The Walking Dead 3 Episode 6: Hounded

Photo by Med PhotoBlog

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It is interesting to watch what's happening to two different places back and forth. All the more, the phase of the story lines is becoming so fast and the transition between scenes is fleeting that sometimes I could not cope with what's been happening or what's been said. It does makes the show exciting as it builds to a forgone conclusion. And that is the meeting of the worlds, and the clash it would bring to two groups of survivors and  the inevitable meeting between The Governor and Rick Grimmes. Are  they gonna be friends or enemies?

Storyline:

Last time we were left hanging with an unexpected ring from an old telephone from where Rick has been mourning with the passing of Lori. Rick picks up the phone and then talks to unknown survivors. It turns out that Rick is just hearing voices from the dead, including Lori. This unexplained event seems to snap Rick from his self-destructive ways as he accepted Lori's death and rejoins the group. Rick lovingly holds his baby for the first time. Daryl finds Carol, alive.

At Woodbury, Andrea wanted to be productive at town by volunteering for sentry duty. During her duty, she jumps down from the wall to kill a biter. She realized that she enjoyed the fights she witnessed in the earlier festivities. This she confesses to the Governor, then led to beginning of an affair between them.

Merle, together with a group of guys from town, was sent to hunt down Michonne. Michonne, in turn, ambushes the team and killed all except Merle and another. However, Michonne got wounded in the process, so she escaped to a nearby town. There she sees Glen and Maggie gathering supplies. Merle was there too. He captured the lovers and took them back to Woodbury. Michonne find her way to prison. Rick saw her staring behind the prison fences with Maggie's baskets of groceries.

Details:

Michonne is on the run. The Governor sent a search party to kill her. She was right after all. No one leaves Woodbury alive. And Merle and his gang needs to make sure of that.

Michonne, however, has other plans; that is to ambush them. She managed to kill most of the men but ended up being shot at her thigh while making her escape. She lure zombies to join the fray.  During the ruckus, she disemboweled one walker and the entrails poured all over her.

Merle was left together with a guy with an odd name. A name that he can't remember or pronounce. This makes our tetchy redneck more irritable. So he call him Neil. Merle want to go back to Woodbury and report that they taken cared of Michonne permanently. Too honest Neil wants to track Michonne further or else report that their mission failed. So Merle ask him to say his tongue twister of a name, then shot him dead.

Back at prison, the phone is still ringing. Rick picks up the phone and a woman answered from the other end. She say she's in a safe place from a location she didn't want to mention. They have been calling at random looking for other survivors of this world. Rick wanted to know more of them and if they would be willing to take him, his son and his newborn baby  in to their camp. She said she would concur with her group and will be back in two hours. This seem to snap Rick back to a state of hope. He cleaned up and went up to the cell block to greet his comrades. All are still in the mourning mood and words still left unsaid. Rick went back to his phone.

When it rang again, the man on the other side ask him how many men he killed and how he lost his wife. Still hurting of the subject of Lori, Rick didn't answer him. The man hung up. This made Rick so desperate.

Hershel found Rick in the boiler room by the phone. He thanked Rick for saving him. Rick told him about his received phone calls. Hershel seems to doubt what Rick has disclosed him. I think he know Rick is going nuts. Nevertheless, he offered to sit with him while waiting for the call. Rick declined his offer, so the old man hobbled back to their cell block.

The phone rings again and this time a woman answers back. She said it would do him good if he would talk about his wife's death. Rick was surprised 'cause she knows his name. This conversation is now turning to be a 'twilight zone' of some sort. Rick never told her his name.

Daryl seems to be coming to his own while Rick is still in the slump. He took Carl and Oscar on a patrol along the prison corridor to keep the cell block safe from several walkers still wandering around. It was kinda sweet yet awkward sharing the story how he lost his mother to Carl. That didn't seem to lift the boy's spirit. However, his own spirit sank when he saw Carol's knife stuck in one of the walkers he killed along the corridors.

