Welcome to Walking Dead Weekly! As the title implies, each week (bearing a new episode of course), we’ll be taking a look at the latest episode of the AMC series. I’ll let you know how I felt about each weekly offering, and will also compare it to what Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were doing with the comic at the same time.

Last week we saw Rick deal with the death of his beloved (though not lately) Lori: he did what anyone would do in that situation and went INSANE. Rick spent the episode chopping up walkers, kicking Glenn’s ass, and having about as many lines as T-Dog on a good day. We also learned that even in this world, babies need to eat! Luckily enough, formula is apparently in abundance as Maggie and Daryl didn’t have to look very hard to find it. Things got way more interesting in Woodbury, as Michonne decided to leave (though Andrea chose the opposite), and we saw a sickeningly sweet side to Governor Phillip. The episode closed with a serious “what the?” moment, as Rick heard a phone ring for the first time since he woke up in this hell.

You know the drill. There are spoilers below, so don’t read until you’ve watched! Let’s jump right into Hounded.

Episode Thoughts – ‘Hounded’

I hate Merle. I just hate him. I hated him as the racist, ignorant asshole in season one, and I hated him the moment I saw his face again in the current season. I was relieved that Rick locked him up on that roof, as I never wanted to see his annoying face again. Of course, that isn’t the way things would work out.

Does everyone else love this guy? Am I just crazy? He rubs me the wrong way, and I seem to have a really hard time enjoying any moment he’s in. I didn’t love Hounded, and I’m not really sure if it’s because it wasn’t as strong an episode as we’ve been getting, or because Merle falls front and center for a lot of it.

Hounded opens with Merle and his team on the hunt for Michonne, who left the community after learning a little too much about it. Michonne has spent most of the zombie apocalypse alone, so she proves to be a very formidable opponent. She ends the interaction severely injured, but alive, as Merle returns to the Governor (minus the rest of his group) to tell him that she’s dead. This whole sequence is split throughout the course of the episode, and is just nowhere near as intriguing as anything else that’s going on. The only real interesting thing here is that Michonne learns that walkers are attracted by smell, so after being covered in undead guts they simply pass right by her. We of course already knew this, as we saw it way back in season one.

Remember that CRAZY moment at the end of Say the Word when a freaking phone started ringing? We return to the prison just seconds after the end of the last episode, just in time to hear what pans out. The woman on the other end is apparently from another, safer group of survivors. After what just happened with Rick’s gang, he of course wants to join up, but the woman isn’t quite ready to trust him yet. She promises to call again in just a few hours, as Rick begs her to reconsider.

Rick very briefly meets with the rest of the group to learn what they’ve been up to: everyone’s running low on ammo, Axel is trying to fix the generator, Carl’s okay (yeah right), and Maggie and Glenn are set to make a supply run later that day. Satisfied, Rick returns to whatever the hell he’s been doing since Lori died.

Back at Woodbury, Andrea decides she should earn her keep if she’ll be staying in the town. She asks to be put on the wall to keep her skills up, and just moments after starting her first shift she breaks the rules, jumps over, and knifes a walker up close. Then, after even more innuendo than usual between her and Governor Phil, the pair finally decide that it’s time to hit the sheets. I think this must have been the most drawn out hookup ever seen on television, but it will be awesome to see how she reacts when she learns who the Governor really is.

Rick receives another call, this time from a male that sounds strangely similar to Dale. The two go back and forth before coming to the touchy subject of Lori’s death. When Rick won’t share how she passed, the man hangs up, and Rick understandably flips out. He receives another call shortly afterwards and things begin to get even weirder: he never mentioned his name, yet the woman ends up calling him by it. What the hell?

Carl, Oscar, and Daryl decide to head deeper into the cell block to clear out any stragglers. Here we get a touching interaction between Carl and Daryl, who share the tale of their mother’s deaths, and genuinely look to bond before the conversation is through.

Hounded is over half finished before things get really interesting. Maggie and Glenn stop on their supply run, and who else but Merle comes across them (small world huh). He starts off cheery, seemingly glad to see his old “friend” Glenn. Merle of course asks the status of his brother, and freaks out when Glenn tells him that Daryl is alive, but won’t reveal his whereabouts.

Merle takes the pair hostage and brings them back to Woodbury. He tells the Governor that they look like they’re doing pretty well for themselves. SHIT.

