Review – TWD: World Beyond develops characters in episode 102

While it lacked action, there was a lot to learn about the characters in The Walking Dead: World Beyond episode 102.

Following an episode where approximately ten thousand people die can be a huge challenge. Instead of upping the deaths or gore moving forward, The Walking Dead: World Beyond chose to focus on establishing their characters with episode 102.

Watching the fresh-faced survivors attempt to deal with the undead is a combination of frustrating, disappointing, and hilarious. While fans have been watching survivors eliminate empties for years with little effort, this is all new to these survivors and they will need to learn the skills if they want to make it to New York.

Speaking of the empties, it was interesting to see the variety of the rotting corpses in this episode. Many had unique looks to them, including one with a hive of buzzing hornets living inside its skull. It helped to keep the somewhat bland main story stay interesting.

Here are the highlights from The Walking Dead: World Beyond episode 102:

• The backstory of Felix. It was heartbreaking to see Felix’s dad treat him the way he did. Sometimes it is easy to forget that some individuals aren’t tolerant of others, even those they love, when they can’t identify with them. Returning to try to save his parents the night the sky fell was even harder when Felix was shunned by family.
• Running the gauntlet. Making it past the first part of “The Blaze of Gory” (a horrible name, by the way) wasn’t the end. Putting more challenges in front of these young survivors will force them to evolve as survivors and test their critical thinking and skills.
• Beautiful cinematography. The ash from the blaze to go with the sun coloring the sky through the smoke made this episode very visually appealing. The threat of the empties was amplified while the looks at the heroes are stunning.
• Characters coming together. Since this is all so new to viewers, it is nice to see the show taking some time to show these characters meshing and getting to know each other a bit while letting their individual personalities shine. Episodes like this seem inconsequential but are big in creating drama later.

Here are the low points from The Walking Dead: World Beyond episode 102:

• Too much kids stuff. A treehouse, board games, teddy bears, and a sleepover didn’t help a show that wants to be taken serious as a drama. Going into a treehouse with one exit and letting a walker lurk is usually a recipe for getting trapped. Those kids got lucky!
• A bit slow at times. As with most character-building episodes, the lack of action and heavy dialogue can cause some of the more impatient viewers to tune out for a bit. This will likely be the main criticism of the episode.

Overall impression of The Walking Dead: World Beyond episode 102:

As previously stated, Felix was the highlight of this episode. Learning that character’s backstory sheds some light on who they are and why they are the way they are. Add in some great visuals and character-building dynamics and you have a solid episode that won’t likely be too memorable but is essential in creating the foundation for future drama. Grade: 8.1/10

What did you think of The Walking Dead: World Beyond episode 102? Did you enjoy it for the character-building it provided or did it move just a little too slowly for you? Let us know in the comments!