‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ Recap – ‘Family Is a Four Letter Word’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 204 of ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’.

When we come of age and prepare to set out into the world to achieve our dreams and carve our own path, we quickly learn some powerful lessons. Such as the fact that obtaining our dreams isn’t as easy as we thought it was going to be, nor is making a major impact. Because we aren’t the only ones trying to make all that happen, and the universe loves to send chaos our way, and in order to get what we want, we have to roll with the punches and adapt accordingly or the world might motivate us to abandon what we are chasing. Plus, we also come to learn that the world is a cold place, one where few care about us or what we want, and we have to create our own inner circle of quality people to give us the connections and care we crave. But even that comes with some serious surprises.    

Because we also come to find, that creating meaningful connections is no easy task, and friends will come and go when we realize they aren’t who we thought they were. Plus, to top it off, some of the friends we thought would be there for us from beginning to end, also fade away as they chase their own path and transform because of their pursuit. Which makes it seem as though, the pursuit of what we want is futile, and forming relationships of any kind is nothing more than a waste of time, but that’s simply not the case. Because all of these roadblocks make us stronger and teach us patience and to enjoy the journey. For there will come a day when we not only get to enjoy the fruits of our labor and find fulfillment. But we do so with the right people around us.

But make no mistake about it, those lessons are indeed tough and heartbreaking to learn and it takes a long time to embrace their meaning and really, this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because those hard lessons came about for the Campus Colony survivors during last night’s episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. For ‘Family Is a Four Letter Word’ is an episode that saw Iris and Hope reunite at last and share in the wonder of family again. Initially making it appear as though this story was going to be the opposite of the aforementioned theme and give us unity in a broken world. Where two sisters finally came together and worked toward toppling a quasi-fascist regime. But alas, it didn’t take long for this story to make it clear… that something was amiss between these two sisters.
 
In that, their ideas were no longer in alignment in the slightest. For while Hope tried to talk her sister into coming back to the research facility with Felix, so they could work on their plans to topple the CRM and rescue their father from this weird place under the protection of their enemy, Iris did not agree with this idea in the slightest. Instead, she believed that the time had come to just take the fight to the CR, and make it known that people were no longer going to put up with their totalitarian ways and that led to heartbreak for these two sisters. Because in that moment, they realized now that they were growing up fast in this disturbing world and starting to see that there were other paths to take, the kind that offered incredible self-fulfillment and that sadly meant that unity was not in the cards.

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But while that did indeed do a fine job of hammering home the show’s central theme, it decided to offer up an additional lesson, one that Huck was shocked to learn. Because there also comes a point in adulthood, where we come to understand that our consequences have serious actions, regardless of our justifications and that examination came about while she meandered about the forest to clear her head. Because her vulnerability, put her within an inch of losing her life, twice. All because Felix and Percy were still furious over the fact that she was quick to enact the CRM’s murdering ways when it suited her best. Which in turn allowed for Felix and Percy to show her what that kind of apathy does to a person when it is imparted upon them, and it how motivates revenge fueled consequences and oddly enough…  that’s not the only lesson Huck learned in this tale.
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Because she also enjoyed a taste of the cruelty of the world, by way of her mother. Whom she quickly confronted after the Lieutenant Colonel gave a garbage speech about perseverance and unity in the face of events the CRM brought to fruition. In fact, it is the end of Omaha and the campus she once called home that she asked her mother about, courtesy of what she learned from Iris and Felix, only to receive more lies and fury from her own flesh and blood. Which in turn, helped her to realize how ugly this world can be and how people have no problem telling lies when it suits their needs and the emotional weight of that and the lessons that old friends taught her, finally brought Huck to tears and well, the only positive that can come out of this, is that hopefully Huck finally understands that the time has come for her to atone for her sins and that maybe… the CRM needs to be dealt with. 

Yet, as this series is wont to do, it also found ways to produce some measure of beauty alongside its harsher lessons, as evidenced by Silas and Elton’s journeys in this tale. Since the both of them were forced to face the darkest parts of their sorted pasts. Since Silas’ new ‘friends’ were eager to force him to kill and Elton had to face the person that harmed his mother so long ago and well, they handled their respective confrontations admirably. For Silas learned he can control his temper and use it for good when needed, since he was an empty-killing machine when the moment called for it and Elton eventually came to see that letting the past stay in the past wasn’t a bad thing, thanks to an assist from his new friend in that tiny little community, and it was just beautiful to see these two broken characters grow.

If anything, this was just a quality transitional episode when all is said and done. One that once again offered up some beautiful lessons after focusing on action and adventure and the CRM for the past couple of weeks, and undoubtedly these harsh lessons were featured here, to prepare our heroes for the future. Because these characters have been laser focused on rescuing Leo and fighting the Civic Republic Military and well, now that the world of the dead has thrown a few wrenches into their machinations, they, will have to adapt accordingly and find a new way to accomplish goals that keep everyone’s specific dreams satisfied. And it will be quite interesting to see how these conflicts change plans and people as this fascinating series barrels toward its end. Until next time.   

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