At Woodbury, Andrea wanted to be a productive member of the town, so he asked the Governor to give her sentry duty. So she was sent to the wall. There she trained with a young girl to shoot zombies from afar. The girl couldn't shoot one so Andrea leaped down the wall and killed the zombie up close. The girl was so freaked out from what had happened. No one goes beyond the wall without the Governor's authorization.

Andrea is called to speak to the Governor. She confided with him that she misses the fight with zombies. Then the talk between them turned to flirtation thanks to good old whiskey. They ended up in bed together.

In another town, Maggie and Glen are shopping for infant formula and other supplies at an abandoned grocery store. Michonne saw them and observed from afar. Merle suddenly appear and they were all in a stand still. Glen ask Merle to wait until they return with Daryl. Merle had other plans and kidnapped them both.  Michonne watched helplessly as Merle took his hostages back to Woodbury.

Merle disturbs the Governor's 'score' of Andrea. Merle lied about what happened to the mission. The Governor, however, was suspicious since he didn't retrieve Michonne's sword. He let it slide when Merle segued to tell him of his new found captives.

The phone rang again for the third time. Rick picks it up with fear. The woman at the other end says he knows him. And the voice was so familiar because it sounds like Lori. And it is Lori's voice. Rick lost it and cried while saying how much he loved her. Rick was in a ball of enormous emotion waiting to explode. And it did pop when Lori reminded him about their baby.

Now, Daryl is slump and at a loss. He seem to be full of anxiety and doubt as he holds Carols knife and stabbing it into the ground. He was probably afraid to find Carol dead and a zombie behind the noisy cell door. Finding the courage to push through, he opened the door and finds Carol, alive!

Rick finds Hershel rocking the baby. He took the baby and looked at her lovingly for the first time. It seems that Rick will be better from hereon in. He went outside the prison along with the baby, Carl and the rest. He walked toward the fence to stare at zombies gathering at the fences. One of them is Michonne; who moves among the undead, undercover and unharmed; carrying Maggie's basket of groceries.


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Highlights:

• I thought Merle is loyal to the Governor.  It is unclear to me why he did not pursue the wounded Michonne further. Is this a part of his scheme to reunite with Daryl and have his revenge on Rick?
• Oscar strikes gold when he saw a pair of old slippers one of the cell room. That was a welcome surprise.
• Daryl seems to be rambling when he told Carl how he lost his mother so I didn't get the story entirely. Did it made Carl feel good about himself? Maybe so...
• It was a special treat to find Carol alive all this time. I think Daryl and Carol will hook up soon. 
• Michonne discovered another form of stealth and that is wearing zombie innards.
• What will happen to Andrea now that she is intimate with the Governor? What plans does the Governor have for Andrea?

The Walking Dead 3 Episode 5: The Call

Found on flickrcc.net

Have you recovered from the loss and chaos of episode 4? I didn't expect Lori to die from childbirth, even though, the odds are evident against her having a smooth delivery and under stressful and dangerous circumstances. It was so naive of me to unconsciously believe that the main heroine of the show don't die. I should have known better.

Let me begin my blog with the happenings at Woodbury.

The episode started with the Governor combing someone's hair. As he does this, the comb pulled out a patch of hair and the skin to which it was attached. It turned out that he was with a child zombie. I made a conclusion that this child zombie was her daughter as it resembles the little girl in the family picture shown in the same residence in the earlier episodes. So, the mystery of Woodbury starts to unravel. The Governor choose to keep her "zombified" daughter close for reasons still not clear. Perhaps he is hoping for a cure that would restore her daughter back to life. Or he just clings to the husk of his dead love one because of his longing and guilt from his daughter's fate. This is reminiscent to season 2 when Hershel, likewise kept his undead wife and other "zombified" kin locked up in the barn.

