Claimed

"Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the forty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on February 23, 2014. It was written by Nichole Beattie & Seth Hoffman and directed by Seith Mann.

Plot
Just when Rick thinks he's going to be able to relax, he's faced with multiple immediate threats. Other members of the group deal with their past.

Synopsis
Tara sits at the back of Abraham's military truck, writing the street names on her hand as the truck drives past them. They stop in a car wreckage, three walkers nearby start to beat at the back of the truck. Tara is about to shoot them with a rifle when Abraham orders her to stop. He proceeds to attack them with a crowbar, one by one, until they're all down. Tara notices and tells him that it's the first time she's seen him smiling. He then says that is because, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Michonne and Carl sit down for a bowl of cereal for breakfast. When Michonne says that she'd love to have soy milk, Carl replies that it's nasty and that he'd rather drink Judith's formula. Reminding himself of his sister's unknown fate, he abruptly leaves the table. Michonne tells Rick they are going on a supply run. Rick offers his services, but Michonne tells him that he needs to rest. Rick gives Carl his Colt Python, giving him and Michonne until midday to return. Rick then goes upstairs and falls asleep on a bed.

After clearing their first house, Michonne tries to cheer Carl up by eating a copious amount of Crazy Cheese and acting like a walker. When this fails to make Carl laugh, she says that she is good at making toddlers laugh. This prompts Carl to ask when she was around toddlers. Michonne replies that she had a child before the apocalypse, which surprises Carl.

Rick awakens from his slumber to the sound of men on the lower level of the house. After hearing approaching footsteps climbing the stairs, he dives under the bed after retrieving signs that he was there: a bottle of water and a book. A survivor named Tony drops on top of the bed after circling it a few times, and soon falls asleep.

Michonne and Carl are continuing to clear out a house. Carl convinces Michonne to reveal that her child's name was Andre Anthony. Michonne finds a baby's room, with an entire deceased family inside. Shaken, Michonne slams the door shut and sees Carl standing outside, and lies to him that there was a dead animal inside. Carl seems to see through the lie, but doesn't press the issue and they stand together in the room. "Maybe Andre and Judith are together somewhere" Carl tells Michonne.

Len enters the room with Rick, who is still hiding underneath the bed. After arguing about who gets to sleep in the bed, Len violently throws Tony off of the bed, and a fight ensues. At one point, Tony locks eyes with Rick while being choked by Len, falling into unconsciousness before he can say anything. The second survivor, satisfied, leaves his friend on the floor and goes to sleep in the bed.

On the back of Abraham's truck, Glenn wakes up and Tara tells him the situation. Abraham refuses to stop the truck until Glenn frantically bashes on the back window. Glenn tries to leave, but Abraham tells him that he is causing disruptions to 'The Mission.' After Glenn inquires about the mission, Abraham reveals that Eugene knows exactly what caused the beginning of the apocalypse, and that government officials are to meet with him in Washington. Glenn tries to leave anyway, and after Abraham tries to force him to stay, Glenn punches him. Abraham jumps on top of Glenn, and the two fight. Meanwhile, Eugene sees approaching walkers and takes it upon himself to try and kill them. His poor aim and gun control cause him to spray bullets wildly, some of which rupture the truck's fuel tank. Abraham and the others kill the walkers, and Glenn sets off with Tara for the bus. Abraham, after a moment's hesitation, follows them.

While Len sleeps and Tony is knocked out, Rick leaves the room and attempts to leave the house, but is spotted by Lou. After a short, brutal fight, Rick chokes Lou to death and acquires his submachine gun. After leaving the bathroom door slightly open, presumably so his reanimated corpse can attack the others. He then leaves through a window and walks around the edge of the house. He sees the leader of group Joe sitting on the porch and is about to kill him when he hears screams inside coming from Harley, either attacked by a reanimated Lou. When Joe runs inside to assist, Rick sees Michonne and Carl returning from their run. He sprints towards them and directs them away from the house. As they walk, Carl offers Michonne some Crazy Cheese and she laughs, while Rick gives them a bewildered look. They walk down the train tracks and spot a sign. After a short discussion, the trio decide to head towards where the sign is directing them. The sign is then revealed to say: '"Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive, survive. Terminus."'

Co-Stars

 * Marcus Hester as Len
 * Davi Jay as Tony

Uncredited

 * Scott Dale as Lou
 * JD Evermore as Harley
 * Gustavo Blade, Matthew Lyda, and Alana Macip-Shaw as Walkers

Deaths

 * Lou (Alive and Zombified)
 * Andre Anthony (Confirmed Fate)
 * 1 unnamed man (Off-Screen)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Joe.
 * First appearance of Tony.
 * First appearance of Len.
 * First appearance of Harley. (Voice Only)
 * First (and last) appearance of Lou.
 * Michonne reveals that her son's name was Andre Anthony and that he was three years old.
 * The title of the episode, "Claimed", comes from Tony, who argues with Len over the bed that Rick Grimes is hiding under, saying that it is claimed.
 * This is the phrase commonly used by Joe's group, explained later in "Us".
 * When Michonne is in the bedroom with the dead family, one of the dead bodies is holding a Super Dinosaur comic book, another comic book written by Robert Kirkman.
 * The jacket that Rick took and later puts on towards the end of the episode, strikingly resembles the one worn by his comic series counterpart.
 * There is a 'Boondock Saints' poster somewhere in the episode. Norman Reedus portrays a main character, Murphy MacManus, in both 'The Boondock Saints' and it's sequel, 'The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'. Reedus had no idea the poster was there.
 * In this episode, Rick's bandage is removed, after receiving it from his fight with Tyreese in "Isolation".
 * When clearing the house, Michonne sees a picture with an eye crossed out, a possible foreshadowing of Carl losing his eye in "No Way Out".

Comic Parallels

 * Michonne finding the corpses of a family in the bedroom of an abandoned house is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 60, where Morgan finds the corpses instead.
 * Abraham introducing his group and killing a walker with a pitchfork is adapted from Issue 54.
 * Abraham revealing Eugene is a scientist who knows how to stop the outbreak is adapted from Issue 53.
 * Abraham inviting Glenn and Tara on their mission to D.C. is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 54, where he invites Rick's group instead.
 * Glenn and Abraham fighting over Maggie's uncertain fate is adapted from Issue 56.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Abraham stops the military truck to takeout the walkers with a crowbar. The crowbar is covered in both blood and walker flesh. When he finishes killing all walkers, he proceeds to pull the crowbar out of the final walker. The crowbar, however, is completely clean and unused with no traces of blood or flesh on it.
 * When Rick is strangling Lou in the bathroom, Lou knocks over most objects on the counter-top, except a lint roller, which is seen rolling on the counter. In the next shot, when Lou is reaching for the pair of scissors, the lint roller is seen standing up. Then, in the next shot, it has been replaced with a hairbrush.
 * Once again, the lawns outside some of the houses are mowed, this is most notably seen when Michonne tries to entertain Carl with Crazy Cheese and the grass of the side of the cornfields has been recently cut.
 * The road when Eugene saw the walkers coming out from the fields was wet, but later the road was dry.
 * When Glenn demands that Abraham stop the truck so he and Tara can get off. Eugene is seen in the background standing next to the truck facing right of the camera. But when the camera cuts back to Eugene by himself, he's now facing the opposite direction. Also the items in the back of the truck move from left to right.