The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 3: Walk With Me

The return of Merle

The episode began with a helicopter crash landing walking distance from Andrea and Michonne.  (Now we don't know if this was the same helicopter that Rick and the zombies saw but for now we will assume that it is.)  While Michonne is looking for survivors they are interrupted by a couple of cars driving up.   They hide and watch the Governor and his crew put the surviving pilot in one of their cars and stab the heads of the other dead soldiers.  Michonne and Andrea are surprised and disturbed by this action.  As the group is ready to leave Michonne's zombie pets become restless and start making noise so Michonne chops off their heads.  Bye bye pets, we hardly knew ye. From behind Andrea we hear a noise and lo and behold, Merle Dixon.  Not only is Merle alive but he has an awesome bayonet where his hand once was.  A zombie stumbles up behind and him and gets Merle's bayonet to the head.  Merle didn't even turn around.  Bad ass must run in the Dixon blood line.


Welcome to Woodbury

The ladies are taken by the group in one of their cars and are blindfolded as they make the journey to Woodbury.  Andrea is seen to by a doctor.  They have to armed guards watching them the entire time.  Michonne is not happy that their weapons were taken away.  She doesn't trust these strangers.  I agree with her.  Merle comes in for a little "chat" with his old pal Andrea.  She tells him that Rick and Daryl went back to Atlanta to look for him, the deaths of all those in the group that Merle knew, and how Daryl had stepped it up and become a useful member of the group.  Merle seemed proud of Daryl and was sorry to hear that Amy died.  These feelings seemed genuine.  I noticed that Merle and Andrea have a couple of shared experiences: both were left behind by their group, and both have lost a sibling (Merle only temporarily). 

Andrea seemed to be playing nice with Merle because she remembers him as a dangerous man and now she is in his territory with his people and no weapons of her own.  The Governor then comes in and explains to them that when anyone dies they automatically become zombies, bite or no bite.  This is shocking news to them, but they are better off knowing.  The Governor then takes them on a little tour of the town.  He shows them how they protect the town by erecting giant walls and mounting a guard to keep walkers out.  I kept wondering if those walls could hold back a herd.  They didn't mention running into any of them.  The Governor kept insisting that they stay, for the sake of Andrea's health, and Michonne kept insisting that they get their weapons back.  We learn that Woodbury is a town of 73 (soon to be 74) residents.  Everything seems rather idyllic for a zombiepocalypse, a little too idyllic.


Something's rotten in the town of Woodbury

The next day we are introduced to Woodbury's mad scientist, Milton.  He is experimenting on Michonne's pets.  Without jaws and arms they no longer seem to feel the urge to eat and have become docile.  The pets also provide camouflage for survivors.  They mask the smell of the living.  I wonder if they could make it safely past a zombie herd with them?  Could this be how they survived for so long on their own?  The Governor is impressed, which does not seem like something you want.  We also see the Governor speak to the surviving helicopter pilot.  We find out that he is part of a military group that had their own protected settlement.  But one day a walker got in and all hell broke loose.  The group split up but there are still some of his army buddies out there.  The Governor promises to look for them and bring them back.

Andrea and Michonne have breakfast with the Governor and Milton.  Milton is trying to pump them for information on the pets.  Michonne isn't having any of it and keeps mute (staring at her katana sword that is currently residing in the Governor's trophy case).  Milton persists and concludes (correctly) that Michonne knew the pets.  Andrea is acting very friendly the entire time.  I can't quite tell if she is doing this to appease the Governor like she did with Merle or if she is doing it so they can stay in Woodbury.  After breakfast Michonne and Andrea have a little fight.  Andrea accuses Michonne of keeping her life story of a secret while Andrea has told her everything.  Andrea wants to stay in Woodbury but Michonne can't wait to leave.  I would follow Michonne's lead.  Andrea isn't exactly the best judge of character.  She fell for Shane after all.

The Governor goes out to find the helicopter pilot's army buddies.  He finds them and drives up holding out a white flag.  He tells them that he has their friend and he will take them to him.  I saw this next scene coming a mile away.  He then pulls out his gun and starts shooting the soldiers.  Out of the surrounding area come Merle and the rest of the posse aiding in the massacre.  One soldier survives and tried to make a run for it.  The Governor coldly shoots him and has a young member of his posse go out and stab him in the head to make sure he stays dead.  I believe he saw them as a threat.  These are heavily armed and trained military personnel.  He didn't want to risk losing control of Woodbury to them.  When the posse gets back to Woodbury with new vehicles and weapons, the Governor makes a speech about finding the soldiers dead because they didn't have a safe place like Woodbury to call home.  The crowd cheers. 

