Review – TWD: World Beyond dances a fine line in episode 104

The fourth episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond sends viewers back to high school.

After opening the series with a big premiere and the dramatic events of the Blaze of Gory, The Walking Dead: World Beyond slowed things down a little in episode 104 titled “The Wrong End of a Telescope” to have the group hold up in a high school.

The Oct. 25 episode is bound to be polarizing for the fan base. On one hand, the characters got a bit deeper and the plot did move farther ahead. But the other hand saw an episode that lacked action and felt more like fantasy than horror.

Relationships grew but divisions formed. Elton seemed to like the idea of turning around when Felix brought it up, but Hope had absolutely no interest in the topic when Huck pressed her about it. Not only that, but the violent past of Silas was brought to the forefront as his relationship with Iris blossomed over a Sadie Hawkins dance.

For every positive thing about the episode, there was something to take viewers out of the experience. The best thing by far from this episode was the performance of Nico Tortorella, who performed their character, Felix, in a style that evoked feelings of watching Rick Grimes back in the day, which isn’t something easy to replicate.

Other great things included the growth of several characters and setting up some conflict when the group reaches Omaha. With the first season nearing the halfway point, things are bound to escalate fairly quickly past this point.

A big negative is that the walkers trapped in lockers and stuck in the walls were strange. Were they hiding from the super-strong wolf that is territorial only when nobody is looking? Or was there a mini-dance going on in the walls when everyone died at once? Either way, the external threats were convenient for the protagonists and felt more like an inconvenience than a true threat.

The meat of the episode was okay, but not spectacular. The pacing and cinematography are bound to put some fans off while the splendor and character-building will appeal to others. As a whole, it was an unbalanced episode with an odd throwback feel that worked just enough to fit into the story.

Most people won’t even be talking about the main episode when discussing this episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. It will be the post-credits scene showing testing being done at a facility where it appears Hope and Iris’ dad is being held. Could this be where Rick Grimes is? Or is this just a taste of what could have been in store for him? It opens up a ton of options for the rest of the show’s story.