The Walking Dead 3: Episode 8 Who is "Made to Suffer"?

Last episode for the year. The series will have a long break during the holidays and all of January. This is how it went down.

Found on flickrcc.net

Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne infiltrated Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie. Although Glenn and Maggie are successfully rescued, Oscar is killed while Daryl is captured by the opposite faction. During the exchange, Michonne sneaked away to face the Governor. At the Governor's house, she discovered the Governor's secret room including Penny, the Governor's zombie daughter. During the encouter, Michonne stabbed Penny at the head and the Governor's eye. Andrea came to the Governor's aid which resulted in a standstill between her and Michonne.

While these were going on at Woodbury, a group of 5 survivors, lead by Tyreese, invade the prison. Carl found and rescued them from walkers by locking them in one of the cell blocks. Tyresse thanked the boy who offered them food and shelter, then went off to take care one bitten member.

Back at Woodbury, the Governor declares war against the terrorists that attacked them. He accused  Merle as traitor and presented Daryl to the townsfolk. The angry mob chants a verdict of execution while Andrea looks on helplessly at the faith of the two brothers.


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Oh goodie! New blood comes to the fold. A group of 5 survivors, led by Tyreese, fights their way out the walker-infested forest. In their attempt to evade their flesh hungry pursuers, Donna got bitten. The other woman in the group, Sasha, insisted on leave Donna behind. But Donna's husband and son didn't do so, even though it was futile to rescue her at that point. They were able to get out of the woods and into the collapse wall at the back of the prison. Will these group find home within Rick's dwindling dependents?

At Woodbury, we see Andrea still at the Governor's quarters. She picks up a photo of the Governor and his family. Looking at the photo, do you notice Andrea's striking resemblance to his deceased wife? So that is the reason why the Governor likes Andrea so much. When Andrea left, the Governor goes to his secret room to check on her zombie-daughter, Penny. He talks and cuddles Penny like any loving father would do. Is he also conducting an experiment with Penny similar to what Milton was doing? Could his child zombie still recognize him? But his affection were not reciprocated. Instead, her attention were all on the bowl of raw meat beside her. He got angry and shove the child walker away back into her cage.

In the holding area, Glenn and Maggie comforts each other from the torturous ordeal they had from their abductors. Then Glenn suddenly goes to the walker carcass and tears off its arm violently to extract a crude weapon from the shattered bones. In another area, the Governor talks to Merle and the others about the threat posted by the people at the prison. He wants them destroyed and let the bitters reclaim the prison. Merle wants a chance to talk to his brother and persuade him to join their faction at Woodbury. The Governor is concerned about Andrea finding out about Glenn so he orders them to take the prisoner out to be silenced.


In the meantime, Michonne led Rick and the others to the infirmary. Glenn and Maggie are not there so she insisted to locate them at the Governor's home. Rick still don't trust her so he wants to look somewhere else. A guard enters the house to investigate the movements he saw from outside. Rick seize and interrogates him on the whereabouts of Maggie and Glenn. The man knows nothing so he gag and hit him unconscious.

At prison, Axel is infatuated with the Hershel's teenager, Beth.  I do wonder where Hershel was at this point. Carols sees this and talks to Axel about it. Axel says that Beth is the only girl he an flirt with since Maggie is with Glenn and he assume Carol, having short hair, to be a lesbian. Carol says she is not homosexual. Axel proposes to her but she turns him down. What a comic relief Axel is turning out to be.

Back at Woodbury, When Merle and the other guards came to collect their captives, Glenn and Maggie attack them with their makeshift weapons. Merle lets out a round of gunfire during the scuffle. Maggie killed his captor with the zombie bone, however, Merle easily subdued the injured Glenn. More guards came in and the couple were recaptured.

Hearing the gunfire, Rick and his group advance to where Glenn and Maggie held captive. They throw smoke grenades to confused Merle and his group, and pull Glenn and Maggie out to safety. Glenn blurs out Merle is alive and that he is the right-hand man of the Governor. Daryl wants to find Merle, but Rick begs Daryl to help them escape. Michonne slips away from the group to act on her own agenda.

