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THE WALKING DEAD |
Rick Grimes - Andrew Lincoln Lori Grimes - Sarah Wayne Callies Daryl Dixon - Norman Reedus Carl Grimes - Chandler Riggs Andrea - Laurie Holden Michonne - Danai Jekesai Gurira The Governor - David Morrisey Merle Dixon - Michael Rooker 
OTHER WALKING DEAD SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 4 OTHER SCARY TALES Dead Set Medium Ghost Whisperer Afterlife Haunted 
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SeedThe survivors have been on the move for months since the overrunning of the farmhouse and Lori's pregnancy is well advanced. A prison seems to provide a secure location to stay, but first it has to be cleansed of the undead inmates and that is a dangerous proposition. Season Two of THE WALKING DEAD was accused (and with good justification) of being too slow and not having many zombies in it. The first episode of the new season makes up for that in spades. It does, however, come close to making the error of lessening the threat posed by the zombies. So many are killed in this episode's first half that you wonder how anyone ever got killed by them. Things change, however, when the group move into the interior of the prison and the combination of enclosed spaces and overwhelming numbers brings that threat right back. There's precious little plot to this episode, just a lot of zombie killing in narrow, dark corridors, but in terms of action it ups the pace and threat and let us know that the writers mean business and nobody is safe. TopSickRick has to decide how to deal with the living inmates of the prison who were, after all, killers. Andrea is in the hands of a woman who keeps pet zombies with their arms and jaws hacked off. Once again this is a plot-light episode that deals with the aftermath of events in the last episode. Hershel is close to death and there are dangerous criminals to be dealt with as well as the zombie hordes. It's nice to see Andrea is still about and her new friend looks like an interesting and capable companion, but exactly where this break of focus is going to take the show will be interesting to see. TopWalk With MeAndrea and her saviour, Michonne, witness a helicopter crash and fall in with Daryl's brother and a man called the Governor. They are taken to a place where the threat of the walkers seems to have been eliminated. In a surprising change of focus, the group at the prison don't appear at all in this episode as the Governor and his little community are introduced. Everything is so bucolic that you just know it's got to be rotten to the core and that is shown in a surprise turn toward the end. The leaders of post-apocalyptic communities are always evil, so none of this comes as a surprise, but the Governor is nicely played by David Morrissey and we get to know Michonne slightly better, though she says very little. This is an important character and situation from the comics so a proper set up was to be expected, but taking a full episode away from the main group is surprising and slows everything right down. We can only hope that it leads to something more original and exciting. TopKiller WithinMichonne begins to the suspect that the Governor is not all he appears to be. At the prison, all hell breaks loose just as Lori goes into labour. At its best, THE WALKING DEAD can be unbelievably harsh and that is precisely what happens here. A sudden threat from unexpected quarters, walkers are loosed everywhere, the group is scattered and people are going to die. The birth of the baby scene is just absolutely brutal in every way that it can be. This is really tough stuff and played as well as it is written. The contrast with the nothing that is happening in the town actually amps up the action and shock of the prison scenes and returns the show to the blistering quality of the first season. TopSay The WordOne loss too many sends Rick over the edge whilst Michonne leaves Andrea behind in Woodbury to discover the community's less savoury side. The show remains a little schizophrenic by having the two stories running along at the same time with no sign that they will ever meet. The Woodbury tale has more interest as the more secret side of the Governor and his community starts to emerge, but it remains in the prison where the core story is taking place, even though very little is happening plotwise. Rick's rampage is seriously hard stuff, but there is more horror for him to encounter. The search for baby milk is tense, but ultimately doesn't pay off. TopHoundedMichonne is being hunted by the Governor's men, but it's hard to say who is hunting who. Rick receives a mysterious phone call. Andrea grows closer to the Governor. The twin stories of the show start to merge in this episode that lowers the zombie action count for some serious character drama. Rick's attempts to keep the contact with the caller from a 'safe' place heads to a predictable conclusion, but it is still very nicely played. There are also some good news for the survivors and some bad news along the way. It's all nicely balanced out with Michonne's hunt providing the action and gore quotient, proving that the show's writers have recovered from the less than stellar second season to come up with the goods this time round. TopWhen The Dead Come KnockingGlen and Maggie are in the Governor's hands and he sets about getting information out of them. There is real horror in this episode and for once it doesn't come from the zombies, but rather from the human characters. The torture that is heaped on two of the most likeable characters is horrible and the tension is ratcheted up mercilessly. It's also inventive and the scene in which Glen has to deal with a zombie in an enclosed space with no weapons is outstanding. And the villains aren't the sole province of the merciless acts. A survivor in the woods finds an encounter with some of the heroes to have unfortunate consequences. TopMade To SufferThe group decide to get Glen and Maggie back, but the plan doesn't quite come off and a firefight breaks out. This is the midseason finale and so we are treated to a rousing climax and a very smart cliffhanger. There is no way that we won't be coming back to find out what happens to Daryl and Merle next time around. There is so much stuff going on in this episode and it's all great. From the all out action to the introduction of a new group and Rick's son taking the lead in how to treat, from the subtle threat of a con with an unknown past taking an interest in a young girl to Michonne taking her revenge on the Governor, it's all a fabulous mix of gore and action and character and acting. Very few other shows have such a great balance of all these things. The scene in which Michonne takes on the Governor is