On part three of the Walking Dead special I break down Season 3 and talk about how its so much different from the first two but equally just a great.
Season Three starts off some time later after the fall of Hershel's Farm. From what we see the group has been on the run, going house to house, looking for food and shelter. Lory is also very pregnant at this point, so it's safe to say they have been wondering for months.
From the look of the group it's clear they have not found much peace and yet they also appear to have honed their survival skills. As we see Carl who's now a little older, clearing rooms with a handgun that has a makeshift suppressor on it.
I love these little details because its not in your face but enough to show that the group has gotten smarter, and is adapting to the new world. We see further signs of this when the group forms a sort of Phalanx when clearing areas of walkers in the prison.
And so that leads me to the next part.
The Group stumbles across the oh so infamous prison. Which to anyone wondering around trying to survive in the apocalypse looks like four seasons. The irony of free people seeking security in a prison isn't lost on me…
In some ways it represents the idea that no matter how free we are today in a normal society we seek to go after law and order, we never truly want to be 100% free, that level of freedom can be chaotic, uncomfortable, and foreign. No one likes that, we like our routines. and this prison represents a little of that over this season and the next.
But I digress
They found a sanctuary, unfortunately its full of walkers. So the group has to decide if they want to clear it and risk their safety. Rick, being the leader, makes the call and leads the team into the prison and begin the journey of clearing it.
An Interesting side note, just a hole in the overall story, they were probably about a mile from the prison at the end of the second season. The little pan out showed us as much. And yet, they wondered for months and never came across it sooner? I mean maybe that's me being picky, but again if you've been out there for a long time its likely you would have stumbled on it.
Are we to believe they wandered in every other direction, back tracked and just missed it? I mean literally you choose a direction to go, either toward it or away from it. Not away from it, never finding it for months and then magically circling back to the area you started and going oh hey look… a prison?
Also it seems to me that Woodbury is probably within ten miles or so of the prison… at least that's what the show makes out. People literally run from Woodbury and manage to make it to the prison in a reasonable time. How is it the group didn't find that town? Or for that matter stumble across any of the people there out and about?
I could understand if you were merely wandering around for a few weeks, but its months and it shows us that you've been marauding around clearing neighborhoods for supplies..
But again that's being nit picky,
From there the show cuts over to Andrea, who we all forgot about even after jumping right from season 2 to 3 and not waiting a year like in the past.
She is now with a strange new character, one we caught a glimpse of after season two. Michonne. I have to say I always liked her character, she's not unusual in any way except she figured out that keeping a couple walkers near her all cut up disguises her from them.
Some may find that cheesy, but I didn’t. I put this in line with covering yourself with walker guts that hides you from the hordes.
So anyway Andrea appears to be pretty sick and like the other group they have been wandering around for a while too. Obviously the same amount of time, they have all these funny stories of them that they talk about later on. The two have made quite the friendship.
Again, never running into anyone in all that time… and somehow managed to run into the governors group now and not months sooner. But oh well..
A helicopter full of Army reservists is flying around and crashes in the woods, Andrea and Michonne stumble upon it but before they get close a group arrives.
This is where we get introduced to the Governor. A handsome, well spoken, and charming man who is the leader of a large community called Woodbury.
At first glances the Governor seems like a great guy. And wouldn't you know Murrel is with him! Again what are the freaking odds that Murrel stumbles out of Atlanta with his hand cut off and manages to find a group in the same geographical location as the other group who has his brother in it… Anyway…
Needless to say Andrea is a little shocked to see him as are the rest of us…
They get taken back to Woodbury, where she is treated with medicine and healed, but they were stripped of their weapons. The governor assured them its for everyone's safety and they could have them back if they wanted to leave.
Well Michonne doesn't take kindly to that, and can see right through the Governor's charm, so she wants to leave. But Andrea not so much, and can you blame her? They have been wandering around trying to survive and she almost died from the Flu and this town is the closest representation to the old world as it can get.
