The Walking Dead has been delivering an action-packed season 3 with lots of drama and major plot turns. “Home” almost feels like a teleportation back to the farmhouse as the characters spend the first 40 minutes of the episode whining and proving why this show is best when it remembers it is about zombies. Well, Rick isn’t whining, because he’s too busy trying to make out with imaginary Lori. The Governor rescues the episode by delivering a van full of zombies and reminding Rick’s crew that he is the villain.
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Shootout at the Prison
Just when I was ready to write an essay about how most of the characters have become illogical and write this episode off as a snore-fest, Axel gets snipered right in the eye. This may be the most unexpected kill on the show, though I should have expected something since a rarely seen character suddenly gets lots of screen time. Poor Carol loses out on romance once again, but at least dead Axel does the noble thing of being her body shield from the bullets.
Governor shocks absolutely no viewers by lying to Andrea and deciding to assault the prison. Remember when people wondered where the prison was and it appeared this mammoth structure was hidden? Now, it seems like everyone stumbles upon it within seconds, and makes you kind of wonder why it took so long for it to be inhabited.
The Woodbury army of five does a rather fine job of making life hell for the prison crew. Things may have gone better for our heroes if they didn’t take target practice lessons from stormtroopers. All the good guys are cowering for cover from the bullets, but the Governor calmly stands out in the open, not afraid that any bullet will come near him. The bullets hit everything but what should be their targets, until Maggie finally takes out the Woodbury baddie on the guard tower. Now we know why they like to use knives instead when battling zombies.
The big moment of the battle is when Rick becomes the salami of a zombie sandwich, and the Dixon brothers come to the rescue. Darryl is by far the best thing in this entire episode, and he has become the heroic knight of The Walking Dead. In this episode, he shows that he has the super power of hearing crying babies from far distances, he saves a young family from a zombie horde, he stands up to his sleazy brother and also rescues his friends. It’s a rather busy day of heroism for everyone’s favorite redneck warrior.
Now for the Dull Stuff
The shootout is only the last 20 minutes, and we have to put up with the characters doing some annoying antics.
Rick apparently spends an entire afternoon playing hide-and-go-seek with his dead wife, which for Hershel is a sign that he is the best leader they have.
Hershel proves his own great mind by thinking it makes the most sense for him to hobble around in the wilderness when he needs a van to even get back up to the prison.
Maggie and Glenn’s relationship is now centered on pouty faces and growling. I realize Maggie went through a traumatic event, but the writers are dealing with the issue in the most contrived fashion possible.
Maggie is shaken up, when she appeared fine and composed last week.
Glenn handles things by taking a joyride to possibly get some milk, but then appears at the end when he realizes they don’t have a fridge.
Michonne plays in a van, which she obviously still makes look cool, but she’s underplayed this week.
The episode is rescued by the super-hot ending and the actually compelling scenes with Darryl. Now we’ve got some pretty exciting fallout for next week. The group will need to either decide to fortify or fight back. Maybe Andrea will finally clue in that the Governor shouldn’t be in the running for man of her dreams.
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(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
