please forgive me this brief preamble! or, you know, don't. all good.
so, your friendly (ha!) ...pretty much a movie! bloggers had the impossibly good fortune to see the following song performed live on october 25:
what will happen this week?
will michonne get her sword back?
will the woodbury folks meet the prison folks?
(will the writers stop ignoring the comics?)
will rick and lori kiss and make up?
(see above parenthetical point?)
so, your friendly (ha!) ...pretty much a movie! bloggers had the impossibly good fortune to see the following song performed live on october 25:
...the killer in me is the killer in you...
and now, less than two weeks later, our favourite sunday-night zombie apocalypse drinking fest is airing an episode titled "killer within."
(link)
what will happen this week?
will michonne get her sword back?
will the woodbury folks meet the prison folks?
(will the writers stop ignoring the comics?)
will rick and lori kiss and make up?
(see above parenthetical point?)
(she's got a great point, no?)
follow us over the jump to learn all that and more!
8:30 - so as per usual, you're early, and we're drinking, eating and watching bob's burgers. feel free to say hi, tho - what were your hallowe'en costumes? we were jack and zero from the nightmare before christmas, and not in fact a skeleton and his ghost elephant, but hey.
(y'know, from this movie?)
8:45 - seriously though, hallowe'en is good fun, and one of the few holidays that provides exercise to burn off all that booze you drink. or at least, that we drink? as per usual, make sure you're stocked up for fun. then tomorrow, y'know, go for a run or something? i don't know. apparently sitting kills you, or whatever, right? kind of like being alive?
(the fun, happy-go-lucking nature of zombieland is certainly lacking in this series.)
8:50 - just a reminder, we're drinking james ready beer, and david's teas tonight. cheers!
9:00 - so, previously on the walking dead, the governor is a sick freak. rick and lori are a little troubled, and rick is crazy.
9:01 - it's morning. owls who, and somebody picks up a gas can and a half eaten deer. there are apparently plenty of deer around still.
morning time at the prison and it's pretty. and foggy.
somebody tosses rocks at a few walkers, and it turns out that the deer was some bait for them. half of it near the door, more strung up inside.
9:05 - and we're back. rick, and daryl are moving some cars around, making some blockades
getting ready to burn bodies. glen and maggie are up in the guard tower though.
"up in the guard tower? they were up there last night!"
daryl calls them out, and here comes glen with no clothes. yay, humour.
9:06 - ooh, a wild t-dog appears, and he's noticed things. the inmates are coming to have a convo. that guy from earlier was wearing inmate shit. (psst! i think it's andrew! do you?)
any way, they can't live in there another minute.
"you follow me? all the bodies? blood, brains everywhere. there's ghosts."
9:07 - the inmates are trying to clean the bodies out, but every time they do, walkers come. basically these guys beg rick to live with them.
"our deal is non-negotiable. you either live in your cell block or leave."
one of the inmates is angry (oscar?).
"i told you this was a waste of time. these guys are like the pricks that shot up our boys."
oooh, then they mention andrew and tomas.
"we've all made our mistakes to get in here, but some of those guys were good dudes. protecting us from guys like andrew, and tomas."
i guess that guy was andrew, dude dropping hearts and stuff (as do i! that is, i assume he was andrew. not that i traipse abut dropping hearts).
these guys say they've paid their dues, and would rather hit the road then stay locked up.
rick checks with daryl, and daryl says no.
9:08 - rick to t-dog
"you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"
t-dog to rick
"i never stopped."
this is probably the best t-dog moment OF THE ENTIRE SERIES. rick actually seems taken aback by the statement, but i suspect he will be distracted (perhaps willfully) from taking it to heart.
9:09 - anyway, the group discusses the worth of convicts' lives.
glen says they can't even kill walkers.
maggie says they're convicts and nothing more. ouch, maggie.
daryl says he grew up with guys like this and could have been in there with those guys as easily as those guys. that said, they can take their chances on the road.
t-dog (who's getting tons of lines - i mean, for t-dog) says the group members probably have more blood on their hands than the inmates do.
rick tells some hard luck cop story with seemingly no point (seriously, it's like "the justice system fails, so convicts should all be left to die")...