The parallels are nice here with Michonne and Andrea. You have to remember that in the second season Andrea never departed mentally from the old world.
We talked about that in the second season. That season represented the death of the old world and the birth to the new apocalyptic one. And all the people trying to navigate that and come to terms with it.
When Shane and Rick were debating on killing the prisoner that was the moment where the group had to decide what direction they were going in. Andrea at the last minute sided with Dale which was representative that she was still holding out that things could be normal again, that the old world wasn't dead.
And so it's no wonder she clinged so quickly to the governor and Woodbury, she so desperately wants to believe the old world still exists because when she didn't she wanted to die, hence the scene at the CDC in season one.
Michonne on the other hand was plunged into the fire of chaos early and had no time to weigh the options for herself. We later will find out about Michonne's past and why she is such a cunning survivor who fits in well in the new world.
Meanwhile back at the prison the group is dealing with caverns full of walkers. The prison is like a haunted maze, except in this you can actually die. They come across a group of prisoners hiding in the mess hall. This encounter is foreshadowing for Rick as he has to make a decision that will save his life and the group. One of the Prisoners is a psycho, and tries to kill Rick, well Rick had enough of that and drives an ax into the dude's skull.
That's a simplified version of that entire scene. But it's pivotal because it shows just how much of a monster Rick has become. Remember what we talked about in the last episode. Which is finding your inner monster. The group at an individual level will need to do that to survive.
Find your inner monster, and tame it. Shane found his quickly but couldn't tame it and it led to his demise. Rick found him at the very end of season two, and I said would he become the Tyrant? Or the fearless leader.
From the looks of this season, he has become the fearless leader and everyone has willfully followed him and his leadership.
Take note, that being the monster is a good thing, taming it is what you must do and when you do that people will respect you and look up to you. That's what happened here with Rick. He is now the fearless leader. And he does whatever it takes to protect his people.
Oh and I failed to mention in all of this that Hershcel was bitten in the leg, and Rick without hesitation threw on a tourniquet and cut Hershel's leg off saving his life. That is being a monster. That's stepping up and doing something unimaginable but doing it because it would save his life.
Become a monster in your life, Tame that monster, and thrive!
So needless to say the prison has not been a cupcake. However one of the bad prisoners escaped after Rick killed the psycho prisoner. The other two were sent to separate cell blocks and ordered to stay away from the group.
Later on the bad prisoner shows back up and decides to turn on the backup generators in the prison and trip the alarms. Which sends the walkers into a tizzy. The entire group gets pulled deep into the prison running from the dead and also trying to locate where or who triggered the alarms.
Rick and Derell come across the prisoner leading to a tussle between him and Rick who is promptly killed by the other prisoners in a show of good faith.
From here the group gains a couple of allies in the prisoners. But unfortunately Lori, Carl, and Maggie are cut off hiding from the dead when Lori's water breaks. Oh what perfect timing you cruel world.
Unfortunately Hershel and Carol are the ones trained on doing a C-section but they arent around and they do not have the proper medical equipment or supplies to perform it. Carl and Maggie have to do it because, otherwise the baby will die and kill Lori. However, If they perform the C-section Lori will die.
This is an awful situation, and one where Maggie tries to negotiate with Lori but unfortunately there's only one answer.
The episode ends with Rick and group meeting up in the prison yard, and Rick finding out that Lori is dead, and Carl had to put down his own mother.
Welcome to the new world everyone, Its nothing but hell and chaos and you gotta be strong enough mentally to navigate it. And if you are lucky you wont go insane from it.
Rick does tho, he starts to lose his mind promptly after, which requires others in the group to step up and lead in the meantime. Mainly Hershel and Glenn.
All of this leads to Maggie and Glenn Leaving the prison in search of baby formula. While out wouldn't you have it! They run into Merle who was hunting down Michonne who decided to cut ties with Andrea and leave Woodbury.
Merel takes Glen and Maggie back to Woodbury as captives, and Michonne takes the formula to the prison where Rick sees her standing there outside the gate.
