The Walking Dead - S3E11 - "I Ain't a Judas" Recap

"I Ain't a Judas" is an episode centered around Andrea and her conflicts between the safety and comfort of Woodbury (and the Governors bed) and her previous group of friends she hasn't seen in months.  If you don't like Andrea, and lets face it a lot of us don't like her because she isn't nearly as kick-ass as the comic version, you probably won't enjoy this episode much aside from the snide comments everyone tosses her way.  Regardless, lets see what happened...

Recap

We start off in the prison where plans are being discussed on what to do after the attack by the Governor and his zombie van.  Hershel takes this opportunity to yell at Rick about his leadership.  Rick goes outside to do a little recon of the perimeter where he spots Lori in the woods again.  Carl comes out and tells him that it would be good for him if he takes a rest as leader of the group.

In Woodbury we find Milton assists the Governor in doing a head count of who is left in town.  Andrea storms in and is pissed about the retaliation she heard about, to which the Governor lies saying they were the ones attacked.  She calls him bloodthirsty and says she is sick of the lies, insisting that she can work this out.  He tells her that if she goes to the prison she can stay there.

Outside Andrea laments about the conversation and interrupts one of the Governor's peons as he tries to recruit a kid with asthma for their militia.

At the prison, there is more discussion about what to do.  Glenn suggests the group hand over Merle as a peace offering.

Hershel approaches Merle separately and they have a little bonding experience over the bible.  Hershel is shocked that Merle knows the bible so well, to which Merle says the thing he misses most about Woodbury is the library. Merle tells Hershel just how ruthless the Governor is, going as far as telling him he will kill Judith and make Rick watch.  Hershel understandably is worried.

In Woodbury as the normal people are evaluated by the Governor for joining their militia Andrea points out that Noah is asthmatic and not really fit to help.  Governor gives him a gun anyway, pissing off Andrea.

Strange progression...

Carol and Daryl have a conversation where she says she is glad to have him back, but his brother is no good for him.

Andrea is wandering around Woodbury and finds the front gate sealed.  She approaches Milton for assistance to get out, but he doesn't want to know what she is doing.

In a creepy scene, the Governor lights a match with his eye patch off and lets us get a good look at the damage Michonne did to him.  Milton shows up to interrupt the creepiness so he can snitch on Andrea's desire to go to the prison.  The Governor tells Milton to help her.  This confuses captain simpleton who thinks he is being tricked, but the Governor gives him a pat on the back and he does what he is told.

We next see Andrea and Milton catching a walker in the woods.  Andrea severs it's arms and then curb stomps it on a large rock to knock out it's teeth.  Another walker shows up, and Andrea uses her hatchet to dispatch of it easily.  Another appears out of the woods, however this time Tyreese shows up inserting his hammer into its mouth in brutal fashion.  Milton and Andrea stare at Tyreese and his group, who look confused at what they are doing to the other walker in return.

Back at the prison Michonne is working out with Merle and Carol in the room.  Merle gives her some sort of odd apology that she doesn't seem to take seriously.  Carol watches everything apprehensively.

After a bit of a conversation Milton offers to take Tyreese's group in.  Before they leave, Tyreese offers to help Andrea with whatever she is doing, and she says it's not necessary.

Carl is standing watch outside when he sees something odd coming from the woods.  He signals down to Maggie who uses her scope to zoom in and spot Andrea.  After alerting the others, they come out in a military formation carefully advancing to the gate to let Andrea in.  While waiting Andrea has to take out one walker with a slash to the face.  Merle opens the gate for her, and Rick lets her in but treats her like a prisoner as a welcome back.

Inside Andrea gets to see everyone, hugging Carol, remarking on Hershel's leg, and asking about Shane and Lori (oh and that after thought T-dog).  Rick won't let her explore the prison.  Rick explains that it was the Governor who attacked them first as Andrea explains she wants to sort this out between the two groups.  Daryl tells her he plans to take his other eye, while Glenn backs him up declaring they are ready for a war.  Rick suggest that Andrea makes it up to them by sneaking them in, and she refuses.

Andrea is walking out in the yard of the prison when Michonne comes out to have a little heart to heart.  Andrea blames her for poisoning the group against Woodbury to which Michonne fills her in on how the Governor sent Merle to hunt her down and kill her. Michonne chastises her about how she choose a warm bed over a friend, and that's why she went back to expose him.  Andrea cries.

Michonne tells us how she feels about the Governor

In a familiar room in Woodbury the Governor meets with Tyreese's group.  He appears to be planning to give them a car and let them go on their way, but once he finds out they were at the prison he invites them to stay to milk for information.

Andrea goes up to Carol who is watching Judith so she can meet the baby.  They joke about Daryl's nickname for her before Carol tells her about Carl having to kill Lori and how Shane died.  Andrea mentions Rick has gone cold.  Carol hatches the black widow plan of having Andrea give the governor the best night of his life sexually before killing him in his sleep.

Rick gives Andrea a patrol car to drive back.  Rick gives her a pistol and tells her to be careful.  It's a nice display showing that Rick is still a caring guy.

Andrea shows back up in Woodbury where she gets a bit of a cold greeting at the gate.  Inside the Governor asks her if Rick sent her back, she tells him it was her call to come back.  When he asks why she says it's because she belongs here.  Then the Barry White comes on to that sexy times can happen.

At the prison Rick is walking around with Judith as Beth begins to sing to the group.  Rick walks over to Daryl and Hershel who have a little pow wow.  Rick tells Daryl that if Merle causes any issues it's on him, and that the next day he is going on a run and plans to take Carl with him.

