Dead Weight

"Dead Weight" is the seventh episode of Season 4 of AMC's The Walking Dead. It aired on November 24, 2013 at 9/8c on AMC.

Plot Synopsis
Phillip is seen playing a game of chess with Meghan. When reminded that it's her turn, Meghan says that she's thinking. Phillip tells her that eventually, you need to stop thinking and make a move. While this happens, a flashback occurs showing how they were brought to the camp. Martinez looks down at Phillip in amazement and offers his hand. Phillip hands him Meghan and is later pulled out. Two men, Mitch and Pete, ask Martinez if he knows him, to which he replies yes. Martinez is confused when Lilly calls out to Phillip as 'Brian' and asks if he's been traveling with them the whole time since he and Shumpert left; Phillip nods yes. Martinez then tells Phillip that they can join his group on two conditions; he's in charge and there can't be any dead weight. Phillip agrees and they journey to Martinez's camp.

Later, Phillip goes on a supply run with Martinez, Mitch and Pete. They are following a map made by one of the other camp survivors when Phillip notices something in the distance. He finds a decapitated corpse with a sign reading 'Liar' nailed into the corpse. The group later find their goal; a cabin deep within the woods. As they approach the property, another headless corpse is found with another sign, this one saying 'Rapist'. At the front door, they find yet another corpse; this one dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound with 'Murderer' written on a sign. They explore inside and hear a walker inside one of the rooms. Pete is nearly killed but is saved by Phillip. He then notices the reanimated heads of the corpses outside the cabin. Another walker emerges and tries to bite Martinez, but Phillip saves him as well. Afterwards, the four find supplies as well as some beer. Pete wonders what drove a person to do something like this, but Phillip says that it's "probably best they don't dwell on it." Mitch then asks what Phillip did for a living and what he did when the apocalypse first began; the latter dodges the question, simply saying that "[he] survived". He then asks them the same question. The reveal that they both are brothers and served in the army at some point; when the apocalypse began, Mitch left and took his tank with him, while Pete was serving at Fort Benning and initially stayed to provide support, but soon left.

While they were gone, Lilly decides to form a makeshift nurse's station and helps bandage Alisha's hand. Tara notices Alisha's M4 carbine and remarks that while it's a good long range weapon, it becomes cumbersome and unreliable due to dirt and debris. Alisa jokingly asks if she's 'always full of shit', and Tara says yes. Later on, the supply group returns and they share some beer. Afterwards, Martinez tells Phillip that he's got a surprise for him. On one of the trailers, Martinez shows Phillip a golf bag full of clubs and begins to practice his swing. Phillip remarks that he knew that Shumpert didn't survive and Martinez reveals that after they left, Shumpert got reckless and was bitten near one of the walker pits. He finishes by saying that he personally killed Shumpert out of mercy. He says that he's willing to share leadership responsibilities and offers to split them with Phillip. Angry, Phillip then smashes one of the golf clubs against the back of Martinez's head, and then throws him off the trailer. Phillip then drags Martinez over to one of the pits and is lowered towards the walkers, muttering "I don't want it" repeatedly. He then lowers Martinez close enough to the walkers and watches as they drag a screaming Martinez down and devour him alive.

Soon afterwards, Phillip is seen shaking inside his trailer over how he killed Martinez. When asked by Lilly, Phillip brushes it off as just a nightmare. The next day, Pete reveals to the rest of the camp that Martinez's remains were found and that he must have gotten drunk and fell into the pit. He then temporarily elects himself as leader of the group until they can properly vote on the matter in a few days. Pete then takes Mitch and Phillip on another run and they come across another camp where they are split on whether to attack the camp or not. They ultimately decide to leave and later, they return to find the other camp in ruins. Mitch is frustrated that they missed their chance to get the supplies, something that Phillip secretly agrees with. That night, Phillip tells Lilly that they have to leave the camp due to Mitch's behavior about not taking the supplies when they had the chance. He takes Lilly, Meghan, Tara and Alisha from the camp and sets out on their own but is then driven back by a swarm of walkers stuck in mud blocking their path.

