Introduction.[]
Hello everybody and welcome to another blog! Now my last blog was only I think last week so sorry if I annoy you but, I really needed to make this blog. Now many people, even some of you reading this may believe that Season 3 was dreadful, some may even say it ruined the show. Now I'm sorry if you're one of those people, but I disagree. And I'm going to tell you why, episode by episode. (Now I must warn, I watched Seed today, and it's one of my personal favourites. So for Seed, it's going to be a long review.)
I am going off a mixture of memory and using the wiki for this blog, so if there any mistakes I apologise.
I hope you enjoy this blog:)
Seed. (This is gonna be a long one as I watched it today!)[]
Now the first episode of Seaosn 3 shows us the group after a timeskip that passes the winter. Now while I do not like time-skips, I understand why the show needs to have them. However, I love how this timeskip is presented. The first five or so minutes of the episode are presented perfectly. The silence as the group clears out the house shows us two things. One, that this winter has bought the group together even more so than before. Rick seems to have re-earnt his trust of the group after the Shane/We're all infected situation. The group acts in one, as a unit. Secondly, the silence shows us that the group is much more hardened now, Glenn isn't making his little jokes, Carl isn't asking his mum or dad questions, it's almost as if the group don't want to speak to eachother. One of my favourite parts of this scene is when Rick knocks out the dog food from Carl's hand. Everyone watches with sadness in their eyes as they watch a young boy being reduced into food intended for an animal, and Rick is having none of it. I find this part in particular, very powerful.
After this we see the group talking and discussing their next moves, we learn that they've started to track herds and that Lori can't be on the road much longer. Rick and Daryl go hunting and stumble upon, the Prison. Rick knows that this is their salvation, and it's right here when the season shows us some action. The group moves into the outer fence and then Rick enters the yard alone, making his way towards the prison gate. Once he closes the gate, he moves up into a tower and they clear out the yard.
The group sit around a campfire and we get to the majority of the group happy, Maggie and Beth engage in a song as the group listens happily. However, Daryl and Carol are away from the group, Carol is flirting with Daryl but he shrugs it off, and to be honest it's a funny scene, and sometimes The Walking Dead needs some funny. Rick convinces the group that they need to take the Prison fully, and it's after this that he and Lori have their first chat of the season. And it's here we see that their relationship is truly damaged, that Rick has grown cold towards Lori; but she wants to mend the relationship. We also get the famous Stuff and Thangs line, so there is that too.
A few of the group start clearing out the front of the prison, and for a majority of the fans this is what they've been waiting for. Some good, gory walker kills. It a show featuring zombies after all. My favourite walkers are in this scene, the prison guard walkers. Something so simple but so great never crossed my mind, and even though it's a problem for a few seconds, it's a nice little idea. The group manages to clear this area and cell block C and everyone starts to move into their cells. We get another funny scene when Carl and Beth are talking, and Herschel embarasses Carl. Always did find the Carl/Beth thing funny.
During this episode we also get to see how Andrea is doing, and her new companion Michonne. Andrea has some sort of flu and is telling Michonne to leave her, and that she'll only slow her down. However it seems after survivng the winter together Michonne has grown fond of Andrea, and she refuses to leave her. Now while many hated Andrea being split from the group I thought the idea was good twist, and I stand by that.
Lori and Herschel have a chat about the baby, and Lori tells Herschel of her fears of the baby being a stillborn, turning into a walker and eating her from inside. She thinks that Carl and Rick hate her too and even says she sometimes wishes she died on the farm. Hershcel tries to reassure her, but has to promise her if the baby does turn, that he will put them both down.
Some of the group then move into the 'tombs' and try to clear them out. I loved this part, as it was dark, cramped, and they couldn't exactly shoot their way through as usual. It is here also, that Herschel is bitten on the ankle by a sneaky walker. The group rushes through the corridors to the cafetria. They block the doors and hold the walkers back and Herschel is laid on the ground, suffering from his bite. Without many options, Rick has a wild idea. Cut of his lower leg. Now I don't feel I need to explain this scene in as much detail as others, because we all know why Rick does it and why it wokrs ect. What I like, is how this is from the comics. Not enitrely the same, as Herschel was never bitten, it was Allen. But that's a nice twist, plus Allen was not present in the show at this point.