Meeting of the minds

Carl is outside patrolling the fences...

We flash back to Woodbury in the middle of the night.  Andrea gets out of bed and walks over to her pants where she pulls a knife.  She approaches the Governor in his sleep, but pauses for a moment.  However instead of doing the smart thing, she walks away and looks out the window.

Conclusion

Basically, everything Andrea does can be summed up as follows...

There are some weird plot holes this week.  The way Merle is treated, instantly going from locked up to being the front man with an assault rifle as they let Andrea in, doesn't really make a lot of sense.  Also funny is how in earlier episodes Milton was scared to death to go near a walker, now he is holding one down as Andrea cuts limbs off.  And well, Andrea is just Andrea.

Corpse Count (with visual aid!)

Andrea - 2 walkers, 2 arms and a mouthful of teeth.
Tyreese - 1 walker

We don't need no stinking guns!

Sorry for posting recaps out of order, but this was the next one that was ready.  The other two will be up soon!

The Walking Dead - S3E12 - "Clear" Recap

This week could be called a filler episode, but it's really a one off with a limited cast where we explore what appears to be a fairly important theme for the season.  Of course, I'm a bit behind in posting my recaps, but this one off is giving me a chance to play catch up.  The recaps for the other three I've missed will be up later this week.

The Recap

So we start off with Michonne driving Rick and Carl out on a run.  We don't know exactly where they are going, but it's more fun to just drive random places during a zombie uprising so let's just run with it.

As they are driving along we see signs of how bleak the world is.  A sign is up telling someone named Erin that "We tried for Stone Mountain", they pass a live hitchhiker who screams at them to stop, but they don't even blink as they pass him buy and he desperately runs after them.   Shortly after that they run into a area on the road where it appears there has been a bit of a car accident.  There is even a walker that is halfway trapped under a truck screaming at them.  Michonne tries to pull around the wreckage and she manages to get the car stuck in some mud.  It's becoming a recurring theme every time a woman drives in this show they get the car stuck or wreck it. You think the guys would learn, but apparently not.

As Michonne spins the wheels going nowhere, walkers attack the car from nowhere!  If you were paying close attention you would have noticed that Erin from the earlier sign didn't seem to make it to Stone Mountain.

A subplot being quickly resolved

Rick tells everyone to cover their ears as he rolls his window down enough to blast the walker closest to him in the head.  We don't get to see them finish off the rest of the undead, but instead fast forward to them scavenging the area.  Rick is teaching Carl how to get a car out of the mud and takes this opportunity to have a heart to heart about why Michonne is with them.  Rick tells him that they have a common interest and once that's over, they won't keep her around.  It doesn't take them long to get the car unstuck, and right as they do the hitchhiker from earlier is catching up to them.  They take off before he can get to them, and the hitchhiker is clearly saddened by his inability to connect to living people.

The group arrives at their destination, which turns out to be the town Rick and his family lived in before.  As they walk into town, there are strange markings and warnings all over the place.  They run across a pile of burnt corpses and more strange warnings painted all over the sides of buildings.  They make it to the police station where Rick finds the armory cleared out.  Rick then comes up with a plan to search the local businesses that he knew had guns based off his signing off on the permits.  Michonne doesn't like the idea that much, but agrees to go along with it.

As they get closer to the center of town, they discover quite the elaborate setup of walker traps.  Someone has used small rodents in cages as bait to lure walkers onto spikes where they get held in place for them to be dealt with later.  In addition to that, there appears to be trip wires and other homemade traps everywhere.

A walker approaches them from behind, but before they can deal with it a bullet to the head ends the threat, however it presents a new one as they turn to find a masked man on a rooftop telling them to drop their weapons and leave.  He gives them a countdown, during which time Michonne says she can get to him and Rick tells Carl to run back to the car.  At the same time they all break for cover with Rick returning fire at the masked man.  Rick pops out of cover to take a shot and finds that the man is gone from the rooftop.  Michonne shows up on roof next to it and looks at Rick, both of them confused about where he went.  The man pops up again seconds later on street level firing at Rick.  As he approaches the area Rick is hiding in Carl pops out and shoots him in the chest.

Rick and Michonne quickly arrive next to the man, and Rick admonishes Carl for not doing what he was told, but Carl is just like... doing what I gotta do pops!  Rick notices there is no blood, and pulls back the shirt to reveal body armor on the man.  Then he peels off the mask to reveal...

Ahh shit son, it's Morgan!!!

Some people may have picked up on a little nod to the pilot episode here...

This seems familiar...

Rick explains this is the guy who saved his life, and they can't just kill him because he owes Morgan his life.  They track down the building he was staying in and carry him back.  On the way they have to avoid more booby traps including a welcome mat that had a pit of knifes under it, and a trip wire that swings and ax at the head of intruders.  Clearly it must have worked a few times based on the dried up blood on the blade.  Inside they find a room with crazy markings on the wall and a huge arsenal of weapons, more than Rick had at the police station.   It appears Morgan had been busy collecting quite the stash.

Morgan's stash as detailed on the AMC story sync

Rick ties Morgan to a bed in the room and they begin packing weapons.  Michonne even finds some food to snack on and Rick objects to it, but Michonne gets a chance to speak saying "The mat said welcome".  Who knew Michonne would get to do some comic relief?  At this point we have to be sort of worried about Michonne getting to stay alive.  When a normally quiet character starts talking, it's a sign they are about to get killed off (Source: T-Dog).