Does anyone remember Carol? The group spent about 100 episodes looking for her lost daughter in season two, but when she disappears amidst all the shit in Killer Within, nobody says a freaking word, let alone tries to find her. That being said, in Hounded Daryl finds her, holed up and hungry after being missing for days. It’s fitting that Daryl is the one to finally locate Carol (still alive), as after everyone had given up hope on Sophia, he didn’t and continued hunting for clues (though admittedly, for much too long).

Rick receives another call, and here we get another big reveal: he’s just crazy. The phone didn’t ring, there’s nobody on the other end. He’s been talking to dead people for the whole episode. While I thought this was an amazing twist in the comics, because the phone is introduced and concluded so quickly here, I feel it didn’t really have the same effect. Once Rick realizes that he’s crazy however, the crazy seems to go away. He finally heads back to the group and holds his new, nameless baby for the first time.

This touching moment doesn’t last long however. As the group heads outside, Rick sees something way off in the distance. He heads down to the walker infested fence, where he lays his eyes on Michonne for the first time. Six episodes in, we get our first bridge between the prison and Woodbury.

I feel as though Hounded was likely the weak point in season 3 so far (though the weak point of something as awesome as The Walking Dead has been lately, is still pretty damn good). It was necessary in order to set things in motion (Michonne FINALLY at the prison, Glenn and Maggie headed to Woodbury), but much of the episode felt like filler to me. While I liked the telephone in the comic, the whole thing came and went too quickly to be really effective here, and Merle hunting Michonne for such a large chunk of the episode felt largely unnecessary. Don’t get me started on Carol. If there’s been one poor choice made in crafting the story for season three, it’s the fact that she was simply forgotten (and once she finally was remembered, the situation concluded almost instantaneously). I loved how remorseful Daryl appeared after finding her knife, I just wish that someone had cared at least enough to mention her before this scene.

The season has been pretty phenomenal so far, so I can’t really complain about anything I may not have loved here. Of course we were also treated to a sneak peek of next week’s offering, so be sure to check out the trailer for episode seven, When the Dead Come Knocking. I can’t wait to see what happens now that Woodbury and the prison gang will know of each others existence.

Of course, let us know what you thought of the episode below!

Comic Comparison

Shit’s getting pretty different, both for better and for worse!

On the awesome side: Woodbury. We’re getting much deeper into the community than we ever did in the comic. The place is interesting as hell, and its leader, Phillip ‘Governor’ Blake is wildly intriguing too. It’s too bad that Andrea, who has had a string of bad relationships in the show, is falling for this bad dude so shortly after things with Shane came to an end. On paper of course, Andrea has fallen for the still alive version of Dale, and the two have found themselves a family after multiple parents are killed.

Woodbury’s has its baggage in the AMC version of course. The man with one hand, Merle Dixon. Seriously, fuck that guy. I’d rather spend an evening with the Governor than have to see him again. This is just my opinion of course, but everyone I’ve spoken to said they could do without this Dixon too.

Not so awesome: that damn phone. I loved the storyline in the comic. Rick had hope, there were more survivors, people that could help the tired, lonely duo of he and Carl. After days and days of talking to these mysterious voices, he realizes the truth. It’s revealed that he’s simply been talking to his dead wife, and that the phone hasn’t even been plugged in. He doesn’t care: Rick packs the phone, so where ever he ends up, no matter what, he can talk to his beloved Lori (who he had a much better relationship with in Kirkman’s version).

The phone didn’t work that way in the show. Rick gets the first call at the beginning of the episode, and before the 42 minutes are up, he realizes that he’s just crazy. It just wasn’t as effective. It didn’t last long enough for me to get that hope that maybe, just maybe, there were people out there willing to help them.

Hounded finally began to bridge the gap between the prison and Woodbury. The comic found Rick, Glenn, and Michonne (who had been with the survivors for some time, while in the AMC version she literally just met them as this episode closed) looking for more survivors after the helicopter crash. As I’ve mentioned before, this didn’t go well. Within moments of meeting Governor, the trio realized that this was not a nice place, and Rick’s hand was hastily removed after he resisted what they had planned for him. Michonne then spent the better part of the week being brutally raped and tortured for information before finally escaping. It looks like that may fall to Maggie in the AMC version, as she and Glenn are now captives of the Governor.

It’ll be extremely interesting to see what happens here. I can only hope that the Governor is more kind to Maggie than he was to the paper version’s Michonne. Not because I like Maggie more, but because that shit was hard enough to read, and I can’t imagine seeing it acted out! Glenn is of course captive too, and it would be tough to watch Glenn react if he has to listen to the love of his life in a situation like that.