Later that night we get a glimpse of Governor's life.  He has a nice house and a lady friend to share his bed with.  He holds a drink in his hand and stops to look at a photograph.  It is of him and a woman and girl who we can assume were his wife and daughter pre-zombiepocalypse.  He unlocks a door and enters a room that has a chair in the middle of it.  He sits and looks down for a moment.  He then looks up.  At first we can't see what he is looking at in this secret room, then the camera pans to show us.  It is an eerie collection of zombie heads piled up in glass cases.  What the what?!  It looks like a creepy version of TVs for sale at Best Buy.  We see Michonne's pets and the pilot's head are part of this collection.  This dude is ten kinds of crazy.

Final thoughts:

- Milton is super weird.  They kept bringing up the fact that he drinks tea.  It makes me wonder what is in his tea.  Executive producer David Alpert mentioned on the Talking Dead that he is loosely based on one of the writers that always comes to work dressed up and drinks tea.  I still think the tea was mentioned too many times for it to be a coincidence.  Only time will tell if I'm wrong or right.

- The power that the Governor has over the citizens is interesting.  When we first meet Milton he is arguing with Merle.  The Governor comes in and stops the argument.  Even bad ass Merle seems intimidated by the Governor.  This only makes the Governor extra creepy and scary in my book.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2: Sick

You got a cell phone we could borrow?

Last week's episode ended with Hershel losing his leg in front of a live audience.  The episode began with the introduction of the new set of survivors.  They are four prisoners who have managed to stay alive through the zombiepocalypse by being trapped in the cafeteria.  Turns out a guard locked them in there with a gun and left to get help.  They've been waiting ever since completely unaware of what has been going on in the outside world.  Rick had to break it to them that there were no phones, police, or government.  Just a few humans trying to stay alive in a zombie filled world.  One of the prisoners, Tomas, wanted Rick and the gang to leave. 

This was their prison.  Rick wasn't having any of this.  However, he did strike a deal with the prisoners.  They would help them clear out another cell block in exchange for half of the food left in the cafeteria.  The prisoners reluctantly agreed (for now).  Rick and the gang put Hershel on a make shift gurney and wheeled him back to their cell block with the four prisoners following (and Daryl keeping his crossbow trained on them the entire time).

 Rick gave a brief explanation to the group about their situation.  He left Carol in charge of Hershel since Hershel has been sharing his medical knowledge with her in expectation of Lori giving birth very soon.  Carol does her best with what they have (read as towels).  Rick leaves Glen with them in case Hershel turns into a zombie and needs to be taken out.  As a precaution Hershel has one arm handcuffed to his bed.


This ain't no prison riot this is a zombiepocalypse

Rick explains to the prisoners how to kill the zombies.  Be quiet and hit them on the head.  You have to kill the brain.  The first zombie that they encounter the prisoners hit and stab at it everywhere except the head, screaming the entire time.  The gang let's them know this is not prison riot.  Quiet stabs to the head.  One of the prisoners looks completely terrified and horrified at all of this. 

He backs away and is attacked by a walker that awesomely remove his handcuffs by ripping off his hand (does this mean that the zombies are starting to think and plan, that is a frightening thought).  Rick looks apologetically at the man right before he goes to kill him when he is preempted by Tomas.  Tomas hits his fellow inmate over an over again.  He didn't hesitate for a minute.  He is a sociopath that will do very well in this new world.  Welcome back Shane!  You have been reincarnated in the body of a Latino prison inmate.  This does not bode well for both groups.  We all remember what happened between Rick and Shane.

