Last week ended with a phone call. This week addressed that, as well Michonne’s departure from Woodbury. How did thing goes for Rick, Michonne and the rest of our favorite heroes? Let’s check it out below.
Just a note: spoilers from this week’s episode will be discussed, as well as possible tidbits from events that have already occurred in the comic. Preview talk will be avoided.
1. Bit of a downturn, I say
While this episode was by no means bad, it also wasn’t great. It was a bit of a mixed bag. While for the most part performances were fine and it looked as good as ever, there were a lot of strange parts that fit together poorly. There also were narrative/logic lapses that really threw me off at points (why did The Governor send people after Michonne? Why did Merle come back around to the little town where Glenn and Maggie were when he said he was going home?). Just enough to make this episode a little more on the “eh” side than anything.
2. Call me, maybe?
The moment where we realize that Rick is talking to his dead wife on the phone and has been for a while is a an extremely powerful and shocking one, and something I always wondered how they would handle within the confines of the television show. After all, part of the reason why we didn’t recognize Lori was because we were simply reading her words, not hearing them. In this episode? Handled extremely well with slight remixes that made it all come together. Namely, instead of just being Lori on the phone, it was Lori and friends, and those friends (including Andrea’s dead sister Amy) were enough of a misdirection to make us wonder exactly what was going on. Plus, Hershel’s fantastic handling of the situation – listening into the phone and giving no reaction, then offering to stay with his mentally fragile friend Rick – was perfect. Great stuff here.
3. Michonne, Breaker of Worlds, Strangely Poor Decision Maker?
Michonne can mess someone up with the best of them. If they’ve done anything well with the character, it’s that. The way she takes walkers and people out with equal aplomb is really incredible, and fun to watch.
Yet, seeing her lack of action as Glenn and Maggie are taken hostage as Merle (played with full on crazy bravado by Michael Rooker) was strange, and seems to somewhat fit poorly with the way she rolls. Especially given what came next.
4. Michonne, Sort of Zombie?
Okay, she’s not sort of a zombie. But the ending sequence, which was quite kick ass in some regards if you didn’t ask any questions of it, was a little weird. Rick walks quickly up to the gate to find Michonne standing amongst a slew of zombies, covered in blood and carrying baby formula.
First off, why did the zombies not react? She was basically marinating for the zombies’ pleasure. My girlfriend, who is not a fan of the show, even asked me “why are they not eating her?” I didn’t have a good answer, save “Maybe they’re confused because she’s coated with zombie blood?” Update: I forgot the earlier scene where the horde of zombies walks right by Michonne because, seemingly, she’s caked in zombie guts. Apparently that was enough to not turn her into a meal.
Second off, If she was going to track these people down, why didn’t she help Glenn and Maggie sooner rather than later? I mean, it’s not like she couldn’t have helped Glenn and Maggie. A little weird. That said, two out of the prison with Glenn and Maggie gone, two back in (with Michonne and Carol – like I said she would be – amongst their number).
5. Andrea: Worst taste in men ever?
Last season, she slept with the rapidly breaking Shane as he neared his breaking point and was obviously fawning all over Lori. This season? She takes it to the next level by sleeping with the devil-tongued steel cage fight promoter The Governor. I have to say one of the weirdest things about this show is how they’ve reduced Andrea from a character who is perhaps the strongest part of the comic series into…a foolish woman who sells out her friends for shampoo. It’s an odd turn, and it makes a big part of me hope she’s the next to go.
