What Happens When You Assume: Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 4 (Killer Within)

Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori in The Walking Dead

Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori in The Walking Dead Copyright 2012 AMC TV

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 3 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further. Similarities and differences between the show and the comic are also discussed, but whenever possible, details of the comic are left ambiguous in case you decide to start it later on.

Summary:  At the prison, things go horribly wrong for Rick and company when a saboteur lets walkers in and sounds the alarms. Meanwhile, Andrea starts to have her doubts about leaving Woodbury as she grows more attached, Michonne suspects The Governor of foul play after does some snooping, and Merle talks about going out to find Daryl. 

You know the annoying expression: When you assume, you make an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me.’ During The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 4, I felt pretty assy and I bet Rick did too for assuming that Andrew, the axe-toting prisoner from the season premiere, had become zombie chow. Not only was he alive, but he was really pissed, and understandably so, considering he was left for dead.

As they show the mysterious figure carrying a fuel jug, cutting open the prison gates, and using the deer carcass to attract zombies, you get casual hints that it’s Andrew, based on the clothes and his footwear. Later in the episode when he’s revealed to be the culprit who was sneaking around in the woods, it’s not terribly shocking or satisfying however. I was really hoping that someone more fascinating was spying and trying to mess with them.

It was badass though when one of the other prisoners shot Andrew. I’m glad that they were finally able to convince Rick that they’re worth trusting. I was getting really annoyed about how no one was willing to let the decent prisoners join their group. Literally Rick was at the point where he would rather turn the poor bastards loose on the road then take them in, and it was just wrong.

In the melee caused by Andrew’s sabotage, unfortunately we saw the untimely deaths of two main characters: Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and T-Dog (IronE Singleton). Both were sad, but personally I was more distraught over the loss of T-Dog. The moment he got bit, I literally yelled “Nooo!” out loud. He was just a consistently nice, honorable character even down to the end, when he bravely sacrificed himself to hungry walkers so that Carol could escape. And speaking of Carol, it sucks that everyone thinks she is dead.

Lori could be incredibly obnoxious, although it was still difficult to see a mother pass away at a time when her baby would need her care more than ever. At least her character redeemed herself a bit this season. I feel incredibly bad for Carl who not only had to be scarred for life by seeing his mom in labor, he had to ensure that she didn’t become a zombie after she died.

Should be interesting to see how they figure out how to take care of a baby without a mother around to feed it. I’m also curious if Rick will take Lori’s death as hard as he took it in the comic, almost losing a bit of his own sanity.

Nothing at Woodbury happened which was that eventful. Even The Governor was so bored he was just hitting golf balls. Andrea just further proved that she has terrible judgement when it comes to men (i.e. The Governor) and Michonne continues to earn points with me for her distrust of the falsely benevolent leader. Hopefully The Governor will let Merle go looking for Daryl soon. I’d like to see the Dixon brothers reunited.

Which character’s death hit you the hardest? – Take my poll and let me know your thoughts.

How long do you think it will take Rick’s group to find Carol? Do you think Michonne will actually convince Andrea to leave Woodbury? Will The Governor let Merle go looking for Daryl? What else do you want to see happen this season?  

5 thoughts on “What Happens When You Assume: Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 4 (Killer Within)

  1. See everyone thought it was so mean of Rick to leave that prisoner with the walkers, well shame on Rick next time I am sure he will make sure they are dead!

    I was absolutely more upset about T-Dog’s death then Lori’s… don’t get me wrong Lori’s death was sad and it was really sad that Carl had to be put in that position but T-Dog was the man! What an incredibly loyal, and trustworthy character! T-Dog you will be missed! I also thought Carl handled the whole situation very well. If this group does go to Woodbury or anything like it, Carl will have an incredible hard time adjusting.

    And I will say that I think Rick at the beginning of the show was correct with cutting the other two prisoners go. How was he to know who was letting the walkers go and who made that alarm start. I hope now Rick will let the prisoners stay.

    I was also wondering if Carol did make it, it didn’t really show it but I thought that would be a little too dramatic to have her dead too. I think Rick did take Lori’s death hard, it was defiantly harder then I though he would take it. Can’t wait for next week!!!!

    • I think Rick learned a valuable lesson about making sure the enemy is dead for sure. However I don’t think I’ve encountered a single person so far who is more upset about Lori’s death than T-Dog’s, which is comical. Carl definitely handled himself well, although I think he might be bottling up a lot. He could melt down at some point soon.

      It was kind of silly how Rick was flopping down on the ground when he figured out that Lori was gone, but it seemed appropriate.

      I’m also looking forward to where things might go next week.

      • I was really upset and annoyed that T-Dog died, especially right when they were starting to give him lines and actual stuff to do again. It seemed almost throwaway and felt like a red-shirt moment . As for Lori, as much as I didn’t like her in the last two seasons, I was pissed that they killed her at this point without getting a little more resolution between her and Rick. I am with you, Evan, on Rick’s rolling around on the ground… maybe the whole lack of resolution was a deliberate choice so he feels even guiltier and starts making worse decisions. Dunno. My overall thoughts on Season Three so far is that they’ve gone in the opposite direction of Season Two, which was REALLY slow in a lot of episodes…and now feel like they have to up the ante in every single episode to the point where I actually wish they’d give us (and the characters) a bit of breathing space. Balance, people. And for me… Andrea is the new Lori. Her perpetual half-smirk annoys the hell out of me and her choices in men… well, ’nuff said. And I would give money to buy Michonne another expression besides the distrustful scowl. Biggest failing with the entire show to me is the handling of the female characters.

        Evan, you asked, there ya go. 🙂

        • Nice Star Trek analogy Dana! Agreed that was a very red shirt moment. Disappointing that T-Dog died when he finally had things to do and that Lori didn’t get more resolution with Rick. As you said, that was probably done to create more guilt for his character. A beak from all the action in these jam packed episodes would be nice though.

          At first I really looked Michonne’s facial expressions, but I also think she needs note than a perpetual scowl. She had more depth in three comics. Although maybe they will let us get to know her better later in the season. I still concur that the show doesn’t handle female characters well. Not many shows do sadly.

          Thanks for reading and sgaring your thoughts.

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