After (The Walking Dead)
| "After" | |
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| The Walking Dead episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Greg Nicotero |
| Written by | Robert Kirkman |
| Original air date | February 9, 2014 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"After" is the ninth episode and mid-season premiere of the fourth season and 44th episode overall of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on February 9, 2014. The episode was written by Robert Kirkman and directed by Greg Nicotero.
The plot for this episode is very similar to "Volume 9", "Issue #49" and "Issue #50" of the comic book series.
Following the attack on the prison, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Carl (Chandler Riggs) find themselves on the road looking for shelter. They have to come to terms with their new environment and ask themselves if survival alone is enough. However, after his vicious fight with The Governor (David Morrissey), Rick also deals with old wounds as he is in desperate need to rest and heal. Concurrently, Michonne (Danai Gurira) finds herself once again alone and haunted by memories of the past as she tries to come to grips with how she wants to spend her life.
The episode was watched by 15.76 million viewers, issuing a significant rise in ratings from the previous episode two months prior. However, commentators had varied reactions to it, with many noting positively to the character development, but commenting negatively on the episode's pace.
Following The Governor's (David Morrissey) deadly assault on the prison, the survivors are forced to scatter and try to regroup. Michonne (Danai Gurira) reconnoiters the prison for survivors. She discovers the reanimated head of her friend, Hershel (Scott Wilson), and stabs it to put him out of his torment. She discovers a trail of footprints leading away from the prison. To protect herself, she slices off the arms and jaws of two walkers, leading them as pets to help mask her presence from other walkers, however this appears to draw more walkers towards her. While taking shelter in a car overnight, she dreams of her young son, her boyfriend Mike (Aldis Hodge), and his friend Terry (Brandon Fobbs) before the apocalypse, but the dream turns into a nightmare when Mike and Terry appear like her walker pets. She continues onward, but on observing a walker that looks similar to herself, suddenly comes to the realization that her mindless walking is for naught; she slaughters the walkers that surround her and her pets, and vows to Mike that she now has a purpose in life. She sets off to follow the trail of footprints.
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