The best parts of the previous episodes are seeing the Governor become increasingly evil. At least now I have someone to hate. The previous episodes felt very aimless character studies, and not very good ones. Still, the Governor makes me roll my eyes whenever he does something. His motivations are so muddled and his methods are so stupid. I suppose that some of them are made so that we can say the villain is devious and a liar, but it only makes him look like a buffoon, and we cannot really be afraid of buffoons.

One might think that Merle is the real buffoon. He is the deadly jester. But not really. Again, I think Merle is the more compelling villain, and I hoped that his end would have more to it, although the heroic end he got wasn’t too bad. He got his redemption, which by the logic of such stories had to come at one point or another. Although I could not help but wish that his sacrifice was more impactful.

I am also growing very weary of Rick. Although I know he is riddled with grief, he is also supposed to be the strongest of them. This is what it means to be a leader. There will be more sacrifices to come, and he will have to bear the brunt of that, if he is going to be the first and last among this group. But he simply could not contain himself. Every member of the group has experienced loss at some point or another. Herschel lost a child and carried on with his duties that very same night.

In the end, when he chooses not to give up Michonne, I suppose we see that he has the nobility we expect from leaders. But the fact that he had to make his way to that conclusion bothers me. Why was he so conflicted? How could he, at all, think that this was even an option? To hand over a member of their group? That should not even have been a consideration. It would have been easy to simply slip out of the prison and find somewhere else to go. In any case, they were within the sights of a much more powerful foe. Who is to say that the Governor won’t demand something of them again? Extort them? Exterminate them for their resources later?

The decision is baffling, even if consider that it was made for dramatic purposes. I do not consider Rick heroic or honorable; I consider him arbitrary and selfish. And most of all confused. He has no plan. He has no values. And the things that he considers important, he finds out slowly, as circumstances “reveal” it to them. This feels to me like someone who has not had much time for introspection in his life; who is basically unfamiliar with himself. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with this, as this is part of the journey of life, this certainly is a sign that he should not be the leader. He even looks the other way when his son commits murder. Even though he could not really be sure because he was not there, he does not even consider the situation grave enough that he must immediately discuss the situation with his son. I consider this a serious moral issue as a father.

I am not sure why Michonne is not the leader. She is decisive. She is capable of handling her emotions. She is decisive. She is tough. And she has an ironclad moral compass that she is also capable of pursuing with a sense of humor (as when she insisted on accompanying Carl to obtain a family picture, taking a figurine cat with her as well). And she was even capable of shedding tears for Andrea, her friend—who I also never liked. Andrea means well, but once again she seemed the entire time to be clueless, confused, and unsure of what she wants. She also sleeps with the Governor despite never having any emotional connection with him apart from him revealing his real name.

When Andrea and Rick have a moment as Andrea died, it was like watching two stupid people commemorate their stupidity that led them there. It was awkward, and Andrea mentioning the safety was lame—it was almost as if she had spent her time suffering there with a bite wound thinking about how she could make a witty remark when her friends show up for her. Even Rick looked like he wanted to say something about how ridiculous it was, but held himself back because she was about to die in a stunning show of tact.

Andrea did not even thank Michonne for all she did for her. I suppose their bond means that those words did not need to be said, but a little thankfulness and contrition would have been good, since Michonne saved her, fed her, took care of her while she was sick, and stayed with her as she died.

Overall, I do not find the characters, the world, or the storytelling in this series compelling. The stupid are given too much airtime; the compelling are ignored or killed. Seems to me we have enough of this in the real world. In a show like this, we could use some poetic justice. And because it only runs around 40 minutes, perhaps we could focus on the best aspects of this world and not whatever Rick and Andrea are supposed to be.

This season is a series of disappointments and false starts. Apart from a few interesting moments, we barely if ever gain any insight into the most in captivating aspects of a world destroyed by a zombie apocalypse. We are expected to feel deeply all the while being given the most shallow of impressions. The pacing is too fast for the emotional payoff it is trying to achieve. As such, it never truly reached the dramatic potential of its premise. I am hoping the next seasons are much better. And that Rick dies.