Andrea redeemed herself for a series of questionable decisions throughout this season with a single scene - the shot of her walking away as the Governor appeared to be overtaken by walkers. She had other strong moments as well – fighting off three walkers who had her trapped in the woods, and taking aim at the Governor while he was in his torture room, until Milton interrupted.
And speaking of Milton – my thought after he stopped Andrea from killing the Governor is he deserves what he gets. And what he’ll get won’t be pretty since the governor no longer has a use for his research with Penny gone. And now that the Governor knows Milton warned Andrea and possibly sabotaged his plans, Milton’s pretty much dead already. (I still miss Shane sometimes.)
But back to the episode
We start with a flashback of Andrea and Michonne talking about the two walkers with them. Michonne is being characteristically nonverbal, but suggests she knew them and says, “They weren’t human to begin with,” which makes a nice segue to the Governor and his latest home renovation project.
Andrea makes a break for it, but not before warning Tyreese and Sasha that the Governor is not what he seems, and not before we learn Tyreese is a lousy shot. As Andrea runs away, Sasha tells Tyreese he shouldn’t have let her go. “What did you want me to do, shoot her?” Little do you know soon you’ll be shooting babies if you stick with the Governor, Tyreese.
Next we learn Milton is a lousy liar as he pretends he didn’t warn Andrea. The Governor sees through it and figures out Milton told Andrea the deal was about Michonne.
Tyreese and Sasha are enlisted for a job with Martinez, and they trade words with the annoying guy from their group. Something about some drama about a Donna. OK, let’s stop right there. We’re too close to the end of the season for some drama about a dead woman I don’t care about. Luckily Martinez interrupts and stops it and brings them to what looks like extermination pits for the undead. But the drama only resurfaces there (something about Tyreese saving Donna while the other guy couldn’t) and we see a glimpse of Tyreese’s temper. OK, I have to interrupt again. How is this guy (the one whose name I won’t learn, not Tyreese) still alive? He’s both dumb and annoying. How has he not been picked off yet in a world with such a high mortality rate?
Hunting trip
It’s Game On in the countryside as the Governor heads out in search of Andrea. Andrea, ducking the road as the Governor passes, has some three-on-one walker action but out-knifes them. I saw that attack coming. You never turn your back on a tree.But later in an open field, she ducks too late. The Governor sees her and drives her toward some abandoned buildings. These buildings are always walker nests, but Andrea probably knows that. She picks her odds with the walkers over her odds with the Governor and heads inside.
The one-eyed hunter follows her into the building whistling his creepy Penny tune. While a lot of shows put their main characters in danger in suspenseful episodes, this one had me really guessing because unlike the lead characters of most of these shows, I’m only giving Andrea about a 50/50 chance for surviving the season.
In true slasher-flick format, we saw the Governor stalk his prey in a shadowy, run-down setting, where Andrea narrowly escapes time and again – until she’s cornered. Walkers block her escape, and the governor is right behind. But she turns the tables. She slips out into the walker-infested hallway and hides behind the door while turning the walkers loose on the governor. Outside she hesitates less than a minute on hearing the Governor’s cries as he’s run out of ammo, but walks away. Finally.
Of course escape will not be that easy. Exhausted, Andrea reaches the prison and spies Rick when she’s attacked from behind by the Governor. Rick thinks he sees something, but poor Rick thinks he’s hallucinating again. Poorer Andrea is recaptured and ends up in Michonne’s torture room.While the Andrea/Governor hunt was taking place, someone was burning walkers. Apparently sabotaging the Governor’s plans, the hidden-from-us person sets fire to the walkers the Governor had planned to set loose on Rick’s group. Suspicion originally falls on Tyreese’s group, but Tyreese seems clueless. The Governor next turns his eye toward Milton.
Wrap up
While the Andrea/Governor cat-and-mouse game had me on the edge of my seat, the Tyreese story had me realizing how slow that storyline was progressing. Tyreese and his group have been on the show for almost half a season now and the story so far hasn’t been interesting. I don’t care about this Donna drama with the side character whose name I won’t bother learning.Their exile from the prison hasn’t led anywhere yet. I’m guessing he’ll be the one to break Andrea out, and the two, or three of them if Sasha survives, will form an impressively dangerous team. The hints of his temper are intriguing, but so far this storyline has been dragging.
What do you think about the traitor in Woodbury? It doesn’t appear to be Tyreese. The obvious choice is Milton, whom the Governor appears to be eyeing, but what if it’s neither Tyreese nor Milton? Who does that leave? Sasha? The annoying man’s son? Or my choice – Martinez.
Last week we saw that Martinez is more than a dumb gun. He sees the big picture, and he seems to be a decent guy. Maybe he’s not OK with the governor’s increasingly maniacal plans.
