HoppyDaze
Well-Known Member
BigPicture said:Arnold Schwarzenegger will swoop down in a Huey with a Daisy Cutter & make Woodbury Swiss cheese!
Well he did say he'd be back
BigPicture said:Arnold Schwarzenegger will swoop down in a Huey with a Daisy Cutter & make Woodbury Swiss cheese!
The whole thing was too convenient. They wrapped up a few things, but did it unconvincingly. The most well-armed group we've seen on the whole show gets run off by a couple of zombies and a few flash grenades? Stupid.
And I totally agree: drop the shotgun or get shot. Cops don't say "hand me your weapon!" for a reason. It's "Drop the Gun!" Carl did the right thing, without question.
My big question is why stay at the prison? Why not keep Woobury? Very strange.
I totally agree, I felt like given what we have to be willing to forget about reality, this episode still tried to feed us **** and call it meatloaf. I thought Carl did the right thing, but based on the reactions of other characters I'm not sure if they're supposed to be "soft" or if Carl was supposed to have done something animalistic. If it's the latter, then I feel like the scene could have been shot to show that. The way I saw it, there was the suspense that the teenager might have shot Carl but Carl made like Han Solo and shot first.
Wait, so they moved the people of Woodbury into the prison? Why didn't Rick's group move to Woodbury if the Governor wasn't there? Did I miss something?
I'd like to soak a large carwash sponge in my okra mead and throw it at Andrea's face when she is in mid-sentence.
Think about it: Woodbury got infiltrated multiple times, the prison not so much.
I'm not sure that I follow. The Governor's group got in the prison twice, and Tyreese's group got in
I'm not sure that I follow. The Governor's group got in the prison twice, and Tyreese's group got in
Tyreese should let them know there's a breech and take corrective measures
1st time they were unprepared
2nd time they were lured in
Tyreese should let them know there's a breech and take corrective measures
of course, this is the Walking Dead, where they search the woods for a missing child in a single file
Now I can go back to counting down the days until Breaking Bad is back on the air.
The Walking Dead season finale replaces its epic confrontation with some epic bullsh*t
Well, I can’t accuse The Walking Dead of being inconsistent. The season finale perfectly encapsulated the entirety of season 3 — a lot of padding, a few great character moments, and most of all, SOME TOTAL BULL****.
Let me say that season 3 is still the best season of The Walking Dead, but in no thanks to “Welcome to the Tombs,” a finale that pretty much completely squanders the whole Prison-vs.-Woodbury storyline that the show has been focusing on all season. Were you expecting an awesome showdown between the two factions? Were you perhaps expecting it to be extra awesome, since the show kept delaying **** until the finale? Well, too bad. Because you know who singlehandedly defeats the Governor’s forces? THE ****ING GOVERNOR.
Yes, after a incredibly lengthy search of the prison — which I actually began to think Rick and crew had actually abandoned because 1) the prison sucks, 2) fighting the vastly superior, better equipped forces of the Governor is a terrible idea — it turns out Rick has funneled the Governor’s forces into a trap, which Rick transforms into a slaughterhouse, killing countless people (many of whom are not the Governor’s goons, but merely regular townsfolk who believe they’re hunting down the terrorists who keep killing their people). The Woodburians run like hell, and I don’t think any of them even manage to get a shot off at Rick or his people.
So naturally the Governor is perturbed when he finally catches up to his fleeing soldiers, hightailing it home on an armored bus; he cuts them off and asks them what the hell they’re doing. One woman, not unreasonably, points out most of the Governor’s forces are not soldiers, that the Prison people are obviously willing to kill to defend their horrible home, and maybe everybody should leave everybody the hell alone.
The Governor takes this badly, and when I say “badly” I mean he guns down 42 or so of his own people. It’s shocking, certainly, but not because the Governor is a crazy bastard, which whe knew, but because it negates the entire conflict of the whole goddamn season. Which, in all honesty, would have fine — awesome, actually — if this had been a conflict that had lasted for weeks, or been an actual war which occurred over several episodes; instead, we get 15 episodes of build-up only to have the have the Governor call the game after five minutes on account of being a psychotic bastard. It’s bull****, is what it is. And, although season 3 is certainly stronger than season 2 (by a long shot), this season 3 finale is definitively worse than the season 2 finale. Period.
