Hello. I’m back again with another review of our favorite, weekly Zombie Apocalyptic drama. I would be remiss if I didn’t give out the required “SPOILER ALERT” within this review, so if you haven’t seen this episode yet, read further at your own risk.
– In the penultimate episode of season three of AMC’s The Walking Dead, we were initially given a slow moving beginning (just my opinion). Though I was very anxious to see what was to become of Andrea (who had been captured and tied up in Woodbury’s torture room by the Governor), I wasn’t entirely disappointed that we saw neither hide nor hair of her. This episode focused primarily on the residents of the prison as they prepared for the impending war with the Governor. Rick struggled with the offer (ultimatum) from the Governor…should he turn over Michonne in hopes that the Governor will leave them alone, or should he refuse the offer and risk all of their lives? Rick ultimately decides to do the ‘right thing’ and not offer up Michonne to a certain death. He even managed to tell the group about the offer and his ‘better late than ever’ decision. Unfortunately, his resolution to his inner conflict almost came too late. While Rick was seeing yet another vision of his dead wife, Merle took matters into his own hands. He abducted Michonne and headed towards Woodbury. After narrowly escaping a run in with a few zombies, Michonne manages to strike a moral nerve within Merle, who, surprisingly, lets her go. Merle continues on to the scheduled rendezvous with the Governor, and, after luring a horde of walkers into the area, picks off most of the Governor’s henchmen with a sniper rifle. What’s that? Merle Dixon was performing a good deed? That’s right. But as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The Governor and his few ‘remaining’ good men figured out the situation and took Merle down long enough for he and the Governor to have one last fight. Merle went down fighting, and the Governor, after biting off a few of Merle’s fingers, shot him in the chest. Meanwhile, Daryl runs into Michonne while he’s out looking for Merle. She explains that Merle let her go, so Daryl continues the search. And guess what? He finds him. Unfortunately, when Daryl walks up on his older brother, Merle is now a walker who is chowing down on a former Woodbury resident. Daryl burst into tears and delivered the most emotionally moving moment of the episode. Kudos to actor Norman Reedus who plays Daryl. His reaction to finding Merle all zombied-out conveyed so many different emotions…sorrow, anger, regret, just to name a few. Needless to say, Daryl did what he had to do and killed Zombie Merle. Despite the fact that Merle was a racist scum bag, I can’t ignore the fact that Michael Rooker did an amazing job of portraying a character that we’d all come to hate. R.I.P. Merle…your death was truly bittersweet. In conclusion, all the pieces are in place for next week’s season finale which promises the much-anticipated clash between the prison and Woodbury. The Walking Dead has yet to disappoint in the season finale department so I’m confident it’s going to be a winner. Feel free to comment. Until next time…
-Daniels