Looks like our tenacious Commander-in-Chief, Juliette Terzieff, went on another recruiting spree. Welcome James Allen McCune to the Zombie Survival Crew.
No stranger to dealing with the undead, James Allen McCune is best known for his role as Jimmy, Beth’s boyfriend in the second season of AMC’s hit drama “The Walking Dead.” We plan to utilize the skills he picked up while filming the show to help us. And won’t hold it against him if he has a flashback to his final days on the TWD set.
James is currently filming season four of Showtime’s “Shameless” . . . when he isn’t eating nachos and playing video games in his trailer, and hopefully practicing his skills with a sword.
Goodness, the mid-season finale for “The Walking Dead” proved to be a difficult episode to watch. No surprise in the nail-biting, worrying, and yelling at the TV—TWD always provides plenty of that for its finales. The surprises came in the bloodshed witnessed by 12.1 million viewers Sunday night. Some of it may have been expected, the writers are known for dropping clues throughout the season before a major event. The rest left fans wailing and venting their frustrations on Twitter and Facebook. We can totally see the fan angst delighting the show’s writers and producers. After all, they live to make viewers suffer—as Robert Kirkman disclosed on “Talking Dead” after the mid-season finale—by making each major loss on the show unbelievably graphic, fitting the amount of violence to a character’s importance in the show. Talk about a harsh way to show you love someone.
Warning: There’s spoilers a plenty below. Do not venture further until you’ve watched the mid-season finale.
It is no secret that Phillip—a.k.a. The Governor, a.k.a. Brian—is a master manipulator. In the scene before the main credits, he manages to simultaneously scare the pee out of the people in his new camp and turn them into a ragtag militia team willing to do whatever necessary in order to take over the prison. When he arrived, when the camp was still working under Martinez, the group were timid, barely keeping one step ahead of the walkers. It took Phillip no time at all to corrupt them. He knew exactly what to say, what buttons to push and lies to feed them. Well, the lies weren’t so much lies as exaggerations of the truth. Yes, Rick’s people murder and steal, but only when backed into a corner and forced to. Yes, Michonne mutilated Phillip and killed Penny, his daughter . . . in self-defense. He uses the truth to frighten his new army. Only Lilly sees through the manipulation. She calls Phillip out, asking if he’s one of the bad people he’s rallying the others to kill. Unfortunately, Lilly doesn’t have the backbone to stop him, to stop any of them before they charge into the prison with Hershel and Michonne as prisoners. If she did, the episode would’ve had a much kinder ending.
Hershel always finds a way to make peace. It’s the way he’s lived since day one on the show, back when he couldn’t bring himself to kill the walkers because he saw them as sick humans who just need to stick it out until someone finds a miracle cure. Hershel’s faith taught him to find the kinder, gentler path. He’s no push-over, stand up for what he thinks is right no matter what. But Hershel is a man of words, not action. He tries so hard to talk sense into Rick throughout his time with the group, and uses the same tactics with Phillip when taken prisoner.
“You say you want to take this prison as peacefully as possible, that means you’d be willing to hurt people to get it. My daughters would be there. That’s who you’d be hurtin’. If you understand what it’s like to have a daughter, then how can you threaten to kill someone else’s?”
“Because they aren’t mine.”
Phillip makes it clear that Hershel’s attempt to find the humanity buried deep in his mind won’t work. He killed that portion of himself and buried it alongside Penny after the Woodbury attack. It gives Hershel nothing to work with. He’s left to rely on the good he’s found in Rick since the first prison attack to safe his bacon. It doesn’t work.
The prison attack echoes the first attempt made by the Governor to capture the coveted safe haven, with one large exception: this time Phillip rolls in with a tank. He also has a serious advantage in the number of soldiers at his disposal. After the walker attack inside cellblock D and the flu which wiped out a good number of the prison population, there’s a handful of people able to fire a gun without falling over from the recoil. Glenn and Sasha are barely mobile, therefore virtually useless in a fight. It came down to the council, plus a couple spare people, in order to hold the line against a tank and well-armed, motivated insurgents. The prison group was doomed from the start. And further doomed by the emotional blow dealt by Phillip moments before he called on his army to charge the fences.
Hershel’s death is a brilliant tactic for Phillip’s campaign. He knew Hershel was the steel rod holding the prison group upright. All it took was one conversation with the man to figure it out. Rick’s eagerness to agree with Hershel during the ultimately ill-fated parlay before the shooting begins sealed the deal. Take out the peacemaker and the morale of the group falls to ruin. Phillip makes no effort to hide his true self in that moment. He has no more time for games to manipulate his people into action. The price of his ego is the death of a beloved character. We’ll truly miss Scott Wilson’s portrayal of Hershel Greene. He went out in style, with a smile on his face.
Too bad for Phillip, Hershel’s death didn’t automatically translate to Phillip’s victory.
The Governor’s demise was written perfectly. He didn’t go down easily. It took three people, three of the people hurt the most by his actions throughout his time on the show, to bring about his final death. Rick laid into him in the fist fight fans have been waiting for since the original prison attack against the Woodbury militia. There was ample amounts of cheering in the ZSC command center when the first punches were thrown. Rick nearly didn’t survive the encounter. In the end, Michonne dealt the blow to seal Phillip’s fate. Her sword—the same sword used to decapitate Hershel—cut through Phillip’s chest like butter and saves Rick’s bacon. But Lilly is the one to make sure Phillip didn’t come back as a walker to further destroy lives. As is fitting since his behavior cost her the focus she needed to keep her daughter, Meghan, alive. Phillip was never going to die at the hands of just one person. The horrors he wrought on the prison population needed to be avenged somehow. An eye for an eye, so to speak. As much as we loathed Phillip as a character, we’ll miss the brilliance of David Morrissey’s performance. He brought a depth to the character few actors could’ve achieved. There’s a fine line to walk with a character as reprehensible as The Governor. It’s far too easy to make him a mustache-twirling bad guy. Morrissey didn’t. He made Phillip into a character with so many layers, sometimes it was hard to hate the guy. It takes talent to make fans feel sympathy for the villain.
