Lizzie and Mika, the two kids rescued from the prison (I’m not counting Judith, she can’t even walk yet) were the center of the episode. Lizzie finally revealed her psychotic behavior on her young sister Mika. I’ve never read the comics (I know…, but I just don’t like reading comics) so it was a huge surprise for me.
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I knew something was wrong with Lizzie, she had her moment of weirdness but I’ve never expected her to go that far, and so quickly. Her psychotic tendencies really escalated quickly. Maybe, it’s because she was separated from the group, having to live in a small group with few chances of survival.
Anyways, Lizzie suffered from three psychotic breaks in "The Grove" that led to her first kill. She really seemed crazy. Carol and Tyreese were of course already worried about Lizzie’s behavior. Carol shared with Tyreese Lizzie’s thoughts about the walkers, what Carol her "confusion" (that they are just different people. And Tyreese understood it even more when Lizzie asked him to let a walker, stuck in hole in the train tracks, live because they didn’t have to kill them all.. Well, girl, you kinda do have to kill them all, otherwise they will eat you ! I really don’t understand her point of view on walkers, and I wonder how she came to think that way. Why do she think they’re still people ? She is totally nut…. Unlike her sister.
Mika is so sweet and nice, of course she reminded Carol of her Sophia. It was very touching to hear Carol speaking about her. She thinks she is responsible for her death in a way. She didn’t teach her how to fight, how to survive, just how to run but it didn’t save her. So, Carol tried to make Mika tougher. It was heartbreaking and the scenes between Carol and Mika were great. Mika is smarter than Lizzie, she understands the world better despite being younger but she has a gentle heart and she isn’t capable of shooting other people. She still believes people can be good, maybe this new apocalyptic world changes them, but there is still good in them for Mika…. She is young and so naïve but it was very sweet. It showed how different she is from her psycho sister. They're completey different, so it makes me wonder even more how Lizzie ended up like that.
Lizzie’s first psychotic break, which really revealed how deep she was sick happened when Carol and Tyreese searched the new house they’d found. A walker attacked Lizzie, holding Judith, and Mika. Lizzie fell on the ground with Judith and didn’t do anything. She was just screaming so it was up to Mika to shot the walker. Wow, I loved that scene. Mika is so perfect, gentle and beautiful, she looks so innocent so it was even more shocking to watch her shoot a zombie. Lizzie acted very strangely after that, she cried and had heavy breath. She was quite upset. Ok, I knew from that moment something was definitely wrong with her. Mika was there to reassure her, guess it wasn’t the first time for her. The thing about counting and looking at flowers was weird, right ?
Carol and Tyreese had their concerns but still, they didn’t act on them yet. I can totally understand their reaction, it’s hard to think a young girl like Lizzie could be a dangerous psychopath. She had problems, sure, but she was young and dead people are coming back to life to eat people, that could damage any kid. And, Lizzie showed some signs of improvement. She said she would try to understand, even if she didn’t for now. But that didn’t last long. The next morning, Carol caught Lizzie playing with a walker. Yeah, she was seriously playing with that zombie, like he was trying to catch her just for fun. No girl, he wants to eat you… So, Carol killed the walker and Lizzie went mad. She screamed, cried. She kept repeating “You don’t understand” or “You killed her”….
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It was clear she had a serious problem, Carol and Tyreese witnessed it and still, they didn’t do anything against her. Lizzie had her third episode by the train tracks. The walker stuck in the hole was her new friend, and she fed him rat… Yeah, it was her back at the prison feeding rats to walkers… Not much of a surprise. But Lizzie went so much farther. She actually considered becoming a walker, to prove she was right about them. She almost fed her hand to him… God, she is so crazy. Mika tried to put some sense into her. But, nothing was possible. Lizzie believed she could hear the walkers… Luckily, when a whole bunch of burnt walkers came by the tracks, Mika and Lizzie left screaming for Carol.
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While running away from the walkers, Mika accidentally feel and got stuck in the fences. A walker grabbed her leg and I must say I was very tense. I didn’t want her to die, but luckily Carol and Tyreese arrived just at time to save the girls. Lizzie showed again she could react normally, and she shot a couple of walkers. She knew she had to help stopping them. Carol thought maybe everything was finally okay, Lizzie said she knew what to do so she assumed she was talking about killing the walkers. But Lizzie had something else in mind.
