Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Walking Dead: Season 3 Episode 10 - Home


Hello Walkers!  WOW, now that is a quality episode of The Walking Dead!  Lots of different plot threads with good character moments all culminating in one all-out battle at the prison.  Doesn't get much better than that for a show about surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.  I'm going to stick to my abbreviated recaps for the show for now.  As I mentioned last week, it seems appropriate for this show. Plus, as I may have mentioned one too many times lately, I've been super busy!  Let's get to it!

  • Okay, so Rick is sorting things out in this episode.  He's chasing the "ghost" of Lori around the entire prison yard.  Any LOST fan will have been reminded of Jack chasing Christian Shephard around the Island only to be led to an empty coffin and fresh water.  There were even mirrored moments of Jack talking out his issues with Locke vs. Rick talking out his issues with Hershel.  Of course, Hershel already lost a wife so he may be able to provide some guidance to Rick on coping.  As confirmed by Robert Kirkman on Talking Dead, Lori is not a ghost on the show.  Rick is just dealing with stuff in his head.  He's got that whole leadership complex.  And of course, it set him up to be in bad shape when the Governor came a callin.  At least we know that Rick knows Lori isn't ACTUALLY there.  But, it is a little creepy that he's hoping it's all a sign leading to something.  But, given that this is a TV show based on a comic where Rick's character dealt with this stuff, I'm sure it's leading to SOMETHING.  
  • Speaking of which, ol' Phillip is still playing mind games with Andrea.  He told her he is not retaliating against Rick and the prison crew.  And he also told Andrea that they need her there to help lead while Phil sorts out his own issues.  The part where he said he was keeping his daughter "alive" while Milton searched for a cure, was probably true.  But the rest was all BS to keep her under his "eye" (literally).  Governor asked Milton to keep tabs on Andrea as he does not trust her.  Milton did a pretty lousy job of that!  Andrea, seems to be getting some wits about her as well as she didn't necessarily buy that the Governor was going to leave Rick and crew alone.  She expressed interest in going to the prison to talk to her friends, so we'll see what happens there. 
  • The Daryl and Merle stuff went pretty much as expected.  Daryl has grown, Merle hasn't.  He wanted to go back to his friends at the prison, but he also wanted to bring Merle with him.  We got some interesting back story stuff though.  We found out that their original plan was to rob the crew of everything and fend for themselves.  But, since they got separated things changed.  Loved the little rescue mission Daryl went on to save the woman and child.  And then putting the crossbow to Merle was a great touch too.   All of the derogatory comments from Merle were hysterical too.  In particular him calling Glenn Chinese and Daryl correcting him that he's Korean.  We may have heard some of this stuff before, but we found out both Merle and Daryl had some pretty rough childhoods stemming from an abusive father.  In the end Daryl got his way and headed back to the prison, and Merle reluctantly followed. 
  • Was anyone else getting the creepy vibe from Axel when he was asking Carol how to use a gun?   Meanwhile, we hear him telling his sob story of how he really didn't even break any major laws. Yeah he robbed a convenience store with a water pistol, but it was his brother's REAL gun they found at their home that got him an Armed Robbery charge.  Ouch!  Of course, just when we were starting to like the guy, he got himself shot in the head by the Governor! 
  • Maggie came clean to Glenn on what happened during the interrogation.  Of course, she was annoyed that Glenn needed to know the details.  Meanwhile, Glenn was on a war path and wanted to take down the Governor himself.  He ended up storming off in a truck at a bad time as well.  
  • So the group is all over the place, outside and exposed.  And Phillip brought his men to hit them while they were in disarray.  Conveniently the season 3 addition of Axel was the only man down in this episode.  But, that didn't mean that we weren't on the edge of our seat the whole time!  They were surrounded.  Governor was fearless standing out in the open and smiling, firing off his gun.  I thought for sure that it was Andrea that barricaded the gates in that van, but when those walkers came out it was a whole different story!  Loved Michonne taking heads, loved Rick getting back in the zone.  And LOVED Daryl saving Rick at the last possible moment with an arrow!!  We were certainly cheering at home!  (Hadn't cheered for a TV show like that since Hurley stormed the beach in the DHARMA van)   Not sure how they got that shooter in the prison tower, but it was great to see Maggie take him down.  
  • So, it would look like Rick will have no choice but to align himself with Michonne and Merle for this battle against the Governor.  By the way, it was typical behavior of a TV/Movie Villain to not stick around and see their work done.  Did he really expect that van full of walkers to do his job for him?  
  • It seemed like Rick, Merle and Daryl were trapped on the outside of the prison by the end of the episode, but surely a seasoned team like this can wipe out those walkers standing between them and the prison.  The bigger issue will be that it seems they have a breach in the prison that is not contained.  Surely, that information wasn't provided just for filler!  The prison does not seem to be much of a safe haven anymore.  We'll see what happens! 
I think that's all I have for this week! Really loved this episode and I hope the intensity only continues on for the next 6 episodes.  Can't wait to see Rick and Co take the battle to the Governor!  Looking forward to continue the discussion in the comments.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!   

