Review - The Walking Dead 3.06: "Hounded"

This weeks episode sets up a couple of key plots for the last part of the season, but before I talk about those, a few rants:

1. Maggie and Glenn, two of the only people in this group aside from Daryl who contribute anything, disappear for far longer that a simple supply run should take and not one person notices? Not even a: "Hey, haven't those two been gone pretty long?" from anyone? I understand based on past events it's somewhat reasonable to assume they were just taking their sweet ole' time and abusing the free supply of condoms at the local abandoned grocery store, but COME ON PEOPLE!?!? Not to mention said people includes Maggie's father and half sister!?!?

2. ANDREA! This is one of those situations where no matter how attracted you are to somebody every fibre of your being should be telling you: "Don't have sex with them! Don't get involved!". Warning signs Andrea! He's impeccably dressed during the zombie apocalypse; he hosts a monthly zombie fight club; he's BFFs with Merle; he offers you whisky at all hours of the day whenever you come to see him. I understand that Andrea has probably hit a wall like everyone else and maybe she's kind of sick of just surviving all the time, which is why she's sticking around Woodbury, but for god sakes woman- trust your instincts and use some common sense!

Plot wise this episode set up the two situations which will probably carry us through the end of the season. Rescuing the now captured Glenn and Maggie from Woodbury; and the eventual meeting/confrontation between our beloved prison dwellers and the Governor and his forces, plus the Dixon brothers reunion. Other than that the episode was just sort of filling in gaps. Michonne gets to show off her skills again; I like that even with a bullet wound in her leg Michonne can take out like three walkers AND evade Merle in the woods! I also enjoyed the Daryl and Carl scene, which not only gave us a glimpse into the Daryl backstory, but gave us some insight into how Carl's dealing with everything. Rick working out his issues by phoning the dead was ok, and at least he's finally acknowledged poor little Ass Kicker. 

I give this one a 65 out of 100- not much exciting happened but I'm understanding of the fact that they are setting things up for the final four.

Odds and ends:

- "She sent us a biter-gram y'all!"- LOLZ!

- Teenage wall guard girl= the Dana (Homeland) of WalkingDead. I hope you get zombie-chomped Katniss Everdeen wannabe!

- Oh and Carol's alive! In case you cared. Also, why was she just chilling in a closet in an abandoned part of the prison? Was she that injured she couldn't limp over to where everyone else was?

- On the Talking Dead after show they took a poll about what most people would do if Rick told them he was getting calls on the prison phone and 45% of people, the majority, answered "Order pizza". This was one of my suggestions last week and its nice to know I'm not the only person (at least out of those of us dorky enough to be watching a post-episode fan show) who really loves pizza that much. 

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Review - The Walking Dead 3.05: "Say The Word"

I almost made this review one sentence long and all caps, something like "MICHONNE SLAUGHTERING THE CAGED WALKERS IS FUCKING AWESOME!". Because otherwise this episode seemed like a whole lot of show and not much movement. Virtually the whole episode is dedicated to the menial task of getting baby formula, and the mysterious event taking place in Woodbury; only one of which has a halfway decent pay-off. But I'll run through a few things I enjoyed, and others I didn't.

I liked the opening with the suburban looking scene in Woodbury, for me it emphasizes Michonne's uneasiness with the whole idea of the town being a really nice looking cage (also somewhat analogized with the caged walkers). Rick and everyone else may be living in an actual prison, but they have a freedom that the Woodbury clan doesn't. Second, I'm glad the baby is fine but already this worries me. I'm not opposed to the show focusing on the more everyday aspects of survival like getting food, water etc.; but this episode really dragged out what seemed like a pretty simple supply run. Babies, as in real life, can drag shows down, hopefully this will not be the case for Little Ass Kicker. Rick going insane was sort of what I expected so we'll see where things go next week on that.

I'm continuing to enjoy the Governor's true nature being revealed piece-by-piece, first with his daughter at the beginning and then with the gladiator style death match at the end. David Morrisey does a good job of maintaing the calm exterior and making the crazy aspects seem totally normal, which in turn makes it creepier. The fun of the match made up for the boredom of watching Woodbury take a day off, at least more so than finally seeing Maggie find baby formula in a cabinet. I'm also glad Michonne gave Andrea that ultimatum and didn't stick around, I'm betting she's going to find the other group next week which should move things along. And based on her reaction to the zombie fight club and the previews it doesn't look like Andrea will be far behind her. 

I give this one a 70 out of 100- who was phoning Rick in the prison? Pizza delivery? Telemarketers? The aliens?

Quotes, fun facts, whatnot…

-The Governor: "She's all personality that one."

-Was anyone else expecting a horde of toddler zombies to be in that creepy daycare center? After expressing that thought out loud during the episode I realized that is probably the most terrifying type of zombie I could imagine: literal ankle biters! 