Lizzie killed her own sister, but protected her brain so she could come back as a walker and prove walkers are still people. That was very shocking and unexpected. It never crossed my mind. Lizzie really killed her own sister, that is so f**** up. Carol’s reaction to this was excellent. She took care of Mika, so she won’t actually become a walker and made sure Tyreese protected Judith, because she was next on Lizzie’s list… Carol and Tyreese talked and they didn’t find any alternative. Carol could have gone with Lizzie but it wouldn’t help her. She was a psychopath and in this world, there is no prison, no psychiatric hospital where to lock those people. So, Carol shot Lizzie in the head. It was one of the most brutal scene in The Walking Dead. Even if she was a killer, it was so sad to watch Lizzie died. She was sorry for what she had done but she still believed she was right.
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Melissa McBride was amazing in that scene (in the whole episode, but particularly in that scene). I don’t have words to describe her performance. It was brilliant, very just. It showed how much it affected Carol but still how she was sure of her and what to do. Carol has grown so much since the beginning of the show, it’s amazing. Who could have guessed back in season one Carol will one day execute a child ? The writing for Carol is absolutely perfect and that makes her my favorite character.
Carol had her secret playing on her conscience during the whole episode. I loved how Karen’s death was brought during the episode by Mika, during her talk with Carol and then Tyreese. Every time, I saw Carol’s shield cracking and at the end, she had no choice but to tell the truth to Tyreese.
It was a very powerful scene. It was quite risky for Carol to confess, after the day she had, she didn’t need that. Tyreese could have kill her but he forgave her. I’m not sure about his reaction, I’m glad he didn’t kill her but maybe he just forgave her for now, because he’s alone with her and baby Judith so he needs her to survive. When he will get to Terminus, things will be different and he might want to get his vengeance after all. I don’t really trust Tyreese, he seemed unstable sometimes.
But for now, Carol and Tyreese are fine and they left together for Terminus. Before everything went down with Lizzie, they talked about staying here, in the house. It was a nice shelter to stay for a while, that could have worked but not with a young psychopath and I’m sure how they would have lived together after Carol’s confession. So, it’s for the best. They soon will meet with a group. I hope it will be Rick.
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So, “The Grove” was an amazing installment in this fourth season of The Walking Dead. It’s one of my favorite episodes, with “After” in this season. It was brutal, emotional, surprising, shocking…. Everything I expect when I’m watching The Walking Dead !
The choice of focusing on a couple of characters per episodes has proven to be an excellent way to understand better the characters and their psychologies.
Walkers notes :
• The smoke ! Ok it was black then white, I didn’t know about that, but do you think it was Daryl and Beth’s one ? I’m pretty convinced it was !
• I’m always afraid when Lizzie is holding baby Judith… But now, no more reason to worry, she is gone.
• Lizzie’s death scene was amazing. I loved how the music stopped when Carol shot. It was so heart breaking… And then, the deer appeared. I cried a little, for Mika.
• How ironic it was for Tyreese to discover Lizzie was the one feeding the rats and Carol the one who killed Karen. He thought they were the same person, a stranger when it was actually his new companions.
• How do you think Rick will react when he finds out about Lizzie’s death ?
• Normal again. It was so nice to watch Carol cooking with the girls, it felt for a moment everything was normal and okay.
• Did you miss any other characters ? For once, I didn’t care Rick or Michonne wasn’t there.
Did you like “The Grove” ? Are you happy with Lizzie’s fate ? Do you think she deserved another chance ? Do you think Tyreese made the right decision ? Hit the comments !
It was brutal and shocking, and I absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeleteExactly how I felt about the episode. Not many shows have the balls to kill kids like that.
Yeah, most of the time, children are always safe on TV shows. But, this is The Walking Dead, no one is safe.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
ReplyDeleteI agree Melissa McBride's performance was absolutely phenomenal in this episode, and I think Brighton Sharbino, the young actress who played Lizzie, definitely deserves a mention too. For being so young, she did an incredible job playing such a dark, disturbed character. I look forward to what that girl is going to do next.
As far as Lizzie, I'm going to venture a guess that the girl may have been dealing with schizophrenia before the zombie apocalypse (she kept saying she could hear the walkers talking to her). She was possibly even being treated for it. But years of no treatments, no therapy, her parents dying, living people trying to kill them and watching people she knew turn into zombies screwed her up even more, well beyond the point of help. There was no place for her in this world. Even when she was crying to Carol at the end, she was crying for all the wrong reasons. I don't think she understood that she actually killed her sister... That's the saddest part of it all. And that scene when Carol told her to look at the flowers reminded me so much of "Of Mice and Men". It was beautiful yet so heartbreaking. And again, I have to applaud both Melissa and Brighton on their incredible performances in that scene and the entire episode. I would love to see Melissa get some Emmy recognition for that performance. Shout out to Chad Coleman and Kyla Kenedy too for their great performances.