Carl finds a color coded map of the city Morgan had created showing areas he had cleared, and decides to go on a run to get supplies from a baby store for Judith.  Michonne wants to go along, Rick agrees, but Carl is pissed.  As they go outside Carl asks Michonne to deal with a walker that comes near them.

Stick them with the pointy end!

Carl uses this little distraction to attempt to run away, but Michonne isn't so easily out ninja'd and she catches up to him to ask why he is passing the baby store.  He leads her to a cafe where he wants to get something inside, but it appears there is quite the collection of undead inside.  They come up with the brilliant idea of taking some of the rat cages Moran used for his traps to distract the walkers inside.  They roll a few in on skateboards and the walkers come out of their nap time to attack the cages.  Carl and Michonne then slip around the side to the bar, where Carl goes up and grabs a picture off the wall of his parents with him celebrating a birthday.  It becomes clear Carl wanted to get a picture of Lori to show his little sister.  However they managed to forget the dead bartender who reaches up to grab Carl's leg, but Michonne stabs him the way she did the one earlier.

On the way out, a rat circles the corner and is being chased by walkers to now see a larger meal and the chase is on.  Carl pops a few shots and Michonne pulls off a pretty nifty blind face stabbing as they circle around the cafe in an attempt to escape.  They get out of the front door and close it, but Carl wants to go back in because he dropped the picture.  Michonne tells him to wait at the door and runs off, she comes back shortly with the picture and a rainbow colored cat statue.  They bond over this as they walk away.

Meantime, Morgan wakes up and attacks rick with a knife as Rick pleads with him that they know each other.  He manages to stab Rick before Rick gets the upper hand and they stop fighting.  At this point Morgan pleads with Rick to kill him...

Can we get Lennie an Emmy?

Rick tells him that he isn't happening, and in the following few scenes we learn that Duane died because Morgan couldn't kill his mom like we saw him planning to do in the pilot episode, and eventually she got a hold of Duane who couldn't shoot her in time leaving Morgan to kill them both leaving Morgan in a clearly mentally disturbed state.  I want to point out how great of a job that Lennie James does in this role, the guy is a really talented actor.

Poor Duane, sweet kids aren't going to make it in this world

Rick seeing this wants to help him, but Morgan goes on a rant about how Rick wasn't there when he checked his walkie, and tells him that his role now is clearing.  You can see Rick realizing that if he keeps dwelling on Lori and alienating people this is what is in store for him, and it's no way to survive.  Carl and Michonne arrive back carrying a crib just as Rick is leaving.  Michonne seems disturbed that Morgan is killing and carting off walkers from his traps, and Carl pauses to apologize to Morgan.  Morgan tells him that he should never apologize.  As they load up to head back to the prison, Carl tells Rick that Michonne is "one of them" and we get a glimpse of Morgan dumping bodies to be burned as they drive off.

On the way they see the body of the backpack guy from earlier in the episode on the side of the road.  They back up and snag his backpack and keep driving.

Conclusion

It was nice to finally get to see what happened to Morgan, it's just unfortunate that he has basically lost it mentally because he could have been a great addition to the cast.  However we know that Tyreese is still around, so with the "there can be only one rule" for black males it's no surprise he isn't going to become a regular on the show.  It should be noted that...

Funny because it's true!

Overall this was a fairly heavy handed episode in forcing it's themes on us, which basically comes down to you can't survive on your own.  We get several examples, first being the Erin girl, the second being the backpacker and most importantly Morgan himself.  Morgan serves as a notice to Rick of what happens when you keep alienating people and try to do everything yourself.  Hopefully this pulls Rick out of his stupid Lori is dead funk and get us moving on the plot line with Woodbury.

It's also worth noting this episode was written by the guy who is taking Glen Mazzara's place as the show runner.  There were a few plot holes this week (Carl being able to hold a double door against multiple walkers with little effort, the backpack guy dying on the open road despite apparently surviving this long in the world, how easily the car got stuck in mud even though it looks completely dry all around them), but the good outweighed the bad, especially compared to the silly things that have happened the last three weeks.  I guess we will see where things go from here.

This Weeks Kill Count

Michonne -
Carl -
Morgan -
Rick -

Left my counts at home and I'm updating this at a different location, so will update this later!

The Walking Dead - S3E8 - "Made to Suffer" Recap of the mid-season finale

And here we are at the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead.  As I'm sure most fans know the episodes resume in February, so this episode needed to satiate the thirst for zombie slaying and human on human crime for two months... Lets see how they did!

The Recap

We start of this week with a nice visual of a southern sunset, which pans down to a walkers feet.  As the camera pans up we get a nice close up of a female walker shuffling through the woods with the screams of a woman in the distance.

Suddenly, A wild Tyreese appears!

For those unfamiliar with the comics, Tyreese comes into play much sooner in the story line   He is an ex NFL linebacker who likes to dispose of zombies with his trusty hammer which he uses right away to take out the walker wit a pair of swings to the face.

Stop... HAMMERTIME!

Also as we know on this show when it comes to black male characters, it's really a highlander spin-off...

So queue the countdown to Oscar's death...

Tyreese then runs through the woods when another girl jumps out at him with a shovel.  They quickly recognize each other and Tyreese asks Sasha where the rest of the group is.  She said they were right behind here so they continue to backtrack.  They come across a group of 3 people fighting off a larger group of walkers.  There is a girl wielding a crowbar which she uses to dislocate a walkers jaw, while a younger guy uses a machete to slice down the middle of a walkers skull.

Your supposed to take the weapon with you stupid

The third member of the group is using a bat to beat a walker back and they start moving toward Tyreese and Sasha.