We lost two main characters in the season four mid-season finale, with the fates of many others hanging in the balance. The prison population is scattered to the winds, with little to no supplies, without shelter. They’ve lost their home, their loved ones, and the support of the community they’d built inside the prison. How long can any of them hope to survive? We’ll find out on Sunday, February 9th, 2014 at 9:00 PM.
Have some theories about what lies ahead for the survivors of the prison attack? Let us hear them in the comments below.
Review of “The Walking Dead” 407 – “Dead Weight” By RC Murphy
Having a double helping of something good isn’t always a pleasure. After five episodes without the Governor, watching two episodes focused solely on him chokes the pacing of “The Walking Dead” halfway through season four. The energy viewers get from characters like Daryl and Michonne is impossible to duplicate for the parallel story line following Phillip as he finds himself again after setting Woodbury ablaze. Unfortunately, what seemed like something viewers would enjoy, isn’t paying out as expected. While there are some stand-up-and-yell-at-the-TV moments, they’re too few and far between to keep the momentum rolling into the mid-season climax on December 1st.
Don’t go into the light! It’s the vast brightness of the many spoilers lurking below.
A couple times during the episode, it became painfully apparent that Phillip had forgotten who, exactly, he’s dealing with as his “family.” The way he looks at Meghan is a look reserved for someone who’s watched a child learn and grow since the day they were born. He’s only known the Chamblers for a couple of weeks, a month maximum. There’s no way his connection to Meghan is that rock solid. Toward the middle of the episode, Phillip tells Lilly that he can’t lose them again. Only, he’s never lost them. He lost his wife and Penny—the walker he kept captive in hopes of finding a way to fix her short of putting a bullet in her head. Phillip’s attachment to the Chamblers, namely Lilly and Meghan, is disturbing. He’s out of sync with reality, leaning on two people he hardly knows to keep his humanity in check. It didn’t work.
Martinez’s days were numbered. There’s no use lying to ourselves. Once he made it crystal clear that he was in charge of the camp, things were already set in motion. When he asked Phillip to help him, work for him, there was only ever going to be one outcome. The Governor fully returned to power. He’s so desperate to keep Lilly and Meghan safe, he’ll jump back into the darkness he used to keep Woodbury going during the last weeks of its existence. Even though he repeatedly says, “I don’t want it.” Doesn’t want what, the responsibility of leadership or the blood on his hands from securing his place at the top of the food chain? Does it cost Phillip anything to kill anymore? Anytime we see Rick pull the trigger, you see a piece of his soul wither. With Phillip, who knows? He’s a hard read, a violent man with sociopathic tendencies. However, he makes this impossible connection with a woman and her child that goes against everything known about sociopathic behavior. Is it an act? But to whose benefit? Surely he can’t be trying to fool himself after all this time.
How difficult is it to form a functioning society when everyday Joes are forced to become murderers? Since day one we’ve seen survivors struggle to regain some semblance of normality by coming together to form little neighborhoods. Places where they should feel safe enough to relax, let their kids play. But they don’t in most of these camps. Everyone ends up on edge, watching the one or two people who enjoy the death and destruction around them a little too much. The apocalypse is the maniac’s playground, guns their toys of choice. And since they’re so willing to kill, inevitably, they’re the ones to gain power, become the person to look up to. It corrupts the people in the camp eventually. Look at Woodbury, at how many of the soldiers willingly followed the Governor into battle against Rick and the prison crew. And it is happening all over again next week. Why? Because Phillip knows how to work people. He told Mitch, “You’ll never have to worry if you’re doing the right thing or the wrong thing. We will do the only thing.” That was exactly what the other man needed to hear. He needed a way to absolve the guilt he felt for first, not securing the supplies for the camp, then killing the injured old man, and lastly not killing Phillip after he murdered his brother, Pete. Fighting for the safety of the camp gives Mitch his Get Out of Jail Free card.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown . . . covered in the blood of his predecessors. Can Phillip succeed this time? Will this new group of survivors secure the golden egg—the prison? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Review of “The Walking Dead” episode 406 – “Live Bait”
Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
In a jarring turn of direction, the writer’s for “The Walking Dead” took viewers completely out of the prison and the lives of the people inhabiting the safe haven within the failing fences. We spent an hour catching up with the Governor, Phillip, Brian—whatever name he’s going by this week. The man changes his name as often as a woman changes her clothes an hour before a hot date. His identity changes with each new name, as well. We met a new version of the Governor in this week’s episode. But how much of that was for show?
Don’t look now, but there’s spoilers sneaking up behind you. Dangit! I told you not to look.
We picked up with Phillip right were we’d left him at the end of season three—standing over the corpses of the men and women from his personal army he’d slain after the failed attack on the prison. From there, it jumps to the next night, or possibly a week later, or a month. Hard to tell with the way the time line jumped back and forth at the beginning. Anyway, it becomes obvious something in Phillip is broken after the mass slaughter of his people. Disgusted, the two living members of his army pack up and leave him on his own. Over time, Phillip stopped taking care of himself. He grew The Beard. You know, the mangy, dead beast looking thing that seems to signify on the show when a male character has given up. Rick grew an impressive one before Michonne brought him a beard trimmer and not-so-subtly hinted that he looked like hell. What are friends for if not to tell you there’s a problem with the way you’re not taking care of yourself? Only, Phillip has no friends. He’s completely alone. The man doesn’t even have a home in Woodbury to return to. He burned it to the ground.