I think Tyreese actually does forgive her and he likely forgave her because of what she had to do to Lizzie. I mean she just shot a little girl, that she dearly loved like a daughter, in the head because she was too much of a danger to the baby and to everyone, including herself. I think he understood that she makes the hard decisions when others can't because she will do whatever it takes to keep those around her safe, even though she loses a piece of herself every time she has to do it. If I were Tyreese I would forgive her after seeing all that.
Great review. I agree with everything you put. I had fear Lizzies' behavior a few episodes ago, but i did not expect that she would go THAT far. That was a brutal twist, killing her own sister. And i feel so sorry for Mika, she was such a sweet kid. I just think that Carol and Tyresse should not let Lizzie alone with Mika and Judith, because Carol already had seeing that she had problems.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, i don't think that anyone could predict such a terrible tragedy, and that Lizzie could kill her own sister. Melissa Mcbride was fantastic the whole episode, One of the most intense and sad episodes of the show. Because it's kids dying, and it's a brutal subject. It's shocking seeing kids dying, so this is when you remember that this is The Walking Dead, and really, nobody is safe.
Brighton Sharbino totally deserved a mention for her work as Lizzie, it's very true. It was amazing how concinving she played her part, she is so young and already very talented. I hope for her it's just the begining of her career :)
ReplyDeleteI've never though her having schizophrenia, it's an excellent point. I also thought about Lizzie being bipolar, as there were moments she acted normal, and knew what to do and some other time, she was just crazy.
And you're right, in Lizzie's mind she didn't kill her sister because Mika would come back as a walker, and walkers are still people for her. It's so tragic.
I'd forgive Carol for Karen's murder but if I were exactly in Tyreese' shoes, I'm not so sure. He loved Karen, and Carol took her away from him. There was a chance Karen could get better but Carol did not give it to her. For me, his forgiveness was too quick. So, we will see what happens :)
Many thanks for your comment, it was very interesting :)
Fantastic episode 4 days after and I'm still really sad about what happened to mika and Lizzie. I actually started to like Lizzie but I knew that she will eventually died but not the way it happened but it was amazing. I watched the episode 5 times now trying to understand and get over some feelings and still so hard watching those last 15 min. The only thing I don't understand what was the meaning of what mika told carol and then carol told Lizzie they everything works out the way it's supposed to? I still don't get that part Melissa said in the talking dead that it was kind of a connection in those words coming from the mother but I still do t get the full meaning and also the conversion in the last part of the episode from episode 3-4 I think with Lizzie saying that she is not afraid of killing she is just afraid and carol saying something with change what was all that about?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review, Romain, and I love your new avatar (without the mask).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lichen that Lizzie was "wired wrong" from the get go, walkers or not. I already knew what was going to happen, but when it did, it was still a shock. It was indeed amazing acting from Brighton.
I also agree with Lichen that Tyreese has forgiven Carol (but he won't forget, as he says). He needs her. He has seen her skill and passion. He just knows her a lot better, now.
I had my theories, but was proven wrong twice in one episode. First, I was convinced the rat feeder could not have been Lizzie. She's not tall enough, I thought. Also, there was definitely an image of a man's hand holding a flashlight (if you look hard with the lights off), which I took to be maybe the Governor, but was probably just someone from props. Finally, the result of the feeding was the weaken the fence, so it seemed to me there was some malicious intent there. Wrong again.
Then the opening scene seemed so nostalgic, I was sure it was a flashback. Maybe to Carol as a child with her father? Other people guessed it was a flashforward. Fake-out! It was current, and really freaky.
Great episode. Look forward to all the action next week.
It was an amazaing episode, that needs to be rewatched.
ReplyDeleteFor the "everything will work out as it's supposed to", it was what Mika's mother used to tell her, to reassure her so Carol chose to repeat it to Lizzie before shooting her. Carol had become her new mother in the prison.
Thanks :) I decided it was time to take off my mask ;)
ReplyDeleteFor me the opening scene was a flash forward of Lizzie playing with her new walker friend.