riggs
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.