The Walking Dead - Season 3.5

[BigK]

All i gotta say is they better wrap this up neatly because Game of Thrones starts next weekend and if space is low on the DVR... walking dead is second in priority.

  I keep space for both definitely LOL

No man should be forced to decide between Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. That just ain't right!

[reed1285]

Pretty good episode, ending was a shocker for me

[hipower]

Well..... I sure didn't see THAT coming. I was figuring Andrea, maybe even Herschel; but not Merle. Didn't even think about him turning as the Gov shot him, not when as Daryl was going out after him.

 

But as the scene progressed with Daryl going thru the bodies, it began to creep up on me. And as we saw the hunched over, from the back shot...I gasped...NO...can't be.

 

Truly a surprise to me. I consider myself pretty devious and can think out most of the plot lines, but I sure missed this one.

 

So who's next???

Edited March 25, 2013 by hipower

[JKGlock17]

it doesnt even matter anymore to me who is next. i am still reeling from last night. i cannot believe they had the skinny governor be able to beat up someone like merle, the whole governor thing is beginning to become stupid, in the sense that he cant fight with michonne without getting his tail handed to him but he can turn around and beat the crap out of a big huge guy with a stump knife. this is ridiculous and they are getting too much in the "rick click" for my taste. i am over most of the ding dongs that are in his crew. 

[NoBanStan]

I like that the writers wanted to redeem merle. At the end of the day he still did it his way. But they really should have given him something.... I mean, you know he can't kill the governor, but they could have AT LEAST let him take our the governors henchmen (the tan skinned fella) instead of just some random guys. Granted, he got more than a few before he was discovered... but still.

[BigK]

I wish the gov. would just slip getting out of the shower and break his neck. I'm so sick of his storyline.

 

I also hope Michonne whips the Rickster's ass for him when she finds out he was even considering handing her over.

[Hershmeister]

Great episode - Merle as the pied piper of Woodbury!

[JKGlock17]

in my opinion merle is the only person next to shane who has shown true humanity in its frailty in these dark times. .

[JAB]

it doesnt even matter anymore to me who is next. i am still reeling from last night. i cannot believe they had the skinny governor be able to beat up someone like merle, the whole governor thing is beginning to become stupid, in the sense that he cant fight with michonne without getting his tail handed to him but he can turn around and beat the crap out of a big huge guy with a stump knife. this is ridiculous and they are getting too much in the "rick click" for my taste. i am over most of the ding dongs that are in his crew. 

 

I did think that they should have at least had Merle stab that pig-sticker into the Governor during the fight, even if it wasn't a fatal wound.  At first, I was also thinking, "How in the heck would the Governor beat Merle?"  Then I realized that he hadn't.  Just like always, the Gov let his people do the dirty work then he stepped in to act like he is more than he really is.  First, a walker attacked Merle - snuck up and got a bite in.  Now, I don't know if it actually bit him or if it hit the metal apparatus covering his arm but it did get a bite in.  Then he hits the ground and the Gov's henchmen stomp the crap out of him.  So by the time the Governor hot ahold of him, he was already (possibly) bitten and likely had at least a few cracked ribs and a concussion if not some major, broken bones and internal bleeding and he still didn't go down without a fight.  The Gov didn't beat Merle - it took multiple, hardened, ruthless men and a walker to do that.  The Governor just strutted in and took the 'glory'.

 

I hate the Governor and will be glad when he is dead.

 

And for those who saw the preview of next week on The Talking Dead, who else thinks Rick's group is going to not only leave the prison ahead of the Governor's arrival but that they are going to leave a little 'surprise' behind for him and his people?  Anyone else notice what appeared to be a distinct lack of walkers surrounding the prison when the Woodbury folks arrived?  I hope Rick et al do what I think they do - because that is what I would do; drive the walkers into the prison, lock them in and leave them to wait for the Governor's people to come running in.

Edited March 25, 2013 by JAB

[hipower]

Great episode - Merle as the pied piper of Woodbury!

Yep, that was a slick touch. I was wondering why we kept seeing Merle checking out the vehicles. Now I know.