Anyway, the zombie girl began to grunt and struggle when part of her flesh got torn off. The scuffle reached the house window and then the Governor saw Michonne looking back at them.

Michonne, breaks into the Governor's house to get her samurai sword. She, then, overhears the Governor,  Merle and Milton discussing about having captive zombies for tonight's festivities. She discover the whereabouts of the said captive biters which she slays as an act of defiance to the suburban stronghold which she wanted to flee. This lead to a confrontation between Michonne and the Governor.

The animosity between these two are so deep.  It's really hard to figure out why are they against each other in the first place. Why they hate each other so much? Perhaps, it is really Michonne's nature to be defiant to authority and conformity. But, I have to admit, the Governor is one creepy character. I find these two central characters alike.  I am perplexed to why she couldn't understand the Governor's affinity with his zombie daughter when she was also keeping two pet zombies in tow earlier. She has also her own secrets. Yes, like the Governor and the town, I am suspicious of her origins.

The bad blood between them became so evident when Michonne grab her sword and points it to the Governor's throat. It would have been easy for her to end his life but she didn't. It is not her nature to kill people. But the Governor does have that nature and she suspects it. This is a clear sign of Michonne's distrust of the place and the people. We now know at this point that Michonne will leave this place.

In the middle of this conflict is Andrea. When words about the incident reached Andrea, she and Michonne had another argument and a debate on whether to go or stay. At the gates of Woodbury, the two were still in a stalemate. Andrea finally expresses that she cannot take a life outside Woodbury in fear of her life. This forces Michonne to give Andrea an ultimatum: she would leave this place with or without her. Andrea would have followed Michonne out the gate but Merle was there to intervene and locked the gates in front of a very doubtful Andrea.

Later on that night, Andrea and the Governor were together at the start of the night's festivities. Still sad about Michonne's leaving and now she finds herself witnessing the spectacle that was before her. Merle and another guy fighting in an arena surrounded by biters. Earlier, there was a scene where Merle and some other guys collecting trapped biters. Their purpose was now revealed. The Governor assured her that the fight was safe and staged considering the zombies were toothless. It was a show to boost morale and eradicate fear. Still, Andrea felt disturbed by what she saw and by how much the people enjoyed watching the horrendous show. At this point, we see how horrible and scared she felt for letting Michonne leave without her and now trapped in zombie fight town.

Back at prison, Rick clearly suffered a lot - mentally and emotionally; with the loss of Lori. Overcome with grief,  he went on a zombie killing rampage thus abandoning the group who cling to him for protection up to  this point. He lost all wits and became a man filled with rage and revenge. It makes me wonder how he feels about Lori's baby. Does he have ill feelings against the child? I think he does for two main reasons. One, Lori died giving birth to the baby. And, the baby is not his but of Shane.

Lori's baby is crying as if desperately pleading for his attention. So Daryl had no choice but to step up as leader and takes Maggie on an expedition to search for milk for the latest addition to their group. They were able to find infant formula, feeding bottles and other supplies (and a possum) in a nearby care center. These e vents makes you realize how adept Daryl is.He is resourceful and skilled. In the game of survivor, I feel he is the most likely to outlast everyone including Rick. He is also the only person in the group who isn't related to someone somehow. Yet, I see him care for the group. He took the initiative to care of Lori's baby who he lovingly named "Ass Kicker". He also offered a flower to  one of the graves Glenn, Axel and Oscar dug for their fallen comrades. I see him now, not as Rick's right hand, but the alternative leader for the group if Rick would not snap out of his grieving state or die because of it. I don't even trust Rick at this point. He is unstable and can snap at anyone who go against his warpath state. I even thought he would kill Glenn when the younger guy tried to talk sense into him.