The next day, Phillip goes to Pete under the ruse of wanting to talk about Mitch. Once inside, he then stabs Pete in the back and strangles him to death. Phillip goes to Mitch and forces his way inside the trailer at gunpoint. He then blatantly reveals that he killed Pete, but forces Mitch to sit back down. He then tells Mitch that he's now in charge and agrees that they should have taken the other group's supplies. Phillip then organizes the survivors to form a rough perimeter around the camp and asks Tara to organize and catalog all their ammo. Later Phillip is seen dragging Pete's weighted corpse along a jetty and throwing it into the lake.

Phillip is seen marking a map when Lilly comes by. When asked, Phillip says that they need to move to a more secure location (hinting towards the Prison) but Lilly believes that their current location is safe enough. Later, Tara is on guard duty when Meghan runs up and tags her, saying that she's now 'it'. Tara says that she can't play right now, but then tags her back and runs off. Meghan runs around camp looking for Tara and finds a pair of legs near the clothes lines. Thinking it's Tara, Meghan runs over only to find a walker who lunges towards her. She runs away and is cornered underneath one of the trailers. Tara tries to pull the walker off, but its leg gets pulled off and is only stopped when Phillip shoots it in the head.

Phillip goes over to the lake and reflects on what he should do next. He stares into the water at Pete's undead corpse trying to reach him. He takes a truck and travels towards the Prison. He arrives and looks at Rick and Carl digging in the prison yard (end of Internment). Jealous, Phillip looks away and notices Hershel as well as Michonne disposing the dead from the recent walker infestation. Seeing Michonne angers Phillip (bringing back memories of her killing  Penny ) and aims his gun at Michonne.

Co-Stars

 * Juliana Harkavy as Alisha.
 * Amy Dionne as Woman #1.
 * Tom Turbiville as Guy #1.

Uncredited

 * Don Elmore as Ross
 * Randy Gonzales, Rozalyn Yother Mattocks, Scott Smith, Steve Bowlin, Tony Cypher Greer, Vernon Swygert, Jimmy Cooper, Larry A. Williams, James Harvley & Joel Rogers as Camp Survivors.
 * Emily Chandler Westergreen as Walker.

Deaths

 * Shumpert (Confirmed Fate)
 * Caesar Martinez
 * Pete Dolgen
 * Approximately 15 unnamed survivors (including 3 survivalists, 'Liar', 'Murderer' (Suicide) and 'Rapist' (Zombified heads) and survivors at a forest camp).

Trivia

 * First appearance of Mitch Dolgen.
 * First appearance of Alisha.
 * First appearance of "Woman".
 * First appearance of "Man".
 * First appearance of Ross.
 * First (and last) appearance of Pete Dolgen.
 * First mention of Howard.
 * Last appearance of Caesar Martinez.
 * The golf scene in this episode is reminiscent to Season 3's "Killer Within" golf scene.
 * This is the second episode that Rick appears in, but does not have any lines.
 * This episode happened during the same time that the events in "Internment" were taking place.
 * The title of the episode refers to Pete's corpse down at the bottom of the lake with a cinder block tied around his ankle.
 * The title also refers to Martinez mentioning that he was in charge and there would be no dead weight, meaning that if Philip's group were to join, they would have to pitch in and pull their weight. Lilly achieved this by becoming the camp's nurse.
 * The Governor staring through the surface of the water is also reminiscent of the walker aquarium in Woodbury.
 * With the deaths of Shumpert (confirmed) and Martinez, there are only 3 named Woodbury survivors left confirmed to be alive: Philip Blake, Ms. McLeod, and Jeanette. With the exception of Tyreese and Sasha, who were only in Woodbury a few days.
 * The Governor is now the only living survivor left that was present at the Woodbury Massacre.
 * The tank is a M60A1 Patton, which has not been in service in the US military since 1997. The standard service tank of all US military branches is the M1 Abrams. The M60 Patton is not even in reserve service. Acquiring an M1 Abrams for filming purposes is incredibly difficult, hence the M60s appearance.
 * This is the seventh episode where the majority of the cast does not appear, along with 18 Miles Out, Walk With Me, Clear, Prey, Indifference, and Live Bait.

Goofs/Errors

 * In the last episode "Live Bait", The Governer's right hand is coated in blood while clasping Meghan in his arms in the dugout pit. In this episode, at the same scene, The Governer's right hand is not seen plastered with blood anymore.