So what are your thoughts? How do you think the next two weeks will go? Will Andrea ever see the outside of the Governor’s torture chamber? Will Milton make it past even next week’s episode? Who is Woodbury’s traitor?
It would be great when posting things like this that you'd consider that the UK viewers havnt seen it yet. Eg the spoilery title.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure the walker bonfire was started by Milton, but I'd be very happy if it turns out it was Martinez. I'd like to think that most of the Woodbury citizens are getting a clue as to their "Governor's" true nature.
ReplyDeleteThe warehouse scene had my heart pounding. I wasn't totally sure that Andrea would escape, and that creepy whistle had me scared.
The writers haven't killed off the Governor as yet because they want a raid on the prison, and I guess they're saving it for the end. A really cool finale would have Andrea escaping to the prison, with Tyreese, Sasha, and Martinez (Milton having been killed, of course), and they all move on to another haven. Then every single citizen of Woodbury takes a shot at the Governor. That's what I'd like, but it won't happen.
We'll watch it already . takes ya that long? Episodes already online!
ReplyDeleteI thought this episode was well done for what it was -- basically, a vehicle to (further) ratchet up the tension as we move inexorably toward the Woodbury vs. Prison standoff that's likely going to dominate the Season 3 finale. And I, too, actually felt a few pangs of sympathy for Andrea. Appreciate the fact that they are finally, finally letting her sympathetic and humanitarian side show through that stubborn, smugly tough exterior that can make it so hard to root for her.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, while I think these one-off episodes have been very well-written and I'm glad they were featured in Season 3, I too wish that the writers would have been just a little bit smoother with the pacing of their character development. The argument between Tyreese and Allen (?) is certainly one example -- I'm hoping they are setting up for a "flashback" with these particular characters, but kind of wish it would have occurred slightly sooner. It seems kind of late in the game to cram this stuff in now. In particular, though, I feel like the Governor's tone has shifted from "opportunistic sociopath" to "sadistic nutcase" in the span of just an episode. The chains scene definitely establishes: "THIS MAN IS CRAY." But I wish they had shown some of these shaky cracks in his ultra-controlled facade just a bit sooner. The chain scene, the whistling -- again, just piling on a bit late in the game for me.
I do want to give some strong kudos to the music supervisors. Touches like Fink's "Warm Shadow" at the end of "Arrow" can really tip a good episode right over the top into great. The single-note piano underlay during the warehouse chase scene, also an awesome touch that really built tension. Very polished.
I think Tyreese is more set up for season 4, as said its a little late in the season to focus on him. He will do something in the final that means he with ricks group and then really delve deep into his character in season 4.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the feedback. I'll try to avoid titles that are too revealing. The text is fair game though, but that wasn't what you were saying. :)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'm curious about is what they have planned for all of those untrained citizens they are arming up. My theory is that the Governor is going to put them in the middle, so that the prison group will be forced to choose between massacring innocent civilians and kids or stepping down, and that's how they'll lose the prison. But I think Woodbury will fall too. If the governor is planning something like this, that would be enough to make people like Martinez switch sides.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. I agree with most of this, including the small touches to this episode that made it "very polished," as well as some of the pacing issues. I think the Governor's transformation to "sadistic nutcase" happened after Michonne killed Penny, but we could have been introduced to this change gradually throughout the second half, or seen more focus on his change immediatey after walker Penny was put down.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right and that Tyreese will have a much bigger and better role next season.
ReplyDeleteYou know, as a huge (!!) fan of both the show and the comic, I just wanted to clarify my earlier observations about character development.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that Robert Kirkman & Co have gone to great (and very impressive) lengths to establish this TV series along a related yet separate trajectory from that of the comic -- entirely different character arcs, omitted/new characters, etc.
When it comes to characterization, though, I feel like maybe they cheat just a little. They know that we comic readers will just "get" certain fan faves from the outset. We realize, for instance, that Tyreese and Michonne are strong, good-guy, stand-up characters. We realize that the Governor is sadistic, violent and totally unhinged. And we tend to transfer these ready-made opinions to the TV series.
As a result, I feel like the actual series characterizations get "shorthanded" a bit. TV Michonne, for example, seemed pretty shifty and surly for a good while. TV Governor (until the last episode, anyway) seemed controlling, calculating, manipulative and power-hungry -- but not necessarily over-the-top crazy.
This would be fine if all viewers were also comic readers, but they're not. So I'm just hoping to see future TV characterizations smoothed out a bit. In my own opinion, the show AND the comic are both original (and good) enough that they deserve to stand entirely on their own respective, and independent, merits.
On a website called SpoilerTV, what do you expect...?