[JKGlock17]

I did think that they should have at least had Merle stab that pig-sticker into the Governor during the fight, even if it wasn't a fatal wound.  At first, I was also thinking, "How in the heck would the Governor beat Merle?"  Then I realized that he hadn't.  Just like always, the Gov let his people do the dirty work then he stepped in to act like he is more than he really is.  First, a walker attacked Merle - snuck up and got a bite in.  Now, I don't know if it actually bit him or if it hit the metal apparatus covering his arm but it did get a bite in.  Then he hits the ground and the Gov's henchmen stomp the crap out of him.  So by the time the Governor hot ahold of him, he was already (possibly) bitten and likely had at least a few cracked ribs and a concussion if not some major, broken bones and internal bleeding and he still didn't go down without a fight.  The Gov didn't beat Merle - it took multiple, hardened, ruthless men and a walker to do that.  The Governor just strutted in and took the 'glory'.

 

I hate the Governor and will be glad when he is dead.

 

And for those who saw the preview of next week on The Talking Dead, who else thinks Rick's group is going to not only leave the prison ahead of the Governor's arrival but that they are going to leave a little 'surprise' behind for him and his people?  Anyone else notice what appeared to be a distinct lack of walkers surrounding the prison when the Woodbury folks arrived?  I hope Rick et al do what I think they do - because that is what I would do; drive the walkers into the prison, lock them in and leave them to wait for the Governor's people to come running in.

 

 

I like this thought point

[Hershmeister]

Also remember that Merle was chugging down a bottle of booze, so he was likely a bit inebriated during the fight

[JAB]

Okay, so a couple of things that are apropos of absolutely nothing, really:

 

1. Was that a .410 pump Glenn had slung over his shoulder in last night's episode?  I could tell it had a tube mag and it looked to have a brass bead front sight.  The barrel and tube mag looked too small to be a 12 or 20 gauge.

 

It started me thinking that such a shotgun, while not the best choice for defending the group/prison from the Woodbury folks, probably wouldn't be a bad choice if the biggest threat were slow-moving walkers.  With slugs or buckshot, plenty good enough to explode the overripe pumpkin-like heads of walkers (if stomping them once caves them in then a .410 would do just fine.)  You would also have the ability to use smaller shot loads to harvest small game.  Other advantages would be decreased recoil compared to a 20 or 12 along with smaller, lighter shells making it easier to carry more ammo.  Finally, if the current ammo 'crunch' is any indicator, someone scavenging Walmart and sporting goods stores might find .410 ammo long after all the 12 and 20 gauge stuff is gone.

 

2. Having seen her a bit more 'cleaned up' and not scowling for the entirety of the episode, I now believe that Danai Gurira (Michonne) just might be the 'hottest' woman on the show - but only with the dreads/braids (which she doesn't seem to have in 'real life.)  Just my opinion, of course.  Carry on.

Edited March 25, 2013 by JAB

[ShamGlock]

Don't forget Merle was kinda sauced when the gov was throwing him around too.

[daddyo]

Youse guys are way over-thinking this stuff .. it's a zombie show.

 

Absolutely. And, let's not forget that it's based on a COMIC BOOK.

[robin48]

Okay, so a couple of things that are apropos of absolutely nothing, really:

 

1. Was that a .410 pump Glenn had slung over his shoulder in last night's episode?  I could tell it had a tube mag and it looked to have a brass bead front sight.  The barrel and tube mag looked too small to be a 12 or 20 gauge.

 

It started me thinking that such a shotgun, while not the best choice for defending the group/prison from the Woodbury folks, probably wouldn't be a bad choice if the biggest threat were slow-moving walkers.  With slugs or buckshot, plenty good enough to explode the overripe pumpkin-like heads of walkers (if stomping them once caves them in then a .410 would do just fine.)  You would also have the ability to use smaller shot loads to harvest small game.  Other advantages would be decreased recoil compared to a 20 or 12 along with smaller, lighter shells making it easier to carry more ammo.  Finally, if the current ammo 'crunch' is any indicator, someone scavenging Walmart and sporting goods stores might find .410 ammo long after all the 12 and 20 gauge stuff is gone.

 

2. Having seen her a bit more 'cleaned up' and not scowling for the entirety of the episode, I now believe that Danai Gurira (Michonne) just might be the 'hottest' woman on the show - but only with the dreads/braids (which she doesn't seem to have in 'real life.)  Just my opinion, of course.  Carry on.  She's smoking hot with or without dreds to me.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Youse guys are way over-thinking this stuff .. it's a zombie show.

 

 

Absolutely. And, let's not forget that it's based on a COMIC BOOK.