This is where we really start to see the malevolence of the governor, Merel beats on Glenn for information on his brother, and the Governor forces himself on Maggie to get her to talk. Neither do until The Governor threatens to shoot Glenn.
Michonne leads the group to Woodbury to save Glenn and Maggie. A nice firefight breaks out and they manage to find them and pull them out.
This entire action sequence shows me that neither the writers or directors understand how firearms work. Every weapon is fully automatic and has an endless supply of ammo. A major beef I have always had with this show.
In any real world situation no one in their right mind would be unloading full magazines into the dark of night. Unless the Governor or Ricks group had a bullet manufacturing facility, it's safe to say ammo would not be plentiful.
Semi Auto people… Also most of the weapons they would find would only be semi-automatic anyway. As most legally owned rifles in the US are not fully auto as they are illegal to own and require special licensing to possess.
Even the military does not use full auto rifles. The M16A4 is semi-Auto or three round burst which is a stupid feature that we never used unless we just wanted to full around in the combat range. The M4 is fully auto but not used as much as the M16.
Any way I digress, the point is its just over the top and any one with half a brain knows, they gotta run out of ammo at some point. I don't see rick carrying a vest full off spare magazines for that AK47…
Details matter…
This entire operation sparks an obvious war between the prison and Woodbury.
The rest of the season focuses on that and Andrea trying desperately to stop the two groups from killing one another. Andrea is still stuck in the old world mentality. She has not found her inner monster and cant make the tough calls.
She knows that the Governor isn't a great guy at this point and has the opportunity to kill him, but cant. She cant bring herself to do it.
This would lead to massacre and deaths of a lot of people.
Sometimes the most brutal and awful decisions we have to make in life are the ones that could save the most lives, or even your own.
Which is the case for Andrea.
The governor makes it pretty clear to Rick there cant be any peace. But levels with him and says, if you can give me Michonne, I won't attack the prison.
Now I like this scene. It reminds me a lot of the old civil war era where the two generals would come off the battlefield and meet at a table to discuss terms as gentlemen. We definitely don't fight like that anymore.
And so this presents quite the conundrum for Rick and as viewers we already know that the Governor isnt gonna just let Rick and his group go, even if he gives up Michonne. But Rick isn't so sure, but he has a feeling that the Governor isn't a man of his word.
Needless to say Rick doesn't hand him over, Merel takes her, proclaiming Rick doesn't have the stones to do it so he will be the bad guy.
This is where we see an interesting character arch.
In the process of all this Merel has a change of heart. He lets Michonne go, but proceeds on toward the governor anyway. And in good Merel fashion, grabs a bottle of booz, liquours up and leads a group of walkers to the meet up location where the governor is waiting.
From there Merel begins to take out the Governors soldiers, which leads to his capture and death.
This right here folks is how you write a comeback story. Take note Kenobi!
Merle was not the most pleasant man, and needless to say after season one I doubt many fans liked him, and probably saw him as the protagonist. From there on when we link back up to him now we see he's still the same old selfish, and awful to deal with Merle. Doing the Governors bidding, and taking what he can.
Merel is essentially a pirate… He takes what can, and follows orders from the one man who's the captain.
But he redeems himself, he helps the group, and tries to make mends. But here's the kicker, and the key to writing a character arch where a bad guy becomes the anti-hero or for that matter a hero.
Merel sacrifices himself for the group. And through that can be redeemed and provoke sympathy and sadness from the viewer. This is good writing.
It's much like Darth Vader. Vader was a bad guy, he killed a lot of people and did a ton of evil things. But in the end redeemed himself by saving Luke and killing Palpatine. HOWEVER, he dies doing it.
He has to die, he cant survive. There is no way Vader walks away from all his crimes, a free and moral man who lives to the ripe old age of 80 and dies in bed with loved ones around him. Does Not work that way. There still has to be justice for his crimes, and his sacrifice is that justice. He dies the hero. Otherwise, he's tried for war crimes and rots in a prison. Which is fine, if that's what you are going for in the story. But Vader’s story is about the fall, and the redemption through sacrifice.
