Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 10: Home

SPOILERS!

• We get Crazy Rick again this week, as he actually walks right out of the prison (leaving the gates wide open) and into the woods beyond, lured there by Ghost Lori.

• Did Crazy Rick contract the hantavirus this week? With his pale, clammy appearance he looks more diseased than crazy. He'd better be careful or he's going to be mistaken for a walker.

• Why is TV Michonne pulling guard duty in this episode? Last week Rick said as soon as she was healed he wanted her gone. Did the others ignore his wishes? Did Crazy Rick not notice she's still there? Did I miss an episode in which there was a reconciliation? Did we skip a reel?

• Speaking of TV Michonne, I had to laugh when she peeked around the bus and saw Rick standing in the swamp making out with his invisible ghost wife.

• Speaking of TV Michonne again, I actually liked her this week. She managed to act somewhat like a human being instead of a snarling, cornered animal. She even said a complete sentence instead of growling out a one-word answer, and offered to help the group. See, writers? It's not that hard to write TV Michonne as a human being.

• Aw, Daryl's so cute when he spits just like his big brother!

• The Daryl/Merle subplot felt a bit rushed to me. It would have been better if their storyline had played out over an entire episode. Or maybe not. A whole hour of the two of them yelling at one another could have got old real quick.

• Did anyone NOT think Merle would eventually end up at the prison?

• TV Andrea continues to vex me. This week the Governor gives her a half-baked excuse about how he tried to keep his zombie daughter "alive" in the hope that Milton could somehow bring her back (he must think Milton is freakin' god or Dr. Frankenstein!). TV Andrea seems to accept this lame answer hook, line and sinker.

OK, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt regarding Penny. But what about the tanks full of zombie heads? What possible excuse could he offer for those? And why doesn't TV Andrea bring it up?

• Later TV Andrea can't find the Governor and asks Milton where he is. Milton sputters and stammers in a way that would make Woody Allen proud, saying he thinks he "went on a run." This doesn't raise any red flags in TV Andrea's mind. Nah, he's just on a supply run. He couldn't possibly be heading toward the prison for revenge.

• Axel! What R U Doing? Axel! Stahp! Dammit Axel, you know better than to talk about your back story on this show. Every time someone starts doing so they get a bullet to the head five minutes later. You asked for this.
 

• If nothing else, Axel made an awesome human shield for Carol.

• So every one of the five prisoners Team Rick encountered at the beginning of the season (which seems like it started a couple years ago) is now dead. Prior to meeting Rick and Co. the prisoners had it pretty good-- they were protected from zombies, they had plenty of supplies and no one messed with them. Then Rick shows up and in less than a month they're all slaughtered (at least two by Rick himself!) This only confirms my theory that Rick Grimes is the devil, spreading death and despair wherever he goes.

• Where the hell is Tyreese and his crew in this episode? Did the writers forget about them? Last week after Crazy Rick had his hissy fit, Tyreese politely excused himself and slowly backed out of the room with his gang. Did they run back to their cell, grab their stuff, say, "Screw this sh*t!" and take their chances back in the wild?

• How did the Governor's sniper get up on the prison tower? Did I miss something?

• Once again, TV Michonne is awesome as she dispatches a couple hundred walkers singlehandedly. If only she could be that awesome when she's not killing something.

• I think the Governor should have waited a week or so before attacking. It would have ratcheted up the tension in the prison as they waited, wondering just when his retaliation would come. His attack seemed a bit rushed.

• Merle let a tiny bit of humanity show through the cracks in his asshole facade when he said he can't go back to the prison because he tried to kill Michonne and Glenn. I doubt Merle's ever going to become a sympathetic character, but it was nice touch to see that he's not as cold as he'd like everyone to believe.

By the way, Merle's mistaking Glenn as Chinese rather than Korean and answering "Whatever!" is a callback to the first season, when Daryl made the exact same mistake. A hint that Merle's racist attitude might be softening?

• It was interesting to see Merle's reaction to his little brother finally standing up to him.

• The scene in which Merle accidentally pulled Daryl's shirt off and saw the whippin' scars on his back (and realized that after he left, Daryl became their father's target) was also well done.

• So Merle AND Daryl had planned to rob the group of supplies back in Atlanta, before Rick joined them. Interesting.

• The Governor's crew and Team Rick both need some target practice. Both sides shot off several thousand rounds with only two casualties.

Expect lots of yelling and screaming next week as Merle moves into the prison!

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