all about the psychology between them, about her hate and his insanity. It's brilliantly acted and impactful. And then there's that kick-ass cliffhanger. TopThe Suicide KingAfter saving Daryl from the gladiatorial battle, the group are astonished when he chooses to go with his brother. Rick deals with the new arrivals harshly. THE WALKING DEAD returns from its midseason break and picks up right where it left off. The gladiatorial battle between Daryl and his brother segues into another all action shoot out, giving the first half of the episode a serious bang. Following that, the pace settles down a bit and the human story re-emerges with Andrea trying to cope with her new position as the support for the increasingly unhinged Governor, Daryl making personal decisions and Rick having to deal with a whole bunch of new people in his group. Rick's behaviour remains erratic and considering all that the character has been through, that seems perfectly fine, especially with Andrew Lincoln still grounding the increasingly odd plotline through his great performance, but too much of that could become frustrating. For all the gunfire and zombie gladiators, it is still the smaller human moments that impress, such as one reaction to Daryl's decision. TopHomeRick follows a woman in a white dress that nobody else can see. Daryl questions his decision to leave the group. Glen struggles with the burden of leadership and the Governor strikes back against the group in the prison. The fallout from last week's outing continues. Least satisfactory is Rick's decline into madness, as personified by a woman in a white dress. This worked with the telephone following Lori's death, but it now seems to be just repeating that. It doesn't take long for Daryl to work out his mistake, but the scene in which he comes to his decision is full on zombie slaughterfest and there's more to come in the Governor's imaginative strike back action. Even with all the gore (and there is much), the show keeps its core around its people and that is why it works so well. TopI Ain't A JudasAs the Governor gears up for a war with the group in the prison, Andrea begs him to let her make peace. When he refuses, she goes anyway, but finds her welcome to be less than warm. The remorseless march toward a war between the two camps continues and Andrea finally gets back with the group, however briefly. It's a credit to the writing of the characters that the way in which the relationships have changed are completely believable. It's also good to have Rick back from his trip with the fairies, which didn't fit the show's gritty style. The zombie killing is less this episode out, but that's because the story is about the people and the show refuses to take the easy way out, making the characters flawed, but real and the way they interact messy and complicated. TopClearRick takes Michonne and Carl on a weapons run and comes across a blast from his past. Way back in the very first episode of THE WALKING DEAD, Days Gone Bye, Rick met a survivor and his son hiding out from zombies led by the man's dead wife. That character returns, again played by Lennie James, but he is now a broken man. He is still surviving, but without purpose and without much of his mind. The episode deals with Rick's attempts to get through to him, to save him, to bring him back to himself. It's a brave move; a whole episode about a single survivor we haven't seen for two full seasons and for the most part it pays off. In order to assure the required zombie quotient, there is some nonsense about Carl going into an infested diner to get a photograph of his mother, but that's not important. TopArrow On The DoorpostAndrea arranges for Rick and the Governor to finally meet in the hope of thrashing out a peace deal. Instead, the Governor offers a complete peace with only a single proviso - he gets Michonne. The vast majority of this episode is made up of two men sitting at a table, failing to talk to each other. It is a credit to the writers and the actors that this is compelling rather than tedious. The two characters, played with aplomb by Andrew Lincoln and David Morrissey, are both strong enough to make the meeting a battle of titans. Compared to that, the squabbling back at the prison is disappointingly banal. TopPreyAndrea arranges for Rick and the Governor to finally meet in the hope of thrashing out a peace deal. Instead, the Governor offers a complete peace with only a single proviso - he gets Michonne. The centrepiece of this episode is the extended duel between the Governor and Andrea inside a broken-down factory with added zombies. It's tense and exciting and is what THE WALKING DEAD does best, combining zombie action, fully-formed characters and good acting. Who will survive and who won't is the only thing that matters. Set around this centrepiece is some less interesting storytelling about sideline characters who haven't been introduced for long enough to actually matter. The Governor's pit of biters shows the festering underbelly of Woodbury and their eventual fate is pretty gruesome. For the main part, though, this is pared-down, quality action storytelling that is dragging us ever closer to the big finale. TopThis Sorrowful LifeRick plans to hand Michonne over to the Governor, but can't go through with it, so Merle takes it upon himself to carry out the dirty job. Michael Rooker's extremely dislikeable redneck character was there right at the beginning of the show and now he gets his place in the limelight as this episode deals entirely with Merle and his potential redemption. It is a credit to the writers that even potential caricatures like Merle are fully-rounded out characters who can go through this kind of emotional journey and it seem both believable and dramatic rather than artifice and melodrama. This sudden side journey, however, leaves the subject to Andrea hanging in the air and does nothing to set up the big finale that is to come. If there is one thing about THE WALKING DEAD that is predictable then it is the unpredictability of it. TopWelcome To The TombsRick and the group make the decision about whether to stay or fight the Governor when the big attack finally comes. The Governor has already set up a deadly revenge for Andrea's betrayal. The finale of this third season of THE WALKING DEAD is less epic and apocalyptic than the others, although it does find room for some big moments. The plot isn't particularly complicated or even surprising, but Andrea being locked in with a turning zombie is fraught with tension and the Governor's meltdown is certainly shocking. More low key than expected, but with enough death and estruction to keep regular viewers happy until the start of season 4. Top |
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