ReplyDeleteGov is the textbook model of a narcissist. We know he wouldn't think twice about using the most vulnerable people to achieve his end of winning. I also don't believe this is really all about his fatherly love for Penny--it's about his plan being messed with by Michonne. I also don't believe that he really, truly, thinks there is any surviving soul in the zombies. Life is just a big chess game to him, and it's being played with human beings. Unfortunately, we've seen how loyal most of his followers are. The ones who know him best, like Martinez, are ready to switch, but the rest of the citizens will fight for him, and maybe die. If the Governor dies first, though, who will lead the Woodburyans? I haven't read the comics.
ReplyDeleteYep, completely agree that Michonne pushed the Gov over the edge. His daughter was the only thing keeping his psychosis somewhat at bay. But I do disagree in regards to the pacing of the Gov's character. The display of severed heads immediately told us this man is crazy.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the write up, btw! I, too, think Martinez will turn his back on Woodberry in the end. They planted the seed for that with his scenes with Daryl.
Glad you enjoyed the article. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, its only on a few days after US so its not like we have to wait ages eg its our fault by coming here. And its easy to just consider NOT putting a spoiler in the title. That way it makes it easy to browse the site and avoid certain posts that include possible spoilers. Its not a request that is particularly difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of spoiler is? So stop coming here and complaining there is a spoiler in something you read. that is stupid.
ReplyDeleteJust thought I'd weigh in with agreement. I don't think this title was very spoilery, but I know where you're coming from. This is a spoiler site, yes, but it's also a very useful resource for non-spoilery stuff, so it's nice to be able to browse with a minimum of accidental spoilerage. This site tends to manage that quite well. When you see a story marked 'set photos' or 'promos', you know that clicking on it may result in some spoilerage. So if you don't want to be spoiled you can just avoid clicking on it, but when there are spoilers in the title (which is quite rare thankfully) it can be annoying.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to be in any doubt as to Milton being the guy who set fire to the walker pit. If it turns out to have been someone else, then that was a pretty douchey move from the writers. I like mystery, but that's not how red herrings generally work.
ReplyDeleteLaurie Holden confirmed on Talking Dead it was Milton. She acted surprised the guests were suggesting anyone else BUT him.
ReplyDelete>>Why would Martinez be motivated by a revenge trip that would get most of their community killed?<<
ReplyDeleteBecause as far as Martinez is concerned, they were ATTACKED by another group for reasons he's not sure of but they did kill at least three people in HIS town. What Michonne did to Penny isn't relevant to him, but what Rick and Co. did to the town and the townspeople IS. The war for him isn't about PENNY, it's about the safety of WOODBURY.
As a comic/novel reader, too, I've had the same complaints about characterization, esp. this season. And definitely with Tyreese and Michonne. I'd get upset when I'd see non-readers saying they didn't like Michonne or posted long theories about how she's EVIL or maybe even a member of Woodbury (before she killed Penny and put out Gov's eye, of course) or wish they'd kill her off. But then I'd remember, they don't know Michonne like I do. And I put that down to how she was intro'd in the show. I'll always think it was a mistake for them to have Andrea and Michonne in Woodbury from the outset, instead of them stumbling on it later after Andrea reunites with Rick and Co. and they stumble upon Woodbury later.
ReplyDeleteIt probably is Milton because it doesn't seem to be the style of this show to build really twisty mysteries, but they carefully hid the identity of the person, so I'm still considering the question open. One thing that has me suspicious is that the person seemed very steady while they set the walkers on fire, and Milton is so skittish. Also, assuming the walkers were kept outside the town, I can imagine that Martinez would have an easier time slipping in and out unnoticed than Milton. Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what I was wondering. It seemed like the same truck we'd seen Martinez driving earlier (??), and -- since Martinez seems like kind of an alpha-dog, territorial guy -- it's hard for me to picture jittery Milton just sneaking past him and driving off in it. Would be kind of cool if Martinez had a private change of heart after talking with Daryl (and observing certain things), and decided to sabotage the Governor under the radar.
ReplyDeleteMartinez didn't know they were holding Glenn and Maggie? I agree everyone is seeing things from their own perspective, but he seems to be high enough up to see some of the sketchy thing the gov does, like killing the military unit. He seems like someone who isn't a murderer by nature, and who questions things - so I'm hoping we see another side from him.
ReplyDeleteWell, that blows that theory! I kind of wish she hadn't done that. It can be fun to speculate.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the comics, but I can't consider myself completely untainted since I read comments on these boards about the characters.
ReplyDeleteAs a non-comic-reader, I would say the characterization isn't perfect, but it's better than with most shows. I think they have to know they their audience is so much bigger than the book readers.
My impression with Michonne was that she was private and maybe overly defensive, but a loyal friend and someone who probably has good reasons for what she does, even if she doesn't communicate them very well.
With the governor, I think the show has been intentionally drawing parallels to Rick, but the heads, the coldness behind to murder of the troops, and the lies to Andrea, have given us a sense that he's not a good guy.
Hey, what if it was Morgan who set the fire? ;-)
ReplyDelete