9:10 - ... and we're back at woodbury.
michonne stalks around.
these natural light shots aren't bad.
any way, michonne is checking out some of the gear woodbury has obtained from their most recent trip out. truck mounted machine guns with no bullets and fresh blood? suspicious, no?
"pretty amazing," the governor says as she jumps down (having gotten the jump on her).
"we find more ammo, we could cut down a whole pack of biters," he says, going on to say he knows her and andrea are leaving.
"you seem like you're holding your own," she tells them. "even the national guard was run off."
now michonne is questioning the governor and his story, and evading his attempts to flatter her into what he suggests will be fighting alongside their community (though we have our suspicions)
he claims the men were heroes and tows his line.
michonne is wise, seeing the bullet holes...
"you think biters figured out how to use weapons?"
governor keeps going on lying.
these two have it pretty terse, conversation-wise.
"it's too bad what happened to welles," michonne says. "no funeral?"
governor says they couldn't do anything, and he was cremated.
"thank god, at least no one knew him," the governor says.
michonne gets up in his face "thank god."
9:13 - back at the jail, they're getting ready to let the prisoners out.
t-dog is questioning rick, and rick pushes more of his us vs them, bullshit. but the foley is pretty good here.
daryl gets on his nazi bike (it has an ss decal) and the mustache inmate starts offering motorcycle tuneups and the like. the men drive off.
9:14 - back inside the beth and carl ship is still sailing.
everyone goes in to visit hershel.
he's tired of looking at the bottom of a bunk, and pushing himself out of bed.
the actor has lost some weight.
"you know, i think i'm pretty steady," hershel says.
lori offers rest, but he wants to go on a stroll.
9:15 - back at woodbury, michonne and andrea discussing heading to the coast - find some water, maybe a boat, then an island.
"what if the coast is safe," andrea asks. "
"rather take my chances out there than stay here," michonne says.
andrea says michonne feels something off in her gut about the governor. michonne tells her it's gotten them that far.
9:16 - glenn hands some food over to the inmates, and then they're sequestered in their little holding spot.
then the men go back to discussing clearing out the bodies.
"i don't want to be planting crops in walker rotting soil," rick says. seems like one of his better brainstorms.
9:17 - hershel makes it outside, and notices the groups progress. glen shouts some cheers to him (look how much their relationship has progressed!), which of course riles up some walkers outside.
9:18 - the whole group's morale is up, seeing hershel out and about. rick and lori look happy, everyone looks at one another and smiles.
but then of course, five feet away from carl are some walkers... apparently somebody let them in. everybody starts firing, but there are quite a few. again! again with this fucking show, it's like walkers sneaking up on you in fucking saskatchewan!
rick and daryl run to catch up with the group. hershel and beth are chased by a walker, but hershel fights it off with his crutches.
9:19 - t-dog notices the gate is open.
the group continues slowly making their way to safety, with lori, maggie and carl making it inside.
9:20 - more fences are closed up, but then t-dog is bitten, and carol trapped outside with him.
he blasts a walker and runs off. as we head to commercial.
shit. you can't amputate a shoulder.
9:24 - we come back, and apparently andrea's showing merle where they were staying before. this leads to gross conversations about merle being an asshole and andrea being a cast off. anyway, she ends up circling the location of the barn on a map for him. apparently it's off route 9? it's bad news, really.
goddammit, andrea! giving merle a map with the farmhouse circled? really? she is...very trusting. and now merle is...inappropriately sexual?
"how come we never hooked up?"
"you called me a whore. and a rug-muncher."
"got a way with word's don't i?" and after a moment's pause, "why are you doing this?"
"i'd want the same thing if it was my family out there."
"sure you don't want to come with me? you ain't curious about the old gang?"
but andrea is still feeling bruised about being abandoned by the group. and you know fair enough! when did they even realize she was gone? i feel like it was well after they had ricktocracy drama by the fire, but i could be wrong.
