Too Far Gone

No one is too far gone.

"Too Far Gone" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the fourth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on December 1, 2013. The episode, written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Ernest Dickerson, shares its title with the thirteenth volume of the comics. Although the episode itself mirrors the events of the eighth volume of the comic book series, "Made to Suffer," in this episode, the community at the prison is slowly recovering from the illness.

Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the rest of the group at the prison face imminent danger as The Governor (David Morrissey) and his forces suddenly close in. Hershel Greene and Michonne are held captive, as The Governor demands to take hold of the prison, despite the urges of the group to stay. This episode marks the conclusion to the prison story arc in the television series, as well as the conflict with The Governor, which had begun in the third season.

Quick Facts

Series: The Walking Dead
Air date: 1 December 2013
Writer: Seth Hoffman
Director: Ernest Dickerson
Photographer: Michael Satrazemis
Editor: Avi Youabian

Lore & Background

The episode opens with The Governor convincing his camp to help him take the prison after capturing Michonne and Hershel. Lilly is not convinced, but The Governor reassures her that her family will be safe. While Michonne seethes, The Governor dismisses Hershel's proposal for the two groups to coexist peacefully. He says goodbye to Meghan before leaving her and Lilly near a river bank, where Meghan is attacked and bitten on the left shoulder by a walker buried on the ground. At the prison, the remaining sick are recuperating. Daryl is upset at Rick for exiling Carol after learning she killed Karen and David, and the two decide to tell Tyreese about her involvement in the murders. Tyreese discovers a dissected rabbit and believes whoever did it was the killer. Rick tells him otherwise, but before he can explain, the three hear a large explosion, signaling The Governor's arrival.

Reader's Guide

This episode marked the last regular appearances of Scott Wilson (Hershel) and David Morrissey (The Governor), whose characters were killed off during the prison assault in the episode. On the decision to kill Hershel, Robert Kirkman explained: "He was the moral compass of the group and it's always good to lose the moral compass. It will all become clear when we finally show you the back half of season 4. It wasn't enough for these characters to lose the prison.

They also had to feel some kind of loss over something important and Hershel was that thing that was important to each and every character, so it made the most sense to take him off the table and see how it affects the characters, which we'll see when we come back in a bit." Kirkman admitted it was difficult to remove Wilson from the cast, despite initially planning to kill off Hershel at the end of the second season, but admitted it was a necessary decision in order to move on with the show.

During the climax of the episode, The Governor is about to kill Rick Grimes when The Governor is mortally wounded by Michonne and later shot in the head by Lilly Chambler, who incidentally also kills him in the comics. Kirkman explained the reason behind Lilly being the one to kill The Governor: "In that moment Lilly is very angry with the Governor because she had in the episode prior said, 'Let's not do this. We don't have to go after this other place.'

And she was very much against everything that the Governor was doing and to a certain extent didn't even see why he was doing it because she didn't know that burning vengeance that was in the Governor or that desire to control and to have the prison."