If there was ever an episode that would mimic a video game, this was it.
The mid-season finale of season three “The Walking Dead†was basically a shoot-em-up. Maybe during the continuation of season three that will take place in a few months, fans will get to see an expansion pack of some sort. This episode contained non-stop action. We finally got to see the character everyone has been waiting for.
Tyrese, a pivotal character from the comic book series, synonymous with the grit that has made it a resounding success, has finally arrived, along with his group. Although their scenes were limited, it was exciting to see they finally made it to the party- and will definitely play a big part in the second half this season.
The episode starts off with a new group of people running through the woods and avoiding walkers. From the get go you have a feeling it is Tyrese. When a member from the group finally confirms it by calling his name, a sigh of relief and a feel good moment is created.
Chad Coleman, well-known for his role as “Cutty†on “The Wire†plays the tough guy. With a member of their team bitten, they come across what looks to be an abandoned hideout.
While Rick and the group invade Woodbury, they sneak in and rescue Glenn and Maggie. As all of this mayhem takes place in Woodbury, Andrea is still clueless on what is going on. She has no idea that Rick and the group are in town. Meanwhile Michonne discovers the Governor’s fish tanks full of the heads of walkers, and Penny, the Governor’s daughter, who is also a walker.
The best part of this episode is the fight between The Governor and Michonne, which ends up in him losing his eye, but getting his life saved from Andrea who happened to walk in on them right before Michonne was about to finish the job.
Rick and the group continue to eliminate members of the Governor’s army by throwing smoke grenades and shooting them with AK 47s. It was almost comical how this part of the episode resembled a mission of a video game, accompanied by a few lame cut scenes. Although Rick, Michone and several other members of the group got out safe, Daryl was left behind. An interesting part of this episode was Rick’s hallucination of Shane. This time he looked quite different, sporting longer hair and a beard. It turned out that he was one of the Governor’s cronies after all.
Back at the prison, Carl hears yelling and decides to go investigate. Herschel demands he doesn’t, but knowing how much growing up and smarter Carl has gotten this first part of the season, he convinces Herschel to let him go. Carl discovers Tyrese and his group escaping from Walkers. It turns out the abandoned hideout from the beginning of the episode was in fact part of the prison. While Carl leads Tyrese and his group back to Herschel and the rest, he decides to keep them behind bars, insisting that it is safe for everybody.
A one-eyed Governor rounds up his army and the residents of Woodbury and says that Merle is a terrorist, and turns out he has captured Daryl as well. The episode ends up with the Governor deciding that both Daryl and Merle are to be killed, leaving the mid-season finale open-ended until February.
Overall this episode was exciting. It had plenty of action and kept you on your toes throughout. With that said, this episode also lacked a solid ending that made fans excited for the show to return. Although we do get to see Tyrese, it wasn’t enough that “made” the episode.
Another drawback was the Governor’s role as the villain. Although David Morrissey did display exquisite acting in this episode, the result is starting to become quite boring and repetitive. The story line that is set up for the remainder of the season is quite repetitive and boring as well. It looks like the Governor will now try and invade the Prison. This mid-season finale started out solidly, but ended quite dull.
Leave a Reply