An obvious fail in this is in Kenobi with the Character Reva. Sure she had a troubled childhood, but she chose the path of the dark side, and anger. She literally cut a woman's hand off and tortured a little girl for information. And in the end… Kenobi says she can be whoever she wants to be now because she saw the error of her ways… no sacrifice, no justice, nope youre free to go, forget all the awful stuff you did its fine.
This makes her story unlikeable and laughable. The viewer won't show sympathy but instead probably just throw up in a trash can nearby from the nauseating writing..
Kenobi appears to be written by a five year old girl, and not a grown professional adult.
Anyway Merel sacrifices himself and now its WAR!
Rick was never gonna give up Michonne and so he sets off for weapons where he meets an old friend gone crazy. Why? Because he couldn't make the tough call. And so he lost his wife and son.
You see the trend here? Season 3 is about making the tough decisions, and what happens when you dont, or you do.
Season 3 is the ushering on of the new world, and the Characters now trying to survive in it. The old world is dead and now all thats left is Chaos and death.
Even the Governor tries to usher back in the old world with law and order in Woodbury, but as fast as it started, he lost it.
The governor would wage an attack on the prison and lose, he would then moh down the people fighting for him who wanted to run the other way. From there he was left alone and lost. In that time Andrea would die, something that may have been avoided had she made the tough decision. Andrea wasn't prepared to go into the new world from season one. And Unfortunately that new world took her life for it.
The Group managed to fight off the governor and live another day. The season ends with Rick and the group rescuing the last of Woodvury and taking them back to the prison.
Obviously this is a very abbreviated rundown of the season. There is far too much detail to go over in one show. Out of all the seasons so far this one had a ton going on in it.
Generally since season one the group was always together, either at the quarry, in a convoy, or Hershel's farm. They were all together going through the exact same things at once.
In season three the writing changes a little and starts to show multiple stories at once. You have the prison and their story and then Woodbury and Andreas' story in that.
The season is well balanced out by this as its easy to track, and the Governor and Woodbury is as interesting as the Prison.
I found myself pretty locked in and ready for the next episode each time I watched. It was easy for me to binge as the story was compelling and interesting.
It was far different from the first two. Which was slower paced, and more methodical. In the start of season 3 you are immediately thrown into action and walkers are more prominent. I would say you probably see more walkers and walker death in the first two episodes of season three than all of season two.
I think this is intentional as I said before, season two was about the death of the old world. Season three is the birth of the new world and the group being casted off into it. Its Chaotic, fast paced, bloody, and unforgiving.
Season 3 as whole is all that, action packed and never quitting. You almost can feel what the characters are feeling as they deal with the stress of being lost in this dangerous world.
All in all I really liked season three and I especially loved how the casted and wrote the Governor character. David Morrisey played the perfect antagonist, and perfect first villain for Rick to encounter.
Like I said earlier, he's charming, well spoken and handsome, he is what you would expect from a malevolent leader. He's the hidden Tyrant. Everyone around him feels safe and willing to follow until they get too close then they see the truth come up but by then its too late.
You either do what he says or die. And that's what happened to Andrea.
When I first started watching season three again, I was trying to wrap my head around the Governor and why he does the things he does.
I like to try and understand the mind of all the characters and why they do what they do.
And at first it seems like much of the Governor's actions don't make a lot of sense. For instance when he comes up on the group of Army national guardsmen. He tricks them into lowering their weapons and then massecres them.
Now obviously this scene lends to showing us that the governor is actually a bad dude. And while I get that, why kill the soldiers? Why not take them in? Why take in Andrea and Michonne but not trained soldiers who could in theory help protect your city?
The only answer I could come up with is he felt they could pose a threat to Woodbury. Take over what he has built.
And so that got me thinking a little.