The episode ends with Daryl noticing some people watching, as he flashes his torch over them and a comic favourite, Axel; exclaims "Holy shit!" Now I think this was a great episode, infact an amazing episode. It had great action/gore scenes, good development and a good amount of comic material.
Unlike Seed, with the next 15 episodes I'm not going to go into as much detail. This is not because I can't or that these episodes were bad, but I'm simply not willing to spend that much time on a blog :P
Sick[]
Okay, Sick was a good episode to me because of three things. The prisoners, Rick/Lori, and Herschel.
A few people think that the prisoner storyline was rushed, and I can see why. If I was going to write Season 3, I would have the prisoners take up the first half. But I understand why they finsihed it quickly. And I think how they did it was great, the prisoners completely ignoring the groups advice on how to kill walkers, Tomas killing Big Tiny and trying to kill Rick, and then Rick sick of Tomas' shit, kills him. Andrew runs away and we are lead on to believe that he is dead. (As we find out later, he is not.)
I love Rick and Lori's interaction at the end of this episode. Seeing Rick and Lori talk and Lori openly admitting to being a bad wife, while Rick claims that she isn't a bad mum. Rick says that the group are grateful for Lori saving Hershcels life, and touches her shoulder as he walks away. Lori is affected by this, and I think it's here that most people start to realise that maybe, these guys aren't going to have a happy ending together.
I loved the tension built with Herschel in this episode, not knowing wherever he was going to die or not. We know Allen died in the comics after Rick took off his leg, but would Herschel get the same fate? When Lori gives Herschel CPR and he grabs her, it really is quite a shock, and it's a relief when Lori is able to pull away, and we know that Herschel isn't dead. I also love Rick and Hersh's moment they have when he awakes.
Walk With Me[]
This episode opens with a helicopter going down into a forest, presumably killing everyone on it at the time. We see Andrea and Michonne watching from a distance, and they start to make their way over there, Michonne pulling on her walkers pets as they do so. While they are scouting the area cars arrive and they jump into the bushes, watching carefully. This is it everybody, we get first see the Governor. David M was a good choice in my books. We also get to see how much Michonne cares for Andrea's safety, as the Gov and his men start to hear Michonne's pet walkers. She jumps up and kills them both, which after the S4 flashbacks too, is shocking. Too bad though, as they get found by the one and only Merle.
I'll be quick but this episode was good for a lot of reasons. Here's some bullet points.
- We finally meet The Governor and get to see Woodbury.
- Michonne and Andrea are still clueless about everyone being infected.
- Merle is back in town.
- Andrea and Michonne arguing.
- We get to meet Milton.
- We get to see that The Governor is not the kind man he seems.
- Walker fish tank, with even the pilot's head.
During this blog I'm not going to mention Milton much, simply because I plan to make a blog just about him one day, so uh, saving time I'm skipping over him today. Sorry about that!
Killer Within[]
Again I'm going to have to be quick with this episode, as I am running out of time.
I loved this episode because seeing Axel and Oscar wanting to leave is great, and their reasons are pretty fair. What I love is Daryl saying that he could of ended up like them, and T-Dog trying to convince Rick to let them into their group. Another thing which is great in this episode is the destruction of their hope and happiness.
Herschel is walking, they seem safe, and Rick and Lori stare at eachother from across the prison yard. Suddenly walkers. That's one thing I found stupid, did they seriously not hear those walkers behind them earlier, and how did Rick and co not seem them?!
In this episode we lose Lori, in a heart breaking scene. Carl and Lori's talk before she dies bought a tear to my eye, and I'm sure it bought one to yours too. Just watch this godamn scene and you'll see! Another death we get is T-Dogs. I'm on the fence with this one though. While I love how he dies, sacraficing himself, I feel it was simply put there for shock value. I feel that T-Dog would of been better to die in Too Far Gone, but then again, we would all see that coming, right? Maybe it was good he died here, who knows.
We also get baby Judith, a girl that's going to need a lot of therapy in the future (But more about her later.) However, my favourite scene of this season all together is here. When Rick finds out that Lori is dead. Seeing Maggie break down in tears with Judtih while Carl doesn't even flinch is amazing. Just watching Rick slowly break down is again heart breaking, and was Andy L did some amazing acting right there, it all felt so real.
Also Michonne leaving Andrea at Woodbury, ice cold.
Say The Word[]
This episode I feel was a drop in quality, but it was still great.
