‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘Live Bait’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It is definitely safe to say, that each and every one of us, seek absolution at some point in our lives. Because we are human, and we make mistakes, often, in fact, and our desire to achieve perfection and soothe our conscience is what motivates us to set things right when we goof. But what’s fascinating about our quest for absolution and redemption, is that it sometimes goes unfulfilled. For those we wronged have no desire to forgive us for our actions and sometimes… we don’t even bother to seek it out in the first place, despite feeling a need for it. Because what we did was so terrible and so devastating, that the thought of trying to absolve ourselves for our sins… seems outlandish and downright foolish. Which in turn, begs an important question.
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In that, is it possible to come back from a huge and destructive mistake? Well, that is oddly enough, a question that the next three episodes of The Walking Dead are going to explore, and this exploration got underway in ‘Live Bait’ by slipping back in time a few months to reunite us with a character that truly took part in a bevy of disgusting acts: Philip ‘The Governor’ Blake. For this tale picks up mere moments after The Guv, brutally murdered his army from Woodbury and shortly after he and his boys escape, the Governor finds himself without a community to rule over. For he is abandoned and alone, and without anyone supporting him… he returns to Woodbury and burns it to the ground before setting out on his own, and it takes a chance encounter with a random family to really dig deep into the question at hand.

Because Philip, who calls himself Brian in an effort to hide his past, finds himself working to help this family survive. Since they have a dying patriarch and know little about the world of the dead since they’ve been in hiding since the whole nightmare began and well… that leads to some shockingly tender moments with a guy that is in fact, an outright monster. But those moments work here because it is obvious that his time in the wild, helped him to see the error of his ways and how his anger and narcissism, and brutal nature cost him everything. Which in turn allows for him to lower his guard and really work to become a member of this impromptu family… to the point where he even risks life and limb to get dear old dad a few extra tanks of oxygen when his supply begins to run out. 

Which in many ways, makes it seem as though... if a person that’s done awful things is removed from that situation and given an opportunity to really reflect upon their actions… they could potentially find redemption and absolution, to the point where they can start over anew and rebuild and move forward in a manner that is whole. But that… felt as though it was too easy an answer for an episode involving a guy that literally committed homicide with glee and nearly sexually assaulted Maggie Greene. Which is why the show was quick to point out, that finding the way back from our own self-inflicted darkness has to go beyond acts of general kindness and self-awareness. As to what that is exactly, we don’t quite find out here. Since this is a tale that ends with trouble and an unexpected reunion. 

But while we don’t get resolution in this exact moment, make no mistake about it, this is an amazing episode through and through. Because you never see villains go on journeys such as these and face what they’ve done in the slightest. Nor do you see the human side that they’ve lost in a manner such as this. But this is a show that always looks deeper, and it wouldn’t be the last time we’d get a different perspective on a villain since ‘Here’s Negan’ would show us a unique side to a man that also committed awful acts. But what truly makes this story so different, is that it makes the viewer feel conflicted. Since we don’t know if we should be rooting for redemption or pain for ol’ Phil, because of his past, and that just makes this a special story in the end. One that really does set up a powerful journey that takes quite the turn in the next chapter. Until then.  

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