"ain't that a pig sack? we got something in common, blondie. we got left behind by the same people, and saved by 'nother."
merle says that the governor is a good man, when asked this directly by andrea. this is...not what i would call a ringing endorsement.
9:26 - just when rick and the others think they may have the situation under control (but i want to know what happened to carol! and we miss you already, t-dog!), sirens begin wailing and attracting all kinds of walkers.
9:27 - in the prison, everyone regroups with the situation almost under control, and we learn of the circumstances. t-dog's the only one bitten, but different people are held up in different sections. glenn's beheading walkers when the alarms start going off.
one of the inmates says it's probably the generators dying. he knows about this stuff because he worked inside for a little bit or something? any way, everyone is mistrustful of the inmates (now that t-dog is dead or dying), figuring they were responsible.
either way, loads of walkers are coming. they try shooting out the alarms, but fail and head inside to turn them off.
9:29 - t-dog and and carol are running through the halls and she tells him he should stop, and he's been bitten and goes on about the code, but this is god's plan or something? i'm happy to see that carol and t-dog are in this, and she wants desperately to protect him.
then we cut over to carol, lori and maggie, who are running about and chased closely by walkers (surprise.) carl asked lori if she'd been bit, because she's running in a bit of a laboured (ha!) fashion.
oh great!! now it looks like lori's baby is coming! let's hope it's just the wacky sitcom plot device of false labour.
anyway, carl leads the way down a hall way, and into a room with a sign we can't make out.
maggie rushes to lori, who's bent over against the wall in obvious distress...
then we go to commercial
9:33 - back at woodbury, the governor is golfing off one of their walls when merle approaches and comments on his swing.
they exchange sexist remarks about golf, women and traditions.
"...take only women and let them play. it'll be historic."
(merle, smirking) "and break decades of tradition?"
"exactly."
"i don't know...some things are worth hanging on to."
...is that like a racist psycho's version of chekhov's gun? 'cause i'm betting yes.
merle wants to go on a scouting mission.
"blondie. she says my brother is still alive."
"eight months ago. you can track with the best of them, but..."
merle wants to go after daryl, and the governor seems hesitant.
he doesn't want people getting hurt (uh, which people?)
merle wants to go on his own, and it seems the governor won't let him.
"this whole place would fall apart without you."
"it's my brother."
"i know my brother. if he's out there, i'll be able to find him."
creeeeeeepy. poor daryl! considering how much merle used to abuse him, that is. or at least, how much we infer this was the case, based on the minor amount of backstory we got through that one decent-ish episode of last season.
the governor tells merle that if he gets more solid info he'll come with him himself. he him him he he.
9:35 - we come back with a nice mix of alarm/gun shot sound, and rick is screaming for lori and carl. he's pretty pissed off. we haven't seen rick panic like this over lori since maybe season one! it's pretty intense, though slightly confusing.
"somebody is playing GAMES!"
back in the room with carl and lori, we find out the baby is coming now. oh man, is this when lori dies?
carl's freaking. oh man, poor carl. but really, POOR LORI! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!
how frightening, and also how awkward!
this umm... is totally in the comics?
(it's not.)
"you're going to need to help your brother or sister, are you up for it," maggie asks carl.
so now there's like, an intense scene where lori is birthing? standing up, cause she couldn't sit?
great.
carl is totally peeking though.
9:37 - maggie tells lori to stop pushing, and there's a reveal that she's bleeding badly.
"lori, stop, don't push! something's wrong!"
ay, did she rip her - what is that part called? forchette? - or is this due to the zom-baby? i can't even
i am
very unsettled by pregnancy-themed body horror
you guys
seriously
below, carol and t-dog are trapped. they've run out of bullets and some walkers have cornered them in a hallway. heroically, t-dog rushes them and pins them to a wall giving carol room to escape. as he's eaten alive, she looks back and he screams "go."
goodbye t-dog, you were pretty awesome when they remembered you were there. which was...um...
drink, and pour one out.
commercials.
speaking of commercials, hey... kevin smith. you're pretty irrelevant these days.
how about you go, oh, i dunno - do something?