I thought Rick going crazy at this point was great, however I don't like how they handled the episode as a whole. I feel like the Woodbury scenes were not needed, and simply could be put into another episode. This episode should of focused on one thing: Rick dealing with his recent loss. While Michonne kicking walker ass was great, I feel it didn't fit in with the episode. However this episode was still good, Rick finding the bloated walkers and screaming out as he killed was great. And it ends perfectly with the phone ringing, and him picking it up.
Another good thing about this episode was regarding Daryl. (I know, stab me if you want.) I may be mistaken here but I believe it is in this episode he goes to the daycare and sees a flower on the wall with name 'Sofia' written over it. A nice call back to Season 2 if you ask me, and when Daryl lays a cheeroke rose on Carol's grave, which is another great callback to Season 2. Everyone thinks shes dead at this point if you've forgotten:) Also again with the small funny scenes, Lil' Ass-Kicker was well placed in the episode.
The only good Woodbury scenes in this episode, were the ones featuring Penny. However, my feelings about the whole Penny situtaion could fill a blog, so I'm not going to be talking about that.
Hounded[]
Three things that make this episode great.
Firstly, Rick on the phone to Lori and ect, is again something taken from the comics. While in the comics he does only speak to Lori and not the others, I think it's a nice touch. It's almost as if Rick blames himself for their deaths. When Rick tells Herschel about the phone, Hershcel hears nothing. It's at this point, that Herschel realises that Rick is starting to lose his mind.
Secondly, Maggie And Glenn going on a supply run, and clashing with Merle. That moment, when Glenn realises that the man holding him at gunpoint is Merle Dixon is great. Maggie's clueless of this man, but Glenn knows exactly what he's capable of. Their little talks of survival was intresting and when Merle asks about Daryl, things kick off. Merle abducts them both and takes them back to Woodbury. Finally the two groups have clashed, I know I was happy when it happened.
Finally Michonne. Seeing her little message she leaves for the others was funny and to be honest, quite creepy at the same time. She then jumps out the tree and well shit gets serious. I love seeing this badass Michonne, and seeing her in trouble is cool too. When she sees Glenn and Maggie being abducted, she takes their supplies back to the Prison.
I must admit however, I felt the whole Andrea/Governor realtionship was not a good idea. Sure, her being in Woodbury and having to fight against her old friends was a good idea, but did she have to fuck the Governor? I don't know. I know I'm not the only one.
When The Dead Come Knocking[]
Michonne walks up to the prison fence, and Rick notices that she isn't a walker. She then collapses, and Rick and Carl bring her inside. Rick and Daryl questioning her leads to her revealing that she saw Merle kidnapp Glenn and Maggie, however she doesn't name Merle. Before leaving for Woodbury, Rick and Carl name the baby, Judith. I thought the origins of her name were while a bit weird, pretty cool.
However, where I think this episode excels is between Merle and Glenn. Watching Glenn kill that walker and scream out really showed how much Glenn had evolved from when we first met him. He is man now, he isn't just some boy. And he's going to fucking kick ass. I love how Merle reacts to hearing that they went back for him, it's almost as if he's concerned. I love how Glenn lists names of the people in their group, and Merle just smiles evily, as he knows that Glenn is lying.
The Maggie/Governor rape scene was also a smart twist from something in the comics. Granted, Maggie is not raped but I think it shows that the Governor really is an evil guy. The same thing happens in the comics. Except that Michonne is brutally raped, and it's quite unsettling to read. I'm sort of glad they didn't go down that road for the TV show.
One thing I hate with a passion in this episode, is the whole Andrea/Milton scenes. Why the fuck, is Andrea helping with experiment when she knows full well that the man is dead. She has been to the fucking CDC! She got a pretty clear understanding from Dr.Jenner, why doesn't she tell Milton this?! This was just stupid bad writing if you ask me.
The episode ends with Rick and Co outside the Woodbury walls, ready to attack.
Outro.[]
Okay, I planned to do all sixteen episodes. Big mistake. This blog took me around 90 minutes alone. Well I hope I got my point across, which is that people are too harsh when it comes towards Season 3! Now I will not being a part two for this blog I would assume, as I don't think I have the willpower in me. This blog was a bit rushed so I do apolgise for that, and I am sorry if I made any mistakes, but I hope you enjoyed. :)
- JackTheChineseMonkey