The Walking Dead Season 3 episode 8 recap
Well hello, Tyrese.
It’s the mid-season finale and we pick up with a misty morning and a distant scream as a zombie staggers through the woods. Tyrese pops out from behind a tree to kill the zombie (with a very large hammer). Tyrese’s group is under attack, thus the screaming. One guy gets a righteous zombie kill with a large knife, but some chick gets her arm gnawed on. Which is gross.
Tyrese’s group comes to the prison. No one is there to defend it except Luna Lovegood, Carol and one-legged Herschel because everyone else is out scouting Woodbury. Tyrese also refuses to kill the bit chick, which is obviously a huge mistake.
Andrea reflects on the Governor’s family while staring into a mirror. She’s a big fan of Woodbury now. God do I hate Andrea. I can’t wait until she dies.
So the Governor keeps his zombie daughter, Penny, in a caged-off wall vent or something. He plays her music and sings to her. This is so creepy on so many levels. I’m also wondering how he has not been bitten/scratched by now.
Back to Maggie and Glenn, who’s still beaten to hell. My Glenn crush is out of control. He’s the BEST. I mean, how great is a guy who will tear off a zombie arm, break it apart and pull out the sharp broken bones for his girl to use as a weapon? Forget diamonds, broken zombie bones are totally what every girl wants.
Okay so it’s night again with Rick and his group scoping out Woodbury. So either they’ve been sitting there for a whole twenty-four hours, or the bit at the beginning with Tyrese was supposed to be concurrent with Rick setting off for Woodbury in the daytime. Probably option 2.
Rick’s got crazy eyes.
Michonne buggers off but it turns out she’s got the same idea Rick has, to go around and search out a weak spot on the perimeter. Meanwhile, the Governor explains his entire plan to Merle to take out the prison group (except for Daryl, which if Merle believes that, he’s an idiot). This is a slightly artless conversation. I don’t like it when villains explain their whole plan. Either we can figure it out ourselves, or they should be shifty enough to keep up guessing. At any rate, the Governor orders Glenn and Maggie taken to the “screamer pits”, which must be the zombie traps outside town.
I cannot wait to see what happens when Merle tries to turn Daryl against Rick.
Michonne brings them inside the building where she and Andrea were first held, but Michonne can’t find Glenn and Maggie.
DAMN, Rick! He ambushes some hapless dude who comes in to warn them out of the building. Rick is not messing around, ya’ll.
I love that Axle—that’s his name, right?—thinks Carol is a lesbian because she has short hair. What a dork. Also, he’s a creepy creeper, hitting on Luna Lovegood, who is 17. Carol ends that sh*t quick.
Another ambush! Glenn and Maggie get the drop on Merle and some Woodbury boy, whom Maggie kills with the bones. I love this show. Goddamn*t, once again Maggie caves, threatening when she should just pull the trigger. Merle regains the upper hand. Although, their fight serves to give Rick a position via gunfire.
Rick is on his way, but they’ve got Glenn and Maggie ready to be fed to zombies. Oh it’s coming…the confrontation is coming!
Except not quite yet. The group sets off a smoke grenade, which allows them grab Glenn and Maggie (yay), but prevents Daryl from seeing Merle, who escapes (boo). The gunfire draws the townspeople’s attention, too.
I love how the Governor is constantly stopping Andrea from contributing meaningfully. She’s so used to getting things done, but every time she tries to get into the fray, he stops her. Why does she not understand this is him controlling her? Oh right, because she’s dumb.
The knocked-out dude alerts the Governor to the invasion of Rick’s group. They’re on the run in Woodbury, and they’ve lost Michonne. Rick is feeling especially unaffectionate because he’s like, “Whatever, f*ck her, we’re getting out of here.”
Glenn tells them about Merle, and about how he’s horrible and throws zombies at people. Oh here’s a mini-moment. Daryl wants to go find Merle and try to talk sense at him (HA), but Rick forces the choice. Daryl chooses to stay with the group.
Rick: 1, Merle: 0.