Tyreese hammers another walker in the head clearing a path, but the girl who was using the crowbar is bringing up the rear and gets jumped from the side, getting her arm bit in the process.  We find out here that she is the mother of the boy with the machete, it was really subtle when he yelled "MOM".  The bat guy hits the walker who is biting her and helps her escape.

They come from all angles...

They run through a clearing and up to a fence.  They debate if they should take the bitten girl in, Sasha doesn't want to, but Tyreese says they need to keep her with them for the time being.  As the climb through a damaged part of the fence, the camera pans up to see a building that appears to have been halfway leveled.  As it continues to pan out, it becomes obvious they are entering the prison that Rick's group was occupying all season.

Next we find Andrea trying to pretty herself up in front of a mirror in the Governors apartment.  She looks down and finds a picture of the Governors family, and examines it. He comes in, walking up being her and Andrea says that she is off to help Milton create the remains of Mr. Coleman.  He says she doesn't need to do that if it's bugging her, but she says that is what people in Woodbury do, they help each other.  He mentions how he thinks Woodbury is growing on her, and she walks away.  We see him look down at the frame of his family picture and grit his teeth.

The Governor is in the aquarium room where he turns on some music.  He calls out for Penny after unlocking a cage that leads back into the wall.  She charges out, in the straight jacket and with the hood on being held by a chain.   He removes her mask, and begins to sing to her.   While this is happening, there appears to be a bowl of meat that she is growing at.  This angers the Governor and he begins telling her to look at him, eventually screaming it before caging Penny back up.

Can't count the amount of things that are wrong here

Skip down to the room where Glenn and Maggie are being held.  Glenn has taken off his shirt and given it to Maggie allowing her to cover up.  Glenn begins to ask what happened and she confirms that she was not raped.  Maggie talks about how they spend so much time being afraid of walkers, they forger how dangerous people are, which really has been the theme of the new season so far.  They hug, and then Glenn walks over to the walker he killed last week.  He rips its arm off, and then starts peeling off the flesh.   Eventually he has it down to the bones, which he hands to Maggie to use at a weapon.  Bone shanks for the win!

Outside Rick's little posse watches the walls.  Michonne disappears for a minute, and Rick tells them to strip down to the bare essentials to lighten the load.  When Michonne comes back, they follow her.

Inside the Governor is talking to Merle about the prison.  Merle asks if he wants to move Woodbury to the prison, which he doesn't.  He just thinks it's a good idea to take out any groups in their backyard so to speak. His brilliant plan is to do the same thing they did with the national guard, wave the white flag and shoot everyone.  Merle asks what to do with Glenn and Maggie.  The Governor says he doesn't want to risk Andrea stumbling into them, so take them to the screamer pits.

Meanwhile Michonne leads the group into a dark building.  They question if she is leading them into a trap.  Rick pulls Daryl and Oscar aside and tells them that if she is they need to be ready to kill her.  A guy patrolling the Woodbury streets hears noises and comes into the building, saying no one is supposed to be there.  Rick grabs him, puts a wadded up rag in his mouth while Daryl knocks him out cold.

In the prison Axel is in a cell with Beth, Carl and Judith.  Axel is doing his best perverted old man, hitting on Beth.  Carl looks like he is ready to put a bullet in Axel before Carol comes up and pulls Axel out.  She tells him to quit hitting on Beth, and he complains that everyone is taken or a lesbian.  Carol laughs, saying she isn't a lesbian.  Axel thinks that made things more interesting, and she says it doesn't and walks off.

Doesn't know Carl has dibs on Beth

Next we see Merle and a couple of his peons going to get Maggie and Glenn.  When they open the door Glenn and Maggie come out swinging.  Maggie uses the bone shank to stab the guy in front in the neck.

Apparently they didn't know Maggie has been in prison

An Uzi goes off when the other guy gets knocked down alerting everyone in town that something is happening including Rick's posse.  Rick and the others use the commotion to sneak out of the house.  Merle gets up and pulls a gun on Maggie, but Glenn grabs his arm.  In the tumble Merle ends up on top with his knife hand at Glenn's throat.  In the meantime though, Maggie has gained control of the Uzi and tells Merle to let him go. Merle smiles as he says "okay" and then two other guys come in and get the drop on Maggie.  Merle uses the distraction to stanch her gun, and he yells at Glenn to get up.

We see Ricks group sneaking through poorly lit hallways.  They stop at a corner and watch an armed man pass.  They advance behind him ducking under a window of sorts and peak through.  Inside we see Glenn and Maggie on their knees.  Glenn tells her to keep looking at him.  She tells him she loves him as one of the henchmen puts a bag over her head.  As Merle and his guys escort them out, Daryl uses a flash bang and a smoke bomb to provide a distraction   Rick and the others run in while Daryl provides cover fire to pull Maggie and Glenn out. Daryl and Merle narrowly avoid contact without knowing it.

Outside Andrea walks up to the Governor saying she heard shots and wants to go check it out.  He tells her not to worry about it, it's probably just biters getting in the side gate and he will handle it.  They overhear a girl yelling for help.  As they run up to her it appears she is helping the guy that Daryl knocked out earlier.  The Governor wants to know how many people, and he gets told it was at least 6-7 (counting is hard in the zombiepocalypse).  People are gathering around and freaking out.  The Governor tells them the best thing to do while the sort it out is everyone go to their home, lock doors and shut off lights.  As people disperse to follow his orders a few more of his little militant peons show up and ask whats going on.  He tells them the town is under attack, and they should shoot to kill, not capture.