Miserable to his marrow, Phillip wandered on foot through walker-infested roads and towns. Honestly, that he survived at all with his obvious lack of will to live is amazing. He became a ghost, passing through, but never really affecting anything. Until he finds a family of survivors—Tara, Lilly, David, and Megan Chalmers—who are far, far too kind to him.
He tried to cover up his tracks when he burned Woodbury, like the fire would cleanse his foul deeds from his soul. When it didn’t work, Phillip tried for another method—being a decent human being. Something tells us this version of the man, the one known to this new family as Brian, is as close as we’ll ever get to seeing Phillip before the walkers took over the world. He’s soft-spoken, thankful, respectful, and helps when he can. However, the man still punishes himself for quite some time after being taken in, as though he doesn’t feel he deserves something as simple as a meal cooked by someone who genuinely cares about his health and safety. Kindness is not something he has experienced for a good long time. Even when he ran Woodbury, the nice things done for him always had a dark tinge. A taint stemming from the heavy-handed way he ran the town. It wasn’t a safe haven in Woodbury. Phillip turned into a small army base, with himself as the general.
There’s a moment where “Brian” is playing chess with the youngest member of the family, Megan. Suddenly everything about the previous season makes sense. He saw himself as the king, with Rick as the opposing king on the board. Phillip had his knights, rooks, and bishops as his personal circle of enforcers. The others were all pawns. Megan asked when he taught her how to play chess if you lost the game if a pawn died.
“You can lose a lot of soldiers, but still win the game.”
But he didn’t win. Not by a longshot. In war, there are no real winners. Everyone loses men. Life isn’t a game and it took a little girl and her family for that to start to sink into Phillip’s thick skull.
Time will tell if he’s truly learned how to change from the sociopath we saw at the end of season three. From the looks of the preview for next week, he hasn’t. It’s always hard to tell given the way the teasers are edited, though.
Phillip couldn’t look Megan in the eye when he first met the Chalmers. Why do you think he couldn’t? Let us know in the comments below.
Being alone is rarely a pleasant thing. Humans crave contact with others, need the interaction to keep themselves happy and mentally healthy. Finding companionship in the zombie apocalypse is next to impossible. From what we’ve learned on the show since day one, human nature demands that most folks take care of numero uno first, then their family. If you’re a stranger, kindness has to be earned. Even after making that vital, living connection, there are moments when a person may find themselves surrounded by others, yet utterly isolated by circumstances no one else can understand. This week on “The Walking Dead” we saw a lot of people suffering on their own, forced to make terrifying personal sacrifices in order to keep one step ahead of not only the walkers, but also the illness plaguing the prison population.
Spoiler Warning: This review contains potential spoilers. If you aren’t caught up with the show, what are you waiting for?
The graveyard in the prison yard is larger than the garden. That alone speaks volumes about the harshness of life for the characters on the show. By the time this illness plays out, many others will join the dead already in the ground. At some point, they’ve stopped creating new life and instead focus on tending to those who’ve passed. Rick tried to convey the importance of focusing on the living to Tyrese, explaining how his time was better spent securing their future food sources than looking into the past and crippling himself with their losses—a rare moment for Rick considering how far afield his mind wandered last season after losing his wife, Lori. Is justice something that even factors into their world? How far can it go toward righting wrongs in a lawless world full on unnecessary death? Tyrese is uneasy killing walkers, even those who are an immediate threat to his survival, yet he demands the head of whoever killed two of their own. We’re seeing a turning point in his life. He’s consumed by rage, becoming a different man. Rick is still on that road and no longer recognizes himself, especially after his fight with Tyrese. What will Tyrese do when he learns the truth? Venturing too far down that road leads to trouble.
Glenn wishes he could move on into the future. He’s never been one to linger in the past, with the exception of Maggie’s abuse at the hands of the Governor. The couple have been the poster children for a promising future since they finally got over that awkward relationship stage in season two. Despite all odds, they found love. They’re planning to marry. At some point, Maggie wants to start a family—when Glenn feels it is safe enough to birth and raise children. Everything they do is focused on tomorrow, what it could bring in the way of happiness and an end to their troubled times. The two of them aren’t stupid. Nothing is going to be fixed overnight. And now, the bright lives ahead of them are in trouble. Glenn is sick and without him to keep her grounded, Maggie turns to her family. Only they’ve been separated from her because of the illness.
The Greene family firmly believe in duty above all. If there is any way they can be of help to their fellow survivors, they do it. Maggie remains on duty as a council member and one of the guards while everyone she cares for is taken away from her. Beth has grown in leaps and bounds emotionally since leaving the farm and accepting the reality of their world. She doesn’t behave like a teenager, takes responsibilities no one should ever ask from someone her age. Would anyone so young willingly be locked away from her loved ones to care for a child who isn’t part of her blood family? Not only that, Beth has learned to accept her father’s calm demeanor. She’s become the voice of reason for the family, allowing Maggie and Hershel to act in instinct—something their positions on the council require. There’s not a lot of time to think when one threat to their survival will eat them alive, and the other takes no prisoners and cannot be stopped in a world where modern healthcare is as rare as a unicorn. Hershel sets the bar for honor and sacrifice for his girls when he willingly walks into the quarantined section of the prison to care for the sick, knowing full well the medicine they need may come in a day, or a week—there are no guarantees in their world.
