We haven’t seen Beth all year, but “Slabtown” was all Beth all the time, and it was actually an entertaining episode. If you told me I’d enjoy an all-Beth episode back in season two on the farm, I’d have walked away from you because I don’t talk to crazy people. But Beth has grown and adapted to this new walker-filled world she lives in, and is no longer one of the next people everyone thinks will die.
We also met a slew of new characters in the fourth episode of season five, many of which look to play a prominent role going forward. Along with the characters, we were introduced to a new setting with a new leader and new set of rules. As we know, change is good on The Walking Dead, and episodes that spend more time with humans than walkers are generally good ones.
Here are my weekly awards for “Slabtown;”
MVP of the Night:
Beth
She has come such a long way from that girl in the background of the farm with three lines in the whole season. When the group got to the prison she became the girl who’s been hanging around and sings sometimes while she takes care of Judith. But I think some of Daryl’s badassness rubbed off on her last season.
Beth isn’t helpless anymore, and in just a few days in the hospital she’s become a major player in its ecosystem. She showed she’s not afraid to defend herself by any means, she’s now a deadly shooter and she’s not going to blindly follow anyone.
It’s fitting that she ran into Carol at the end of “Slabtown” because they’ve both probably grown the most in the last season, and both have shown they need to be taken seriously.
Carl of the Night:
Officer Gorman
Officer Gorman made the mistake of seeing Beth as season two Beth, not this ass kicking season five Beth. He was weird, creepy and thought he could own her, but this new Beth was not having any of that. He picked the wrong little girl to mess with and he paid the price. I bet he wouldn’t have bothered Beth at all if he saw her go like 20/20 in walker headshots during her escape attempt.
Who We Met:
Officer Dawn Lerner
Dawn is a mix between Rick and the Governor, minus almost all leadership ability. She wants to protect everyone like Rick, but has a little bit of the Governor’s warped sense of reality. She’s the one everyone reports to in the hospital, but no one seems to respect her. Everyone she’s supposed to be leading is planning their escape from her.
She also seems to be waiting for someone to save all of them, thankfully Beth stepped in at the end of the episode to give her a dose of reality. We’ll see how long Dawn can keep control of the hospital with Beth, and now Carol, as residents.
Dr. Steven Edwards
Edwards seemed like the nice guy of the hospital for a while; he showed Beth the ropes and was saving lives, but he turned out to be one of the weaseliest characters the show’s had. He tricked Beth into killing one of his patients because the patient was a doctor, and if he pulled through, Edwards would become disposable to Dawn.
While not a huge threat, Edwards is definitely not a guy you want on your team.
Noah
He’s the real nice guy of the hospital. Not only was he nice to Beth, he understood they needed to escape and gave Beth a plan. He managed to escape before Dawn pulled Beth back into the hospital; he’ll be the x-factor for Beth and Carol getting out of there.
Officer Gorman
Gorman was the resident creeper of the hospital. He made the perviest passes at Beth (remember the lollypop thing) and just oozed an unsettling vibe.
Joan
She was the woman who wanted to become a walker, rather than live at the hospital. She also talked incoherently about “controlling them” Not a very good sign for Beth’s new residence.
Who Died:
Officer Gorman
Good riddance. There are enough weird things going on in the hospital, I don’t need a pervy cop running around too. There aren’t many people I’ve been happier to see eaten.
Joan
She seemed too far gone by the time we met her, at least she got what she wanted and got to eat Gorman too.
Best Part of “Slabtown”
My favorite part of “Slabtown” was that we got another new environment filled with new characters for our old ones to interact with. I know it’s a zombie apocalypse, but the more people our core group come across, the more interesting The Walking Dead is.
Grossest Part of “Slabtown”
Poor Joan. All she wanted to do was die, but before she could we had to watch Dr. Edwards saw her arm of with a piece of wire. For a place very stingy about their supplier, Dawn and Co. really seemed to want her alive.
What to Watch For:
Judging by this week’s episode and next week’s preview, I’m guessing we’ll follow one of three groups each episode for a while. Here’s one thing to watch for each group.
1. Glen, Maggie and the D.C. group
How real is this pilgrimage to Washington D.C.? Does Eugene really hold the key to some kind of walker-fighting virus? The Walking Dead is not a show that has magic cure-alls, so this crew might get to D.C. but I don’t if they’ll accomplish their mission.
2. Rick and the gang
We left this group with them setting out to find Beth. Michonne found Daryl coming out of the woods with someone we didn’t’ see. We now know that it wasn’t Carol. I think, or at least hope, it’s Morgan Jones. As I’ve written all season, Jones is a great character who needs more screen time.
3. Beth, Carol and the hospital
There’s clearly a lot we still don’t know about the hospital, but I want to know how Carol got there. I wouldn’t put it past Carol to fake an injury to get into the hospital if she knew Beth was in there.