Rick's group is running through a side street, and duck into a building.  As Oscar checks the windows, Michonne doesn't enter and instead shuts the door and takes off.  Maggie notices that Michonne is gone, Rick just indicates she is on her own now.  Glenn chooses this time to tell Daryl that Merle is the one who beat him.  Daryl asks if Merle is the Governor and Maggie tells him that he is more of his right hand man.  Glenn tells Rick that they gave up the location of the prison.  Daryl thinks he can go meet Merle and rationalize some type of agreement, but Rick says now isn't the time considering they are in hostile territory.  Rick pleads with Daryl saying how much they need him, and Daryl gives in.

Group from Woodbury in the room we first saw Milton doing experiments in.  Milton is asking what's going on, Merle says that people who want what they have are attacking.  Milton being the skeptical nerd he is asks if anyone has actually seen these people, Merle indicates they killed Warren.  The Governor wants to form a couple of patrols against these "terrorists", to which Andrea wants to join, but he won't let her.  Instead he sends Andrea to go house to house and check on the residents despite her repeated pleas to use her gun.

Michonne has ninja'd her way into the governors home, where in the dark she pulls out a chair facing the door, and draws her blade while sitting in it.  Patiently waiting.

Daryl tosses out another smoke grenade to use as cover so the group can make a run for it.  We see Rick take out a guy on a bus with his newly acquired AK.

Former Call of Duty champion

Andrea comes out onto the main street, and people are running everywhere.  She draws her pistol and approaches the commotion as people run past her.  Daryl and Rick each take out another guard.

Sometimes a crossbow just doesn't cut it

The smoke has filled the central part of the town and making it really hard for anyone to see targets.  The Governor spots Andrea and runs up to her while she is firing off pot shots in into the smoke.  We see Rick's group take cover at the front of a building.  Andrea says she saw one of the guys who is attacking, said he was in a prison jump suit.  The Governor immediately decides it's escaped convicts.

Daryl pulls another smoke grenade out, says he will provide cover while they make a run for it.  He tosses the grenade toward the area were a Merle and a few other guys are trying to pick them off from.  Rick and Daryl start laying cover fire as the group moves toward one of the buses being used as a wall.  Oscar starts lifting people up onto it.  Rick turns to his left and has a bit of a hallucination as he sees a guy that looks like Shane coming at him with a shotgun.

Shane as the new Wolverine

In the confusion over what he sees, he lets the guy get a shot off at Oscar (THERE CAN BE ONLY 1!!!!).  Rick finally realizes whats going on and shoots the guy in the head.  He then approaches the body for a closer look and realizes it's not Shane at all.  Too bad for Oscar though...  Maggie is calling for help, but realizes he is too hurt to help, so she finishes off Oscar with a shot to the head.  Rick runs to Maggie and the bus, while calling for Daryl to come. Daryl yells at him to go as he shoots at Merle.

Back in the prison Hershel is telling Carl and Beth that he just got Judith to sleep.  Carl asks how stocked they are on formula, learning they have about a month supply left.  Carl says at the end of the week he will do a run with Carol to get more.  Beth tells him not to worry because Rick and everyone else will be back by then.  Carl tells her they don't know that for sure and the Judith is his only family at this point.  Suddenly, they hear screaming.  Hershel's first instinct is to check the guard tower Carol was standing guard in, but Carl knows that's not where the screams are coming from.   Carl starts to take off, Hershel attempts to stop him but you can't stop Carl, you can only hope to contain him.  Carl begins searching the hallways of the prison following the noises.

Once you shoot your mom, you get to be a bad-ass

He sees the door to the boiler room, where he last was seen shooting his mom in the face.  A surprise walker pops up and Carl instantly head shots it.  He proceeds into the boiler room and finds Tyreese and his friends fighting walkers.  Tyreese hammers one down and moves to another.  One of them attacks Sasha at close range, and Carl uses his now elite pistol marksmanship to shoot over her shoulder and into the face of the walker.  At the same time MC Hammer takes out another walker and they turn to Carl.

The deadliest pistoler since Wild bill they say

Carl tells them to follow him, but the guy carrying the woman who was bitten earlier is stumbling while trying to support her.  Carl says they should leave her, but Tyreese won't do that.  Tyreese picks her up over a shoulder while Sasha fends a walker off with her shovel and Carl shoots another walker that is approaching.

50 points!

Tyreese punches one walker in the face spinning it around as Carl finishes it off and they take off down the hall.

COMBO!!

Back in the Governors house, Michonne hears a knock in the other room.  She kicks in the door to his little aquarium room, and sees the gruesome sight.

This isn't very feng shui!

She hears noises coming from the gate, so she approaches it and opens it up.  Penny comes out, hooded and chained.  Michonne takes the chain off first, and then rips off her mask revealing her to be a mini-zombie.  Michonne spins her around drawing her sword and is about to decapitate her, when the Governor shows up and yells "NO!" with his gun drawn on her.  Michonne quickly re-positions Penny between them as a shield. He asks Michonne not to hurt her, holstering his pistol and taking off his gun belt.  He tells Michonne that "it's me you want, no need for her to suffer"  Michonne responds with "She doesn't have needs!" and right as the Governor pleads with her to not hurt his little girl, Michonne does this...

You mad now bro?

The Governor screams and attacks her, starting a brutal fight.  He punches her, knocking her onto the ground where he mounts her and begins choking.

The Governor, played this week by Rick James

Michonne manages to reach the case of her sword and uses it to knock him off the top of her.  She gets up quickly, kicking him in the ribs and them climbing on his back while using her weapon case to choke him.  He stands up and backs into a wall, knocking Michonne loose.  He turns into her, grabbing her face and slamming her head into the wall twice before she clamps down on his thumb with her teeth.  He pulls her by her head across the room slamming her face into one of the aquariums.