The group makes it down the hallway to a new cell block.  They run into a set of double doors with walkers waiting on the other side.  Rick tells Tomas to open one door so they can control how many walkers come in.  Tomas opens both doors and dismisses it as crap happens.  Then he takes a swing at Rick pretending to be aiming at a walker.  Rick sees right through this act (as well as Daryl).  Then Tomas throws a walker at Rick hoping to get rid of his competition.  Daryl kills that walker and shares a look with Rick that says this guy is going down.  After all the walkers are dead Tomas tries to act like it was all an accident.  Rick says ya sure, crap happens.  And then he shoves his machete right into Tomas's head.  This freaks out the other prisoners and one runs for it.  Rick chases after him and they run outside into part of a yard with zombies.  Rick runs back in and leaves the prisoner locked outside.  The prisoner pleads for help and Rick just tells him to run.  Then he closes the second door and we hear the man scream as zombies rip into his flesh.  The camera stays on Rick's face.  This was not a kill or be killed situation like the one with Tomas.  This man was not an imminent threat.  But he was still a threat and Rick did what he thought he had to do without hesitation.  The old Rick is gone.  New Rick takes not prisoners.  Rick spares the lives of the remaining two prisoners (for now at least) and leaves them in their new cell block.  They are to clear it out on their own and leave Rick's group alone.


Life and death in cell block C

A short time later Carl appears with a duffel bag full of medical supplies.  When asked where he got it he says he found the infirmary, cleaned it out, and killed two walkers.  Lori gets mad at him for going alone and putting himself in danger.  He tells her to butt out and stomps off.  I can see why Lori is worried.  What she feared would happen to Carl is already happening.  He is turning hard and cold.  Unfortunately, I don't think there is much anybody can do. 

This is the result of growing up in a zombiepocalypse.  There is no childhood.  You have to make hard decisions and be fearless.  Carl is proving himself to be a worthwhile member of the group.  They needed supplies so he went out and got them.  He is also able to protect himself.

Maggie and Beth are both distraught over Hershel.  They each chose to deal with the situation differently.  Beth went the optimist route and started cutting off the leg on Hershel's pants.  Maggie is the realist and knows there is a good chance he will die and they will have to kill him.  She goes to her father and gives him the deathbed speech.  It's alright for him to die.  She and Beth will take care of each other.   Hershel stops breathing.  Maggie starts screaming.  Lori runs in and starts performing CPR, including mouth-to-mouth.  I did not consider that the smartest move.  What if he turned into a zombie while her mouth was on his?  He could have eaten her face.  For a moment it did look as if he was going to eat her.  But no, TWD faked us out, he just gasped for air and violently swung his arm out.  Lori did something good (even though it was really risky so maybe she shouldn't be so harsh on Carl).

Meanwhile, Carol is working on a little side project.  She kills a female walker so she can practice doing a C-section on a human before Lori gives birth.  Not sure how helpful this would be on a dried up corpse that doesn't move and doesn't have a baby inside of it.  But I'll give it to Carol for thinking of a plan since she is most likely going to be the one delivering Lori's baby.  Let's just hope this doesn't lead her down the path of Dr. Frankenstein because that did not turn out well.  Also, are we meant to believe that the last camera angle used on Carol was of someone watching her from afar?  That could be an interesting new plot twist.

Some final thoughts

 

- Rick and the gang have become this group of great stealth fighters.  Compare their attack on the walkers versus the prisoners.

- I'm already bored with the Rick/Lori relationship drama.  She better die soon or become a more interesting character.  Apologetic Lori is no fun.

- Why no Michonne and Andrea in this episode? I thought for sure that the episode would be split evenly between Rick and the gang and Andrea and her new best friend.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 1: Seed

So it begins
 
This episode was great.  It was a great start to the new season and focused on what I love most about the show, zombies.  Killing lots and lots of zombies is awesome and incredibly entertaining.  The group probably killed hundreds by the time the episode ended and time just flew by because of the non-stop zombie killing action.  Welcome back The Walking Dead, how I have missed you.

Season 3 began several months after Season 2 ended.  Winter has passed and the gang has been on the run since the farm was lost.  Lori is not only noticeably pregnant, but close to her due date.  We encounter the gang breaking into a house looking for supplies. How great was it that Carl is now part of the posse?  He has his own gun and goes searching zombies on his own.  He also has excellent aim as he kills a walker in the kitchen.  Nice head shot kiddo.  He rummages through the cupboards and finds two cans of dog food.  Meanwhile Daryl kills an owl just chillin' in one of the bedrooms.  Oh Daryl, how I have missed you.  BTW, nice serape Dixon.  The rest of the gang makes their way inside the house when Rick gives the all clear.  When Carl opens the can of dog food Rick smells it and throws it across the room.  What a perfectly good waste of dog food.  I would totally have eaten that dog food.  Nothing goes better with owl than dog food.  T-Dog looks out the window and seems zombies coming towards the house.  The group picks up and leaves.