Upon hearing that one of his men was killed by the outsiders, the Governor rallies his group on an alert mode. He assigns Andrea to enforce the curfew just to keep her away from knowing the truth that Rick's group are there. However, the war escalated when Rick starts to assault the front wall with gunfires and smoke bombs. Andrea joins the not knowing that she is firing at her former comrades. Daryl provides cover while the others moves towards the wall. Rick stops when he sees Shane coming towards them. But it was only his imagination. Oscar have been shot and drop dead on the spot. Maggie fires a bullet on his head so he won't turn to a zombie. She calls for Rick. This snaps Rick back to reality and shouts for Daryl to follow. However, Daryl was caught in a crossfire.

At prison, Carl and the others hear screaming within the prison. Hershel wasn't able to stop the boy to leave and investigate. Carl finds Tyreese and his group fighting walkers. He lead the group out of the dangerous predicament and into the safety of the cell block. Donna dies along the way. While the group is preoccupied with the situation, Carl locks them in the cell, leaving them food and water. Sasha protests and demands to let them out. Tyreese calms her down and thanks Carl for helping and leading them to safety. He went back to take care of Donna.

Michonne went to the Governor's residence where he sits waiting for the man to enter. She hears noises in one of the rooms which he breaks down to investigate. There she finds the Governor's water tanks filled with zombie heads. At the back of it, she finds the cage and the chained, hooded figure within. She thought it was a child but surprised when she lifted the hood to find a zombie child. When the Governor finds Michonne with Penny, he surrenders his weapons and begs Michonne to let Penny go. Michonne, who struggling to understand it all, stabs the walker child with her sword. This made the Governor into a mad frenzy and they have a brutal fight. The Governor rams Michonne's face against the water tanks. The Governor pins Michonne to the ground while the zombie heads tries to take a bite on the struggling Michonne. Michonne grabs a loose broken glass and stabs the Governor's eye with it. When Michonne was about to strike the fatal blow, Andrea step it pointing her gun at Michonne. Both girls held at a stand still. Michonne lowers her sword and Andrea proceeds to help the Governor. The Governor went to where Penny is and cradled the corpse in grief.

At the infirmary, Andrea asks the Governor about Michonne, the zombie heads and Penny. Even though how much the Governor makes his explanation sound normal, Andrea struggles to accept its merits. Merle enters the room to report of Rick and his groups escape. However, he was only greeted by the Governor's hard gaze. He now know Merle lied to him about killing Michonne.

Michonne reunites with Rick outside the wall. They been waiting for Daryl to come out. Rick doubts her as she states her usefulness to them. The Governor calls for a town assembly. He reveals they were attacked by terrorists and that Merle was one of them. He then reveals the captured Daryl. He asks for the towns verdict. The public clamors for an execution. Andrea looks on in terror and disbelief.



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Highlights:

• Carl is turning out to be a miniature version of Rick. So far, it looks like he is control of everything at prison. However, I do wonder how would he hold up against Tyreese's group now that Rick and the others are not there to defend the fort. Would the new entrants take over the prison? 

•  Tyreese seems to be a decent person. He looks like a man of reason and has respect for boundaries. He would be a perfect addition to Rick's group. And Rick needs more people since it becomes evident that the Governor wants them destroyed.

•  What would happen to the brothers, Merle and Daryl? Would they end up dead or would they escape and join Rick's group? I doubt it if Daryl would join his brother at the Governor's side. The Governor already forsaken Merle. So it is better if Merle joins his brother in Rick's group. But they need to escape the Governor's wrath first.

•  What would happen to Andrea. Do you think Andrea would join Rick's group? I don't think the Governor would let her go. Maybe she will help the brothers to escape from Woodbury.

•  Why did Shane suddenly pops out of the picture? Is Rick having psychological issues? If that's the case, we can expect other dead characters make a comeback via Rick's phantasms.

• If Woodbury has Milton, the prison has Axel. Even though they are creepy sometimes, they do provide a minute of comic relief from all the seriousness that's been happening. However, I do hope Axel don't bother sweet Beth too much. While Daryl is still in Woodbury, would he take this opportunity and continue his courtship with Carol?

• RIP Oscar. I find Oscar's character similar to T-Dogg's. I thought he will have a longer presence in the show. I guess he had to go to make room for Tyreese.