OMYGOSH!!!..As I sat in bed while watching the show  I had my hand over my mouth going.".OH  no..he is gonna get it..."...(as the gov is beating poor Merles face in...

its not just a show..its THE show ..blasphemers.....

Ok ok..its a show but we get so involved and riled up over the whole thing,  its sad..really...

[hipower]

Sad? No, I don't think so. At least not terribly so, not until we get involved to the point of excess, which sometimes happens.

 

But still, it's just excapist entertainment.

 

We all have something that allows us to put aside the "normal" day to day things that we focus on, and go to that other place where we can "live" out a different existance, a fantasy world, if you will.

 

Nothig wrong with that. Some of us use books. Some use TV. Some Politics and Talk Radio. Whatever form it takes...it's usually just a break in the day,...just stress relief.

 

Unless it's those of us who seem to live here 24/7.

 

That's a whole 'nother issue.

Edited March 26, 2013 by hipower

[quietmike]

Should have seen that ending coming. Didn't the Dixie Chicks have a song telling us "Merle had to die"?

[analog_kidd]

After watching the preview for next week, I'm hoping the Woodbury crew walk in to the prison and find a note on the door that says, thanks for leaving your neighborhood, that's where we went. It would be fitting if while the Governor and all able bodied soldiers was on their attack mission, Rick and company go take over the unprotected Woodbury. Or burn it down.

 

I am sorry to see Merle go. He was the guy you love to hate. I think he came to realize that his brother wanted to be with the group, and if he wanted to be with Darryl, he would have to start changing his ways a bit. He had seemed to tone down the racist bit some, and I think he was feeling sorry for some of the things he had done. Near the end he realized he was always going to be the guy that had to do the crap jobs. I think his trip with Michonne was his road to Damascus, and he had a change of heart, where he needed to fight for the greater good and do the right thing, not just serve himself.

[JAB]

 It would be fitting if while the Governor and all able bodied soldiers was on their attack mission, Rick and company go take over the unprotected Woodbury. Or burn it down.

 

Nah.  That would make them as bad as the Governor and his henchmen.  There are men, women and children at Woodbury who really are not to blame for all the crap that has happened.  After Rick's apparent 'epiphany' last week that he was at risk of becoming the Governor in his efforts to beat the Governor, I don't see them doing that.

 

If I were calling the shots for Rick's group, we'd take what supplies we could and split from the prison.  I actually think that hunkering down and regrouping there was a good idea (especially since there was a pregnant woman then a newborn with the group) but it is time to get moving, again.  Not only is there direct conflict with Woodbury but supplies in the prison have gotten low and there probably isn't a whole lot left to scavenge in the surrounding area.  As a base of operations, the prison is played out.

 

Personally, I'd leave some kind of 'trap' for when the Governor brings his 'forces' to the prison and I would split.  Then, if the Governor wasn't caught in that trap, a few months later when everything has died down I'd turn Daryl and one or two others loose to go back into Woodbury, under the cover of darkness.  The citizens of Woodbury would awaken the next morning to find their Governor hanging from a tree near the town square with no sign of anyone from my group around.

 

One place I'd have to seriously consider doing some recon on would be Herschel's farm.  The herd was apparently quite mobile.  While some stragglers might be left to clear, I wouldn't be surprised if the main body moved on through and most of them are gone, now.  Heck, the group cleared the prison so surely they could clear the farm once the herd (or horde) moved on.  For that matter, if the herd picked up local walkers as it moved through, the farm may now be one of the safest places around.  The livestock might be gone but there is still plenty of land for growing crops, plenty of woods for hunting and so on.  There is no reason to believe that the house wouldn't still be standing. Further, they are already familiar with the surroundings and could build fortifications on the property in case they need to fall back to them at some point.  To me, that would make more sense than forging further on into areas I knew nothing about which are just as likely to be overrun as the farm.  The farm would be a good place for the baby to grow up.

 

Of course, while that might be a very practical thing to do in 'real life', it would probably make for some boring television.  Oh, well.

 

For that matter, even if they weren't going to stay at the farm, being that they probably had gathered supplies and then left in too much of a hurry to take those supplies with them, there still might be a pretty good cache of things like canned goods, etc. at the farm.  If so, it would at least be worth going back for some of those provisions.  Even that big, heavy-duty looking generator Herschel had (it appeared to be in an outbuilding, not the barn that burned) would be worth going back for if it could be loaded onto a truck and taken with them.

