Maaaan I cant wait for them to waste 7 episodes showing what each character is doing after the prison before they get into anything important.
As far as Michonne goes yeah we finally got something from her which was good.
CARL THO from about the start of season 4 we already knew he wanted to be self independant but rick was being a BITCH thinking that the world could go back to the way it was and didnt want poor little carl subjected to such madness like the outside world! Even after he had to shoot his own mother.
The only thing I dont want to happen is a repeat of the farm cause that was really boring but like sploorky said its a new director so I haven't lost hope completely for the season
People have clouded judgements, as well as personal opinions on what is best or not.
Remember, the point of Rick basically trying to be more passive/so called "have the world go back to the way it was" in terms of being more protective of Carl was because the group thought (at least this is what I gathered from the episodes) that it was best that they get a bit of a "vacation," from all of this Walker-killing business. Seriously, remember back in Season 3 when Rick was basically hallucinating / going somewhat insane after seeing Lori's "ghost?" Honestly, you can't exactly blame him for being a bit more over-protective.... But I guess that's just me.
And I doubt the rest of the Season will be terrible.
I mean really, everyone just BARELY escaped from 1)Hordes of zombies already at the prison's gates, and 2)the Governor's last attempt at revenge, so obviously people are going to have certain feelings right after this and possibly change in terms of their character.
Like Carl, yes there were signs of more independence from.. a lot of the seasons actually. But note that his outburst when Rick was sleeping came directly after a great tragedy that most likely affected everyone involved. I don't doubt that had some signifigance.
And even then in that episode he grows after his run in with the Walkers he barely escaped from.
And the prison also forced everyone into vastly different groups of people all in different directions, so they'll be a lot to cover in the upcoming episodes anyways.
I mean, there's at least.. 5 groups right?
-Michonne, Carl, and Rick all off on their own (after meeting up in a glorious episode ending I must say)
-The bus with Glen & a bunch of people still recovering from the prison sickness (I wonder how they'll turn out? Will they get sick again? They don't have Hershel's medical knowledge anymore. Can they survive with enough healthy persons to keep everyone on that bus safe? Heck, they could even introduce new characters into the main cast due to that event: LOTS OF POTENTIAL HERE)
-And then there's Tyresse and the young girls
-Daryl and Beth
-And Maggie's group
Not to mention the woman at the end of the mid-season finale who finishes the job of killing the governor.
We don't even know what happens to her.
What if she plays a role in future episodes?
I don't know about you, but there is A LOT of potential in the upcoming episodes that they could do a LOT with.
I would say the only thing I'm worried about is how they're going to keep the pacing with so many groups of people, unless a bunch of them meet up in the next episode.
I feel there's a bit too much skepticism on the remainder of the Season only after the first episode. x3
I mean really, they did a really good job for the past Season and a half, I'm certain the rest will be up to par.