Monthly Archives: December 2013

Showdown at the Prison: Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8 (Too Far Gone)

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Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8

Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8 (Too Far Gone) will make you want to yell at your screen for lots of reasons. In the episode’s opening you’ll want to scream because The Governor feeds his troops the infuriating baloney that people from the prison are murderers who destroyed his old camp. The Governor also claims that he can take the prison without killing anyone. No effing way, you manipulative prick! You want to holler again during this speech, since the scene flashes back to him knocking Michonne unconscious and capturing Hershel at gunpoint.

A couple of people try to talk The Governor out of attacking the prison, including Lilly, and poor Hershel who makes a heartbreaking appeal for his daughters’ lives. However Hershel’s words only elicit a shitty consolation, “You’re a better man than Rick, Hershel.” Even though you know that The Governor won’t listen to reason, you still hope desperately that he’ll change his mind. Because he won’t, you feel like shouting at him.

Back at the prison, Daryl finally finds out what Carol did, although he doesn’t believe Rick at first. The two of them track down Tyreese to break the news, but before they can tell him, they discover a dissected rat. Is it Lizzy’s? We don’t get a chance to find out because a tank blast announces The Governor’s arrival with his army. After that you’ll make a ton of noise due to all the insane events that occur.

First, you’ll struggle not to chastise Lilly for awful parenting while her lazy supervision allows Meghan to get bitten by a buried walker. Then you’ll want to smack The Governor for insisting that Rick negotiates with him, even though Rick has stepped down from his leadership role. Tears will come to your eyes when The Governor decapitates Hershel with Michonne’s sword and when Rick discovers that his baby could be dead. I made the most noise though when Daryl gets pinned down by shooting. Because the scene cuts away from Daryl while a zombie’s attacking, you’re worried that he has bought the farm. Thankfully he continues his badass streak by shielding himself with a biter, before he tosses a hand grenade into the tank’s barrel.

As much as you’ll cheer for Daryl, you will probably applaud even louder after Michonne stabs The Governor and Lilly shoots him. Michonne is much nicer to The Governor in the show than in the Walking Dead comics. She shows him no mercy there, but then again, he does more horrific things to her in the comics. Miraculously, most of the people make out of the prison alive, including Tyreese who is rescued by children?! Unfortunately everyone gets scattered to the wind, including a very injured Rick and his son Carl, who stumble away without looking back.

What do you think is next for our heroes? Were you satisfied by the end of The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8? And this week’s poll: Do you think The Governor got off too easy?

The Governor’s Fate in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8

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David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8

David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further.

In The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8, The Governor attacks the prison and forces a showdown with Rick’s group. During the battle, he finally meets his maker. Do you think he got his just deserts?

To talk more with me about The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 8, check out my full post on the episode, to let me know what you think.

One-Eyed Bri: The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7 (Dead Weight)

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Jose Pablo Cantillo and David Morrissey in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7

Jose Pablo Cantillo and David Morrissey in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7

Just in case you didn’t get enough of him in the previous episode, The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7 (Dead Weight) delivers another healthy dose of The Governor. Rescued from the walker pit by Martinez, The Governor aka Brian, has settled into playing house with Lilly and her daughter Meghan. He’s gotten frighteningly comfortable with Meghan, calling her “Pumpkin” and teaching her how to play chess.

Not-so-shockingly, The Governor’s methods of parental supervision match his zombie apocalypse leadership style. He shows Meghan no mercy even though she’s just learning the game, and he doesn’t let her take too long to decide on her maneuvers, “You can’t wait forever. You’ve got to make a move.”

With the rest of his new group, The Governor seems like he has turned over a new leaf. He allows Martinez to lead and acts like a team player during the supply run he makes with his new pals. I love that his crew includes Charlie Francis from Fringe (aka Kirk Acevedo) and Victor from Dollhouse (aka Enver Gjokaj). These guys are great. How can we get them more work? I got the sinking feeling as I was watching them however, that their characters wouldn’t last very long hanging out with The Governor. He earns himself a terrible new nickname during this scene: One-Eyed Bri. Yuck.

Sure enough, my intuition was right, because The Governor kills Martinez shortly after by feeding him to walkers in the pit. All the while he bizarrely repeats “I don’t want to…” over and over. What a nut. Then he takes out Pete (Enver Gjokaj) and intimidates Mitch (Kirk Acevedo) into falling in line. I mean Mitch has to be left alive since he’s the only one who can drive the tank they’ve got.  Poor zombie Pete is chained to the bottom of a pond, unable to escape his watery tomb.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7 heads to the next logical spot near its close, as The Governor assumes leadership of his new camp and plots to attack Rick’s group at the prison. I was pretty disappointed in the show’s writers for pushing the mid-season finale toward the spot they should have ended with in Season 3. I don’t understand why they decided to drag everything out just to have The Governor attack the prison again, especially since he’ll probably meet the same fate he does in the Walking Dead comics.

