Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Walking Dead Returns with “The Suicide King”


The Walking Dead Escape with Merle




Warning, this article contains spoilers! You have been warned.



The Walking Dead was only halfway through season 3 when it left us wondering what would happen to Merle and Daryl after they were labeled terrorists. A lot of what happened at Woodbury was a little confusing and disappointing, but the prison offered many interesting moments.



Rick and the gang still had enough bullets and smoke grenades to rescue Daryl and, to no ones satisfaction, Merle. Merle actually helps them escape by helping them get through the fence. Despite Merle's help, Rick knew that bringing him along would probably end in disaster, especially after the special treatment Glenn and Maggie received. Merle, seeing that the group won't take him, decided to leave. Daryl, not wanting to lose his brother, sticks with Merle. Not even his worries for Carol could stop him.



The people in Woodbury act like scarred sheep. They cheer when they are told to cheer and the slightest scare sends them running. What happens when the town is attacked by an unknown number of people with guns and grenades? The people want to leave the town, unaware of how many zombies or other people with guns could be outside. It would have made more sense if they tried to overthrow the Governor. Then, when a small group of zombies break in, a lot of people just stand around staring as Andrea kills the zombies and the Governor walks in and walks back out just to kill a bitten victim. After Sophia died, I realized I did not care for anyone in the camp but the Governor, Andrea, or Milton. The best anyone else does is provide comedic relieve like Carjulio with his ridiculous name and the way he was handled by Merle.



Back at the prison, Tyreese and his sister Sasha are trying to make a good impression, while Ben and Allen apparently want to kill everyone and take the prison. They even discuss attacking Carol and Carl while they are guarding the supplies. It was a little unsettling that right after that debate, Hershel brings the group weapons, which Tyreese and Sasha quickly grabbed.



It seems every single character needs to have some sort of personal drama. A lot of it is understandable. Carol and Daryl both have to deal with Daryl leaving the group. Tyreese and Sasha are struggling to keep Ben and Allen in line. Andrea and Milton are doing their best at Woodbury. Glenn is becoming increasingly more aggressive after each ordeal. Rick is probably suffering more than anyone with his constant illusions. All it took was a silhouette of Lori before he started scaring everyone in the room while screaming at nothing. The characters that I found behaving strangely were Maggie and Beth. Maggie ended up walking out of Woodbury in relatively good condition, yet she was behaving like she received a worst beating than Glenn. Beth has a prisoner thinking about her, Carl staring at her constantly, and Ben and Allen could easily jump on that wagon. Even so, when Rick returns, she gives him a kiss on the cheek and some very alluring glances. Hershel seems to have the least worries of them all and he is missing a leg.



There was a familiar moment when Axel found out about Oscar's death. He started talking about how good of a friend Oscar was, similar to when Glenn talked about T-dog trying to save the homeless. It was almost like they were comparing Oscar, a criminal, to T-dog, an upright citizen. I found this moment unnecessary and hope Oscar is never mentioned again. Mentioning Oscar only reminds us that he was T-dog's replacement right before being replaced by Tyreese.



I know Michonne didn't offer much, but she can always redeem herself with a good zombie group massacre. Milton seems to be holding things together as best he can, but will his experiments continue. He was clearly experimenting on zombies for the sake of Penny, but now that zombie Penny is dead, will the Governor deem him unnecessary? I'm a little curious what the Governor has been up to. He will walk out of a building and walk into a building, but nothing is telling us what he is doing off-screen. It isn't too far-fetched if he dresses up Penny like a doll and still tries to take care of her.



The people of Woodbury are what ultimately bring down this episode, but everything else makes us wonder how things will play out. I give The Walking Dead: "The Suicide King" a 7 out of 10.


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