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Five Thoughts on The Walking Dead’s “When the Dead Come Knocking” [Review]

By | November 26th, 2012
Posted in Reviews | 4 Comments

Just one more episode of The Walking Dead remains in this (half) season. How do things follow up on the footsteps of last week’s uneven episode that happened to leave us in a pretty interesting place? Let’s talk about that below, and make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Note: spoilers will be discussed if you have not watched the show, and events from the comics will be discussed on occasion.

1. Carl and Glenn are badasses

How great was Carl blowing away the zombies that were approaching a downed Michonne in the beginning? Or Glenn saying nothing even though he was being savagely beaten? They both don’t get featured as badasses very often, so when they get highlighted you have to give them props. Also, bonus points to Chandler Riggs and Steven Yeun. Both are doing a very good job this season, which has always been the case for Yeun but Riggs has really stepped up his game.

Oh yeah, and Glenn taking out the walker while strapped to his chair was basically the most badass thing I’ve ever seen in the show.

2. Michonne vs. Carol

I loved that Carl was the impetus for Team Prison (note: I said that before Chris Hardwick’s stupid ass introduced that as a hash tag #ChrisHardwickSucks #TheTalkingDeadisPointless #GetOffMyTelevision) deciding to save Michonne, but I do have to say, what their response was after they brought her in was a little surprising. I understand they likely are not trusting, nor do they want her to stick around at least initially, but given that she was suffering from a bullet wound, why would they roll just because a VERY casual Daryl came over and said “I think you guys need to look at something.” Granted, it was to see that Carol was alive, but it still was a little strange to me that they would just walk away from an obviously injured woman in such a way.

3. Nice misdirection, The Walking Dead

I’m not going to lie, I was outrageously uncomfortable when The Governor was getting Maggie to take off her clothes. It was really horrible, knowing what I know about what he did to Michonne in the comic. We got to a point where it really felt like he was going to do his business, but then…he backed away and the scene ended. It was actually pretty genius – they knew that comic fans were expecting it, but they also knew it might be too far for some non-comic fans – in one fell swoop they kept and earned the respect of two different audiences. Very well done, and well played by both David Morrisey and Lauren Cohen.

4. Weird shack guy was weird

When the away team was rolling around the woods, they were overrun by walkers and got to a point where they needed some protection that a nearby shack could provide. Totally cool and smart, But they get in there and, as there tends to be in the woods, crazy people inside shacks. Two things bothered me about this scene: 1) this guy didn’t seem to realize the zombie apocalypse was actively happening nearby, and 2) why the extreme close up of the zombies dining on him? The whole thing seemed kind of unnecessary. Realistically, the show runners probably realized that the episode was lacking a little in action, so they threw in the mini-boss fight to pep it up. Understandably, but to me, it could have been handled far better.

5. The ending…

Was intense. I thought it was really fantastic (big props to Bear McCreary for the closing music once again!), and sets us up perfectly for one hell of a mid-season finale. I’m not going to go into the preview, but let’s just say it seemed action-packed.

Also, I want to share a few quick things we’ve learned this season:

1. Season Three Rick is the closest to comic Rick we’ve gotten
2. Rick, Michonne and Daryl know what’s up, and everyone else is kind of dumb (mostly)
3. David Morrisey crushes as The Governor
4. Season Two might have been lost because Frank Darabont’s unceremonious dropping
5. Andrea has HORRIBLE taste in men

If anything, the ending confirmed that last number. As some have said in the comments, she may be better off dead if this is the version of her we’re getting. Given that her storyline in this episode was arguably the least interesting, it feels like it is about time.


//TAGS | The Walking Dead

David Harper

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