'The Walking Dead: World Beyond', Episode 4 – 'The Wrong End of a Telescope'

It's a bit late in the day but I was up really late last night, and really early this morning, trying to get work done and I've been playing catch up ever since... Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit easier.

I did find some time though to watch the latest episode of 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond', about two o'clock in the morning but never mind. I'm only four episodes in but have passed that strange point you get to when you know that you're going to watch the rest of the season, no matter what happens. At the same time though, I'm constantly feeling that I'm only ever about half an hour from turning the show off, removing it from my watchlist and pretending it never happened. Confused? I certainly am, it feels like there are too many peaks and troughs and that the show is still trying to hit its stride. For every moment where we get a real look at the 'World Beyond', there are several more where our travellers are trying to work out who they are, a totally unrealistic luxury when there are zombies looking to eat you. Which brings me onto 'The Wrong End of a Telescope'...

The group are running low on supplies and the weather is starting to look really grim. A seemingly deserted school looks like it could be the answer to both of these problems but it will raise dangerous questions as well...

This episode has all the right ingredients for a nice slice of zombie terror. You've got an abandoned school where anything could be lurking round each corner... And it is! There's a great scene where you see a crawling zombie dragged off by something, that you don't see, and it's brilliant. Way to raise the stakes for our unsuspecting group.

It's a real shame then that we're talking about an episode of 'World Beyond', a show that seems quite happy to give us barely any zombie action and just let the group wander along instead, trying to sort their lives out. It's got to the point, in this episode, where instead of focussing on keeping the teens alive, Felix and Huck (our wilderness survival experts) are actively trying to divide and conquer by splitting the group and looking to talk certain characters into returning home. It's a good job that there are hardly any zombies as Felix and Huck are not working to keep people safe, not in the short term anyway. The school is quiet for far too much of the episode. As is a bit too common now, there's a lot of talking but not a lot actually happening. And as for the 'big danger'... I don't want to spoil anything but that was an anti-climax.

We are still being dripfed information about members of the group and that was just about enough to hold my interest. The highlight is seeing Silas lose it and finally finding out why he's so quiet and why people weren't keen to see him at the university (or whatever it was called). Be careful though, it's a throwaway comment that you will miss if you're not careful. Silas is now automatically my favourite character as you can see his redemption arc coming, I want to see more of this.

What I don't want to see more of is Iris' relentless optimism and naivety which is starting to grate now. Iris is the only person in the 'Walking Dead' universe who sees a deserted school and wanders what it was like to go to prom. I mean, I get it but there are more immediate concerns that are just being diluted by her inability to focus on them. Seriously, Elton is right there saying that humanity might only have a few years left but Iris just wants to dance and that's lovely but... Part of the appeal of the 'Walking Dead' universe is how bleak it is, Iris is killing that I'm afraid.

I really want to enjoy this show but episodes like 'The Wrong End of a Telescope' feel like they're put there to make it difficult for me to do that. Oh well, if the emerging pattern is anything to go by, next week's episode will be brilliant. I hope so...