Walking Dead Season 3: The Suicide King

Wow, it certainly was an action-packed episode to the second mid-season premiere of Walking Dead, the AMC show that forced me to go through withdraw for two months.  But no need to look back.  Let’s look forward:

We pick up exactly where we left off…Daryl and his white trash brother Merle ready to be fed to the wolves (*ahem*) people at the arena, the mill found inside Woodbury.  But The Governor leaves the squabbling up to the siblings, forced to “fight to the death” against each other.  In a battle akin to a skirmish between little children, the Dixon brothers struggle on the ground, a mob screaming so loud they can’t hear Daryl telling his brother to play along. 

After a quick shoot em’ up with the help of smoke screen, Rick Grimes and his badass group bail out the Dixons, but not before breaching the Woodbury wall that once kept the walkers out.  The key word there is “once” after a scene shows a curious walker making his way into the once Mayberry-esque town.  A later scene shows a trio of walkers feed on some of the townsfolk before a disgruntled Governor shoots one of his surviving loyal subjects dead in front of dozens of townspeople.  The Governor then walks off, perhaps drafting a new martial law regime. 

Meanwhile, the Dixons are back together much to the chagrin of everyone except baby-brother Daryl, who quickly sides with Merle.  “He’s blood,” is his only reason behind joining his brother into a zombie abyss, ignoring Rick’s pleas.  Daryl’s departure sets up an interesting plotline for the latter part of this action-packed season. 

So now without Rick’s second-in-command (Dr. Hershel has assumed the role), Carol is at a loss.  A damsel looking to be distressed, Carol can’t take seeing the man she was almost going to sleep with pick his family over his secondary family.  But with men like this once in Carol’s life (i.e. remember her lowlife husband in season one?), she seems to understand what Daryl’s all about.  “Daryl has his code,” says Carol.   “This world needs men like that.” 

But those men are running out, replacing them with sadistic ones like the Governor, who’s now taken a back seat to his patriarch-like nature to a silent dictator, leaving Andrea to quell concerns from Woodbury towns folks with a rousing speech cooling tensions.  But the Governor is now keeping a watchful eye (literally) on the former civil rights prosecutor, convincing the group to stick with the Governor. 

Glen, who showed his emerging macho-ness by stomping a zombie to death, has emerged as a strong character, though he’s clearly traumatized over his time in Woodbury at the hands of Merle.  Though unexplained, his experience has created tensions with Maggie.  Could he be upset Maggie gave up the location of his family?  Is he ashamed Maggie was nearly raped?   

Back at the prison, the new batch of survivors led by strongman Tyrese is in a war with themselves, debating whether they should kill Rick’s clan and take over the facility.  Clearly, as in the comic book, Tyrese has become the show’s moral compass, keeping order in a lawless state.  To me, he almost looks like Rick’s foil character, providing a more sensible approach to resolving issues, a departure that’s slowly happening within Rick. 

Unfortunately for Rick, the former sheriff has become unhinged as indicated in the previous episode where he envisions Shane ready to kill him.  This time Rick sees the ghostly silhouette of Laurie, who died after giving birth to Judith (aka Lil Ass Kicker), appear at the prison’s second floor.   Freaking me out even more was the sound of a walker accompanying Laurie.  He goes into a rage, later denying Tyrese from officially joining the “Ricktatorship” as “Talking Dead” describes.  Rick already showed signs he lost his grip after cradling Judith, the echoing sounds of her cries ringing through Rick. 

With all of Rick’s inner turmoil spilling out of him the group is in trouble.  Will his disturbed nature begin to take a toll on the group?  I’m sure he’ll come through, though this show has proven anything’s possible.

Themes:

The show certainly focused on finding family in a time of struggle, survival of the fittest and the ability to maintain one’s emotional core in a time of crisis.  The group has gone through so many headaches they don’t want to lose one another.  But a secondary family has proven no match for a guy like Daryl, whose “code” pushed him to his brother.  The survival theme has also created this “Mad Max” type world where Wild West runs rampant.  But this new world has created plenty of unhinged characters, namely Rick, once a sheriff struggling to keep order.  These days he’s a man waving a gun around. 

Notable quotes:

Tyrese: Makes me the first brother who broke into a prison. 

Axel: Makes me the first white boy not to break out. 

Glen (to Daryl): My family’s standing right here, and you’re part of that family.

Sasha (on the new zombie world): It makes the living look less like the living.