Merle blames the death of the kid Maggie killed on the invaders, which stirs up the Governor (taste of his own medicine, I guess). The Governor calls Rick and his group “terrorists”. Interesting, using what would be, by then, an “old” fear tactic to scare people. Basically he’s got Woodbury terrified of other people but dangerously complacent about zombies. That’s a recipe for disaster. He orders Andrea to stay in town and make sure everyone stays calm. She questions it, but ultimately follows orders. Because she’s dumb.
Oh-ho. Michonne is creeping around the Governor’s house.
Another smoke grenade keeps Andrea from seeing who is “attacking”. She identifies the prisoner, but no one else. And once again the Governor leaves Andrea behind.
Rick, in the smoke and chaos, thinks he sees Shane. But nope, it’s just some dude.
THIS SCENE IS AWESOME.
Except for the part where, just as we’ve been introduced to a new black character (Tyrese), an older one is killed off (the prisoner). Is there some kind of rule on this show that there can’t be more than one black man? What the hell guys?
We’re only halfway through this episode. SO MUCH IS HAPPENING.
Back to the prison. Carl is being all “man of the house”. They hear screams from inside—undoubtedly that bit chick Tyrese didn’t kill—and he goes to explore. Little Carl! Becoming a man! He finds Tyrese and his group dealing with zombies in the locker room and saves them.
God, Tyrese just refuses to leave this chick behind.
Michonne discovers the Governor’s creepy head collection and recognizes the national guardsman from before. Also she find Penny, whom she thinks is a real girl because of the bag over her head, and lets her go. Oh no, the Governor catches her with zombie Penny. He pleads for her “life”.
MICHONNE IS A STONE COLD BADASS.
She runs Penny through with her katana. The Governor flips out, naturally. They have a knock-down, drag-out fight, which results in the spilling of the head tanks. Which is dangerous, because some of them can still bite.
HOLY SH*T. Michonne just stabbed the Governor through the eye with some tank glass.
Andrea bursts in. Let’s see how far gone on the Governor she is. Well not so far gone that she doesn’t let Michonne go. And now let’s see how Andrea rationalizes the tank heads and Penny.
The Governor still has GLASS sticking out of his EYE, by the way.
Okay, let’s deal with this bit chick once and for all. Tyrese’s group is having a hard time letting go, but they’re also down to just three other people, plus Tyrese, now, so they’ve probably lost a few along the way. The chick with Tyrese (and here we go again, another character with no name on record yet) pleads with Carl not to leave them locked in a room.
Sasha? Is that her name?
Tyrese is calm and rational. This bodes well for his future with Rick, who gets to be the only crazy one in the group.
Andrea, asking more questions. How long before she settles for whatever bullsh*t the Governor feeds her about a) why he was fighting with Michonne and b) what’s up with the tank heads. He said the heads were to “prepare him for the horrors outside”.
Oh, Merle. You are in TROUBLE. Because you told the Governor you killed Michonne, but she just about put his eye out with a shard of glass.
The group is outside the wall and Michonne catches up to them. Rick is a little more than mildly pissed off. Also they seem to have lost Daryl.
The Governor rallies his troops. Andrea appears to be swallowing his horse sh*t, of course. Because she’s dumb.
Uh-oh, Merle. The Governor identifies him as one of the “terrorists”, blames him for letting in the invaders. And OMG! They caught Daryl! They’re going to mob-kill Merle and Daryl! Of all the ways to reintroduce the brothers, this is quite shocking. It puts them on the same side! As the implications of Daryl’s presence sink in with Andrea, the Governor riles the crowd.
Here we go…
IN JANUARY.
Status check:
Rick – On his way back to the prison.
The Governor – Minus one eye.
Andrea – Dumb.
Maggie and Glenn – Rescued!
Merle and Daryl – Reunited! But also about to be mob-killed.
Michonne – Stone cold killa.
Tyrese – A new black man, until another one shows up, at which point he will be killed off.
Worst thing seen/heard this week: Glenn tearing out the zombie’s arm bones.
Regular murder of the week: Maggie with the arm bones to the throat.
Zombie kill of the week: Michonne with the katana to Penny’s head.
Photos courtesy AMC