10 comments:

MJ said...

I was so surprised that they had Daryl and Merle come back so quickly - figured it would be a couple of eps.

WOw - this show hates newcomers - all red shirts apparently. RIP Axle. And how cool was Carol using him as a shield ! And the blood from his gunshot getting all over her ?

One think I could not figure - or missed - how'd they guy get up in the tower? Where'd he come from?

But how awesome was the bus of zombies ?!?

Write more later ! Not much time right now.

Mike V. said...

I made the same comment about th tower guy. Didn't know how he got there!! Lol Great ep though. I'll probably be brief today. Home with the kid for Presidents' Day! :)

For the other post I did watch ONCE so ready to discuss!

MJ said...

Yeah - just read your recap.

They laughed about it in talking Dead but they could get a moving zombie from afar but could not hit the gov standing there still and in the clear ?

I don't think it was the govs intention to take them out in one shot (per yr comment about him leaving after the zombies were released) but I think this was a quick strike to show them they at the prison are vulnerable and that Woodbury will answer if attacked.

Also feel the prison is less safe but always figured it was home for just this season. Question is do they stay in Woodbury or hit the road ? We shall see.

Mike V. said...

Oh absolutely. I figured the prison was a 1 season set piece as well. But, they're at least providing a good reason why! lol

Yeah, it was hysterical how they couldn't hit the gov. As I said..typical TV show/Movie antics. Maybe it wasn't his intention to kill them. But it was still silly how they went about it! Of course, the dude is just flat out crazy so I guess that's what justifies the actions. lol He probably is sending a message like you said...but he probably is just bored of being civil...so he's encouraging them to come attack them. He wants blood!

Mike V. said...

btw...i posted a link to best buy last week about game of thrones season 2 blu....Target has it tomorrow for 30 bucks! And there is exclusive content with the Target version. (20 minute interview with GRRM and some behind the scenes stuff). I have the best buy version coming, but I'm just going to go to target and get that version and return the BB one. lol (i know i'm crazy!! I also know I should've posted this in the other thread! lol)

Leslie said...

I was tired after watching this episode! WILD! Good balance with the action and character development. It was comforting to hear that Rick realizes Lori isn’t really there. The Governor was good as his line of BS to Andrea, but Milton sucks as a liar! Loved the whole Daryl & Merle scene when Daryl went to the other group’s rescue, and Daryl going against Merle when he was gonna steal from them. Those actors play well off each other.

Hershel was just dishing out all kinds of good wisdom to Rick and Glenn. They both need to listen to him. Rick needs to come off the crazy train, and Glenn’s rage is gonna get him killed.

I don’t know how that guy got in the tower either! That might have been one of those convenient TV moments. That whole battle was intense!

The other thing that was confirmed for me on Talking Dead was that Tyreese and his group did leave last week. I thought they may have just relocated to another area on the prison grounds, but Kirkman said we don’t know where they are for now.

Mike V. said...

@Leslie - Agreed on Rick and Glenn. I'm thinking this episode was a wake-up call for both of them. But, I'm sure they also want to see those storylines to conclusion (revenge for Glenn, Ghost talk for Rick lol)

Good point to bring up Tyreese and crew. I thought they were gone at the end of the previous episode, but wasn't sure. I have a feeling, we'll see them coming back in out of nowhere to help out our heroes...kinda like Daryl did for Rick this week. We'll see though!

Merle/Daryl - yeah they do play off each other well. Funny, since they didn't even have a scene together in the first season...and barely the 2nd season (just that whole dream/hallucination thing lol). So...good casting!

MJ said...

I was surprised Tyreese and his peeps were gone – thought they’d just left the room last week! Surely they will be back some how – though I don’t know how. Oops - see that leslie already said the very same thing.

Will def look at GoT at target - thanks. Missed the mention last week.

Mike V. said...

MJ - I just went to my Target near work. They had tons of Season 2's, but I only found one that had the bonus content (it's an extra disc attached to the outside of the pack. And a sticker on the front that mentions bonus content). It's the same price with or without the content, so good luck finding one if you're interested! lol

MJ said...

thanks ! Appreciate it.