The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 5: Say The Word

Another great episode! So far this season they're 5 for 5! 

No doubt about it, this was a seriously messed up and twisted episode. Which is always a good thing, of course. It was probably also one of the goriest so far-- lots of money shots of zombie heads getting chopped in half.

Thoughts (SPOILERS!):

• I was hoping we'd eventually get to see the Governor's daughter, especially after he mentioned her last week, and meet her we did! Seeing him sitting there calmly brushing his animated daughter's hair (and inadvertently ripping out a hunk of skin)... very creepy. Congratulations, Walking Dead. By showing a father tenderly kissing his zombie daughter, you just warped a little child actress for life. 

This scene was straight out of the comic, but there Penny was the Governor's niece rather than daughter. I'm in favor of this change, as I think daughter probably works better than niece. Also in the comic he pulls Penny's teeth so he can kiss her without getting bitten. I don't know if they'll go that far on TV or not-- even on cable.

This also explains why a couple weeks ago the Governor was so interested in Michonne's "domesticated" zombie bodyguards.

• The Governor's notebook-- in which he filled page after page with nothing but hash marks-- kind of reminded me of Jack Torrance's typed pages in The Shining. I'm not quite sure what the notebook meant-- was it a list of Woodbury residents who've died? And whatever the hash marks meant, it had to be something crazy.

• No doubt about it-- Michonne is a badass. The way she dispatched those caged zombies without even breaking a sweat was awesome!

• Glad to see Michonne finally gave Andrea an ultimatum and got the hell out of Woodbury. Probably just in time too. Too bad Andrea wouldn't listen. One would think that when told the Governor's keeping caged zombies in the compound that she'd have perhaps become a little suspicious, but no. Looks like Andrea may have missed her chance to get out when she could. I'm starting to see how the rest of the season may play out-- Michonne wanders around for a while and finds the prison, Rick & Co. find out she knows Andrea and they all return to Woodbury to rescue her.

I have to keep reminding myself that Andrea and Michonne are good friends and have known each other for quite a while, even though from our point of view it seems like they've just met. It's an odd situation-- in the show's timeline they've been together for eight months, much longer than is apparent to us.

• I was also quite surprised that the Governor actually let Michonne leave. As she walked away from the front gates I half expected the guards to start shooting at her.

• Glenn tells Herschel how great his good pal T-Dog was. Too bad we were never actually shown any of this greatness while he was still around.

• So Carol apparently died last week too? That's what the writers would like us to think, as Daryl lays a Cherokee Rose on her grave. If she really is dead, what a gyp. She never even got a death scene. Did they think three major deaths in one episode was one too many? 

Frankly I'm suspicious. Years of reading comic books have taught me that a person ain't dead if you didn't see the body. But if she's not really dead, then what's in the grave? Did Glenn and the convicts go to the trouble of digging a grave only to fill it back in with dirt? Or did they bury a mangled body they only thought was Carol? I may be way off here, but I just have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her.

• Poor Carl. When asked what he wants to name his new baby sister, he predictably says "Sophia." But then he goes on and lists the names of the dozen or so other women he's seen die in his short life.

• Luckily the writers seem to be asking most of the same questions we in the audience are-- namely what the hell do you feed a newborn baby after its mother dies and you're living in an abandoned prison? 

• So... Rick. Kind of went off the deep end this week, didn't he? He only had one line of dialogue in the entire episode-- his quizzical "Hello?" at the very end when he picked up the phone. If you're a reader of the comic, you'll know who was on the other end.

I didn't understand the scene in which Rick went all Medieval on the big-bellied zombie. After watching it a couple times I think what happened is that zombie ate Lori's body. Rick found the area where she gave birth and died-- the knife Maggie used to cut open Lori was still lying there. Then he found a zombie a few feet away with a huge distended gut. So I think they were implying that that zombie came across Lori's freshly-killed body and ate the entire thing. So Rick killed it by shooting it in the head and then decided to kill it some more by stabbing it in its bloated belly. Again, another incredibly disturbing and messed up scene.

Also, I'm assuming there was probably more than just that one zombie that ate Lori. I know his belly was bulging, but I don't think it's possible for someone to eat an entire person.

• Daryl really stepped up and became the de facto leader this week in Rick's (mental) absence. He even got to feed the baby! Aww... 

They need to be careful here with Daryl. I get that they're trying to make him a well-rounded character and have him open up a little bit around the group, but they shouldn't take it too far. They run the risk of him turning into Lt. Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation. When Worf first appeared he was a fierce and ruthless Klingon warrior, but by the seventh season he was a single father and was in a relationship with the touchy-feeling Counselor Troi.

• OK, I freely admit Merle's quite a hardcase, but it was a bit of a stretch to accept the notion that he could defeat a beefy, muscular opponent half his age. And one handed yet!

• Andrea goes to the Woodbury zombie fights and realizes way too late that she should have left with Michonne. 

By the way, the zombie games were in the comic, but seemed much more epic there. In the comic version they were held in an actual stadium, packed with Woodburians. The TV games were really scaled down. Budget problems? Or was it the fact that according to the Governor there are only 70 residents of Woodbury?