Reviewed by Rich Jepson.

This episode should really have been called ‘Stall” because that’s what it did. Last week wasn’t a fantastic outing for the show but at the side of this it was a masterpiece. I don’t know whether the writers knew that this episode would be going up against the Oscars in the states or not, if they did it explains the lack of effort that’s gone into this one.

The strange thing is that it actually got off to a promising start. By not showing the sizeable pack of walkers that was in pursuit of the pair the impact was much stronger as we only got to witness what they did, the sound of which was much more terrifying than the sight could have been. We’ve not seen a large herd for a while and they’re about due for a return.

The group’s been preoccupied with The Governor and the threat of humans for the best part of two seasons, the danger of walkers has been somewhat subdued during this time so it’d be a good idea for them to restate their claim as the most dangerous element of this world. My guess is what was out there will be making it’s way to ‘the terminus’ and will probably arrive in time for the season finale.

Other than Daryl gutting and chomping on a snake, the episode went pretty much downhill from the moment Beth opened her mouth. How many of you out there still can’t remember her name? A fair few I bet, she’s the only character who’s been in it since season 2 and the only contribution she’s made was a pointless song a while back that Daryl thankfully referenced.

By pairing Beth with Daryl together the series must have thought it’d be able to even out the best with the worst but instead it’s just brought them both down. This is a shame because it really didn’t have to be this way.

Instead of Beth going on some mad, pointless hunt for alcohol, the pair could’ve stumbled across Daryl’s old house. By doing this we could have gained a glimpse of Daryl’s past and whilst he was drunk on questionable looking moonshine we could have had a Merle cameo like we did in season 2. Then he could’ve burnt the place down as a way of letting go of the past and begun caring about the future again. The best part would have been the fact that Beth could have been the audience’s voice in all of this, questioning Daryl and edging him to open up, which may have made us actually care about what she had to say.

However, this wasn’t to be and instead we were given a pointless trip around a golf club house followed by an awkward game of truth and an arson attack on the safest place to hold up in the woods – good call. My only hope is that this was an attempt to try and develop Beth into more than a female version of T-Dog before killing her off later on in the season. If that’s the case then fine, otherwise I really don’t get the dynamic here. There’s no romance to be had and Daryl’s already paired so well with Carol so what’s the point, other than this being a complete filler episode in the season’s second half.

One last point, Daryl, throw on a t-shirt or jacket or something – you’re making the rest of us look out of shape with arms like that.

6.5/10

Scene of the Episode: Das Boot – Aside from Daryl doing his best Bear Grylls impression this was the cleverest part of the episode that may have been our first interaction with a ‘super’ herd.