The Walking Dead: S03 Ep13 - Arrow On The Doorpost

What happened

Andrea brokered a meeting between Rick and The Governor. Whilst allies on either side bickered and then ultimately relaxed with each other outside, Rick and The Governor failed to form a truce and instead arranged a further meeting in two days where the surrender of Michonne are the bargaining terms. The Governor intends to wipe out Rick and his best people at that meeting, meanwhile Rick goes back to his people and tells them they are going to war. Andrea, torn between two sides, elects to return back to Woodbury and The Governor.

Thoughts

Hmm. I have to confess to feeling a little underwhelmed by this latest set of episodes, with this one feeling like there has been little in the way of advancement. If you consider how things had progressed then there isn't really much that has changed at all. Prior to this episode Rick and The Governor seemed hellbent on going to war with one another and, by the end, well, they are back to being hellbent on going to war with one another.

This episode was good in terms of raising the stakes about what that war means, and seeing The Governor and Rick face off was a tense treat, no question. But with last week's detour off to reconvene with Morgan and this week basically finishing in the same place it started, I think it's fair to question the forward momentum.

The lack of progression is the only bad point I have to raise as, otherwise, this was another strong showing. I did at first wonder if I had missed something in the previous episodes when Rick and The Governor sat down to meet, feeling like this wasn't anything that had been arranged at all, only Andrea then spoke up and it was made clear that her brokering this meeting was something that had occurred in the blank space between this episode and the last one. True to form The Governor was about as trustworthy as a thief in a bank vault, having turned up early to tape a gun to his side of the desk and await Rick's arrival.

The Governor mentioned why he hadn't killed Rick and his group at the prison when he perpetrated the van full of walkers ambush. He rightly stated that he could have stopped them all there and then. He didn't because he was merely showing them what he was capable of (which, considering his ultimate intention of just wiping them out, doesn't make a whole lot of sense). At the time, when he said it to Rick, it sounded reasonable - but in hindsight of his ultimate intention to wipe out this gang it seems strange that he didn't take the opportunity.

The suggestion that he was actually after Michonne as his main prize also seemed slightly off. No question he's mad at her for taking his eye (note how he peeled back his eyepatch when he announced his terms of wanting her as trade), and he'd like to get his hands on her and no doubt torture her - but is his perspective so warped that he'd go to all these lengths? He claimed to not care about Rick and his people, that Michonne was the prize, and even when Rick called him out on that point and suggested he had bigger plans and such petty vengeance was beneath him, The Governor didn’t address it. I’d rather believe that he is using his desire to trade Michonne as a ruse to lure Rick into a trap but I have to say that, overall, The Governor's motivations seem a tad confused rather than clarified.

Rick stood up for himself well. I liked how he called The Governor out when he tried to claim Merle acted against Maggie and Glenn without his permission, after he had claimed he took responsibility for what happened in his town. And Rick then adding that he didn’t claim to be a “Governor” was nicely done. A couple of times he made swipes at The Governor's vanity and, whilst Philip didn’t show it, I got the sense Rick got under his skin. There was, however, always the possibility that Rick might snap, and not in a good way. With The Governor having his hidden gun, to him bringing whiskey out, as well as there always being the feeling that Philip was no fool and might spring a nasty surprise at any moment their scenes kept the edge tick tick ticking. For the lack of progression, for sure, the scenes between Rick and The Governor were what kept this episode highly absorbing.

The other elements of the episode weren’t quite as effective, but still not bad. Daryl and Hershal eventually bonding with their ‘counterparts’ outside of the meeting was nicely handled. The conversation between Daryl and the other guy summed it up, when they acknowledged that today they would talk and share cigarettes and things would seem OK and then the next day they would be back after each other, like enemies. This suggested a wartime feel before the war declaration was made. I was reminded of the story during World War I, on Christmas Day, when the English and German soldiers somehow called a truce across the trenches and united over a game of football during the ceasefire. When it came to it, they were men that had no vested interest in wanting to kill each other but did so because their country’s leaders demanded it.

Cut to Rick and The Governor, warring with words before eventually converting into actual intentions of war. The people, the ‘soldiers’, if it weren’t for The Governor they would mostly get along but, whilst this tension persists, bloodshed is the only course of action they can see.

Hershal and Milton were interesting, and Milton especially got a little more time during this episode to consolidate exactly what his character is about. So far he has seemed like an oddball scientist involved in experiments with the walkers that I interpreted as having a kind of Frankenstein quality. I was wrong about that, and between his experiments to understand the walkers he has also taken to becoming a documentarian of their time, saving the present for future posterity. That act alone indicates Milton is a man of hope; he believes there will be a humanity that will survive this and look back on it and want to understand. If there is a war and all that survive are left to unite, I wouldn't be surprised to see Milton form a part of what would be considered the 'good and righteous' side.

At the prison it was left to Glenn and Michonne to try and keep a muzzle on Merle who, true to form, proved he isn’t interested in playing nicely with others, though he was wanting to go and interfere with the meeting both to look after his brother and potentially put a stop to The Governor once and for all. As The Governor remarked, he is a man that will get the dirty jobs done and so, whilst he can be difficult, I wouldn’t put it past him to have a big say in the fight to come for the benefit of Rick’s side.

The episode’s only real dramatic shift was shouldered on Andrea’s decision of would she join Rick’s group or not. Hershal made it clear that she would be welcomed back but it would mean she was with them. In the end, even despite hearing from Hershal about what had happened with Maggie (alongside all the other things she knows The Governor is responsible for), she went back with Philip. The only reason I can think why she did that is because she believes in her bones that siding with Rick’s group would be a death sentence. When the war comes she believes Rick’s group will be destroyed.

Naturally, I believe she is wrong. The question, the real question for the show’s remaining episodes this season, is what will the human cost of this war be?

What was the best part?

You could really have just edited together all the scenes where Rick and The Governor talked in their meeting and that would present the episode’s high point. The most memorable part for me was when Rick delivered some telling remarks about how The Governor went around calling himself as such. Despite Philip’s remark that it was not a title he bestowed upon himself the words didn’t ring true. That matter cut to the heart of the difference between the two of them. They were both leaders, it was true, but one of them is a leader that had leadership thrust upon him and the other is an egomaniac that will cling onto power by whatever means necessary.

What do I think will happen next?

I’m not sure Rick will even bother attending this meeting they have rescheduled in earnestness, but it may be that both Rick and The Governor will use the prospective meeting as the battleground. It’s certainly The Governor’s intentions. It would actually be a smart plan for Rick to make a move on Woodbury whilst The Governor and his best were away and strike a blow in that manner. Failing that, Rick can only try an assassination attempt or try and fortify his prison and make it a fortress for The Governor to just try and penetrate. I personally think that last idea would be the worst!

I imagine Andrea won't be a willing participant in any war (and The Governor knows it, too) which means she may find herself in an extremely precarious position. I wouldn't be surprised to see Michonne come to her rescue before the end.

Last prediction, as a wildcard element, Merle is not a character that can burn this brightly for long - so I expect he will have a last hurrah making either an attack on The Governor (and possibly succeeding) or turning the tables on Rick. There's a long list of people that deserve to be the one that puts Merle down, but surely the most gruelling would be for Daryl to be forced to do it. Possibly, if Merle steps out of line towards Carol, that will be the tipping point.