9:42 - shot opens on michonne's sword.
andrea and the governor discuss her leaving. andrea is silly and tells everyone anything they ask.
governor offers a drink.
"i haven't had hard liqour in a while. i'm sure my tolerance is close to nil."
"lucky you."
9:43 - yeah, so the governor deeefinitely just gave andrea a look like he is thinking about corralling her in the breeding farm he obviously has. yeesh. then he starts asking emotionally probing questions about her family, prompting her to toast "to better days," despite her previously avowed lack of tolerance for hard liquor.
dear television show: please don't do it. please do not go there. you...you know what i mean. back to a synopsis:
the governor thanks andrea for giving merle the info about daryl, and then asks if she's found what she's looking for.
andrea explains she's lost everyone.
apparently the governor lost his wife 18 months before the thing happened. car accident. just him and his daughter now? well, that is in the comics.
so andrea takes a drink "to better days"
"truth is, i don't know what i'm looking for. truth is, for the longest time, it was all about survival."
they talk about how economics and social norms aren't the driving forces of day to day life. marriages, mortgages, etc.
andrea says everything's changed so much
"the scenery. the landscape. but the way we think..." the governor gets up in her face, and she decides it's time to leave.
"merle will see you out. he'll have your weapon. remember, it gets tough out there. you're welcome back at any time."
"thank you, governor."
"phillip," he responds.
"i thought you never told anyone your name."
"well, someone recently told me never to say never."
they have some creepy-cute never say never shit, and i can't be asked to reference beiber, so i move on.
except, of course, now you all may have that music in your brains, so...i'm an asshole?
9:46 - at the prison, they've shut down the alarms, but shit - there's an attacking crazy guy there. it's andrew! he's got an axe, and he and rick are going at it while daryl holds the door closed.
i mean, eventually he has to kill a few to make it work, but he does nicely.
rick loses his gun in the scuffle. but no wonder andrew wants to kill you, bro. good thing we had two expository lines about how he's a bad guy earlier, huh? now no one will remember you tried to passively execute him by walker! yippee!
the inmate gains rick's gun in the struggle, and in the show down, guns andrew down over rick's shoulder, swings rick's gun around and hands it back to him (all while daryl stalks him in the background)
9:48 - maggie puts lori down on the ground. she's super pale. wow. she wants a c-section, because she wants her baby to live (she obviously can't, thanks to rick the hero).
she's hardly dialated and losing lots of blood.
"i know what this means," lori says "you gotta cut me open."
jesus!
lori wants maggie to give her an emergency c-section on the floor in a prison with no sterilization or anesthetic or surgical tools. but hey, carl has a knife. fuck, poor lori! i mean, this is certainly her choice, except that she never really had a choice about whether or not to have this baby - but apparently we are skipping past that because lori dying in childbirth is like, a waaaay more character-building storyline for rick and mini-rick. godDAMN.
and carol's not even there!!
we go to commercial with lori begging maggie to do it. and to kill her afterwards. maggie is resisting, maggie is refusing
but lori is begging her. oh no. how awful.
this was a very obvious outcome based on the previous episodes (and lack of respect for lori as a character, and not a plot device), and i kind of resent the writers for not giving us something more creative or surprising. but it is still very emotional! i can't deny that.
speaking of commercials, man - i play instruments. ipad minis are way to small to actually play complex things on... so don't buy it for that purpose - 'kay?
save your money, and buy some bear mcreary music.
9:52
"i thought we had an agreement."
andrea doesn't want to leave.
michonne is upset, and walks away.
9:52 -
"you see my old c-section scar?" lori asks maggie
wooooow. i mean, lori will die either way at this point. but this is so terrible. poor lori, carl, and maggie! the goodbye between mother and son is pretty touching, and i am crying. just a bit. by which i mean a lot.
