Vatos

After the last episode spending most of it's time character building this weeks "The Walking Dead" ups the ante and goes all "Game Of Thrones" on us, with a few central characters biting the dust. Some will be missed and some won't.

As Rick, Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog continue to look for Merle they run into trouble, as tensions grow back at camp.

The acting in this episode again is top notch, with the exception of Sarah Wayne Callies, I think everyone in this show is superb. Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun and Jon Bernthall are all excellent and Jeffrey DeMunn's Dale gets a nice scene talking about time, and again his humanity shines through. Finally Jim gets some serious screen time and Andrew Rothenburg does not disappoint.

This episode has it all!! Great acting, directing, writing, drama and music! One of my favorite episodes of the season tbh.

Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, and glenn encounter this group of men called the vatos who may now be as they first seem.

Had heard nothing but great things about 'The Walking Dead' from friends and IMDb reviewers. It took a while to get round to watching, both from being busy and also not being sure whether it would be my cup of tea. Finally getting round to it a few years ago and slowly working my way through it, having had a very long to watch and review list, 'The Walking Dead' turned out to be very much my cup of tea and as good as the hype made it out to be, have found it extremely addictive.

"Vatos" continues the extensive character building and a full establishment of tone, in no way disappoints, maintains the complexity and delivers even more on the tension, emotional impact and adrenaline-rush guts. Another strong reminder of how Seasons 1-5 of 'The Walking Dead' to me were absolutely brilliant and seeing the show in its full glory days (Season 6 was uneven, Season 7 was a huge disappointment and am still debating whether to watch Season 8). The characters and storylines are advancing well even if there are not what one calls "resolutions".

It still shocks me at how an intelligent, well-made (so much so that it is easy to mistake it for a film) show about zombies could be made when so many films have tried and failed abysmally to do so.

Complaints are few actually. Sarah Wayne Callies doesn't seem at ease yet in a role that was not interesting at this point of the show. The biggest issue though for me was the tension of Rick's storyline being let down too much by an anti-climactic and hokey-in-writing stand off where Guillermo's silly dialogue and how little the scene adds to the rest of the episode or that particular subplot in general dilutes things too much.

Like all the episodes of the show however, "Vatos" is incredibly well made in the production values, with gritty and audacious production design, photography of almost cinematic quality, effects that look good, have soul and are not overused or abused and pretty frightening make-up which helps make the already freaky zombies even freakier. The music is haunting and affecting, having presence but never being too intrusive.

The writing, the aforementioned grievances aside, is intelligent and thought-provoking, with lots of tension and emotional resonance and already showing signs of character complexity and multiple layer storytelling. The more eventful scenes are thrilling and terrifying as well as uncompromising.

Particularly found the Amy and Andrea's interactions very effective, the sisterly bond wrenching the heart.

It's all thrilling and tautly paced without rushing through the more important parts. The world building is already stunningly immersive and effective. Direction is smart and atmospheric while the show throughout has been strongly acted. "Vatos" is no exception, with the heartfelt performance of Laurie Holden standing out. Andrew Lincoln continues to be an excellent lead.

Overall, excellent on the most part. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Judging by the first season, the Walking Dead seems like it's not only going to be a entertaining zombie series, but it's going to have an emotional core. This episode, the fourth in Season 1, is one of the better episodes since the pilot. There is some good characterization scenes and towards the end, there is plenty of zombie violence which may result in a few surprises.

This episode, "Vatos" has Rick and few of the other guys encountering a group of hostile survivors while searching for Merle. Meanwhile back at camp, Jim begins to dig holes despite the fact no one seems to know why.

Overall, this is a very good episode. It has plenty of emotional moments especially during the latter half. The story, score, characters, and the such continues to improve with each passing episode. I feel like this show will only get better and this episode proves why. I rate this episode 9/10.