The Walking Dead Series 5 Blog: Slabtown

Beth is one of those characters on The Walking Dead who has been around for a relatively long time but isn’t considered to be one of the main members of the group. With “Slabtown”, the writers aimed to create a stronger attachment between the audience and Beth and so she’s got an episode devoted entirely to her story-arc. This also occurred in season four with the Governor, which was received with a mixed reception. Even though “Slabtown” may have taken a slower pace compared to previous episodes this season, it remained intriguing by introducing a new setting along with a host of new enemies.

One of the strengths of the episode was how it drew intelligent parallels with season one. Firstly, we find Beth awakening in a hospital and not realising where she is, which was what happened to Rick way back on the show’s premiere.  It is soon revealed that the hospital is in Atlanta, the main city from the opening season. The Walking Dead’s return to an urban environment was a nice change of scenery and somewhat refreshing after spending so much time amongst the rural areas where the prison and Terminus were located. Being in Atlanta also served as a small reminder of how little progress Rick and the others have made. At the moment, only Beth and Carol are at the hospital but it’s highly probable that Rick’s group will also get there for the mid-season finale. So after four seasons, they would be back at square one having not settled down or found a permanent place to call home.

Even though “Slabtown” may have taken a slower pace compared to previous episodes this season, it remained intriguing by introducing a new setting along with a host of new enemies.

Beth is told by the officer who appears to be in charge, Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods), that she has a debt to repay as compensation for the resources that were used to save her. Initially, this didn’t seem to be too bad of a situation, certainly not ideal, but a lot safer than Terminus. Even Doctor Edwards (Erik Jensen) first comes across as a fairly decent guy with most of his humanity left intact. As ever, nothing is really as it seems and it soon manifests that the officers at Grady Memorial Hospital are on a serious power trip. Dawn is obviously struggling to cope in her position of authority, and comes across as irrational and unpredictable, highlighted in particular when she lashed out at Beth for no apparent reason. Even worse is the creepy Officer Gorman (Cullen Moss), who sexually abuses the women that he “saves” from the outside. In fact, the reason why Beth can’t remember much of what happened after she was trying to escape the walkers from last season is due to Gorman hitting her before taking her to the hospital. She was certainly in a dangerous predicament before he found her, but I think we can agree that Daryl was more than capable of saving her anyway.

‘Slabtown’ is entirely devoted to character Beth Greene (photo: The Walking Dead Wiki)

Noah, played by Tyler James Williams from Everybody Hates Chris, and his story of how his dad was left behind by the people at the hospital for being a potential threat illustrated the true nature of Dawn and her officers. It’s always interesting to observe different groups survive in the apocalypse, whether it’s building a new community or hunting down others as prey. At the hospital, the officers are essentially rescuing people in trouble, and then using them as slaves until whenever they pay off their debt. Noah also mentions that he is hoping to find his uncle, who some have speculated to be Morgan. For me, this would be too much of a coincidence, especially as Morgan has made no mention of having a nephew or close relative thus far.

Doctor Edwards eventually confessed to Beth that the only reason he’s staying at the hospital is because it provides a degree of security that can’t be found anywhere outside. This raises the question of what price people are willing to pay in order to have that sense of safety and re-assurance. Of course, it later transpires that he had Beth purposefully kill another patient by injecting him with the wrong medication because this person was also a doctor, thereby reducing Doctor Edward’s utility. In contrast to the doctor’s cowardice, Noah takes the blame for Beth, and after receiving a beating as punishment the two decide to create an escape plan. For the most part, their plan worked although they ought to have given some more thought in to what they were going to do once they actually made it outside.

In what was a nice touch, after finding the key, Beth managed to free herself from Gorman by smashing him over the head with the jar of lollypops, and then leaving the walker in the room to finish the job off. Once they managed to find their way outside, it was a little surprising to see Beth pulling off headshots like it was second nature. These scenes were the only moments of real action in the episode, which some viewers may complain about. But we can’t have every episode filled with violent set pieces for the sake of it, and the main focus of “Slabtown” was clearly on on character development instead. It was a shame that neither Beth nor Noah could drive, since there were at least three cars in the parking lot. In the end, the numbers game caught up with Beth whilst Noah managed to escape. Amidst all the chaos, it was a bittersweet moment to see Beth smiling as she realised Noah did indeed get away, even if she didn’t quite make it. Thankfully, her saviour may well prove to be Carol who was wheeled into the hospital before the episode finished. The most likely situation is that Noah found Daryl and Carol, and told them about the hospital and Beth’s situation. Carol probably realised that the best way into the hospital is for her to feign some sort of injury so she can be let in.

In “Slabtown”, Beth proved herself to be more than just the babysitter that we’ve become accustomed to. Dawn had previously remarked that some people just aren’t meant for this life, but the next time she comes across Beth she should have more respect for her.

In “Slabtown”, Beth proved herself to be more than just the babysitter that we’ve become accustomed to. Dawn had previously remarked that some people just aren’t meant for this life, but the next time she comes across Beth she should have more respect for her. Now that Carol has got herself into the hospital, things are looking a lot more positive for Beth. After all, the last time Carol attempted to rescue her friends, the results were explosive to say the least. Unfortunately, with the emphasis now on three separate groups, the next episode will shift to Abraham’s journey to Washington D.C. This creates a rather disjointed affect to the narrative and means that we will have to wait for a few more weeks to see what happens next at the hospital. Having an entire episode dedicated to one character who doesn’t really stand out is always a risk, but The Walking Dead succeeded in establishing Beth as a more well-rounded individual who does have what it takes to survive on her own.