"you take care of your daddy for me. and you take care of your little brother or sister for me" lori insists to carl, her eyes bright with oncoming death.
holy shit. then she tells him he's going to beat this world, and that he can do it.
then she makes him promise to always do what's right?
"if it feels easy, don't do it. don't let the world screw you."
aww, they're crying, and the music is sappy, but they love each other, and it's, well. it's pretty fucking hard, man.
"maggie, when this is over you have to do it. it can't be rick!"
well, that's pretty serious. but you know, i wouldn't want it to be rick either. both because it would be too hard for him, and because...um...you know, fuck that guy.
maggie apologizes and then she cuts her.
9:54 - THAT WAS KIND OF GRAPHIC MAYBE? I DON'T REALLY KNOW?
everyone screams, and then they're reaching in for the baby.
"carl, give me your hand," maggie says.
if she cuts too far, she'll cut the baby.
but she sees the uterus! somehow? perhaps this is less complex than i think it is.
whelp, maggie's done it. it seems.
the baby is out, but it's super quiet.
oh, wow.
there's like, a bigtime tease that the baby was dead.
the music was pretty awesome.
but then it turns out that the baby is alive. and i'm kind of disappointed. it would have been a much stronger message if the baby died too.
"we can't just leave her here," carl tells maggie. "she'll turn." he insists on being the one to kill lori. because she's his mom.
maggie leaves, and carl is left alone with lori to do what's right.
there's a pretty sweet flashback, but unfortunately it involves carl and rick instead of carl and lori. but it is a nicely turned bit of exposition, and on theme with the sort of erasure lori was experiencing throughout the entirety of the show.
rest in peace, lori. you were a confusing, strangely written character, but you were our confusing, strangely written character. we'll pour one out (into our mouths) for you as well.
...and hey, they stayed close to the timing of the comics at least. sort of?
drink, and pour one out.
9:57 - as maggie approaches the door to leave, she holds back for walkers. a gunshot goes off, and carl comes out like a little child soldier. which is a pretty horrific comparison.
in another hallway the group is slowly reconvening, the smaller groups coming together.
they find some walkers feasting on what was t-dog, and shoot them.
9:58 - daryl picks up carol's scarf.
outside hershel and beth are safe.
"what about t, and carol?"
"they didn't make it."
"that doesn't mean the others didn't," rick half yells.
everything is interrupted by the baby crying.
maggie and carl appear with the baby, and rick is pacing about, asking where lori is. he obviously knows, and it's moderately wrenching.
maggie tries to hold him back.
"aww, no!" rick says, and begins crying.
carl does nothing.
maggie takes the baby to glenn and starts crying.
rick falls to the ground crying, completely broken (and eliminating any lingering opportunity to grieve for t-dog and carol - who may not be dead yet!).
carl walks away, crying silently and no longer able to rely on his father for strength.
silent credits roll.
nice.
9:00 - so, previously on the walking dead, the governor is a sick freak. rick and lori are a little troubled, and rick is crazy.
9:01 - it's morning. owls who, and somebody picks up a gas can and a half eaten deer. there are apparently plenty of deer around still.
morning time at the prison and it's pretty. and foggy.
somebody tosses rocks at a few walkers, and it turns out that the deer was some bait for them. half of it near the door, more strung up inside.
someone runs out behind them with an axe and weapons. he cuts the chain on the front fence and swings open the door, leaving a heart on the ground whose was it?. oooh, a black dude! who's he? maybe it's andrew, or tyrese? unless he was the guard in woodbury. any way, somebody's stealing some shit from the gang and opening up their front fence and leading walkers to it. maybe it's... a trap?
anyway, here we go with credits, and then commercials.
anyway, here we go with credits, and then commercials.
9:05 - and we're back. rick, and daryl are moving some cars around, making some blockades
getting ready to burn bodies. glen and maggie are up in the guard tower though.
"up in the guard tower? they were up there last night!"
daryl calls them out, and here comes glen with no clothes. yay, humour.