OH HAI!!!

She grabs the shelf they are on and pulls it down as she backs out, causing all the aquariums to fall and break.  This leaves a few rather active zombie heads on the floor trying to nip at them.  The Governor drags her toward one, but she elbows her way free of his grip.

Nom Nom Nom!

Michonne notices her sword and goes for it, but the Governor mounts her from behind putting her in a rear naked choke.  She reaches up to one of the broken aquariums and dislodges a large shard of glass with her bare hands.  She uses it to stab the governor in the eye, breaking it off in his face.  As she gets up and pulls her sword to finish him, Andrea conveniently shows up. Gun drawn on Michonne, they have a wordless stare down.  Michonne gets her back to the entrance and turns to leave.  In the background, the Governor is crying to Andrea goes to help him.  She takes note of everything in the room, as she watches him go for Penny's zombie corpse and hold it crying.

A daddy-daughter moment, straight out of a Hallmark card

Back at the prison Carl leads Tyreese's group to the room they used to hold the convicts in earlier.  Tyreese puts Donna down as Carl locks the door they came through.  Carl walks up to Donna and puts the gun to her head, wanting to put her out of her misery.  Tyreese says they should take care of their own, apparently planning to hammer her face.  As Tyreese tells everyone to back against the wall, Carl goes through another gate and locks them in with Beth watching.  Sasha looses her shit, yelling at him that they aren't animals and they shouldn't be caged.  Carl tells her they will be safe, and he will give them food.  Tyreese calms Sasha, saying that this is the safest place they have been in months and it's Carl's house, so they will play by Carl's rules.  Tyreese tells Carl they don't want any trouble, and he heads back to take care of Donna.   Beth asks if they should help them, Carl says "I already did".

Logic, who needs that...

At the makeshift hospital in Woodbury, the Governor is getting his eye patched up.  Andrea asks why he and Michonne were fighting, and what the hell the fish tanks full of heads were.  He tells her he used them to prepare himself mentally for the horrors he would have to face outside the walls.  As weird as that sounds she seems to go with it, and proceeds to ask about Penny.  Milton and Merle show up asking what happened.  Merle says he will take a team in the morning to go after the group since it appears they got away.

Starting to look a bit more like the comic version

Outside Rick's group is running, but Glenn is hurt and they have to slow down.  Michonne appears like the ninja she is, and Rick pulls his gun on her asking where she was.  He takes her sword, and they have a quick conversation where she tells him that he needs her, like it or not.

Inside the town, everyone is gathering at the fighting pits.  The Governor comes out in his new gauze eye patch.  He tells everyone there hasn't been a night like this since the walls had been built, how it reminded him of the first days of the outbreak.  He says he failed to keep them safe, and that he is afraid of the "terrorists" who want what they have.  But he says, the problem is that one of their own is one of the terrorists.  Just when you think he was going to point out Andrea, a couple of his guys draw weapons on Merle.  He tells the crowd that Merle let them in, and blames the attack on him.  Next he brings out a guy whose face is masked, and unveils it to be Daryl.  Andrea and Daryl see each other, exchanging a WTF look.  Andrea finally realizes that Michonne was right...

Duh...

The crowd starts chanting for them to die.  The Governor walks up to Merle and says "you wanted your brother, now you got him"

Bo and Luke, or Daryl and Merle... 2 more months...

This weeks kill count

I haven't  had a chance to verify all of these yet, but one I put together the total kill counts for the season I'll review this one more closely

Rick - (3 humans) - possibly more, that's just what we saw for sure
Daryl - (1 - human) - again, possibly more but only one was confirmed
Michonne - (1 - Penny) - slow week for Michonne, but probably the kill with the largest impact
Maggie - (1 human) - zombie bone shank!
Sasha - (2 walkers) - rough estimate
Carl - (4 walkers, all head shots)
Tyreese - (5 walkers, 1 human) - he doesn't get credit for the one Carl finished off and though we didn't see it, we can presume he finished off Donna.
Woodbury Residents - (1 human - Oscar)

I think if we have learned anything so far in season three, its that this rule went right out the window.

Speculation and Comic Spoilers

So we are on break till February.  Merle and Daryl are left reunited in a very strange way, Andrea is in the middle of a place she is quickly realizing wasn't what she thought it was, and Carl is babysitting a bunch of strangers at the prison.

Soooo How have you been?

Speaking of the strangers it took long enough to get Tyreese in the show.  At one point I thought Oscar was actually going to be filling that role, but now that he is here we can speculate on how this is going to work because Tyreese is actually a really early addition to the cast in the comics.  He is with them as they take the prison and actually dies at the hands of the Governor toward the end of the story arc.  However with his late introduction and bringing his own group of people in, I imagine this won't be happening...

Tyreese's death scene in the comics.

We also have Axel acting a little bit like a sexual predator, and though that hasn't been played up much I'm sure they hinted at it for a reason that we will see later.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Merle somehow dies.  He has too much anger to fit in with Rick's group...

It's funny cause it's true!

And considering the Governor just turned all of Woodbury on him, it just seems like he has no where to go.  Maybe he sacrifices himself to save Daryl, but the bigger question is how Andrea possibly ends up back with Rick's group. 2 months...

The Walking Dead - S3E7 - "When The Dead Come Knocking" giftacular recap!

