1. Structure
There were contrivances. There was bad writing. There was poor characterization. There was a lot that simply wasn't very good. As it happened, however, the biggest flaw of the episode was that it was just plain boring. It's not that we need a solid hour of action. We don't always need a zombie horde. We don't even always need a great deal of conflict. But an hour featuring only a guest star not seen since the end of Season 3 and a new cast of characters? We need a little more than that. The episode felt like a poorly-written backdoor pilot for the much-talked-about spinoff (which it thankfully was not). It could have been so much better, and timeline discrepancies aside the hour might've dragged far less if the Governor's scenes had been intercut with scenes from the prison crew. We could have even had concurrent flashbacks to the prison as it assembled itself over the hiatus, a format which could have granted us some parallels for the inevitable episode in which the two sides will finally meet again. 'Live Bait' could have shown the establishment of a real community at the prison while the Governor flounders in misery, making the dissolution of order at the prison and the strengthening of Martinez's crew a starker and more tragic contrast. It truly could have been interesting, but as it was, the episode was just dull, and we can only hope that next week's venture with the Governor is more engaging. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to comment!