Warning: Spoilers ahead!
It was a very sad night watching The Walking Dead but with how much was put into this episode, it just makes me that much more excited for February. The two brothers are finally reunited and the prison group is expanded some, with the introduction of comic book character Tyreese. This episode is definitely up there with being the best episode in the first half of season 3.
This week’s episode starts off with a zombie wondering the woods, following a scream. She’s killed by a man who we haven’t seen before. The man is introduced to us as Tyreese when he meets up with the rest of his group. They become over run with walkers and one of the girls is bit in the process of escaping. They find a knocked down wall on a dilapidated building where they decide to hide. Tyreese isn’t sure if he’s able to leave the infected girl behind and the camera pans out to show that the building is part of the prison.
Andrea stares down a picture of the Governor’s family as he walks in. They are still lovey-dovey as they talk about Woodbury. She leaves and the Governor visits Penny, his zombified daughter. A soft melodic tune starts playing as she runs to attack him but he tries to tame her by singing to her.
Glenn and Maggie are finally together again and Glenn looks like he’s been beat to hell. As injured as he looks, Glenn is more worried about what they did to Maggie than the wounds he’s been inflicted with. He pulls the dead walker’s arm off and takes out the bone to be used as a weapon.
Rick and the troops seem ready to storm on Woodbury. Michonne walks off but comes back with a better way inside. They sneak in through where Michonne was questioned but her usefulness becomes questioned when Daryl says it’s “the blind leading the blind”. A Woodbury citizen comes in and Rick incapacitates him after not getting the information he wants to hear.
Axel starts talking to Beth and Carol takes him outside to talk with him. She tells him to stay away from Beth and he starts talking about how he hasn’t been around women in a long time. Carol isn’t too offended when he accuses her of being a lesbian and she refuses his advancements on her.
Maggie and Daryl attack Merle and another guard but aren’t too successful when they only take out the one guard. Rick and Daryl throw in some smoke grenades to rescue Maggie and Glenn and they manage to get them out of the building. The Governor tells his troops to shoot to kill if they are spotted. Andrea is unsatisfied with the role the Governor has given her in the attempt to secure Woodbury but she succumbs to his will.
The Governor and Merle talk about taking out the group at the prison. Merle doesn’t want to take out his brother and the Governor talks about his usefulness. The information that Merle is still alive finally reaches Daryl when Maggie and Glenn tell him how he’s the Governor lieutenant, working side by side with him. He wants to try and talk to Merle and convince him to come back with Rick and the group but Rick tells him that with an escape route looking meek, they need to focus on getting out of Woodbury.
Another smoke diversion is thrown and Rick and the group attempt to fight their way out of Woodbury. Andrea rushes up and is ready to take out any intruders she sees. Daryl volunteers to stay behind them, giving them covering fire. Rick sees a hallucination of Shane but it’s just one of the Governor’s guards and Oscar is killed in the process of escaping.
Back at the prison, Carl talks to Hershel and Beth about the baby and how it’s his job to protect her. They hear screams and Carl goes to investigate. Carl comes across Tyreese and his group from earlier in the episode and Carl saves them from walkers. The girl that was bitten finally dies and Carl goes to take her out but Tyreese talks of how they take care of their own. Carl locks the group in and Tyreese talks about how being locked in the cell is the best they have had in awhile and that he doesn’t want any trouble.
Michonne seems to be waiting around for the Governor and she discovers his fetish for human heads along with his zombie daughter. She thinks she’s alive and lets her go but when the bag is taken off, Michonne reaches for her katana. The Governor comes busting in and lays down his weapons in an attempt to save what’s left of his daughter. Michonne executes her anyways and they begin to throw punches around until Michonne stabs him in the eye. Andrea shows up as Michonne is about to take out the Governor and it’s obvious how each of them don’t want to hurt the other. Andrea sees the heads that the Governor has been collecting as he holds his dead daughter in his arms. The Governor’s eye has been pretty much demolished and Andrea starts to question the Governor and his motives. Merle talks about how the group escaped the wall and how he’ll go after them once daylight hits. The Governor rallies the town and delivers a speech about protecting the town and names Merle as a terrorist to the town. The brothers are finally reunited as the town wants their heads on a plate.
I know I was going to be upset if Merle and Daryl didn’t see each other after all this time and the moment when they laid eyes on each other was probably my favorite moment of the season. This wasn’t just because it was the last scene before the mid-season finale but because of how much I wanted to scream at the TV “Your brother is alive!” With season 2, I was disappointed with how the mid-season finale ended but season 3 has reaffirmed my beliefs that this season won’t be anything short of amazing. February couldn’t come any sooner.
The Walking Dead Season 3 returns this February on AMC.
Written by Guest Contributor: missvalentine