Based on that, I offer up this week’s poll: Do you think the show’s writers should have done the epic showdown at the prison last year? Or do you feel that the additional time they gave was necessary for character development?

The Story’s Direction in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7

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Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further.

Toward the end of The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7, the show’s writers take us back to almost the same place they set up at the end of Season 3. The Governor is poised to attack the prison AGAIN, with another epic showdown on the horizon that could push Rick’s group from their stronghold.

To talk more with me about The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 7, check out my full post on the episode, to let me know what you think.

Uh-Oh SpaghettiOs: Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6 (Live Bait)

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David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6

David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6

Been wondering what The Governor has been up to since he left Woodbury at the end of The Walking Dead Season 3? Good news everyone! The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6 (Live Bait) starts catching you up on exactly where he’s been. First, it flashes back to the moment when The Governor gunned his own troops down for their failure (as if you somehow forgot). Then it shows him camping with his cronies while a dumb freakin’ zombie trips over his campfire. Although Martinez helps out in the moment by shooting the walker, he takes off the next morning, leaving Philip to fend for himself.

It’s entertaining to watch The Governor’s decay over an indeterminate amount of time, as he grows an epic beard and wanders around torching everything in his path. The conflagrations and emo music playing during this sequence are pretty darn funny because they border on melodrama. Thankfully this part of the episode only lasts for a few minutes, since The Governor soon meets Lilly (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Tara (Alanna Masterson), who are holed up an apartment building with their father (Danny Vinson) and Lilly’s daughter Meghan (Meyrick Murphy).

Lilly and Tara are wisely reluctant to trust this haggard guy, who’s going by the alias Brian. They’re not total jerks, so they try to feed him some SpaghettiOs, which he strangely dumps in favor of cat food. What’s the deal with this new self-loathing Governor? Has he truly changed? Does he feel some remorse? It seems like maybe, after he does a number of charitable things for this family. He retrieves oxygen for Lilly and Tara’s ailing father and treats Meghan with soft, gentle kindness. “Brian” cleans himself up, teaches Meghan to play chess, and even deals with killing her zombie grandfather.

The Governor’s acts earn Lilly and Tara’s trust, so he convinces them to hit the road with their supplies. As they travel together, Lilly decides (unwisely) to sleep with him. Gross lady! You’re hooking up next to your own daughter and sister. Anyway, they find themselves in trouble near a heard of walkers and go running into the woods, where he and Meghan fall into a familiar pit filled with zombies. To protect the girl, Brian/Philip/The Governor goes ape shit and destroys those walkers with his bare hands. He scares the living heck out of Meghan in the process, but whatever. And then, to end The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6 with a major surprise, Martinez finds them! Bet you weren’t expecting that.

Did you like finding out what happened to The Governor after Woodbury? And do you think he’s changed? Finally, this week’s poll: Even during the zombie apocalypse, would you be desperate enough for sex that you’d risk doing it in front of your sleeping daughter and sister?

 

The Governor Gets Busy in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6

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Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further.

In The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6, The Governor manages to get busy under some rather gross circumstances. Lilly decides to hook up with him while her sister Tara and her daughter Meghan doze right next to them. Nasty right? Or would you not care about doing something like that?

To talk more with me about The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 6, check out my full post on the episode, to let me know what you think.

Walking Dead Infographic from Semester Online

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Recently Semester Online sent me this neat infographic about courses and careers you might want to pursue based on your favorite television shows. Of course The Walking Dead was listed among them, so I thought the piece was worth brief comment. I definitely appreciate their “Fun Facts” about actual zombie-related courses offered at Columbia College and UC Irvine. I just wish I had the time to take those classes myself.

However I don’t necessarily agree with their other sections on potential courses, majors, and careers for people who love The Walking Dead. Even though I’m obsessed with the show and I would take classes about zombies, I wouldn’t necessarily want to pursue the majors and career paths that they mention. I think sociology and organizational management might be slightly useful in handling the zombie apocalypse, but that learning would be quickly thrown out the window in post-apocalyptic chaos. The career options for law enforcement and clinical laboratory scientist seem disconnected from those majors, and really only appear to be there since some characters on the show held those occupations. Again, learning from those careers wouldn’t be as applicable when trying to deal in the zombie-filled world. I don’t think there’s any real education that can prepare you for that. You must learn as you go and do what you need to survive.

My gripes aside, this is a fun infographic and it’s not just limited to The Walking Dead, which is cool. If you like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, House of Cards, or Dexter, you could get some entertainment too.

Is Your Favorite TV Show The Clue To Your Career?

Brought to you by Semester Online