As a reminder…from here on out, we’re going to do things a little different here at TSB when it comes to AMC’s The Walking Dead. Instead of an all-out recap, we’re gonna give you our reaction to each week’s episode and the Kill Count. (**SPOILER ALERT** Although we won’t go through the episode step by step, this article will contain spoilers)
Kill Count: ( about 30 Walkers, 2 People)
Season 3 of the Walking Dead has been phenomenal. But if there is one story line that is going to eat away at our souls, it’s going to be this ghost of Lori. Enough is enough already. We could live with Rick breaking down due to the overwhelming amount of killing and carnage, along with having the burden of being a leader. Having Rick incapacitated for entire episodes at a time are going to ultimately hurt the show.
So last week we left off with Rick having another totally lame hallucination, where Lori is standing in a white dress above everyone in the prison. Not only was this a terrible way to end the episode, it totally wiped out what happened to Tyreese’s group. Rick just starts yelling “Get out! Get out!”, and they leave. So where did they go? No one even seemed to care when last night’s episode opened, except for Glenn. After now declaring himself the de facto leader, he goes through the catacombs with Carl to find out how Tyreese’s group got in. What’s amazing is that they come back covered in blood. Why wouldn’t AMC put that scene in there? C’mon AMC, you’re killing us here. Glenn + Carl in the catacombs = endless gore/”OH MY GOD ___ IS GONNA DIE!!!”. It’s nice to see Glenn take the reins as the leader as Rick is busy playing with himself in the forest.
Does anyone really understand how Andrea has risen from near death, to El Presidente of Woodbury? This just makes no sense at all. The timeline seems to be about a month from when Andrea and Micchone show up in Woodbury, until now. What has she done to gain the resident’s trust? She gave a high school basketball coach quality halftime speech last episode, and now she’s JFK?
At least the Merle vs. Daryl dynamic is going down the right path. While walking though the woods, Daryl is telling Merle how going back to the prison is the smart choice, but Merle insists that The Governor is going to slaughter the group at the prison. Then we find out that the two of them had discussed how they were going to turn on the original group and steal their supplies back in Atlanta. While it’s clear to see how Merle’s personality hasn’t changed one bit, Daryl’s has. It’s especially clear when the two of them come upon a Hispanic family getting attacked by walkers on a bridge. I found it extremely intriguing how the sound of the baby crying was what triggered Daryl’s haste to find these people. In one of the all time most bad ass walker killing sprees, Daryl single-handedly wastes about 15 walkers up on the bridge while trying to save these people.
Squish
Being the natural scumbag that he is, Merle basically sits back and only kills a walker when it’s beneficial to him during this scene. There’s one thing on his mind from the second they get up on that bridge. Raid the car. But Daryl is having none of that. With his crossbow pointed at Merle’s skull, he orders him to GTFO of the car and leave. Finally some real action. The first half of this episode was beyond boring. It only took about half an hour for some blood to be spilled.
Now shit REALLY starts to hit the fan.
With Maggie on the rag and Rick out playing in the dandelions, Glenn is left to go fortify the opposite side of the prison by himself. So he takes off and naturally you know what’s going to happen…but how?
Herschel is now in a small panic at this point. He knows Rick is out doing mushrooms somewhere, but he NEEDS Rick to get back with the group. He spots him beyond the fence and hobbles all the way down the hill to convince him to come back. Rick acknowledges that “Lori” isn’t real, but that “she’s there for a reason.” Sure Rick, just go back into the woods and spare us another wasted scene. There was another 5 minutes of possible zombie killing time that we’ll never get back.
While Herschel is trying to convince Rick to come back from crazy town, Axel continues to mack HARD on Carol in the courtyard. I give him a lot of credit. He comes off genuine and I think Carol is starting to entertain the thought of letting him get it in…
NEVER saw this coming.
Then BAM!! It’s on now!! Holy mother of god. Axel’s brains are spewed all over Carol’s face. Talk about a money shot…OH MY GOSH! IT’S THE GOVERNOR’S MUSIC (if he had a WWE entrance song, this is where it would have started playing).
The Gov just blasted Axel in the temple from about 400 yards with a real derpy gun. With a show that puts so much into detail, how could they possibly have The Gov shooting at everyone like this?…
Now it’s ON. Rick finally snaps out of it as Martinez starts firing at him in the weeds. Rick is pinned down and has nowhere to go..but its gets better. All of a sudden you hear some sort of vehicle coming. Everyone kind of stops and waits to see who or what it is. Naturally I thought it was Glenn, and that he’d get caught in the crossfire. But here comes a bread truck barreling down the dirt road to the prison. This thing ain’t gonna stop people. BOOM! Right through the gates into the courtyard. As the camera now focuses on the truck, you see that it’s pretty fortified, and has some sort of ramp that is ready for deployment. The ramp lowers and holy shit…WALKERS!! About 20 walkers come down the ramp as if they are ready to enter the Royal Rumble. One thing that I noticed is that after the truck stops, a girl (or guy with long hair) in full riot gear jumps out of the driver’s seat to let the walkers out. Then is never seen again. Who was it, and where are they? There are just so many holes in this episode that it’s killing the enjoyment of it.
As brought up on Talking Dead, here comes the first instance in which characters are not delivering head shots as if they are playing Call of Duty. When did everyone all of a sudden forget how to aim? Michonne might be deadly with a sword, but she’s more likely to shoot herself than hit anything else. Maggie now can’t hit a guy standing in a guard tower about 20 yards away. At least Herschel can still shoot. Dude pops off about 12 walkers bearing down on him before Glenn returns in the pickup truck to scoop him up and get back behind the last wall.
Satisfied with his work, The Gov and the remaining part of his crew leave the area. Even though the group is now safe from gunfire, Rick is still trapped outside the prison fence with plenty of walkers outside and a good amount inside the courtyard. Instead of running, Rick temporarily freezes and is now surrounded by walkers. Could this be the end for Rick? Deep down I thought there was a chance, until this happened…
Daryl and Merle to the rescue! Of course this was inevitable, but I believe with Merle “joining” the group, it will make a much better story. As they are done dispatching the walkers around Rick, they peer inside the prison courtyard that is now full of walkers.
The fence to the courtyard is now busted open and there is no safe way into the prison. How will they get back in?
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