Blogging Dead: The Walking Dead, Episode 307 ‘When the Dead Come Knocking’

I’m surprised how well the direction of the series has been here in Season 3.  The conclusion of episode 307 left me salivating for the midseason finale, and I am oh so excited.  Before watching what will probably be the most chaotic episode of the series thus far, let’s take a look back at 307 and talk about the parts which stuck out for me.

First of all, Glenn has shown himself to be a far bigger badass than I had ever realized.  No matter how badly he took his beatings from Merle, Glenn never showed any fear and didn’t betray the group’s location.  He kept his lips shut, even after an intense walker brawl, and Merle’s threats towards Maggie.

I honestly thought the interrogation scene between Maggie and the Governor was a lot tamer than I thought it was going to be, but it’s only because I’ve read the books.  Michonne’s comic book counterpart can tell you how Maggie’s treatment seemed like peaches and cream, in comparison.  Let’s just say there were rape scenes which were more brutal than those seen on Oz.  But, I am happy Maggie didn’t actually end up raped and beaten, the poor girl.

Michonne has been as quiet as ever since finding the prison, but who can blame her after her Woodbury suspicions proved to be accurate?  I think she definitely realizes that this is Andrea’s group, and probably that Daryl is Merle’s brother, but she is keeping everything to herself, going moment to moment.  It is actually a very smart strategy, letting them know only as much as they need to until she can figure these new people out.  For all she knows, Daryl will shoot her himself if he finds out his brother was after her.

Concerning the group of four travelling to Woodbury, doesn’t Oscar kind of seem like a Star Trek redshirt, beaming down to a dangerous planet with Picard, Riker and Data?  His chances of survival are slim is all I’m saying.  A lot has been building up towards this midseason finale which will need to be explosive to top the episodes before it, and I predict we will see a lot of death.  Daryl, Rick and Michonne will most likely be alright, but, of course, you never know.

It looks like some hell is about to break loose back at the prison while the main eventers are absent, and I am sure things will be even more brutal here than in Woodbury.  I think we will end up saying goodbye to more than one of our beloved crew, which is particularly sad for me since I like everybody.

Axel’s days are probably numbered, as he seems pretty expendable, givenxd his lack of airtime.  I sure do hope he can say his catchphrase again before he goes, if he does.  I even think some of the bigger characters, such as Hershel and Andrea, are also in danger. 

I really hope Glenn and Maggie can both make it out of Woodbury alive as well, but I really just don’t know for sure.  You know what, though?  That unpredictability is what I love so much about the Walking Dead.

Blogging Dead: The Walking Dead, Sick (Season 3, Episode 2) Review/Thoughts

These are my thoughts on The Walking Dead episode, Sick.  This blog contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so don’t read any further until you’ve seen the episode!

Sunday night’s new episode of the Walking Dead, Sick, was one hell of a show!  Keeping up the pace of the premiere, the mass-slaughter of the undead continued into the depths of the dark prison.  It picked up right where it left off with Hershel’s new leg amputation, leaving a group of confused prisoners to try and make sense of the situation.  Despite some initial trust problems between Rick and the inmates, the group overall decides to work together to clear out some more of the walker-filled prison, upping the bodycount to nearly astronomical numbers.

I didn’t hear if they actually spoke his name, but it seems Axel indeed made it as a character on the show.  I’m assuming it is him as he does have a beard and long hair, but I was very disappointed not to hear him say his catch phrase (that’s, “You follow me?” for those who haven’t read the comics).  Still, other than Andrew (the little guy who Rick left for dead outside with the walkers), all of the other prisoners were completely new characters, so I should still be happy Axel made it onto the show.  I don’t know why I enjoyed that character so much in the books.  Overall, he was pretty insignificant and probably forgettable for many other readers.  For some reason, though, he just had a charismatic vibe, and I’d get a kick out of him ending every sentence with, “You follow me?”  My hope is that now that things have calmed down a little bit, Axel will be more relaxed and may have more dialogue, so there will still be plenty of opportunities for him to say it.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Rick’s rivalry with the leader of the prisoners, Tomas, ended just as quickly as it began with a machete to the skull, Jason Voorhees-style.  I knew that guy was going to be a problem and it looks like Rick Grimes did, too.  After Big Tiny took a zombie wrist-bone to the back, and Tomas eagerly bashed the big guys head into a million pieces, I thought, “You know, he seemed to enjoy that a little more than he should have.  Better watch that one.”  Not too long after, when he shoved that zombie at Rick, that pretty much confirmed all suspicions.  Thankfully, Rick survived, but I knew there was going to be hell to pay.  Next thing you know, Tomas gets his brain split in half.

When Tomas’ right hand man, Andrew, took off outside the prison, Rick gave chase.  Again, I was reminded of Jason Voorhees, stalking his prey.  I thought it was a little cold, though, how Rick slammed the barred-door shut in Andrew’s face, preventing reentry into the prison.  I definitely supported the decision to plant that blade into the skull of Tomas, but I wasn’t sure if Andrew swung at Rick because he had planned an attack against the group with Tomas, or if he was instinctively scared after seeing Tomas’ body drop.  I didn’t know, but I thought Rick was going to capture him and maybe throw him in a cell while they figured out what to do with him.  Then again, last season, Rick tried the whole, “Let’s keep somebody prisoner until we figure something out,” thing and it didn’t exactly work out so well.

I think that maybe by killing Shane, the reality of the horrendous world they all now live in had sunk in Rick’s mind.  Once he had to kill his own best friend, I think he figured out how important it was for them to survive at any cost.  Leaving Andrew outside to die is definitely not something Rick would have ever done before the end of the second season, and while it was a bit cold, it was good for showing us the rapid evolution of Rick’s mindset.  At heart, he’s always wanted to be the good guy, but you just can’t do that anymore in this world if you expect to survive.  Tough choices must be made and terrible things must be done, and since Rick is not an evil person, I think these things are starting to eat away at him inside.  We saw from the end of this episode that he can’t even have an intimate conversation with his own wife anymore.  Maybe Rick is slowly losing his mind as he becomes this completely different person than he was before.

I was saddened not to see the continuation of the story arc with Michonne and Andrea in this episode, but there was a hell of a lot of stuff going on.  It seems they’re going to get quite a bit of screen time if next week’s preview is any indication.  I’m really excited to see them meet with the Governor in Woodbury.  And I almost forgot, it showed none other than MERLE DIXON in the preview, which means in the next episode, he will be back!  With Merle’s return, I’m very scared for T-Dog’s life, as well as Rick’s right hand.  I’ve got a funny feeling that Merle is going to off them both.