AMC's The Walking Dead

I won't argue for Lori or Andrea. Those characters should have been so much better, but they were ruined by missteps. Lately, I've started seeing Andrea like the battered woman-type of character, the one who knows she shouldn't be going back to someone who is clearly the wrong guy but keeps doing it anyway. But there's no depth to her to explain why she'd do it, and the Governor hasn't even slapper her around a little to make you sympathize, so you get this character who bitches about the guy she really knows is evil but won't do a damn thing about it.

As for the Governor, I've been torn about his development. I've liked it at times, but other times, I wish they had just decided to go one way or the other. Either make him a sick freak who is manipulating the town but is truly evil, or make him a sympathetic villain doing what he thinks is right, even if it is twisted. Instead, you get this guy who is clearly evil, so you can't like him, but the writers really want you to.

All that said, the scenes between Rick and the Governor were strong, showing enough to show the Governor was trying to manipulate his opposite, even when he was opening up about his wife. And the scenes between Daryl and his Woodbury opposite and Hershel and the "doctor" guy from Woodbury were in some ways even better because it humanized both sides of the coming conflict. The ones with Daryl and the other guy came across to me like two soldiers from opposing armies -- they respected each other, but they knew the shit was probably going to hit the fan soon and they'd be at each other's throats.

 

I don't think he's going to. I think in his mind, he's leaning heavily that way, and that's why he wants the rest of the group scared. So that if he can't talk himself out of it, or Hershel can't, and he decides that's the way to go, they'll accept it. He said as much to Hershel. If he wasn't leaning that way, why would he ask Hershel to talk him out of it? Why would he ask Hershel if he'd give up his daughters' lives to save Michonne?

I'm re-watching the episode now to see if my thoughts change.

 

OK, so I skipped to the end and watched just the last two scenes. Still see it that way. Don't think it's a misread at all. He said as much to Hershel, saying the group needed to be scared so they'd accept it. Like I said, not sure if he's decided or not, but I think in his mind, he's leaning that way.

 

Simplistic? Maybe. Ruthless is more like it.

I always think of this as Rick's story, and it isn't a happy one. It is a matter of watching a good man torn down inside and out by the horrible situation he has been placed in. That means watching him fighting a losing battle to hold on to his humanity.

No, I don't think for a second morality is stopping him. He has to put his children first. If he can protect them by sacrificing Michonne, so be it. That's why he asks Herschel if he's willing to get his daughters killed.

Think about what Rick, Michonne and Carl did in the previous episode. They left the hitchhiker to the walkers. Twice. The didn't finally stop for him until after he had been torn to shreds, and then only to take his backpack. Was that the act of a moral man?

 

Depends on your definition of "moral." After all the times they've been screwed over by outsiders, risking your kid by helping another outsider could be seen as immoral.

 

Risking his kids for anybody could be seen as immoral, too.

 

That's the quandry. It's immoral to risk his kid to save a guy on the side of the road, but it's immoral to let the person die, too. Really, in a way, the world in the Walking Dead has become choosing between a series of immoral choices. Morality has been turned on its head.

 

Rick asked the Gov why would he think Woodberry wouldn't still come after his group even with giving up Michonne? I don't remember the Gov's answer but I surely would still think I wouldn't be safe. I can't see that Rick would believe him either. But TWD writers have gone stupid before.

 

Rick doesn't think they'd be safe. He told Herschel he thought if he handed her over the Governor would probably kill them all anyway. But, as I said before, there's that little bit of hope that he might be able to save everyone else but Michonne that has him wondering if he could be wrong and asking if he can risk his son's life to protect her.

Basically, he sees one of three outcomes:

(1) They don't hand Michonne over, resulting in war and some or all of his people dying.

(2) They hand her over, and they get attacked and end up in war with some or all of his people dying.

(3) They hand her over, and the Governor keeps his word and leaves them alone.

So, looking at it that way, he's thinking, if we're going to end up at war if we hand her over or not, why not risk seeing if the Governor would keep his word?

 

Not sure why it's considered to be a foregone conclusion that Rick's people would all die in a "war".

If they stood out in the prison yard like a bunch of idiots ... sure. Woodbury, more numbers or not, still has to assault a prison with nothing more than assault rifles. When they did it before, they had the element of surprise.

 

I don't think he'll give Michonne up. And I think Andrea is going to off the governor at a key moment, cut off the head of the snake, as it were.

 

I can't even tell you how much I hope she tries and is shot dead without remorse by him. It would be both of their finest moments in the past half-season.