The Walking Dead Episode Review: "Consumed"

Guest stars include Ricky Wayne and Tyler James Williams.

We’re reaching the point of the season where the episodes are really meant to set up the mid-season finale and this particular episode wasn’t an exception to that. That being said, it wasn’t that bad of an episode either.

The thing I really liked about this one is it filled us in on some missing gaps of time in Carol’s storyline. This started with a flashback describing what happened to her after Rick (Andrew Lincoln) kicked her out of the prison and, later, we learned how she ended up at the same hospital Beth is being held at.

The latter was actually a little bit of a surprise for me because, when we originally saw her, I just figured she was faking her injuries as a way to get inside. I wasn’t expecting her to actually be injured. This revelation does put a new twist on the season because, instead of rescuing one of their people, Rick, Daryl and the gang are rescuing two.

I did also like the fact they were constantly in danger, something that isn’t always the case with some episodes. This kept the episode from becoming dull, even during moments when they were just sitting around catching their breath.

I am a little curious what will ultimately happen with Noah (Williams). It’s possible he’ll end up joining the group. But, given the fact there is already a pretty big crowd, part of me wonders if he is being brought in as a replacement to set up another death or, since his survival skills seem limited, if he’s being added just to give the show the ability to kill someone without sacrificing a main cast member. I’m actually leaning toward the former with an eye on Carol, just because she seems to be getting a lot of screen time lately (something the show tends to do for a main character just before killing them).

One thing I was a little disappointed by when it came to this episode was it left the nature of the Daryl/Carol relationship still unclear. If they are romantically involved, as has been hinted at in previous episodes, it sure didn’t appear that way in this episode. They were alone in a room together and things were pretty much just business between them. I think he and Beth had much more chemistry when left alone together (which may be why he’s so obsessed with finding her).

As I said before, the episode did turn out to be better than expected, despite the fact it is primarily setting things up for the mid-season finale. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

My Grade: B