“We don’t know if we get a tomorrow.” Unlike Glenn and Maggie, Carol is not as convinced they can make everything work in their favor. She’s stood by, quietly caring for everyone under their roof as she’s always done. But there came a point when she knew it wasn’t enough. Being the quiet, motherly figure wouldn’t keep the children from getting sick. Wouldn’t provide the water they need to keep going on into a future she can’t even fathom at this point. Her hand aren’t tied by the position she’s in with the council. At one point or another, they’ve all done horrific things to protect the group. In this episode, we saw just how far Carol would go. Her transformation throughout the series is astounding. We met Carol when she was broken, powerless in the face of her husband’s abuse. After she lost her daughter, her only living relation, she adopted the group as her new family. Some of the impotent rage she suffered then, simmering over the weeks spent searching for Sophia, blew up this week. She went to the dark place and gathered that rage close in order to do what she thought necessary to protect everyone. Only time will tell if it changed her like Rick’s kills changed him, and Tyrese’s rage is beginning to morph him into a colder man.
Too many lives hang in the balance. It is impossible to figure out what will happen next on this show. Daryl, Michonne, Tyrese, and Bob are on foot, surrounded by thousands of walkers. We have no clue how many folks in the prison are sick, or will be sick and waiting for medicine that may never arrive. How long can the remaining council keep them safe and healthy with two of their best fighters in the field?
Did Carol go too far in this week’s episode? Could you have done what she did? If not, what would you have done differently to stay one step ahead of the illness in the prison?
Last week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” must have been the writer’s idea of the calm before the storm—despite the attack at the store and unfortunate death because of it. This week, we really got to see how quickly things can go wrong for a group living in a fortress when someone is working from the inside to sabotage everyone’s safety. Not to mention, the zombie FX for the second episode in season 4 were some of the sickest we’ve seen to date, but not quite as downright disgusting as the Well Walker. KNB EFX outdid themselves . . . again.
Caution: Spoilers below! You guys know the drill.
Who the heck is dumb enough to feed the walkers? This mystery saboteur must be crazier than a basket of cats, hamsters, and puppies combined. The prison was secure, safe. Whoever is at fault for luring in the walkers puts themselves at risk, right alongside a large group of people who only have the council to fight for them. Aside from one or two of the newcomers, for the most part the council takes care of the killing. And scouting. And runs into nearby towns for supplies. There’s a handful of folks working their backsides to the bone to protect the strays Rick, and then Daryl, brought under their wings. Is it fair? No. But they know better than most, the vast majority of people can’t do what is necessary to protect themselves from the undead and living threats in their newly reformed society. Look how fast cell block D was overrun with walkers. The threat started inside and ate away at the living like cancer. In less than an hour, about a quarter of the people living in the cell block were eaten or turned into walkers. It was a great reminder of how quickly things can go downhill. The fallout from the attack drove the final nail in the coffin—without the council, these people would be food—when the two girls failed to fully understand that their father wasn’t their father anymore, and the walker they’d claimed as a pet of sorts, would rather eat the soft meat of their livers than play tag. Sure, they’d be running, but once he caught them it was game over. Permanently. This is why Carol’s scheme to teach the children weapon’s skills is vital.
All of the pressure to be the savior is starting to weight on Daryl. He’s fully stepped into Rick’s abandoned post, doing everything necessary to keep the people safe. Only, Daryl doesn’t have the massive guilt handicapping Rick. From a young age, he was forced to fend for himself—to survive growing up and endure his messed up family. Life hardened Daryl’s heart long ago, something Rick is only developing now with the loss of his wife, his best friend, and the hazy future for his son and daughter. But can Daryl learn to open himself up again? Last week there were glimpses of a softer side to his personality. We even saw a smile or two, though they were hard to spot past the mask he wears to keep everyone at arm’s length. This week, there was none of that. Is there time for emotions when Death comes knocking on your front gate every day? Not when everyone relies on your skill as a killer to make it to tomorrow.
A cold-hearted killer is what Michonne set herself out to be once the first walker attacks happened. Or so it seems. We know so little about her history, about how she came to be the woman who saved Andrea with two mutilated walkers in tow. Heck, we don’t even know who she was before the undead rose, before everyone was infected with the virus. Michonne is a pro at not forming relationships. She doesn’t do permanence, relies on herself to get by, and yet still stops in to visit with the prison council. There’s a part of her true self leaking through her uncaring mask. A part which shattered her calm when she held Judith for the first time. Not only did we see her break, we saw her vulnerable. A position she is never in. She’d rather be eaten than have someone see her unable to fend for herself. The shadows haunting her eyes while she held Judith were heartbreaking. Did Michonne have a child, or maybe a younger sibling she raised? It is possible. Her past is by far one of the greatest mysteries on the show. In time, we’ll learn more. But only when she’s ready to open up.
Rick and Carl spent quite a bit of time opening up to each other, trusting each other again. For quite some time, it seemed like Carl blamed Rick for stripping him of his childhood, for putting a gun in his hand and turning him into a killer. After all, it was Carl who cleaned up Rick’s two biggest mistakes—Shane and Lori. But even when he loathed his father, Carl still wanted to immolate him, using Rick’s passed-down deputy hat as his totem for when he meant bloody, violent business. Carl didn’t seem happy with his invisible farmer’s hat. Then again, neither did Rick. Despite putting distance between himself and violence, it still found Rick. Only now, only after the attack on cell block D, does Rick understand it has to be all hands on deck. He has a skill the others need. Now he just needs to learn how to distance himself, to find the cold, calm place where he’s capable of pulling the trigger and not killing a piece of his soul. Is Rick’s return to the fight too little too late? They’ve suffered massive casualties and more are bound to be on the way with the mystery person baiting zombies and taking out anyone who may be infected with the deadly strain of flu going through cell block D.