9:06 - ooh, a wild t-dog appears, and he's noticed things. the inmates are coming to have a convo. that guy from earlier was wearing inmate shit. (psst! i think it's andrew! do you?)
any way, they can't live in there another minute.
"you follow me? all the bodies? blood, brains everywhere. there's ghosts."
9:07 - the inmates are trying to clean the bodies out, but every time they do, walkers come. basically these guys beg rick to live with them.
"our deal is non-negotiable. you either live in your cell block or leave."
one of the inmates is angry (oscar?).
"i told you this was a waste of time. these guys are like the pricks that shot up our boys."
oooh, then they mention andrew and tomas.
"we've all made our mistakes to get in here, but some of those guys were good dudes. protecting us from guys like andrew, and tomas."
i guess that guy was andrew, dude dropping hearts and stuff (as do i! that is, i assume he was andrew. not that i traipse abut dropping hearts).
these guys say they've paid their dues, and would rather hit the road then stay locked up.
rick checks with daryl, and daryl says no.
9:08 - rick to t-dog
"you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"
t-dog to rick
"i never stopped."
(link)
this is probably the best t-dog moment OF THE ENTIRE SERIES. rick actually seems taken aback by the statement, but i suspect he will be distracted (perhaps willfully) from taking it to heart.
9:09 - anyway, the group discusses the worth of convicts' lives.
glen says they can't even kill walkers.
maggie says they're convicts and nothing more. ouch, maggie.
daryl says he grew up with guys like this and could have been in there with those guys as easily as those guys. that said, they can take their chances on the road.
t-dog (who's getting tons of lines - i mean, for t-dog) says the group members probably have more blood on their hands than the inmates do.
rick tells some hard luck cop story with seemingly no point (seriously, it's like "the justice system fails, so convicts should all be left to die")...
9:10 - ... and we're back at woodbury.
michonne stalks around.
these natural light shots aren't bad.
any way, michonne is checking out some of the gear woodbury has obtained from their most recent trip out. truck mounted machine guns with no bullets and fresh blood? suspicious, no?
"pretty amazing," the governor says as she jumps down (having gotten the jump on her).
"we find more ammo, we could cut down a whole pack of biters," he says, going on to say he knows her and andrea are leaving.
"you seem like you're holding your own," she tells them. "even the national guard was run off."
now michonne is questioning the governor and his story, and evading his attempts to flatter her into what he suggests will be fighting alongside their community (though we have our suspicions)
he claims the men were heroes and tows his line.
michonne is wise, seeing the bullet holes...
"you think biters figured out how to use weapons?"
governor keeps going on lying.
these two have it pretty terse, conversation-wise.
"it's too bad what happened to welles," michonne says. "no funeral?"
governor says they couldn't do anything, and he was cremated.
"thank god, at least no one knew him," the governor says.
michonne gets up in his face "thank god."
9:13 - back at the jail, they're getting ready to let the prisoners out.
t-dog is questioning rick, and rick pushes more of his us vs them, bullshit. but the foley is pretty good here.
(link)
daryl gets on his nazi bike (it has an ss decal) and the mustache inmate starts offering motorcycle tuneups and the like. the men drive off.
9:14 - back inside the beth and carl ship is still sailing.
here comes the vomitous ship, heading your way!
(link)
he's tired of looking at the bottom of a bunk, and pushing himself out of bed.
the actor has lost some weight.
"you know, i think i'm pretty steady," hershel says.
lori offers rest, but he wants to go on a stroll.
9:15 - back at woodbury, michonne and andrea discussing heading to the coast - find some water, maybe a boat, then an island.
"what if the coast is safe," andrea asks. "
"rather take my chances out there than stay here," michonne says.
andrea says michonne feels something off in her gut about the governor. michonne tells her it's gotten them that far.
9:16 - glenn hands some food over to the inmates, and then they're sequestered in their little holding spot.
then the men go back to discussing clearing out the bodies.