We come to learn that the gang has been going in circles all winter trying to avoid zombie herd after zombie herd.  It's scary to think of so many zombie herds surrounding our little group of survivors.  Their sole goal is to survive.  So they just keep on keeping on.  Rick and Daryl go hunting because one pet owl is not enough to feed the whole group which includes a pregnant woman.  On their hunt they spot the prison.  Nothing says freedom from zombieland like prison.

Why did it take them so long to get to the prison?  Was it because of all of the zombie herds they came upon during the winter?  I hope we get a few winter flashbacks.

Taking the prison 

In order to take over the prison Rick needs everyone to participate.  They start by blocking off the outer grassy knoll area and take care of those zombies.  Carol finally has something to do besides crying.  She kicks zombie but by using a rifle up in the guard tower and picks off zombies one at a time.  Way to go Carol! 

The area is cleared out by evening and the group gathers round the camp fire to eat some owl and sing some songs.  Carol takes some food to Daryl who is watching the perimeter and gets him to give her a back rub.  Carol's got some game.  Now that she is an expert marksman she is going after the camp hottie.  I see something brewing between Daryl and Carol.

Rick has become this military zombie killing machine.  So much so that he won't even speak to his own wife.  Why is Rick so angry?  What happened between him and Lori that has made him so cold?  Lori thinks it's because Rick killed Shane but I think there is more to it.

The next morning the group goes in to gain some ground in the prison.  Rick leads Maggie, Glen, Daryl, and T-Dog into the courtyard.  They form a circle in order to literally have each other's backs covered.  They encounter their first big problem when some zombies in riot gear approach them.  They are very difficult to kill because of all of their protective gear.  Maggie figures out how to kill them by stabbing one in the neck before it eats her (she is no longer innocent farm girl Maggie that was upset when the well walker was killed, welcome new zombie killa Maggie).   T-Dog notices and shouts out to the group how to kill them.  Some major team work ensues as well as major zombie carnage.  The group clears that section of the courtyard and a cell block.  They are finally home.  Everyone will get to sleep tonight behind locked cell doors.


I think Carl has a crush on Beth and Hershel knows.  It's kind of funny and kind of creepy at the same time.  Apparently Carl is 13 and Beth is 17.  Still icky but it is the end of the world.  So you never know.  Lori has a pre-birth freak out.  She has a legitimate reason for the freak out.  Not only does she have to give birth in a prison with little to no medical supplies and hygiene but if the baby is still born it could turn into a zombie and eat her from the inside.  I think it would probably look a bit like the scene from Alien when the alien emerges from the guy's stomach.  Ouch.

The next morning Rick takes the bad ass zombie killing crew, as well as Santa, I mean Hershel, with him to clear out some more territory.  The group gets separated and Hershel gets bitten on the leg.  Why did they let Hershel go with them?  Lori is about to have the baby and they take the only doctor with them.  I saw that bite coming a mile away.  They should have made sure that all of the walkers in the hallway were dead.  Rick did quite the hatchet job on Hershel's leg didn't he? (Pun totally intended).  We also learn that Rick and the gang are not the only living humans in the prison.  It looks like some prisoners have managed to stay alive in the prison.  A new threat or new allies?  Only time will tell.

Lets catch up with Team B

Our introduction to Michonne was at the end of Season 2.  She saves Andrea from becoming zombie chow.  It was obvious from that brief scene that this chic was a major bad ass.  She has her zombie pets and an awesome sword.  We got to see more of her sword wielding skill in this episode.  She kills two zombies by first skewering them to her sword and then swiftly removing the sword and slicing their heads off.  Awesome.  Andrea does not look good.  Andrea picked the worst time to get the flu.  And she's super crabby about it.  You can't get mean and whiny when you get sick during a zombiepocalypse.  They have to keep moving.  I get the feeling they encountered the same problem as Rick and the gang and have run into zombie herds all winter long.  Flashbacks please.