The prison has been compromised. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere for them to run—not with so many people in tow. What would they do with those suffering from the flu, leave them to die alone in the prison, locked in a cell on death row? Could Tyreese’s conscience handle that? Or is he too far gone after the attack on Karen? We’re two episodes in and so far, there’s a slew of questions to answer.
Here’s a few questions for you, readers. What would you do in the council’s shoes? How would you deal with this deadly flu outbreak?
Review of “The Walking Dead” 316 – “Welcome to the Tombs”
Weeks and weeks of well-written, tension-building episodes brought us to this week’s explosive conclusion. The problem? The only explosion came from a round of unnecessary shooting and grenade launching. Emotionally the episode was a bit of a letdown. There were far too many plot lines left dangling, with no tension to carry them over into the new season. The only thing we were left to look forward to was a potential emotional downslide for Carl, of all characters. Let’s see what went down in the season three finale of “The Walking Dead.”
***Caution, there are spoilers below. If you have not watched the season finale, turn back now!***
Three weeks ago it was reported by Andrew Lincoln in an interview with Rolling Stone that the show would be killing off twenty-seven characters in the season finale. What he couldn’t say was one of the deaths would be beloved underdog and sole geek in the Zombiepocalypse, Milton. We can’t say his death came as a huge surprise. Milton did his best to do the right things in the latter half of season three, putting him at direct odds with his old friend, the sociopath Governor of Woodbury. Unfortunately, Milton’s efforts were a handful of branches trying to stop the flood of Phillip’s determination to be the biggest, scariest leader in a ten-mile radius. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to a man like Phillip. Milton knew one miscalculation would cost him his life. In the end, he realized the only way to make an impact was to draw Phillip’s wrath and sacrifice himself in order to save the masses. By torching the walkers intended for use against the group in the prison, Milton saved a lot of lives. His death was not in vain, though his loss will be felt if/when we ever see the Governor again, this time without his glasses-wearing conscious at his side.
The person Milton wanted to save most of all wasn’t himself, or even Phillip. Somewhere along the way, Milton saw potential in Andrea to be the savior Woodbury needed in order to escape the Governor’s insanity. But their plans were constantly plagued by ill-timing and Phillip’s ability to be three steps ahead of everyone. In the end, no matter what Milton did, Andrea still paid the ultimate price. There’s a sad irony in those two being the eventual cause of each other’s deaths just when they thought they’d found the one other person left alive who understood what drove their particular brand of hero complex.
Andrea’s constant efforts to do the good and right thing only ended up costing others their lives, including Merle. Her scheming nearly landed Michonne in a torture cell. When faced with a threat like Phillip and his army of true believers, doing the right thing is suicidal. Andrea knew that in the end, but still couldn’t make herself take a human life. Her conscious (not Milton-shaped) got the best of her time and time again. How much heartache would have been spared if she did as Carol told her and stabbed Phillip after one last goodnight kiss? Possibly the hardest part of Andrea’s death wasn’t that she’d been gnawed on by a man who could have been much more to her if not for Phillip’s involvement in their lives. No, the part that truly sucked was seeing her determination to not burden anyone else with dispatching her before she turned. It brought fans back to the end of season one when a distraught Andrea wanted to stay in the CDC when it blew up and Dale emotionally blackmailed her until she gave in and made a run for it. Only now, she wasn’t taking the easy way out. Andrea faced the reality of her situation and wanted to be in control until her last breath. If given more time, she could have been a capable leader for Woodbury. Andrea just wasn’t strong enough to overthrow the Governor.
Speaking of Captain Crazypants, what the heck was up with him unloading a clip into his own people? Some people take failure poorly, but jeeze. The Governor only allowed two of his men to live, and they looked about two seconds from running into the woods to get away from him. There was nothing human left in his eyes . . . eye . . . when he gunned down the people he’d taken on the failed mission to take over the prison. How would he feel if he knew the truth? Five people total inside the prison overwhelmed and dispersed his army. Where did Phillip go to lick his wounded pride? We have no clue. It is unlikely that we’ve seen the last of him, especially if Rick and his newly expanded crew decide to stay inside the prison.
Carl is on a slippery slope to psychoville via the Shane path of surviving the Zombiepocalypse. We’ve known for a while that some vital part of Carl was broken the day he was forced to put a bullet in his mother’s head to spare her from returning as a walker. However, after he seemed to bounce back from it, he’s flipped off his emotion switch again. What happened? Was he shocked by what happened in King County when they ran into a clearly insane Morgan? Did he feel coddled when Rick told him to wait in the woods during the lack-luster battle with the Governor and his forces? It is really hard to tell what triggered this lasted spiral for Carl. What we do know is the kid is really creepy after pulling the trigger. Instantly, he rationalized a story to tell his father so he wouldn’t get in trouble. The worst part was seeing how little shock and remorse was on his face when the kid he shot crumpled to the ground. Someone needs to step in and save Carl before he becomes the next Governor. Or is this a case of too-little-too-late? Only time will tell.
