- Air Date: 11/18/2012
- Directed By: Dan Attias
- Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Laurie Holden, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, David Morrissey, Michael Rooker
After a low(er) key episode, AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD kicks back into things, with Michonne on the run from Merle and a couple of other Woodburians. They “let” her leave, but clearly don’t plan to let her live. Of course, Merle and company get more than they bargained for.
They arrive at a clearing where they gind zombie body parts spelling out “Go Back.” Merle laughs it off and calls her out. She’s there in a flash and kills two of their group lickety split, then disappears again. Merle, along with a terrified Gargulio, continue their pursuit, and Michael Rooker continues to kill it as the wacky redneck with a bayonet for an arm. He’s so mercurial and nuts it’s impossible to predict exactly how he’s going to react (well, sometimes).
Rick, still devastated by the loss of Lori, is on a phone deep within the prison, talking with an unnamed woman. She apparently has a completely safe commune, where no biters have attacked. Rick’s desperate to bring his group there, but the woman, along with some of her people, have tough questions to ask of him before they can reveal their location. It’s hard to talk about it without ruining the endgame, but I’m thankful that this subplot goes a whole lot faster than it does in the comic book, though I’m not sure it’s handled as well. I will say that Rick is a little nutty and not able to lead the group right now.
Herschel attempts to help Rick through his grief, to no avail. Daryl, along with Carl and Oscar, search the lower levels of the prison to clean it further and see what they may find. Daryl continues his character growth with a nice scene between him and Carl in which they talk about their mothers.
Andrea and the Governor bicker about the zombie gladiator battles, and it becomes clear that Andrea wants to be a part of the community. She suggests the wall, so she can keep practicing her shot. There, she meets a “hotshot” chick with a bow named Haley, but when a Walker comes.. uh, walking, Andrea has an entirely different way with dealing with the walkers than the citizens of Woodbury. This entire episode we’re unsure if Andrea is having second thoughts about staying, or if she’s loving it more than she’s letting on. We get an answer by the end, further clouding what’s to come.
That’s all I can say without ruining the plot developments at the end of the episode, but rest assured, there are a couple of doozies that will bring Woodbury and Rick’s crew at the prison at odds, perhaps sooner than we thought. I do wonder how awesome non-comic book readers think Michonne is, because I attribute my love of the character to the comicbook more than her role in the proceedings thus far (she’s mostly been a curmudgeonly mystery woman). Danai Gurira was clearly perfect choice for the role, and her badass-ness is only going to grow. I think we’re about to identify and love her a whole lot more in the coming weeks, now that she is freed from Woodbury.
