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A lot of people have asked me how I felt about this episode as I have been outspoken in my distaste for Andrea on the show. I honestly have to say that she is one of my favorite characters in the comic - until recently, as she's been kind of relegated to the background and has had nothing interesting to do or say so they've paired her with Rick. I dont have a problem with the relationship, Lori was unfaithful and she has been dead for quite a while in the comics, I just think at this point she's not being fully utilized. Regardless, I loved this episode, it surprised me.
The episode opens on a first person view of The Governor punching at the camera and making disparaging remarks while doing so, really making it feel like The Governor is kicking our collective asses. The camera pulls out to show its not Andrea he's giving the business to but Milton, who doesn't look like he knows how to take a punch. The Gov let's him know he knows he torched the walkers in the hole, and he ain't happy. Govvy gives Milt the option to make it up to him though and hands him a pretty big blade.
He leads poor bloody Milton to Andrea's kennel and tells Milt he can come out when Andrea is dead. Milton wheels on the Governor to stab him but is too slow and nerdy. The Gov catches the blade easily and spins Milton into a wall and shanks him - prison style - repeatedly, leaving him to bleed out in front of Andrea. Milton will now turn, and as a zombie will likely snack on the handcuffed and helpless and poorly implemented Andrea. The Governor was right about one thing: Milton won't be leaving without killing Andrea, he just won't be alive himself.
The Gov loads up his attack force without a second thought given to Andrea or Milton, and apparently the rest of the town. Tyrese has no inclination to head off and fight Rick's group and offers to stay and protect the women and children staying behind. Without this offer the town would've been defenseless during the attack on the prison. Great leadership there Phillip, (Governor's real name).
The Woodbury folks show up at the prison with a literal bang, launching rockets and grenades into the guard towers and storm in. The Governor leads the charge in and they clear room by room slowly realizing Rick's group vammed the moose a while ago. As this realization sets in, in a confined hallway tear gas grenades land among the Woodburians' feet forcing them to run out of the prison for air, where they are fired upon by riot geared Maggie and Glenn. The Woodbury folks run back to their vehicles for safety where they find the rocket and grenade launchers as well as the mounted machine guns have all been disabled. They do the smart thing and high tail it out, leaving an asthmatic kid behind.
The kid makes his way into the forest around the prison and happens upon the prison groups women and children guarded by an armed Carl. The kid surrenders and Carl wastes him anyway. I really love Carl and so far I am excited to see that he's pretty much the only character on pace with his comic book counter part.
We catch up with the Gov who is enraged that his people ran. He has drives ahead of the lead car and screeches to a halt. Everyone unloads from their vehicles and he asks them what the hell they're doing running away. The lady who has been most opposed to the militia this whole time deems the attack a massacre (despite none of their people dying at the prison, as far as she's aware anyway) and gets other people to walk away with her to head back to Woodbury. The Gov has had enough of whiney villagers and opens fire on the townsfolk killing all but his two loyal henchmen, the large black guy, "Bowman", and the kinda weasely Martinez. The Gov walks out into the field of bodies and finishes off a few stragglers and we see the whiney lady alive and using a dead body to hide under, the sole survivor of an unwilling army.
Rick assembles his troops at the prison and surveys any damage done. Hershel tattles to Rick that Carl is a little badass and killed a dude. Rick checks with Carl who claims the kid was pointing a gun and Hershel tells Rick that it was cold blood, that the kid was surrendering. (Still following? Sorry for the he said she said bit there.)
Rick suddenly wants to be seen as a concerned father and interviews Carl as to why he's so awesome. Carl lays it out straight. Every time they let someone live, someone else dies. Back in season 2 Carl left a zombie alive and it killed Dale. They let the Gov run around and he killed Merle and Axel. Not to mention one of the prisoners they let live in the first half of season 3 that used zombies as weapons and it led to T-Dog (miss you dawg) and Lori (no big loss) getting dead. Carl is a stone killer, and with good reason. God, I love that kid.
Rick ends his bid for father of the year by choosing (again) to do nothing with Carl, and gathers Daryl and Michonne to head to Woodbury and finish things. When they arrive they're fired upon and fire back at Tyrese and his sister guarding the gates. Rick yells out he's coming out and not gonna fire. Daryl clearly doesn't like not firing but silently follows, as does Michonne. They have a quick conversation and its revealed that Andrea left and was headed for the prison and Rick lets loose she never arrived. Since Rick sprung Glen and Maggie he knows just where to look for prisoners and they quickly locate Andrea.
Andrea, who appears to be incapable of multitasking and therefore unable to attempt to free herself and talk to the dying Milton, has got herself bit by the zombified Milton. I guess if you like Andrea this is sad. For me I'm so indifferent to her now that I don't give a shit and her tear filled moment with Michonne was lost on me. Yet again Andrea elects to kill herself (see season 1 episode 6). If only Dale hadn't been so stubborn we could've not had any Andrea the last 2 seasons and the viewers/humanity would've been the better for it. This "sacrifice" leading to Andrea's death, lead to no one at the prison dying during the Governor kerfuffle, which believe you me, in the comics was nowhere near as bloodless.
We see the prison a short while later with a bus pulling up, in it along with Rick are Tyrese and his sister, are all the people from Woodbury that were left behind. I like Rick, I understand his motivations and I love The Walking Dead, but here's where I differ in a zombie apocalypse situation. Rick is now taking in all the people too weak/old/sick/young to be deemed able to defend themselves by the asshole Governor who forced an asthmatic kid and 70 year old woman with arthritis to fight. I hate to put a value on human life, but how worthless are these people in the zombie apocolypse?
Yep. That's how season 3 ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper. The Governor has high tailed it and Rick has more than tripled his people. Had Rick not shown up the people at Woodbury would have been left to fend for themselves with only Tyrese to defend them. Well the action was great but the end was not everything it could have been. Season three had much more action than season 2 but season 2's ending was far and away better.
Best Character: Carl. Every time he's got screen time I can stop my self from saying, "He's the one that should've been named little ass kicker."
Best Kill: Well, the only kills aside from Carl are the Governor's, and he's a team killin' asshole, who woulda been kicked if he was to play CoD or Halo. That being said, he's stone cold and Rick shoulda killed him when he had the chance.
Well that's it for The Walking Dead, I'll be picking up the show again in October but I may run a review of the blu-ray when it drops in August.
Let me know what you thought of the season finale in the comments below.
-ASM out.