Do you think we’ve seen the last of the Governor? What is in store for Rick and his crew at the prison next season? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Review of “The Walking Dead” 315 – “The Sorrowful Life”
This week’s episode was . . . wow, intense. So much so, we’re going to do things a tad differently this week. We’ll do a quick run-through of a couple things, but of course there is one major event we need to discuss. At length. Possibly with stick figure diagrams. Okay, kidding about the last part, but it is something we can’t gloss over at all.
***Warning, this review is full of spoilers. Do not read past this part if you haven’t watched episode 315 of “The Walking Dead” yet.***
Where to start? Things at the prison are far from okay. Rick’s marbles are still scattered across the floor. Daryl is torn between being Rick’s right hand man and living up to the expectations of his brother. Carol is dealing some hard-hitting truths about Mere’s place in their sanctuary-slash-death trap. Hershel is having a serious conflict of faith and doing what needs to be done in order to ensure the safety of his two daughters. Oh, and Glenn is getting all romantical with Maggie (which proves to be the only moment in the episode where fans can take a breath and feel a split second of normalcy during the hour of emotional torture).
On with the “holy hell” portion of the show–Merle.
Merle was a character who, by some weird mixture of piss, vinegar, and the incredible talent of the man portraying him–Michael Rooker–managed to win the hearts of Walking Dead fans from the get-go. The redneck from hell spit every racial slur he could think of (and say on basic cable). Kicked the tar out of a lot of the characters we were supposed to find sympathetic. Admitted to heavy drug use. Cut. Off. His. Own. Hand. And everyone wanted him back for more. When we did get him back for one episode during season two of the show, fans were in an uproar because Merle was just a figment of his brother Daryl’s imagination. What a figment he was. We got to see the real backbone of the relationship between the brothers, how Merle loved to antagonize Daryl when he’d already been kicked down about as low as a person can go in just one day.
Producers for The Walking Dead took full advantage of the massive amount of fan love and brought the real Merle back for season three. He quickly became the perfect antagonistic balance between the Governor and Rick, going to the extremes neither men could handle emotionally. This isn’t because Merle was devoid of emotion, oh no. Merle had simply learned to navigate around what he was feeling. In the past, he relied heavily on drugs to keep himself blanketed and numb from the nagging feelings tearing him apart. We caught a glimpse at the lengths he’d go to lean on the drugs like a crutch again in this episode when he rips apart nearly every single mattress in one of the abandoned cell blocks inside the prison. Merle’s secondary method to block out the emotions he can’t cope with is to chase the jobs in Woodbury none of the others could handle emotionally. After the Governor cleaned him up, got him sober, he relied on violence to get his high. The deaths he caused left a darkness in his eyes, a shadow hanging over everything he did. And when the adrenaline crash came after, he’d get antsy and start looking for ways to get his next fix. Merle racked up sixteen (well, closer to twenty now) human deaths in the roughly year-long span since Rick handcuffed him to the roof of the department store in Atlanta.
Did being buddy-buddy with Death change Merle? You bet your Aunt Fanny it did.
However, it did not change him in the way it would most men. Merle was always painfully aware of what he was doing. He just couldn’t stop himself. In this episode he told Rick he didn’t know why he does the nasty, cruel things he does. Truth is, he lied. Merle suffers his personal issues without needing anyone to coddle him and tell him it is okay to hurt, to be afraid, to need someone to keep his feet on the ground when he wants to soar above it all in a meth haze. He doesn’t want to be a burden anymore. Even after the vocal distrust coming from everyone in the prison, Merle still took up arms to protect its occupants on more than one occasion. He wanted to pull his weight, or what little the others would allow him to do while keeping him under close scrutiny. Instead of getting pissed off, he played into it. It didn’t matter if they hated him, so long as he felt he was doing what needed to be done, when it needed to be done. Which is why when the time came, Merle took it upon himself to take Michonne and make the deal with the Governor.
Or did he?
One has to stop and think if Merle meant to go through with the plan to turn Michonne over, or if he’d determined in advance to go it alone and make the ultimate sacrifice. With as complicated as the man was, we’ll never know for sure. One thing can be said, though; both Woodbury and the prison are missing one vital helping hand in the fight to survive. The Walking Dead will never be the same. Not with the lingering impact from Michael Rooker’s stellar performance.
If Merle had survived, would he have eventually fit into the group at the prison? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Last week “The Walking Dead” took a deep look into what makes Rick tick and how his crew at the prison are preparing for the looming conflict with the Governor and his Woodbury army. So this week, we got a look at what is making the Governor tick and where Andrea’s loyalties will put her during the war. We spent the entire episode with Andrea. Yes, the angst of many fans were heard. However, it was necessary to take the time to truly see where Phillip’s head is at before he launches another attack on our favorite survivors.
***Warning, this review contains spoilers***
An unsung hero in the tension between Woodbury and Rick’s crew is Milton. He lurks in the background, whispers advice in Phillip’s ear, and helps Andrea when she has the driving urge to do something right (which inevitably goes wrong). Milton has been able to keep Phillip’s antisocial behavior under wraps for the most part. He offered himself up as a touchstone for the Governor to lean on in order to see how far from the façade of normalcy he’s put on in order to lead the town successfully. He tries to be Phillip’s Jiminy Cricket, but how can he be a conscious for a man who forfeited his soul to get revenge and power? Unfortunately, Milton isn’t a fighter. Over and over again, he’s run to Andrea for help, sensing her desire to be where Phillip is in the power structure. All so he doesn’t have to grow a pair. He doesn’t think like a warrior and is easily cowed by people in power. Or at least he was before this episode. At least we’re seeing Milton put his foot down and stand up, albeit indirectly, to the powerbase driving the war to yet another senseless battle. He’s working from inside Woodbury to even the playing field. It’d be better if he finished finding his courage and kill Phillip. There’s a history between the two of them. Does Milton recognize his friend in the monster the apocalypse unleashed?