•  Talk about the dynamic couple, Glenn and Maggie. They are strong when together, but weak when apart. Or is it the other way around. Nonetheless, they are now the it couple now that Rick's better half is gone. Maybe we will see her in Rick's dreams.

• Even though the ideal match up is between Rick and the Governor, I like to see the Governor- Michonne brawl once again. I am sure the Governor wants to avenge Penny's second death.

Sneak Peaks and Previews

 The Walking Dead 3x09 Sneak Peek #1 "The Suicide King"

The Walking Dead 3x09 Sneak Peek #2 "The Suicide King"

The Walking Dead 3x09 "The Suicide King" Preview

See you February 10, 2013

The Walking Dead 3 Episode 7: When the Dead comes Knocking

Found on flickrcc.net

Merle interrogates Glenn for the whereabouts of his group. He refuse to divulge the location despite being tortured and setting loose a walker on him. The Governor threatens Maggie with rape, but she also refuses to talk. The Governor brings her to where Glenn is and further threatens her there. She finally tells them the about their group and location when the Governor threatens to kill Glenn. With this information, the Governor orders a scouting mission to locate the prison and its inhabitants.

Upon the request of the Governor, Andrea helps out Milton on his experiment on their theory that walkers possesses past memories of their former human life. The experiment failed to yield results when Andrea stake  a knife into the subjects' head when it tried to sink it's teeth into the overzealous Milton.

At the prison grounds, the walkers finally sense Michonne's presence when her wounds started bleeding profusely. When Michonne falls down while fighting walkers, Rick helps her and brings her into the safety of the prison walls. During their interrogation on Michonne, Rick found out from her how Glenn and Maggie were kidnapped and taken to Woodbury. Rick, together with Michonne, Daryl and Oscar, set forth on a rescue mission to save their captured comrades. They evaded a large group of walkers along the way until they reach the guarded walls of Woodbury.

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At Woodbury...

Merle starts interrogating Glenn asking the groups hiding place, while Maggie listens in the adjacent holding area. He begins by beating on Glenn, but Glenn won't budge. He even head butts Merle and made bold bluffs about how Rick and the rest of their group will come soon to rescue him and Maggie. This surprise  and infuriates Merle even more. He sensed a big change in Glenn's character far from the good-nature Asian guy he knew way back.

Infuriated with Glenn's stubbornness, Merle released a walker inside the room while Glenn is helplessly bound to a chair. Fueled by an instinct to survive, Glenn kick and scrap his way to avoid his hungry attacker. He smashed the chair against the wall and used the chair arm to stab the zombie on the head. He reminds me of Bruce Lee, not because he kung fu his way out of this situation, but because he broke away from being Rick's sidekick and an outright hero of the show.

Having no success with Glenn, the Governor tuns his attention to Maggie. He sexually assaulted Maggie by telling her to take off her shirt and bra. He then threatens her with rape by touching her and pinning her against the table. At this point, I thought Maggie has already reached her breaking point. However, The Governor took her to where Glenn is, and Glen was outrage to see Maggie topless. The Governor points his gun to Glenn. Maggie blurred out the location and how many are there. I couldn't blame her for doing so. I would been more less forgiving if Glenn would be the first one that yielded.


The Governor interrogates Maggie. He told her to take off her shirt, then her bra. At this point, he clearly threatens her with rape. She relented to the Governor’s twisted request when he threatens Glenn's life. Now the Governor knows her weakness at this point.

Then the Governor took Maggie to where Glenn is. Glenn was in a rage when she saw Maggie topless. He pointed his gun to Maggie then points it at Glenn. "Prison!", Maggie blunted out thus revealing the location of their camp and how many are they in it.

The Governor seems to to so surprise how a small number of people able to clear out an overrun prison. This information made him on a heightened alert. He ordered Merle to organize a coinsurance mission to the prison located at the area he calls Red Zone.

In another part of town, Milton is working on an experiment to find out if zombies still possess their human memories. This is a part of his mission to find a cure for the zombie plague. Andrea was there to help upon the request of the Governor. The theory seems to be sound and there seems to be snippets throughout the series where some zombies still depicts human behaviors. An old man, Mr. Coleman, who’s dying from prostate cancer, has volunteered to let Milton run a post-transformation experiment.The experiment, however, failed to yield the desired results. Andrea stake a knife into the reanimated subjects' head when it tried to sink it's teeth into the overzealous Milton.