-Daryl is quickly climbing the list to the title of  "Perfect Man": rugged, heroic, quiets crying infants...

- Merle, king of zombie fight club!

-Apparently that thing Rick picked up off the ground was the bullet that Carl shot Lori with- "Bullet that Saved the World" eh Fringe peeps?

- For Sons of Anarchy fans: Merle's opponent was Hector Salazar aka the dude who kidnapped Tara at the end of S.3.

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Review - The Walking Dead 3.04: "Killer Within"

This weeks episode ends with a shocker, the prison group gets a mysterious new enemy, and the body count rises! We get to check in at both camps this week, but more of the action takes place at the prison. Andrea and Michonne are at odds over what do next: stay in Woodbury, or go back out on the road. This argument felt a little tired to me and seems to just be a rehash of the argument over whether or not to stay at Hershel's farm from last season. At least it seems like it won't drag on for as long as that previous debate. The more interesting part of this story was Merle and Andrea's conversation about how she was left behind, and her feelings about why no one in the group came back for her.

Meanwhile Rick and the others are trying to make their happy little federal penitentiary a bit more homey, but things get interrupted when an unseen intruder opens one of the gates and lets in a pack of walkers to wreak havoc on our survivors. It turns out it was the prisoner Rick banished last week. The set up for this scene was good and I liked how Rick, Glenn and the others were somewhat trapped on the other side of that fence and had to watch, briefly helpless, as Hershel and the others tried to get away. Also, T-Dog's final sacrificial act of helping Carol through the prison was a nice tribute to him as a character, even though he was one of the show's least used characters. By far the bigger piece of action was Lori going into labor while fleeing the walkers with Maggie and Carl. But Lori's final contribution might have been one of the show's best dramatic moments, her conversation with Carl and the final birth scene as a whole was spectacular.

This episode touched on a lot themes the show has dealt with before: Rick's moral conflicts as a leader, the trustworthiness of other survivors and the ruthless nature of the walker world. But this episode had high enough stakes to make those themes seem fresh and worthwhile. But it does raise a question which often come up with this show: does it need to kill someone off every week to make the emotional stakes high enough? And can it do those themes justice in the weeks when it's not racking up such a high body count?

I give this episode a 90 out of 100- it started off a bit slow, but the ending was no doubt a memorable one.

Highlights, quotes:

- Is Carol really dead? It felt like we weren't supposed to believe she was.

- Michonne's plan- a nice tribute to Left4Dead and a few other members of the zombie genre

- Merle: "How come you and I never hooked up?"
  Andrea: "You called me a whore and a rug muncher" (Or maybe because you are creepy and racist Merle!)

-  The Governor: "We should visit Augusta; take only the women and let them play. It'll be historic!" - I would totally go on that outing even though my golf skills are minimal.

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Review - The Walking Dead 3.03: "Walk With Me"

Welcome to Woodbury! Andrea and Michonne get the spotlight this week as we meet a new group of survivors and…Merle's back! The highlight of this week's episode though was clearly the introduction of The Governor, the mild-mannered, yet cold-blooded leader of the Woodbury group. Morrissey's portrayal of the character seems good so far and his balance of both righteousness and viciousness makes for a refreshing new moral conflict. He's twisted yet not totally unsympathetic, which should make for more intriguing stories going forward. The Governor also furthers our understanding of the zombie virus by pointing out that "everyone turns". And I'm glad they chose not to leave out the wall of zombie heads that was such an awesome piece of the comics!

The show also did a nice job of recreating the picturesque setting of Woodbury. The "oasis" feel of it adds to the allure, but its very existence is dependent upon the type of leadership the Governor doles out without remorse. Clearly this will be an issue going forward, and it creates a different perspective on the issue of Rick's leadership abilities, which has gotten tiresome recently. The reappearance of Merle was another big piece of the Woodbury story, and his interrogation scene with Andrea was a nice reintroduction. However, I'm obviously looking forward to his reunion with brother Daryl more.

Michonne remains a mystery and we find out that Andrea doesn't know much about her either, despite their time together. Her execution of the "pets" also leads Andrea to believe she might have been placing too much trust in her new friend. Michonne is definitely my favorite part of the new season and I enjoyed the way she's playing the line between trusting Andrea, yet not wanting to let her guard down too much. She's a great addition to the group and it seems logical that her trust issues will factor into some of the Woodbury story as well. Overall, its great this season to have multiple settings and multiple character stories; a nice change from being stuck on the farm last season. Presumably the two groups will eventually collide one way or another and that will definitely make for some intense moments.

I give this one an 80 out of 100- the episode does a decent job of introducing some new characters and setting pieces in place for the rest of the season. Doesn't have quite the intensity of the last two, but things still seem to be moving forward well.

Quotes etc.