Over the course of this season, we’ve seen the humanity bleed out of the Governor. Sometimes literally, thanks to Michonne. There is a sense of joy in the way he goes about prepping and stocking his little “fun” room, the torture chamber he’s set up in preparation for Michonne’s arrival. There is no doubt in his mind. He will win. Michonne will come back to Woodbury with him. Over the course of weeks, he will be free to torture her. One of the most telling objects in the room wasn’t the bone saws, scalpels, and needles. It was the spool of thread and hooked needle. Several possibilities came to mind, but the one that stuck out the most was, he doesn’t want his victim to have the opportunity to bleed out and die ahead of his schedule. He must have complete control of every aspect of his life. Death is a tool he means to bend to his will. Phillip’s arrogance stems from the complete lack of people questioning his actions. Since day one of Woodbury’s foundation, he’s been the one taking charge. The only people to stand up to him are outsiders, not part of his little herd. He can’t control the new people, so he must eliminate them. And if he just so happens to enjoy himself on an almost sensual level while chasing his prey, well, even sociopaths need a little fun.
Tension is brewing between Tyreese and Phillip. Tyreese is a trusting soul, despite what he’s seen of human nature while battling the undead. Unfortunately, it made him a prime victim for the Governor’s scheming. Thankfully, Tyreese didn’t drink the Flavor-Aid like Andrea did when she first arrived in Woodbury. His instincts may very well keep him and his sister alive. Can’t say as much for their two traveling companions. Allen and his son overcompensate for their lack of power in the apocalypse by being the manliest men Woodbury has ever seen. Allen in particular continuously butts heads with Tyreese, trying to prove he can be an alpha male in order to not appear weak in front of his son. But Tyreese won’t give him the satisfaction of “winning” their arguments. He has a good set of morals that have kept him and his sister relatively safe. If he continues down the path he’s on, questions people who seem . . . off, he may just prove to be the savior Andrea wishes she could be.
Oh, Andrea . . . Sometimes I think we are too hard on her. Then she goes and does something so utterly ridiculous, it is impossible to see the good things she has done. Fans all over loathe Andrea. In part, this may stem from fans wanting to see one of the women step up and take control, without bungling it so badly a man is forced to step in and save her hide. Maggie’s appearance was a breath of fresh air after dealing with Andrea’s attempts to be “one of the boys” as far as work in camp goes. However, whereas Maggie does what is needed to survive, Andrea does what is needed to garner attention and praise. She is a puppy learning new tricks and expects a reward every time she doesn’t piddle on the carpet. Somewhere along the way, Andrea began to equate her happiness with that of the people she’s determined to be hers to save. This way of living left her vulnerable and pliable to the will of someone stronger than her. Phillip took full advantage of her hero complex. All it got her was a very uncomfortable seat. If she’d stuck to running under cover instead of through a huge, open field, maybe she’d be safe with the people in the prison. As it is, well, Andrea won’t be finding any rewards in her new “home.”
Pet peeve time! This is a bonus ranty bit for readers. I will start off by saying, I do not fault the actors at all for this. The final call came from the director and writers, all of whom should know better than to dig up outplayed horror movie tropes. A character can be creepy, downright nightmare-inducing while chasing a victim without: A) Dragging a weapon behind them, raking it across a fence, etc., and B) Whistling a cheery tune. Just . . . stop. The entire chase at the end of the episode lost its power because of these two jarring actions from the Governor. Such a shame, I was looking forward to seeing David Morrissey let loose with his incredible acting skills.
Does the group in the prison have any chance at all of surviving the war with Woodbury? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Review of “The Walking Dead” 313 – “Arrow on the Doorpost”
Occasionally, the non-stop action of a show has to take a backseat in order to allow characters a chance to build toward something spectacular, like the epic clash on the horizon between Rick’s group and the people of Woodbury. Unfortunately, these “talking head” episodes are full of inaction, intrigue, and contests of wit and strength as characters measure each other for what will surely come in the next episode or two. With only three episodes left in the season, was it wise to allow an entire episode to be spent talking? We’ll see.
**Warning, there be spoilers ahead!**
It’s taken thirteen episodes for Rick and the Governor to share more than bullets flying past each other and angry words spread through third parties. Sadly, the encounter was predictable. Rick stood on his high moral ground and Phillip dug it out from under him. The Governor twisted Rick’s words around, trying to make him the bad guy, taking advantage of Rick’s fragile mental state in order to plant seeds of doubt in his opponent’s mind. Phillip used several tactics to get under Rick’s skin. He tried to play humble, saying he hadn’t appointed himself as governor, but the people chose him to lead them. In the next breath, he went from humble to sadistic. Before we could recover from his evil streak, Phillip flew into a story about how his late wife died before the zombie outbreak happened. But how much of the story is true? How much of his emotions were true? Phillip is a textbook sociopath. He mimics emotions he sees in others, but they never last long. He can charm the pants off everyone. He has absolutely no remorse for the death and destruction he’s caused. It was difficult to keep up with Phillip’s rapid-fire subject changes in his parlay with Rick—which was the point. He was feeling Rick out, getting a bead on his foe to see if he’s mentally capable of out-maneuvering him. Phillip’s power is smoke and mirrors, with a dash of pure intimidation thrown in the mix. Without his intelligence and taste for blood, he’d be just another guy trying to survive.