Other uplifting moments were when Hershel and Glenn had a bonding moment digging the graves for Lori, T-Dogg and Carol. (Carol's whereabouts is still not determined at this point.) I also find Hershel to be a possible leader for the group, however,his lost of leg might put some doubts to the strength of his conviction. Glenn and Maggie's relationship also proves strong and might be the right persons to take care of little Ass Kicker. Carl seems to be still grieving but have responded more to his baby sister's cry for attention and an undeniable attraction towards Emily.

While all this was happening, Rick found himself inside the room from which Lori met her end. He didn't find Lori's body there but a trail of blood. There, he finds a bloated walker. It seems clear that this lucky scavenger ate all of Lori's remains. Rick sticks his gun inside the zombies mouth and fired. Still unfinished with his act of gore, he stabs the belly of the zombie repeatedly as if he wanted to kill what is inside of the pregnant-like corpse. Then, a RING!!!! The sounds snaps Rick from his exhausted state and he move to answer it. I was left with a thousand questions in my mind. while the credits started to roll. Why is there a phone there? Why does the phone seems so old? Who is calling? I thought communication and power lines are all out? Now I find myself suffering from a week of waiting. Bummer!

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The Walking Dead 3 Episode 4: Lori's Death

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Season 3 ushered in new characters to the show which means there would be others making an exit. So, expect the unexpected. For me, the expected is an unexpected shocker.

A dead deer being dragged by an unknown person outside the prison fences. Then he cut the chains, opened the gates, and left the rotting deer corpse there to lure walkers to come in. You know that this plot to kill would end in tragedy. And it did resulted in some life changing events that would affect Rick and the rest of the survivors.

While this unknown troublemaker does his evil scheme, our group of survivors are in high spirits after they have secured their new found home within the cold walls of an abandoned prison facility. Hershel is recovering very well. Lori, Emily (Hershel's youngest daughter) and Carl presented the old man with crutches he can use to start walking again. Talk about puppy love, Carl and Emily - the way these two talk and look at each other makes Hershel and Lori uncomfortable. While the group is admiring all these, they were surprised by walkers moving through the prison compound, and the survivors are separated while fleeing from this surprise attack.

Suddenly the prison alarms went up. The loud noise attracted the walkers from outside the prison. Rick, Daryl and Glen was surprised to see that gates were opened and chains were cut to let these deadly invaders in. Rick immediately suspected the remaining prisoners, Axel and Oscar, did this act. (By the way, Axel was revealed in earlier scenes to be a biker and very good bike mechanic.) The two, however, denied the accusations thrown at them. Suddenly more walkers were attracted by the loud sirens, Rick had no choice but to work with the prisoners to find and shut down the generators.

In the meantime, Hershel and Emily were able to find a secure place behind some prison fences. Lori, Maggie and Carl, however, were forced to retreat inside their prison bunkers but only to find more zombies there. They manage to hide from the walkers but suddenly, Lori goes into labor. Maggie tried to assist her but Lori started to bleed and cannot deliver. She pleaded to Maggie to do an emergency C-section to save the baby. Maggie was able to deliver the baby from this haphazard operation but Lori did not survive. Carl witnessed all this and was left no choice to put a bullet into his dead mother. It is still hard to believe dead people turns to zombies. But putting a bullet on a dead man's head is still a hard standard operation procedure to do. Poor Carl. It must have been difficult for him to do it at his age. But he had to when Maggie didn't had the courage do so. With the baby in her arms, Maggie and Carl left the room in the hopes to rejoin their comrades.

Meanwhile, T-Dog and Carol also were also chased by walkers inside the prison. While fleeing, T-Dog is bitten. Carol tried to help him but it is too late. When they were cornered by walkers down the hallway, T-Dog sacrifices himself to let Carol escape outside. Carol drop her head scarf while running out the door.

Rick and his group were able to find the generator room while being chased by walkers. Rick is ambushed in the generator room by Andrew, who is now evidently the unknown plotter that lured the walkers in from the other side of the prison. In the scuffle, Oscar got Rick's lose gun. It was such an intent moment when he pointed the gun at Rick and Andrew. He shoots at Andrew instead, siding with Rick whose group he and Axel want to join.