The Governor drives off with his two remaining troops, accidentally leaving one woman (the one who asked if everybody could go home, quelle coincidence) hidden under another corpse. Eventually, Rick, Michonne and Daryl, who are travelling to Woodbury to “finish the job,” come across the massacre and the woman, who tells them that Andrea had escaped and left for the prison several days ago. Rick knows she didn’t obviously make it, and they head to Woodbury to figure out what’s up.
What’s up is two things: 1) Tyreese and Sasha have bowed out of the Governor’s mission, offering to help protect the children, the elderly and the infirm while all the able-bodied people go off to war; and 2) The Governor has stabbed Milton many, many times in the gut and left him to die in the room where Andrea is tied up, effectively sentencing her to death by zombie (the Governor’s favorite). Milton did sneak her a pair of pliers before his stomach got aerated, but it becomes a race to see if Andrea will manage to free herself before Milton dies and turns.
Once at the prison, after brief exchange of fire, the Woodbury Person Rick Found manages to explain what has happened to a shaken Tyreese, who lets them into Woodbury. They all head to the Governor’s dungeon (they remember where it is, having helped rescue Glenn and Maggie from it previously) and find Andrea sitting next to Milton’s zombie corpse… but also missing a part of her neck.
Yes, Andrea is no more. She dies as she lived, having done the right thing but still being really annoying somehow. She talks about how all she wanted to do was keep anybody from being killed, even the Governor, whom she had the opportunity to murder a few times after she returned to the prison. She seems a lot more satisfied with herself than observant of how completely she failed, but since she has to blow her own brains out while being held by a sobbing Michonne, so it’s difficult to be too hard on her.
In the very beginning of the episode, Milton and the Governor have an important exchange: Milton asks the Governor what his daughter would think of him now, and he hisses, “She’d be afraid. But she’d be alive.”
It’s been a key theme this season — how, in the new zombie-filled, ex-civilized world, one has to be brutal to stay alive and to keep others safe. Andrea is clear proof; if she’d killed the Governor when she had a chance, she’d be alive, Merle would be alive, and all the Woodburians Rick and the Governor killed today would be alive. We all remember how Rick let that prisoner go, who came back to back to bite him metaphorically (and getting T-Dogg bitten more literally). And the season has shown us again and again how the Governor’s hardcore kill-anyone-who-might-possibly-be-a-threat-in-any-way policy worked out quite well for Woodbury, at least until Rick started messing with things and the Governor decided his vengeance was a lot more important than his townspeople.
It’s a lesson that Rick himself has been espousing for the entirety of the season, ever since he established his Rick-tatorship at the end of season 2. Which is why it should surprise no one, especially not Rick, that Carl finally guns down someone — a non-Walker — in cold blood tonight. We’ve joked about the tiny psychopathic angel of death Carl has become, but tonight finally gave us a consequence of The Walking Dead’s post-apocalyptic world that’s more than just being eaten by zombies.
Rick may have been keeping his group safe, but at what cost to Carl? Is his life worth more than his humanity? The Governor, having lost his daughter, clearly thinks so; but here we have the flip side of the coin. It’s the best moment from the episode, but man oh man, does it not make up for the complete non-ending to the season. At the end of the episode, Rick brings back Tyreese and all of Woodbury’s kids and old people to the prison, so it looks like he’s recovered his humanity (the absence of Ghost Lori seems to confirm this). This sets up a conflict — and a question — that could power the entirety of 4, if done right (and could have made season 3 awesome, if they had done it right this time).
• I was going to be so impressed that Rick and everybody actually left the prison, a decision that would make made so much sense. Then the killing began, and I sighed.
• Then at the end of the episode I was worried they were leaving the prison, after all the horrible bull**** they’d done to keep it, but it was just Rick bringing in a bus full of children and old people.
• One of my biggest problems of this season is how unlikable Rick has been, so I very much welcome his return to being a decent human being by accepting the Woodburians — although it does seem weird that he and his people just murdered a great many of their family members and friends earlier that day.
• The two guys who got in the truck after the Governor gunned down 42 technically innocent people on his own side are the stupidest ****ing people ever.
