What happened?
After the prison attack Rick’s group are forced to agree to get along,
even with Merle, and Rick especially must put his mental problems behind him
and take charge. Andrea visits but her efforts to broker a peace are not
accepted and instead Rick decides to take Michonne and Carl with him on a
stealth attack of Woodbury. In Woodbury The Governor allows Andrea to leave and
warily accepts her return whilst also accepting the group that Rick scared away
from the prison as part of the army he is training.
Thoughts
I’ll give The Walking Dead grace for this, what amounts to a rather
dud episode, because the show is more often than not of such high calibre and
my current favourite. And I would also say that this perhaps was an episode
that simply had to deal with some stuff – like having Andrea finally meet the
prison group and Merle becoming a part of the gang and Rick formulating a plan
of attack – in order to position things for more exciting events next. I fully
expect the next episode to be a cracker (and if it isn’t then, in retrospect,
I’ll be less forgiving about this episode).
Let me get some griping out of the way, because for all my
understanding that doesn’t cause me to abandon all critical faculties. First up
is the matter of Rick and the apparent snapping out of his mental issues. I’ll
give the show grace with the belief that I don’t believe he is completely cured
just yet. Even though this episode seemed to show him gathering his senses,
particularly after the sobering moment Carl suggested he step down (a mature
moment from his son that no doubt informed Rick’s decision to assume Carl was
now ready to go out on the mission he had planned). Whilst it’s certainly
welcome that Rick seems more like his old self it’s just too much of a
stretch to have it that a man that was so clearly out of his mind pull it all
together and put that madness behind him. But I would be more surprised if Rick
is entirely clear of his mental demons (indeed, was there a moment where he saw
something in the woods that was a flickering figment of Lori?) so we can still
expect those visions and phantoms to return to him before this season is
through. He still has some reconciliations with his soul to be done before he
walks away conscience-free.
Merle was also another bone of contention for me this episode. I made
the remark in the previous write-up that I didn’t want to see Merle made into a
good guy, neutered. To be fair to this episode they handled the softening of
Merle and his integration into the group pretty well. His ability to shift
allegiances and to try and put behind him the things he had done, like how he
tried to broker some peace with Michonne, were just about believable. I did peg
Merle as a survior and this capacity to adapt both socially and physically are
part of his nature.
But then I think about how Merle was when they first escaped from
Woodbury, screaming abuse at the people who had saved him, and there seemed a
man who was totally incapable of playing nicely with others (which is more in
keeping with the Merle we first met in season one).
Admittedly Merle had proved himself capable of fitting in with a
group, as he had done in Woodbury, so perhaps I should really be blaming
Episode 9 of this season and that moment where Merle was an absolute dick the
moment he was freed from Woodbury. Had it not been for that scene, if he had
instead wanted to try and play nice and simply been rejected (which would have allowed
events to play out precisely as they have done anyway) then his character would
have been more consistently convincing.
I like the idea of Merle being a rogue ally in the group, but at the
same time if he suddenly turns over a new leaf and sees the light to being a
good guy then I’ll lose a lot of respect for the show’s credentials. The
Walking Dead isn’t the type of show that cuts corners or takes the easy
sentimental route, so it better not start now. I did like the moment where
Carol met up with Daryl and implored him not to let his brother drag him back
from how far he had come; it was a good point to make and also reminded us all
that Merle was, and ought to remain, a negative influence that Daryl needs to
overcome.
Honestly, I would not at all be surprised to see it that Daryl will be
forced to kill Merle. His brother will not be able to control his own nature
and Daryl will have to step in and, despite himself, stop him for good. It
would be a similar wrench to the Rick and Shane axis (and that familiarity does
make me hesitate and think the show won’t bother doing the same plot twice).
So Merle and Rick’s character as presented this episode were my two
bugbears for the consistency of the show. Otherwise I thought the episode
simply failed to produce anything exciting. Weirdly I thought it was good that
there wasn’t some sudden surprise burst of action or drama in the final few
minutes to try and rescue the non-eventfulness. The previous episode pulled
that punch to great effect but trying the same thing again, to inject some
action and excitement in the final few minutes, would have felt like a move
designed to please a television audience rather than stay true to the tone. It’s
not so much the lack of action that concerned me, it’s more the lack of
dramatic tension that meant this episode fell flat.
On the plus side Andrea returning to the prison group was the episode’s
high point. The scene was played with a nice level of mistrust and happiness
intermingled, and her asking about the people that were no longer around
hammered home the matter of just how much Rick’s group had lost. The
conversation with Michonne was also welcome, with Michonne being matter of fact
about what she had seen and why she had left and what she had hoped to show
Andrea when she returned, and how little she thought of Andrea going back to The
Governor. Andrea’s prison visit did generate the minor moment of tension at the
end of the episode, when there was the possibility that Andrea would stab The
Governor whilst he slept as had been suggested, but I didn’t for one second
believe she would do it.
Due to my complete certainty that Andrea wouldn’t make a physical
attack against The Governor then the ending just flopped over. It did also
appear that The Governor was awake, feigning sleep, so at least he may now be
more sure that Andrea is loyal to him (though him being him he is unlikely to
fully trust her). I suspect he’s going to continue with his war plans, but how
successful he is in getting that underway, for now at least, has the small
matter of Rick, Michonne and Carl heading out to thwart him before he begins.
Call me cynical, but I don’t think they’re going to be taking The
Governor down easily.
What was the best part?
Andrea returning to the group, hugging and catching up in uncertain conditions
was a good scene for the longterm feel of the show keeping in touch with these
characters that have been there, and with each other, since the beginning. I
did also like Andrea (not something I generally do) for having the courage to
take the journey to the prison and try and do the right thing. It was a futile
endeavour since she didn’t really arrive with anything to trade or bargain with
but seeing her hold ‘little asskicker’ and know that it must have been Daryl
that came up with the name was a tender moment. Andrea was a character that was
in danger of losing the audience’s sympathy and these moments went a long way
to bringing her back.
What do I think will happen next?
I can only assume Rick’s plan is to stage an assassination against The
Governor. They (probably rightly) have figured that if they stop The Governor
then the rest of his people are not going to be inclined to continue his
vendetta. They’ll fail, I am sure. The only way I see The Governor getting
taken down is in the final episode of the season and it’ll be Rick that does
it. (I’ll perhaps get a better sense nearer the end about whether he will die,
but my gut tells me that he’s too good a character to be removed from the show
just yet.)
I don’t know what Andrea will do now she is back in Woodbury; plead
with The Governor to find another way, perhaps. The idea that he may string her
along in agreement to then go against his word doesn’t feel right anymore – he’s
laid out his intentions and she knows he’s been lying to her every step of the
way. So what does Andrea do? She’s in between a rock and a hard place, no
doubt, and I honestly don’t know how she’s going to act.
Lastly, for credulity’s sake, I fully expect Rick’s battle with
madness to plague him some more. It may even be this toll on his sanity, this
breaking of his own code not to take human lives, that prompts him to revise
his plans to kill The Governor. . .
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