This week was a buildup to the mid-season finale that is coming next week, but we were still provided a bunch of zombie killing action and just enough plot development to keep things moving. Sorry for the slow update this week, it's been kind of hectic.  Also this page may load slow due to all the images, sorry about that.

The Recap

We get started with Glenn sitting in a room with his hands taped to a chair, Merle approaching him for questioning.

Glenn is so hardcore

Merle asks about the group, telling Glenn he is still an asshole just like he was back on the rooftop in Atlanta.  He finds out that the spear chucker (his adorable racist nickname for T-Dog) is dead, and taunts Glenn about how he hopes it went slow.  He uses Maggie as a threat against Glenn to get the info on Daryl.  Then talks about how Glenn must have toughened up surviving this long, but uses his knife hand pinning it against glenn's nose from behind as a threat.  Glenn ends up headbutting him. Merle then beats him and we see Maggie in another room able to hear what's happening, crying...

Sadface!

At the prison rick is staring at michonne through the fence.  The zombies around her start to figure out that she's different and slowly turn on her, so she backpedals taking out two walkers, one by stabbing it through the head and the other by decapitation.

Sweet! - Carl

Before she can swing her sword again she blacks out from the wound she got last week. While Rick watches her about to be taken, Carl busts a few caps in zombie asses and saves her, this springs Rick into action killing 5 walkers of his own while Carl picks off another.  They drag her back into the prison.

BOOM HEADSHOT!

Deadliest pistolier since Wild Bill they say...

Rick drops her off in a cell, telling others to get supplies.  Rick asks her name... but she isn't answering.  Rick grabs her wounded leg and michonne gets pissed.Daryl interrupts telling rick he has something he needs to see.  The lock Michonne up keeping her sword, and Daryl brings Rick to see Carol in another cell.  They embrace and Carol meets Lil Kick Ass for the first time.  She also realizes that Lori isn't around, and breaks down with Rick.  Carl cries.

#truestory

In Woodbury, Milton shows up at the Governor's door and says that Mr. Colton is ready while Andrea gets dressed in the other room.

Dat ass

Michonne is still in her cell, with Rick.  He offers to have Hershel patch up her up.  He asks why she was carrying baby supplies, and she tells them about Glenn and Maggie getting snacthed by Merle.  She explains woodbury, but doesn't mention anything about Andrea to them, instead only describing the Governor in detail as a Jim Jones type.

Next we see Glenn, face beaten to a pulp. Merle is lecturing him, and Glenn tells him that the whole group will be coming for him.  Merle offers to bake them a cake.  Glenn starts naming everyone, and when he gets to Andrea, Merle stops him and laughing "Really"?  Glenn gets a look that makes him realize maybe Merle knows more than he has let on.

I know something you don't know...

Hershel patches up Michonne's leg with Carl standing guard.  She thanks him.  Meanwhile  Rick, Daryl, Oscar and others are debating on who is going to this town to get Glenn and Maggie.  Everyone wants to go, but Rick narrows it down to him, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne.  While loading the car Daryl reassures Carl that he will look out for Rick.  Michonne talks to Beth asking how they cleared the prison, she was shocked such a small group could do it.

Rick pulls Carl to the side and they have a chat about being responsible while Rick is gone and what to do if something happens.  Carl tells Rick about Daryl's pet name for the new baby, Rick thinks its funny and asks what Carl wanted to name her.  He decides that he wants to name her after his 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Mueller.  So he picks the name Judith.  As they finish packing up Daryl tells Carol to stay safe, and Hershel sternly demands Rick bring them back.  Axel opens the gate and lets them out in their sponsored vehicle that is impeccably clean.

Next we find the Governor bringing Andrea into a room where some music is playing.  We see Milton sitting with a very old man in a bed.  Governor asks Milton to bring Andrea up to speed before leaning over to Mr Coleman and telling him he is doing them a great service.  He leaves and Milton asks Andrea to queue up the record again.  He uses a series of audible and visual tests on Mr. Coleman one the record starts.  After he finishes the routine Mr. Coleman grabs Miltons hand and asks him to keep the record playing while he passes.

Elsewhere Glenn is trying to yank his arms free, but Merle brings in a biter on a leash letting him loose on a tied up Glenn.  Glenn leans back in the chair and kicks the walker with two feet giving himself room to scramble.  He uses some of the spare furniture to barricade himself from the zombie, eventually using a table to knock it over.  He then breaks the chair against the wall behind him and uses the broken arm of the chair and duct tape to prevent himself from getting bit before stabs the walker in the chin.

Certified badass

Milton goes over the plans of the tests on Mr. Coleman with Andrea.  She finds out that Mr. Coleman has untreatable prostate cancer.  Milton's goal is to test a zombies mind before and after the turn to see if they keep any of their humanity.  Andrea says there is no unconscious mind when they turn.. She realizes Milton has been sheltered from the walkers and never seen anyone turn.  He tells her a bit about his boring pre-outbreak life that we really didn't need to hear.  In the meantime, Mr. Coleman stops breathing and they put on his restraints.

Outside Merle and another guy are talking to the Governor about Glenn.  He asks why Merle tried to kill Glenn, and the other guy talks about how it only took him a minute to take the walker apart.  Merle says he is going to question Maggie, but the Governor says he will do it.

Governor enters Maggie's room which is a little more bare than the one Glenn was in.  He pulls out his knife, walking around to her.  He uses the knife to cut the tape that has her hands bound.  He pulls up a chair across from the table and asks to take a seat.  Maggie asks to talk to Glenn, but he won't let her with the excuse they are dangerous because of what they did to Merle.  Maggie obviously knows nothing about that. He tells her that he will bring her people here if she just says where they are.  She refuses, so he says lets try something else, asking her to stand up.  Once she does, he tells her to take her shirt off, she says no, and he asks again saying that if she does not comply he will bring her Glenn's hand. She removes her shirt getting the governor's attention...