Rick, for all his mental shortcomings since Lori’s death, managed to keep up with Phillip’s ever-changing conversation. But whereas the Governor talked, bragged, and played his mental games, Rick brooded in silence. He did what so many people fail to do, he listened to the person he is at war with. And through listening, Rick realized one important thing—no matter what deal they strike, Phillip will never allow the people in the prison to live. When Rick did speak, he played right into Phillip’s hands. Only on one occasion did he gain the upper hand, when he told Phillip killing Michonne was beneath him—it wasn’t worth his time to kill one woman. Rick is way out of his depth. The wars he’s fought within his group and the emotional trauma he suffered from the death surrounding them every day, they’ve left him with little resources to deal with the current threat. It wasn’t until Rick returned to the prison that we caught a glimpse of how he planned to play out the war. Rick lied to his group about the Governor’s intentions. And despite what he said to Hershel later, I think he did it to keep a leash on the wildcards in the prison. How quickly would Merle turn around and try to give Michonne to the Governor in order to save his baby brother from the battle ahead? Sure, Rick wanted his people scared, honed for the war, but he also wanted to make sure he was the one holding all the aces so no one could surprise him later on.
Andrea’s part in the war is changing. What it is changing to, I have no clue. She had her chance to kill Phillip and she didn’t take it. Hershel invited her to come back to the prison, she got back in the car with the Woodbury folks. How long can she play monkey-in-the-middle before someone (Phillip) gets tired of her indecision and disposes of her for good? Playing both sides of the fence is dangerous. Mostly, it is stupid. Andrea’s little bubble of reality has burst. The man she’s been protecting wants the blood of the people who kept her alive. The only ally she has left is Milton. He knows most of what goes on in Woodbury, but Phillip has been keeping him ill-informed just to throw Andrea off. Yet despite everything, Andrea thinks she alone can prevent the clash between the two survivor groups. I’m not quite sure if she’s been hit on the head one too many times or has allowed the little bit of power Phillip gave her to go to her head. She does not want to be caught in the middle of this conflict. If Andrea were smart, she’d move on and get far away from Woodbury and the prison.
In better news, Glenn and Maggie kissed and made up. Every episode since they were rescued from Woodbury, they fought their own personal war. A war bred from the intensity of the emotions dredged up during their torture and interrogation. Sometimes, no matter how painful it is, a person needs to talk through what is plaguing them. Maggie did her talking, but Glenn was so wrapped up in his inability to protect her and the guilt it raised, he couldn’t let go of the control he’d blanketed himself in to cope. It is refreshing to see them together again. Love is rare in the world they live in. More often than not, it turns into betrayal that is more likely to kill a person than the undead at their doors. Just ask Shane. He thought he loved Lori and his betrayal to Rick morphed into the actions which caused his death.
Is one life worth more than many? Will Rick play the ace up his sleeve and give Michonne over to the Governor in order to save his people? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Goodness, the mid-season finale for “The Walking Dead” proved to be a difficult episode to watch. No surprise in the nail-biting, worrying, and yelling at the TV—TWD always provides plenty of that for its finales. The surprises came in the bloodshed witnessed by 
Martinez’s days were numbered. There’s no use lying to ourselves. Once he made it crystal clear that he was in charge of the camp, things were already set in motion. When he asked Phillip to help him, work for him, there was only ever going to be one outcome. The Governor fully returned to power. He’s so desperate to keep Lilly and Meghan safe, he’ll jump back into the darkness he used to keep Woodbury going during the last weeks of its existence. Even though he repeatedly says, “I don’t want it.” Doesn’t want what, the responsibility of leadership or the blood on his hands from securing his place at the top of the food chain? Does it cost Phillip anything to kill anymore? Anytime we see Rick pull the trigger, you see a piece of his soul wither. With Phillip, who knows? He’s a hard read, a violent man with sociopathic tendencies. However, he makes this impossible connection with a woman and her child that goes against everything known about sociopathic behavior. Is it an act? But to whose benefit? Surely he can’t be trying to fool himself after all this time.
Being alone is rarely a pleasant thing. Humans crave contact with others, need the interaction to keep themselves happy and mentally healthy. Finding companionship in the zombie apocalypse is next to impossible. From what we’ve learned on the show since day one, human nature demands that most folks take care of numero uno first, then their family. If you’re a stranger, kindness has to be earned. Even after making that vital, living connection, there are moments when a person may find themselves surrounded by others, yet utterly isolated by circumstances no one else can understand. This week on “The Walking Dead” we saw a lot of people suffering on their own, forced to make terrifying personal sacrifices in order to keep one step ahead of not only the walkers, but also the illness plaguing the prison population.
“We don’t know if we get a tomorrow.” Unlike Glenn and Maggie, Carol is not as convinced they can make everything work in their favor. She’s stood by, quietly caring for everyone under their roof as she’s always done. But there came a point when she knew it wasn’t enough. Being the quiet, motherly figure wouldn’t keep the children from getting sick. Wouldn’t provide the water they need to keep going on into a future she can’t even fathom at this point. Her hand aren’t tied by the position she’s in with the council. At one point or another, they’ve all done horrific things to protect the group. In this episode, we saw just how far Carol would go. Her transformation throughout the series is astounding. We met Carol when she was broken, powerless in the face of her husband’s abuse. After she lost her daughter, her only living relation, she adopted the group as her new family. Some of the impotent rage she suffered then, simmering over the weeks spent searching for Sophia, blew up this week. She went to the dark place and gathered that rage close in order to do what she thought necessary to protect everyone. Only time will tell if it changed her like Rick’s kills changed him, and Tyrese’s rage is beginning to morph him into a colder man.