When they manage to find their way outside, they shot walkers feeding on T-Dogs corpse and found Carol's scarf beside it. This made them believe Carol was taken too by walkers.

When Carl and Maggie reunited with the group outside, Rick was in despair when he saw the baby and no Lori. He collapse in mourning with the death of his wife. I just wanted to go back to episode 2 where I failed to mention the scene where Rick and Lori finally had a heart to heart talk. That, when I come to think of it, is the start of them being a couple again. Somehow, Rick made amends with Lori. I was somehow assured that their shaky relationship would get better as the series progress. Now I realize that it was the last tender moment between the two.

At Woodbury, events are starting to unfold for the Governor to find Rick and survivors at the prison. Andrea's fascination of the town fortress grows as her fondness to Phillip, aka, The Governor  grows strong. She also made amends with Merle and a map of the farm's location where she last saw Daryl and the rest. This made Merle's resolve strong to find Daryl. He disclosed this information with the Governor and his intention to find his long lost brother.

Meanwhile, Andrea's indecision to leave this place made her relationship with Michonne strained. Michonne, on the other hand, did some investigation on her own. And what she discovered increased her suspicions of the town and of the man who runs it.

I still can't believe that Lori is dead! T-Dog is gone too. How will this affect Rick and et al? And how will the group dynamics change when Axel and Oscar joins the group? What happened to Carol?

The Walking Dead Episode 3: Welcome to Woodbury

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Welcome to Woodbury. That is where Andrea and Michonne end up reuniting with Daryl's big brother Merle. Woodbury is a town with a thriving population of 73 ruled by the Governor. He is enigmatic yet there is a sense of mystery behind his calm demeanor. He and Michonne are much alike in this regard and I can't wait to know their stories as the series unfold.

So how did they end up in this small fortified town? The  episode started with a military helicopter crash. Andrea and Michonne went out to investigate. While scouting the crash site, the two women encountered encountered armed men who intend to scavenge the wreckage and look for survivors. There was one soldier - Welles who survived the crash. All the others are dead which instantly turned and immediately dealt with by the scavengers. From Andrea and Michonne's vantage point, they thought that these men were killing off the survivors of the crash.

Zombies were also attracted to the site. I thought Andrea and Michonne will be run down by the incoming zombies but, surprisingly, they were ignored. Probably they were masked by the stench of the two zombie pets of Michonne. The all of the sudden, Michonne zombie pets got agitated as if they wanted to overrun the scavengers on their own. Michonne had no choice but to cut their heads off to silence them.

Then Merle appeared behind Andrea in that eventful reunion.

In Woodbury, several facts about the Zombies were revealed. They call zombies as biters In Woodbury. Milton, the right-hand man, adviser, zombie expert and tea maker of the Governor made several observations regarding Michonne's pet zombies. Take away a zombies arms and jaws make them docile and compliant. They are effective zombie repellent as well though the reason still unclear. He also said that zombies might remember a little of who they were. He describe it as an echo of their past human life. This is the instance where Andrea and Michonne were told that people, at the moment of death, turns to zombies.

I thought Woodbury is a place of salvation. As much as how the Governor tries to win over the two women in staying. Andrea seems to be more settled. And from the looks of it, she is somewhat smitten to Woodbury and the Governor. Michonne, on the other hand,  remains skeptical.

As it turns out, every place has its own secrets as well. Woodbury is not as welcoming as it portrays. After Welles disclosed the location of his group, the Governor lead a team to track them down. But this was not a rescue mission but an intent to seek and destroy the soldiers all for their vehicles, weapons and supplies to bring back to Woodbury.

And that evening and at his residence, the Governor, unable to sleep, retires with a glass of whiskey in a private room watching three rows of aquariums filled with the animated heads of walkers. Among them are Michonne's pets and Welles.

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