Keeping it classy in Woodbury

Left standing there in her just her bra, He tells her to "Go on" and she reluctantly undoes her bra, throwing it to the side and covering herself with her hands.  He stands up, undoes his belt... walks around the table slowly.  He touches her hair, sniffing it, then suddenly grabs the back of her head and slams her face first onto the table.  She looks back up at him telling him to "Do whatever your gonna do" adding that she wasn't going to talk and he can "Go to hell".  He stands behind her, thinking about it... and then walks away.

Go to hell indeed...

Next we see the spotless sponsor vehicle of the zombie apocalypse pull off to the side of the road.  Oscar, Michonne, Daryl & Rick hop out and start pulling supplies out the back.  Michonne mentions how Woodbury has patrols and that they need to sneak up from here, which is somewhere between a mile or two out.  They take off into the woods as a few walkers start heading their way.  Rick takes a second during this to thank Daryl for all he was doing while he lost his mind for a minute.  Naturally, they run into a group of walkers, Rick calls for them to go into formation and not use guns.  Rick stabs one, they Daryl puts an arrow through another's head, and Oscar beats on silly with a pipe.  Daryl says there are too many, and they start backing up, but realize walkers have followed them from the car.  Rick knifes another one, then points in a direction and indicates they need to get the hell out of there.

They run into what appears to be an abandoned shack, kicking the door in while Michonne closes it behind them.  Daryl notices something smells terrible and they hear a buzzing noise.  They start to search the little shack and find a dead dog on the ground with flies around it's corpse.  Suddenly the zombies show up beating on the door and sides of the home.  We get a shot of outside the house showing a while wall that is covered with walkers.

Inside they notice a bed with what appears to be blankets covering a body.  They surround it and pull the blankets off, revealing a man who jumps out of bed screaming.  He threatens them and says he will call the cops, Rick says he is one.  He puts down his gun and reaches for his badge.  In the process, Rick disarms him, but the man breaks for the front door where the walkers are.  Michonne stabs him in the back stopping him.

Should have treated the puppy better

Meanwhile Oscar checks the back door saying it's clear.  Daryl asks Rick if he remembers the Alamo while picking up the body of the crazy hermit.  Michonne opens the door as Rick and Daryl throw him out to the walkers who start fighting over lunch.  They use the distraction to sneak out the back and we get some awesome product advertisement as the zombies rip apart the remains of the hermit.

Nom Nom Nom!

Mack in Milton's office, Mr Coleman turns finally.  Milton starts running his tests as Mr. Coleman tries to bite him.  One of the tests require him to raise his hand, but due to the restraints Milton thinks he can't respond properly.  He tells Andrea to remove the restraint because it might be tethering his consciousness.  Andrea, thinking this is as dumb as it sounds, rejects the idea, but Milton goes forward with his plan.  Andrea reacts like you would expect... (which also happens to be everyone's reaction to her sleeping with the Governor)

When he sets the arm free he gets grabbed, and as Mr. Coleman is pulling Milton in for the bite Andrea knives him through the skull.    Milton backs up shocked, and says he needs to record his findings.

Yes, Milton peed his pants

Merle and the other guy from before come into Glenn's room where he is ready for a fight, but before he can do anything the Gov brings in a topless Maggie.  The Gov pulls a pistol and says one of them is going to tell them the location of the group. Glenn has stiffened up, he knows he is facing death.  Gov points the gun at him and Maggie finally breaks giving up the location of the prison.  Gov walks back to Maggie, sniffing her hair and touching her just to piss off Glenn before shoving her toward him.  They lock them in the room.

The Governor is pissed at Merle, asking how a small group could take the prison when he was told by Merle it wasn't possible.  Outside, Rick and his group close in Woodbury.  Back inside the Gov questions Merle's loyalty to which he states he is loyal.  Andrea is walking around outside, and comes back into the governor's room.  He mentions that she kept her word about coming back.  She walks over and pours herself a drink
and says Mr. Coleman died.  He asks if Milton got the info he was looking for, and gives her a hug.

This week's kill count...

Rick - (7) - All walkers, mostly via gunshot but 2 quality head stabbings also.
Carl - (3) - All walkers - 2 shot on screen saving Michonne, another shot killing one off screen
Michonne - (3)  Two walkers (head stab & decapitation) one person (stabbed in back)
Daryl - (1) - Walker, headshot with a crossbow
Oscar - (1)- Walker, laid some pipe
Andrea - (1) - Knife to Mr. Coleman's skull

Spoilers and speculation...

So it appears we avoided the rape dungeon, though I have seen some people speculating that it was just done off camera.  I'm not really buying into that, I think the TV version of the Governor is differing slightly and this is the most obvious example.

It looks like next week we will get the inevitable Merle/Daryl showdown, and it's really anyone's guess how that is going to go.  Neither are characters from the comics so the writers have complete freedom to spin this story any way they want without getting the comic fans upset.  However Daryl has grown quite the popular character and has been getting more screen time giving him some more depth.  We know what happened to T-Dog when he started talking more.

Rumor has it next week we might get to see the introduction of another favorite of the comics.  A while ago it was reported that Chad Coleman (The Wire) would be playing the role of Tyreese.  He really looks the part, and was an excellent small character (Cutty) on The Wire.  The question now is... will Oscar have a shorter shelf life as the groups token black guy than T-Dog did.