Edited March 26, 2013 by JAB

[JKGlock17]

i feel like the people who deal with the show might step things up a notch next season, realizing for the past two seasons complacency has kind of taken the show. move one place and hang a season and then move another, so on and so forth. i believe 4 will be a big one. just thinking out loud though. 

[JAB]

i feel like the people who deal with the show might step things up a notch next season, realizing for the past two seasons complacency has kind of taken the show. move one place and hang a season and then move another, so on and so forth. i believe 4 will be a big one. just thinking out loud though. 

 

I hope you are right.  I don't mind so much seeing them 'settle' for a while.  The problem is that the storylines the writers have been establishing around that 'settling' have stretched on for too long.  Sure, let them find a place to hole up and catch their breath for part of the season but nothing says that they have to stay in that one place for the entire season.  Let them stay there for maybe half a season or so then move on.  As I said, before, if I were in charge of the show they would have confronted the Governor and left the prison at least two or three episodes ago.  Nothing wrong with wrapping up that storyline before it drags on too long (which it has) and then finishing the season with them on the road.  That way they could work in more episodes like last Sundays - with a balance of action and character development - and have fewer filler, 'soap opera' type episodes.

 

OH, BTW, I just have to comment on your sig line about Merle, Daryl and Shane being the zombie apocalypse dream team.  Have you really thought about that?  I mean, the first time Merle did something Shane didn't agree with, Shane would kill him (not in a fair, stand up fight - Shane wouldn't take that chance, he'd just shoot Merle without warning.)  Then Daryl would kill Shane.   Then you'd be left with just Daryl - which was all you really needed in the first place. :nervous:

Edited March 27, 2013 by JAB

[JKGlock17]

ha ha that last line was funny... i think if shane would have took rick out of the picture or just simply moved on like he had planned i think he and merle could have worked well together and then daryl would have come over to the dark side and they could kick the crap out of rick and the gov and took over both spots.  :cool:

Edited March 27, 2013 by JKGlock17

[JAB]

JKGlock17, you just gave me an idea that I think could have worked.  Instead of Shane getting killed off, what if he had left when he first said he was going to - maybe took Andrea with him.  The two of them run into Michonne (who joins up with them after saving their hides in some particularly cool and butt-kicking way) and from there the show takes two, different paths.  Unlike the Andrea/Woodbury and the prison storylines, there would be no need to necessarily 'recombine' them.  Let Rick and his group settle at the prison while Shane and his group stay on the move (wasn't there some military base that Shane wanted to head toward?)  That way, it is sort of the best of both worlds - the conflicts that the settled group face as well as conflicts faced by a migratory group.

 

I wouldn't do any of this flip/flopping back and forth in the same episode, though.  In fact, I probably wouldn't even flip back and forth that much from one episode to the other.  Instead, I'd do at least three or four episodes focusing on one before switching to the other.  In fact, it might be interesting to do the entire first half of the season focusing on Shane's group and the last half focusing on Rick's group (or vice versa.)  Alternately, they could divide the first half of the season into two parts with one focusing on Shane and the other on Rick then do the same with the second half.  To me, staying with one group for multiple episodes would give better continuity than flip-flopping back and forth within the same episode or doing alternating episodes.

 

Something like that would allow for different storylines, showing different takes on the outbreak and how to survive it, while also keeping one part of the story from dragging out for too long.  Almost like having two shows in one!

 

It might be interesting to let things go on like that for a while and then, in the final season, have the two storylines converge.  It could be by that point that Rick and Shane are each the leader of a fairly large and capable group of survivors - and the plot driver for the last season could be a clash between those, two groups (maybe Shane has decided that Lori had his daughter and he wants to take his daughter back from Rick.)  I might even end the show's run with Rick and Shane having killed each other, most of the two groups being wiped out, their bases of operation destroyed and Carl (as a young man) leading the combined survivors of both groups as they once again take to the road.

 

Heck, for that matter have Tyreese and his group join up with Rick's group at the end of this season and then spend the majority of next season telling Tyreese's back story, right from the beginning of the outbreak or at least beginning after they left the 'bunker' their survivalist neighbor had set up (almost like a chance to 'revisit' the kind of action and drama we saw in the first season with folks who weren't yet 'jaded' to the presence of walkers and the whole survival process.  It would also be a chance to kill off a lot of 'main' characters (the ones originally in Tyreese's group) before they run into Rick and co.

Edited March 27, 2013 by JAB