- "My shit never stopped being together."- Michonne

- That stock helicopter scene felt very "Apocalypse Now"

- If I'm not mistaken that was Dallas Roberts as the doctor- I was having "Rubicon" flashbacks

- No check in with Rick and Co. this week but most likely they've settled into the prison. Any thoughts on what episode Lori gives birth to the devil spawn in?

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Review - The Walking Dead 3.02: "Sick"

The undead good times continue this week with another solid episode! After last week's cliffhanger the group scrambled to save a now one-legged Hershel and deal with the new arrivals at the same time. Both stories worked surprisingly well and provided vastly different emotional moments which made for a good episode overall. The prisoners provided some humor (albeit pretty dark) and the Hershel story gave us some meaningful character moments. Rick also continued his strong run as  leader of the pack; not backing down in the face of the prisoners and continuing to treat Lori's crap with the appropriate level of disregard.

The new prisoners were a reminder of how much the world has changed, with Rick and Co. informing them about the new realities of the outside world, but also a fun refresher course in Zombie Killing for Dummies! The mele scene with both the prisoners and our heroes trying to take out a pack of Walkers was by far one of the highlights of this episode, both for the action and the dramatic consequences. The idea of not being able to trust any outsiders also seems like a good setup for things to come, and it gave Rick a chance to show he means business by leaving the extra inmate for dead. S.3 Rick is definitely taking his leadership duties more seriously and it fits with the stronger direction the show has taken.

On the opposite side the Hershel story provided some of the key character moments that help keep things grounded. Lauren Cohan got to do some great work this episode and the battle of emotions was evident in almost every scene Maggie appeared in. The amazing moment alone she had with Hershel and the combinations of vulnerability, strength, and family loyalty were all great highlights, and they've solidified my appreciation of Maggie as a character. Beth continued to get scenes which seem to be developing her as more than just background filler, which is also a nice change from most of last season. The scene with the whole crew watching Hershel wake up was also a great "we're all in this together" moment.

The other great piece of this episode had to be Lori. I don't often praise her as a character but the combination of magic truth serum and useful skills made her seem like less of a burden this week. I usually dread Lori scenes but the bluntness this week in admitting her shortcomings as a mother and wife made her seem like less of a whiny bitch, and Rick's disregard for her trivial emotional discussions was another strong point.

Overall I'd give this episode an 85 out of 100. The episode had its high points and it made a respectable effort to keep pace with last week's strong opening.

Odds and ends:

-  I forgot to mention last week that T-Dog seems to have had more to do (and more lines!) in the last two episodes than he's had in two seasons so far- #TeamTDog?

- Carol's new skill sets might be approaching absurdity if they weren't so useful to the plot. She's becoming the show's Swiss Army Knife.

- Carl back-talking Lori and Beth reprimanding Carl- I don't know which was better!

- The show has clearly been waiting to use that "shit happens" line since day one.

- Apparently divorce law won't be a helpful skill during the zombie apocalypse.

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The Walking Dead - 3.01: "Seed"

This review will be fairly short since I want to give the show some time to breathe this season before I heap too much praise on it. Overall last night's episode was a very good start though. I thought the best part might have been the virtually silent opening, which really established the more dire circumstances our group of survivors is living in now that they've left the safety of the farm. When there is a time jump a lot of shows waste time catching you up on the way things are now as compared to where they were, but this opening was a good way to do that in a dramatic fashion without wasting any time.

Giving the group a larger goal like securing and setting up shop in the prison seems to have focused the story more and done away with some of the clunkier dialogue, yet without losing the emotional connections to the characters. This episode felt like it moved pretty quickly and efficiently toward getting the group inside the prison; which was a nice change from last season, where it feels like they might have spent a week or more in that field debating the best course of action. I'm a little disappointed that Michonne and Andrea seem to get the short shrift in this episode (especially since Michonne is a pretty well loved character from the comics). We don't learn much about what they've be doing during the gap in the story, but hopefully next week we'll get some more pieces of the puzzle.

This episode also found a fairly good way to improve upon the zombie slaughtering action with the Walker riot police, and with dark interior halls of the prison toward the end which made things a bit creepier. And ending with two jarring events like Rick cutting off Hershel's leg and the appearance of the other prison survivors was a nice way to get the audience excited for the next few episodes

Overall I'd give this episode a 95 out of a 100- very good action, a clear goal, and our team of survivors working together like a zombie death squad makes for a good star to Season 3!

Quotes and such:

- "I ain't sleeping in no cage…"- Oh Daryl, I missed you!

- Does Beth get the Most Improved Survivor Award since she seems to have fully given up her suicidal tendencies and is now wielding an axe like a pro? Or should it go to sharpshooter Carol?

- I was prepared to fully hate pregnant Lori, but about halfway through this episode I was really hoping that story would be over within a week or two. Also is wrong that I actually like pissed off Rick more since he seems to put up with less of Lori's crap?

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