In prison...


Michonne is almost at her end.  Her invisibility cloak worn out due to the stench of her bleeding wound, she found herself surrounded by zombies near the prison fences. Michonne tried to swing and slash her sword at the walkers only to fall on the ground dazed due to the loss of blood. The zombies close in for the feast. Rick and Carl starts shooting and brings the fallen stranger inside their prison abode.

When Michonne regained consciousness, Rick started to ask her questions of who she was, how she able to found the prison, and why is she carrying basket full of baby formula. Michonne just glared at them from from where she lay unable to trust the men who stared with an equal stare of distrust back at her. Daryl came  to show Rick something important. They lock up Michonne but promise to come back for her to let Hershel treat her wounds.

Back at their cell block, Daryl shows a much alive Carol whom he found earlier passed out in a locked cell. Everybody was happy to see their lost comrade. Carol is elated to see Lori's baby, however, the sweet reunion turned to sad one when Carol's searching eyes for the baby's mother was met by Rick's mournful gaze. Michonne watch this tender moment from the adjacent cell.


Whatever Michonne thought about what she had witness, it made her reveal that Glenn and Maggie were kidnapped and taken to Woodbury. However, she didn't mention Merle's name as the one who shot her and abducted the lovers nor her erstwhile travel friend, Andrea, whom she left at Woodbury. It is clearly her intention to leave out these details in her story. She, nonetheless, offered Rick to lead and help them get in to Woodbury.

While Hershel tends to Michonne's wound, Rick, Daryl and Oscar prepare for the rescue mission. Rick took the time to talk with Carl about Lori's death. Here, they decided to name the baby Judith. This heart to heart talks is turning out to be bad premonitions of something bad to happen. Like the one Rick and Lori had and then she died during childbirth. I does make me wonder that something bad would happen at prison after Rick and the rest leave for Woodbury.

Moving on. Michonne leads the three men to Woodbury. But before they reach it's gates, they were ambushed by a group of walkers. The group ran into a cabin in the woods where they find an old guy with a shotgun. The guy told the trespassers to get off his property or he would call the cops. Rick told him he is a cop. This is becoming a comical-serious situation. This survivor seems out of place or oblivious to the horrors that is out there. Before he could run out and let the zombies in, Michonne killed him with her sword. Rick throws the body out to the waiting hoard as a diversion so they can escape out the the back of the cabin. They finally reached their destination at nightfall. Hold your horses, the showdown is set to begin.


Highlights:

• Rick names his newborn daughter "Judith". Carl suggested the name for no apparent reason.  There seems to be no indications whether he questions the paternity of the child. However, it would interesting to see if old wounds would surface with regards to this story line in future events.

• Carol's reunion with the group was bitter sweet. She was elated to see Lori's baby, however, Rick's mournful demeanor made a clear response to Carol's inquisitive glance of the whereabouts of the baby's mother.  

• When Rick interrogated Michonne, she failed to mention vital information regading Glenn and Maggie's kidnapping. She did not mention Merle's name and even her erstwhile travel companion, Andrea. This would lead to a shocking confrontation between Daryl and Merle. 

• I was a surprise to see his strong conviction when he go against Merle's torturous ways. Glenn has become a stronger person because of Maggie. Then again, their relationship is becoming their own weakness as seen when Maggie gave in to the Governor's threat to Glenn's life.

• I really don't know if the Governor's intention to rape Maggie is real or just a show of power. I just feel he is really rotten apple down to the core. He is worst than Merle. Where does Merle's loyalty lie? I hope Daryl could sway him out of the dark side.

• Michonne is a nutcase that is hard to crack. However, there still a part in her that wants to belong. Would Michonne forsake her rogue ways and find a home in Rick's group? 

Next week is the mid season finale of The Walking Dead which means there would be no The Walking Dead after that and until February 2013. Bummer! They would let us wait hanging during the holidays again. So expect the next episode to be full pack that would surely make us suffer the long wait during the holidays. Here are trailer and sneak peak videos of the next episode.

The Walking Dead - Season 3 Episode 8 - Preview - Made to Suffer 

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8 Sneak Peek #1 "Made to Suffer"

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 8 Sneak Peek #2 "Made to Suffer"