With a title like When the Dead Come Knocking, it looks like next week we’ll finally be introduced to the series’ infamous knockers. These fleshy tricksters are bound to cause quite a problem with our gang of survivors (that was a joke, a horrible, horrible joke).

I can’t wait to see what happens next week! Though I have to admit that I’m even more excited for tomorrow, when Telltale’s incredible version of The Walking Dead will close its first storyline! Buy the game immediately.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome to Walking Dead Weekly! As the title implies, each week (bearing a new episode of course), we’ll be taking a look at the latest episode of the AMC series. I’ll let you know how I felt about each weekly offering, and will also compare it to what Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were doing with the comic at the same time.

It’s been seven days now and I’m still thinking about what we witnessed last week. Killer Within offered a nice mix of the West Georgia Correctional Facility and apparent safe haven of Woodbury (though honestly the time we spent in the town was nowhere near as interesting as the events at the prison). Absolutely everything went to shit for Rick and the gang thanks to the reappearance of the much-less-dead-than-expected Andrew. We lost two (or possibly more) core characters during the incredibly intense 42 minutes, and the episode closed with Rick’s heartbreaking reaction to the death of his estranged wife.

Killer Within was my favourite episode of the series, bar none. How did this week stack up? You’ll have to read on to find out! As always, there are plenty of spoilers below! You’ve been warned!

Episode Thoughts – ‘Say The Word’

Killer Within’s intense, heartbreaking conclusion left me absolutely pining to get back in this world. The death of Lori Grimes was an insane event that I’m sure few saw coming (I know I didn’t), and that few are likely to forget. For possibly the first time since the series began, my jaw literally dropped as I watched what unfolded, and season 3 of The Walking Dead solidified its place as by far the most memorable season yet.

Say The Word began on a completely different note than I’d expected. Rather than the deep melancholy of our survivors after the deaths of some of their best friends, the episode faded in to a celebration (for reasons unknown) in the town of Woodbury. The scene was akin to the opening of season 3 of Lost (our first look at the Others in their very own society), confusing and completely opposite of what you had prepared yourself for. This was an awesome feeling, and one that subtly let you know that before Say The Word would come to a close, even more strange events would unravel before your eyes.

During the gathering Andrea asks the purpose of the celebration, and the answer she receives is an absolutely perfect response: “Mere words cannot adequately describe the festivities ahead”. This again foreshadows the fact that you’ll be asking yourself what the hell is going on before the episode comes to a close (and believe me, you will).

Before we head back to the prison, we’re treated to a side of Governor Phillip that we haven’t yet seen: loving father. After a long day of governing, he tells his daughter about his day while brushing her long brown hair. Oh yeah, she’s a fucking zombie. Didn’t I say AGES ago that this guy was sick?

The opening credits roll, and we’re brought back to the prison just moments after Killer Within came to a close. Rick is in shock, and seems unable to see or hear anything that is happening around him. The rest of the survivors are trying to calm the crying newborn, and quickly realize that the child will starve unless they can locate some formula. Without saying a word, Rick grabs an axe and heads into the prison determined to split some walker skulls.

In Woodbury, Michonne is sick of living without her sword, so she heads into the Governor’s office to take it back. She hops out a window before she’s seen, where she finds a rather horrific sight: caged walkers. Why would the town be holding walkers? She takes care of the group rather quickly, but not before someone spots her.

Things in Woodbury get interesting quickly past this point. After a quick altercation with Phillip, Michonne determines that it’s time for her to leave the town. She gives Andrea an ultimatum: she either leaves with Michonne (the woman who saved her from certain death, and cared for her for months upon end), or she can stay in the town that isn’t what it seems to be, the town that Michonne has been warning her about since their arrival. Andrea of course chooses to stay in Woodbury, for the Governor is a seductive gentleman (if only she knew).

Glenn is busy digging graves at the farm. The really interesting thing here is that he tells Oscar and Axel (who the group seems to be treating a bit better now) that they need three of them. There’s T-Dog and Lori of course, but who is the third? Did Carol fall victim after T-Dog sacrificed himself to save her? Glenn passes digging duty on to the two remaining inmates and decides to go console Rick. Rick is fucking crazy and has none of it: he looks at Glenn as though he’s about to kill him before throwing him out of the cell block. All without saying a word.

