The Walking Dead: 7 Things That "The Grove" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

The Bad:

3. Danger Inconsistency

The second half of Season 4 has been pretty great, although the change in format from the ensemble action of the previous three and a half seasons has taken some pretty serious adjustment and perhaps left we fans more critical than in the past. Formerly overlooked characters were given the opportunity to shine. Glorified extras received distinct personalities. Main characters were developed in ways that were impossible back in the stability of the prison. Love 'em or hate 'em, the consistently character-heavy episodes of the second half of the season have been absolutely necessary. What was proved less consistent in "The Grove," however, is the level of danger between the various stories. That Carol, Tyreese, two preteens, and a baby are able to meander around at their leisure and sleep on the train tracks without apparently straining themselves too much defies belief. For their first two episodes, Daryl and Beth €“ the only two healthy and unburdened adult prison escapees €“ were usually but a few steps ahead of a zombie horde. Walkers pop up all over the place in Rick's, Michonne's, and Carl's episodes. Daryl and Rick each were overtaken by a band of thugs. Maggie, Sasha, and Bob escaped a foggy zombie doom in the episode right before "The Grove" by pure luck. Carol and Co. could at least be dirtier. Or, you know, malnourished. Carl and Michonne were forced to loot an entire neighbourhood for scraps. Daryl and Beth were eating rattlesnake in the forest before stumbling upon somebody's stash in a house. Maggie, Sasha, and Bob were surviving on the dwindling rations taken from the bus. None of the "Grove" group looked particularly peckish, and there's no indication whatsoever what Judith could possibly be eating. Maybe they're all getting by on Lizzie's mad mouse-capturing skills. And then there's the ammunition. In the midseason premiere, Rick warned Carl about wasting ammo...which he promptly did anyway, leaving them with only what bullets remained in Rick's Python. Beth's revolver was empty by the teaser of the second episode back, and even Daryl is running low on functional arrows. Maggie, Sasha, and Bob are down to six bullets total. Carol's group, however, apparently was teeming with ammunition. Lizzie and Mika each had full clips, and nobody even seemed particularly concerned that a lot of shots seemed to be missing their targets. In the spirit of fairness, it's entirely possible that Carol and Co. survive so long without much trouble because all of the other Walkers in Georgia were too busy chasing everybody else, and who am I to say that Judith's diaper bag wasn't actually filled with loose bullets?