• It’s nice to finally get Tyreese on Team Rick, although that whole business about Rick psychotically screaming at him to leave effectively throwing him, his sister and his compatriots back to the zombies isn’t addressed). Hopefully it’ll come up next year; I’m not looking for needless squabbles between the survivors, but TWD introduced the goddamn problem, so now it needs to address it.
• Speaking of, Michonne does talk to Rick about that whole “being given to the Governor as a blood sacrifice”-thing from last episode, and she doesn’t blame him for what Merle did, and she understands Rick had to consider it. I think it addresses that conflict nicely. Although her forgiveness his much more about her being human than looking out for her best interests.
• I’m actually glad the Governor’s alive — and I’m glad he’s gone completely off the reservation, which should make his next appearance as terrifying as the Governor’s first appearance in the comics.
• No one likes a tattletale, Herschel.
• Zombie Kill of the Week: I was thinking about giving it to Michonne’s double horizontal head separation, but I think I’ll award it to Carol's efficient, by-the-book machete to the head. Carol doesn’t get enough credit.
• Hey. Andrea. Glenn took out a walker while completely tied to a chair. Sure, your chair was bolted down, but both your arms were free. Just sayin’.
This whole season, The Walking Dead looked like it was heading for yet another apocalypse. With a narrative as straightforward as this one (in the sense that surviving is the main, and often the only, objective) and the shows heavy serialization, the arc seemed predictable. Rick and friends got set up in the prison, but just over the horizon was the lovely, seemingly idyllic town of Woodbury, where the charming Governor held sway. Even if you hadnt read the comics (and I have, which I think colored my expectations somewhat), it looked like these two groups would have to deal with each other, and as the Governor became more and more blatantly threatening, that confrontation was inevitably going to be violent. There would be some sparring here and there and maybe a tenuous sort of peace, but eventually, someone would go too far. Which the Governor pretty much did when he kidnapped Maggie and Glenn last fall. Now all that was left was to determine just how many regular cast members would drop in the finale. Maybe all those years of watching Buffy and playing video games have rotted my mind, but I was expecting a boss fight, with explosions, small tragedies, and zombies.
Well, thats what we got, but Welcome To The Tombs was smarter than a simple fight to the death, and while that meant sacrificing finality (the Governor surviving is something of a mixed blessing), it also meant telling stories that veered dangerously close to optimism. For once, the show ended on a not-entirely-despairing note, finding a compromise between utter despair and naive stupidity that helped to alleviate the unending grimness in a way that doesnt come across as cheating. It wasnt a perfect hour, and once again, there are characters behaving in ways that shouldve have been better established over the course of the entire season, rather than just randomly getting pulled out of a hat in the last hour. But it still holds together, and it makes the arc of the season seem cleaner in retrospect. And hey, Andreas dead, so I guess that should make everyone happy.
Might as well start there, as its the best part of the episode: The Governor, having realized that Milton betrayed him, decides to kill two birds with one stone and stabs Milton in the stomach, leaving him to bleed to death locked in the torture room with Andrea. Its a nasty piece of business, as the Governor first tells Milton he can walk out of the room alive, but only if he takes Andrea out first. When Milton refuses, he finds out that all his choices are gone, even his moral ones. As the Governor explains, In this life now, you kill or you die. Or you die and you kill. Over the rest of the hour, intercut with scenes from the prison and around Woodbury, Andrea tries to free herself from her handcuffs with the pliers a pre-stabbed Milton left under her feet. This is about as rudimentary as suspense gets, but in a good way; the situation is stark and uncompromised, and it gives us a chance to spend a little more time with Milton and Andrea before the inevitable. Of the two, I think Ill miss Milton slightly more, mostly because it feels like he died just as he was getting interesting. After seeing this episode, it becomes obvious that his arc was supposed to be man of science turning a blind eye until he realizes there are some lines he cant cross, which wasnt really clear for a lot of the season. At first he was just a polite, slightly creepy guy, and then he disappeared for a while. He had a few good scenes overall, and it was nice to be surprised by someone acting in a positive manner for once, but now, hes dead, and a lot of potential has been lost. (Plus, Dallas Roberts was really good. Viva Rubicon!)