Apparently baby formula isn’t too hard to find, as one of the first houses that Maggie and Daryl enter seems to have an abundance of it (though I’m not complaining, the last thing I wanted was a Sofia length search for some freaking baby food). The pair returns to the prison to feed the hungry newborn, and it already seems as though a third of the group didn’t just die.

Back in Woodbury, the Governor accompanies Andrea to the much anticipated festivities of the evening. She’s disgusted, and rightfully so: think of a gladiator battle, but with less weapons, and chained zombies around the outside of the ring. The governor assures her that the event is staged, that nobody will be hurt, and that this simply helps the town to blow off steam.

The Woodbury reveal shows just how sick people can get for a little entertainment, but the scene that closed the episode is sure to draw even more questions. A tired, suicidal looking Rick, covered in blood and zombie parts after the hellish day he just had, hears a phone ring. He stands, approaches it, and puts it to the ear. As he says “hello”, the episode cuts to black, leaving us wondering for another week, WHO IS ON THE OTHER END?

As is typical with this season, Say The Word was entertaining as hell. That being said, I’d probably also note that this fifth episode (in my opinion) is the weak point of the season so far. Sure there were a some interesting reveals, but few important events or realizations occurred, and I had a few other issues that remained with me through the duration of the chapter. First, CG effects were noticeably worse in this episode than they’ve been in the past, just watch Rick axing up those walkers if you need an example. Second, DID CAROL EVER EXIST? How does the entire group get through the day without ever asking “hey guys, has anyone seen Carol?” Is that who the third grave was for? You’d think someone would at least mention something.

That being said, seeing a new side to the Governor was an interesting twist that I’m sure people weren’t expecting. Why is he keeping his daughter there? Why does he act as though she’s still human? Why does the town of Woodbury love watching people fight so much? Who the hell was on the phone?

I’m sure we’ll be getting at least a few answers when the next episode hits. As always, We left the show with a preview for next week’s chapter, Hounded.

Comic Comparison

As the third season of AMC’s version of The Walking Dead continues to progress, the fork between the screen and paper versions of the media continues to spread.

As I mentioned last week, the death of Lori Grimes was exponentially different between the two versions. In Robert Kirkman’s edition, Lori (and not-so-newborn) baby Judith fell victim to the Governor’s minions. They literally took a shotgun blast right in front of Rick and Carl, an event that was sure to haunt the father and son for the rest of their lives. Most of the other survivors also perish in the comic at around the same time. Of course, the show had Lori die giving birth to the child, who at this point still remains unnamed. For these reasons, the quest for baby formula is one that was never necessary on paper, but takes up a healthy piece of Say The Word.

Rick’s handling of Lori’s death is also extremely different between versions. AMC depicts him going on a silent, zombie slaughtering rampage, while on paper his reaction is much less kinetic. Kirkman has the man get sick (whether simply physical, or sick with guilt and remorse I’m not certain), almost to the point of death.

While still on the subject of death, if AMC has really killed Carol off (which I doubt at this point), it was a very different death from the one she would suffer on paper. Kirkman has the character go batshit crazy after she finds her partner cheating. She willingly lets a zombie bite her, which obviously leads her to die and turn into a walker herself. Again, I doubt that AMC has killed her off at this point: I can’t see them spending an entire season searching for her dead daughter, only to not even give her a mention when she disappears from the group.

Say The Word finally introduces us to the zombie gladiator battles that we saw much earlier in the comics, though the show has them introduced to us in a friendly manner, with a character we know simply watching. In the paper version, our survivors were to be part of the games.

The character of The Governor is one that (at this point anyways) appears to be vastly different between media. As in the comics, Say The Word introduced us to the man’s daughter, but his relationship with her in the AMC series seems much, much more innocent. David Morrissey’s portrayal of the character (even though he does bad shit) is one that has you constantly questioning the true nature of the character, while in the comic, there was nothing at all to question, the guy was disgusting 100% of the time.

Another positive change that’s hard to put into a picture: we’re seeing way more of Woodbury than we ever got to in the comics. This is fantastic! The place is interesting as hell, and I’m always happy to get a glimpse into what weird shit is going on there.

As you can see, things are moving along quite differently between the two versions. In saying that, I should also say (if it hasn’t come across as obvious) that I’ve been thoroughly impressed with season 3 of the show. By far it’s been the most enjoyable season, and while not every episode can be on par with last week’s wonderful Killer Within, we’re still lucky to be getting TV this good every week.

As always, thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week to cover Hounded.