The Walking Dead 4×11: Claimed brings us hope. Or not.

There will be spoilers. And no pudding.

The Walking Dead Season 4, Episode 11: Claimed brings us a ray of hope in a sea of despair. The thing is, most of us like our sea of despair, thank you very much. Comic book readers might have a clue how this one is going to turn out. Although producer Robert Kirkman might go a different way about it, I can’t help but see it happening more or less the same way. You see, there might be a way to save the world- oh wait, I’m jumping ahead. Let’s start from the beginning.

We have one storyline following Michonne, Carl and Rick. Our katana-wielding heroine doesn’t get to do much killing in this episode but rather spends her time opening up about her past to Carl. That and being the unlucky one to discover a child nursery. The fact that she only discovers dead – and not undead – kids is a bit of a blessing because I’m not sure she (or me for that matter) could handle zombie kids again. Yes, I remember that the first walker we ever saw on the screen at the start of Season 1 was a kid. Brr.

Rick will have his hands full skulking about as he wakes up to discover he’s got intruders. These are the alive gun-carrying kind that he’s in no position to take full on. How he manages to ninja his way out of the house is a bit unbelievable.

Now let’s reunite about Glenn, Tara and their encounter with Abraham and company. Glenn is tenacious / stubborn about finding Maggie so as soon as he wakes up, he gets them to stop the truck and marches on. Abraham stops him and explains why he’s enlisting him in his party. Oh boy.

According to Abraham, Eugene Porter is a scientist that knows how to fix it – “It” being whatever caused the zombie apocalypse in the first place. So they are on a mission to save the world (yeap that’s the way he sells it) by getting Eugene to Washington. The alleged scientist even haves a satellite phone to talk to the big heads over there. Eugene just stands there and lets Abraham do all the talking. This is the big ray of hope. Unfortunately, Glenn is not terribly interested and Abraham ends up tackling him as he tries to continue on his way.

Meanwhile, roaming walkers step out of the corn field to grab a snack. Or perhaps they wanted to participate in the conversation. Eugene proceeds to grab a gun, and manages to make it fire. Too bad he aims at the truck. Glenn and Abraham stop fighting as the newly minted team has to scramble to kill the un-invited undead.

With the truck totalled, Glenn and Tara move on followed by Rosita who’s a lot more pragmatic. Her companions follow suit, with Eugene telling Abraham that he’s a lot smarter than the sergeant. Then Abraham kills Eugene. Oh wait, that last part didn’t happen. They just keep walking along.

So, anybody reading this post (comic book readers hush up about this one) believe anything about the bullshit story that Eugene actually knows anything about anything? He’s not even trying to make his case. There’s only one good thing about Eugene. Carl is not going to be the most hated character any longer.

Highs: Michonne. I’m actually starting to like Tara. Rick has some mad sneaking skills.

Lows: Eugene. The magic plan to save the world. On the fence about whether Abraham is a plus or a minus. Give Rosita more lines.

That will do for now.

(Source: AMC)