Why is the Governor, the Governor? Why is he evil? What drove this man to become this? Because he wasn't this way before. And I was struggling a little to find the motive of the Governor.
But I remembered watching a video of Jordan Peterson’s when he taught at the University of Toronto. And he was talking about how if you can't figure out the motive of someone the best way to find out is to see what they're actually doing. And he used an example of Hitler.
And he said most people think that Hitler wanted to win the war and return Germany to its rightful place as a superpower. But Jorden says that does not align with his actions, and why is that? Well for one if you really wanted to win the war and make Germany great, you wouldnt dedicate a massive amount of your war effort on the mass genocide of a group of people. Especially when you're losing the war. Because what happened when the Allies approached Germany? He Doubled down his efforts in the Camps.
So Jordan said you wouldnt do this if you wanted to win the war, however you may do this if your intentions all along were to inflict the most amount of damage and chaos as you can before you are taken out.
And that makes perfect sense, because Hitler was an angry and bitter man who was resentful of how the prior world war ended and blamed many groups including the jewish community for the outcome of it all.
And I think Jordan is half right. And this leads me to my next thought on how the Governor and Hitler are very similar.
Yes theyre both bad and maybe Hitler is a worse and fair point but here me out.
I think Hitler in his mind wanted the best for Germany, and so he waged war to take back what he believed was rightfully theirs. I mean he made negotiations and peace deals with countries in the region. Some he went back on sure, but others not so he was calculated.
My point is it would appear that Hitler had a plan all along to make Germany the superpower once again. And he was doing that. It wasn't until America and The allies got involved where things changed. When we started kicking his ass and pushing back in Germany I think that's when he went full chaos mode as Jordan Spoke to.
Its like well “If I cant have it no one can, and so Im just gonna burn it all down as fast as I can”. And this makes sense because he felt the Germany army betrayed him so he had no issue throwing them at the Allied lines to die. And he Hated and resented the Jews, Gypsies, and other ethnic groups. So what did he do? Well we saw what he did..
And through that I realized that's the Governor. The Governor is the Tyrant with a well meaningful plan that descends into Chaos. Now Meaningful to him, but malevolent to anyone with half a brain and a heart. Or maybe not.. Keep in mind many of the Germans thought they were on the good side during the war.
So what made him the Tryant?
Well he reveals it later on. He says, “I did not have what it took to protect my family, and I made a promise to myself I would do whatever it takes to protect what I love from now on”
And there it is…
HE DIDN'T HAVE WHAT IT TOOK TO MAKE THE TOUGH DECISIONS. And that's the theme of Season 3 by the way.
The death of his wife and daughter drove the governor to become a Tyrant. Which is what can happen. You find the inner monster, ok good. But your resentful, maybe at yourself or others but your resentful and angry just like Hitler was and that drives you into madness.
That's the governor. He found it too late, and by then he lost everything that mattered to him and that made him angry, resentful, and sad. All those things have driven him to become a malevolent tyrant. Because there's no way he's gonna let himself make that mistake again and it doesn't matter who gets in his way.
And so when he realizes he's lost the war to Rick what does he do? He goes into full chaos mode and wipes out his entire army leaving him with only two men. Its no longer about protecting anyone or anything, its about getting back at the world and causing as much destruction as possible.
And that’s what see, that's why he didn't take in the soldiers, and that's why he wanted to take out Rick's group. Thats why he comes back with vengeance in season four and destroys the prison. Its not really about keeping his new group safe, its about destroying everything he cant have and creating a massive amount of chaos in the process. I will touch more on that obviously in the next season.
The Governor is such a well written villain. He is simple and yet complex. He’s an average man, with a history that makes him relatable and can invoke sympathy at times from the viewer. They did a really good job on him, and is a continuation of the great character writing in this show.
That being said I had a few long winded Rants there, but overall the Season was a great and solid continuation from the prior season. We see so many character arcs in this season, and how the interestingly change through their experiences in the new world.
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Intro song:
The Walking dead original soundtrack
Theme from the walking dead
By: By McCreary