As for Andrea, shell be missed less, but the last couple episodes managed to make her somewhat more sympathetic. While Im not sure I completely buy her assertions that she stuck around Woodbury because she was just trying to save everyone, its interesting how the idea fits back into one of the shows main themes: Compromise kills. The Governor was a broken, evil man, and no amount of negotiation or pillow talk was ever going to set him right. Because she couldnt accept that, Andrea dies, and points to the show (and Glen Mazzarra, who scripted this episode) for having it happen in a way that doesnt make her or the Governor look like an idiot. Milton may have provided her with a way to escape, but the door was still locked. So Andrea got herself free just in time to fight back, but it wasnt enough, because a lot of the time, thats what happens. So she dies. Her final scene is a fine grace note for a character who never quite came into focus over the course of the series and fits in, oddly enough, with Carls lecture to Rick: If you leave the monsters alive, they will come back and kill you. Andrea couldnt take out the Governor when she had the chance, and now, she has to pay the price.
Also paying the price: nearly everyone in the Governors armed attack on the prison. The show does a decent fake-out by making it seem like Rick and the others have left before the fighting starts, but it was all a clever ruse to lure the Governor and his people in, freak them out with zombies, and then attack them from on high. The ruse works, maybe a bit easier than it should, but when the Governor tries to order his people to go back, they refuse. So he snaps and starts shooting them. Given the shows willingness to undercut any theme more complicated than You will die if it will lead to an effective shock, its hard to know exactly what to make of this beyond the very obvious: The Governor is a bad guy. But what drove him to this point? And what makes him different from Rick? On the one hand, this seems to confirm Carls speech, because if somebody had done the smart thing and killed the Governor when they had a chance, much of this would not have happened. But on the other hand, the problem with being ready and willing to kill anyone who becomes dangerous, or even suggests the possibility of becoming dangerous, is the same problem you get when youre holding a hammer: Every problem starts to look like a nail. The Governor opened fire on his people because rage overwhelmed him and because hes decided that the only way to survive is to take out anyone who stands in his way. It wasnt a logical decision, and his victims werent posing a threat, but maybe if he wasnt so inclined to kill outsiders to save himself the trouble of having to deal with them, he might not have gone so starkly mad. And maybe Carl, who shoots one of the Governors men even after the guy has surrendered, is heading down the same road.
But I mentioned optimism, right? Well, Glenn and Maggie are still with us, despite both seemingly offering themselves up for the slaughter last week by daring to share a happy moment. Michonne is cool with Rick considering giving her over to her worst enemy, so thats nice. When Rick, Daryl, and Michonne head to Woodbury to try and take care of the Governor problem once and for all, they find Karen, the lone survivor of the Governors massacre, who provides them with an easy way to convince Tyreese and Sasha of their good intentions. (It helps that Tyreese and Sasha had both already decided they needed to get out of town soon.) And in the end, Rick takes all the Woodbury survivors, i.e. all the folks who were unable to fight, back to the prison. Its a moment freighted with symbolism, contrasting a life of unearned peace built on lies, with a life of dread built on the truth, and while we dont really know the Woodbury citizens well enough for this to really work, its a decent twist. The biggest problem with Welcome To The Tombs (and the flaw that makes it a mostly good episode, rather than a terrific one) is that even with Andrea and Miltons death, it doesnt really feel like a finale. While the Governor is temporarily stripped of his power, hes still alive, out of his mind, and presumably very angry at our heroes. The Woodbury experiment is done for, but its been so long since that was relevant that its ending doesnt come across as all that important. Another year dealing with the Governor running around sniping folks doesnt sound all that promising. But who knows what next season will bring. Its a lovely gesture of Rick to bring over all those people, for him to decide that he needs to try and help people, that he cant just close everyone out. Yet these are still mouths hes going to have to feed, and more bodies means more enemies, lurking behind a heartbeat.
Stray observations:
It hadnt occurred to me, but Alan Sepinwall asked on Twitter why Rick didnt just choose to bring his group over to Woodbury instead of locking everyone in a prison that arguably doesnt have enough room (at least, not enough clean room) to support them. I dont honestly know. I guess the prison is more defensible if the Governor decides on a surprise attack.
Speaking of Twitter, apparently this episode upset some people. I liked it for the most part, but it really doesnt seem like much of an ending. And the Governor should have died; this is not a show that can really handle long, drawn-out conflicts.
Its been fun. This season has been a significant step up from the last two, so lets all pretend it will keep getting better next fall.
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