"i don't want to be planting crops in walker rotting soil," rick says. seems like one of his better brainstorms.
9:17 - hershel makes it outside, and notices the groups progress. glen shouts some cheers to him (look how much their relationship has progressed!), which of course riles up some walkers outside.
9:18 - the whole group's morale is up, seeing hershel out and about. rick and lori look happy, everyone looks at one another and smiles.
but then of course, five feet away from carl are some walkers... apparently somebody let them in. everybody starts firing, but there are quite a few. again! again with this fucking show, it's like walkers sneaking up on you in fucking saskatchewan!
(link)
rick and daryl run to catch up with the group. hershel and beth are chased by a walker, but hershel fights it off with his crutches.
9:19 - t-dog notices the gate is open.
the group continues slowly making their way to safety, with lori, maggie and carl making it inside.
9:20 - more fences are closed up, but then t-dog is bitten, and carol trapped outside with him.
t-dog! nooooooo!
you were finally getting your chance to shine!
and then they killed you off like 20% of the way through the episode!! why?!?!!
(link)
shit. you can't amputate a shoulder.
9:24 - we come back, and apparently andrea's showing merle where they were staying before. this leads to gross conversations about merle being an asshole and andrea being a cast off. anyway, she ends up circling the location of the barn on a map for him. apparently it's off route 9? it's bad news, really.
goddammit, andrea! giving merle a map with the farmhouse circled? really? she is...very trusting. and now merle is...inappropriately sexual?
"how come we never hooked up?"
"you called me a whore. and a rug-muncher."
"got a way with word's don't i?" and after a moment's pause, "why are you doing this?"
"i'd want the same thing if it was my family out there."
"sure you don't want to come with me? you ain't curious about the old gang?"
but andrea is still feeling bruised about being abandoned by the group. and you know fair enough! when did they even realize she was gone? i feel like it was well after they had ricktocracy drama by the fire, but i could be wrong.
"ain't that a pig sack? we got something in common, blondie. we got left behind by the same people, and saved by 'nother."
merle says that the governor is a good man, when asked this directly by andrea. this is...not what i would call a ringing endorsement.
9:26 - just when rick and the others think they may have the situation under control (but i want to know what happened to carol! and we miss you already, t-dog!), sirens begin wailing and attracting all kinds of walkers.
9:27 - in the prison, everyone regroups with the situation almost under control, and we learn of the circumstances. t-dog's the only one bitten, but different people are held up in different sections. glenn's beheading walkers when the alarms start going off.
one of the inmates says it's probably the generators dying. he knows about this stuff because he worked inside for a little bit or something? any way, everyone is mistrustful of the inmates (now that t-dog is dead or dying), figuring they were responsible.
either way, loads of walkers are coming. they try shooting out the alarms, but fail and head inside to turn them off.
9:29 - t-dog and and carol are running through the halls and she tells him he should stop, and he's been bitten and goes on about the code, but this is god's plan or something? i'm happy to see that carol and t-dog are in this, and she wants desperately to protect him.
then we cut over to carol, lori and maggie, who are running about and chased closely by walkers (surprise.) carl asked lori if she'd been bit, because she's running in a bit of a laboured (ha!) fashion.
oh great!! now it looks like lori's baby is coming! let's hope it's just the wacky sitcom plot device of false labour.
an undigested bit of beef, a bit of underdone potato.
(link)
anyway, carl leads the way down a hall way, and into a room with a sign we can't make out.
maggie rushes to lori, who's bent over against the wall in obvious distress...
then we go to commercial
9:33 - back at woodbury, the governor is golfing off one of their walls when merle approaches and comments on his swing.
they exchange sexist remarks about golf, women and traditions.
"...take only women and let them play. it'll be historic."
(merle, smirking) "and break decades of tradition?"
"exactly."
"i don't know...some things are worth hanging on to."
...is that like a racist psycho's version of chekhov's gun? 'cause i'm betting yes.
merle wants to go on a scouting mission.
"blondie. she says my brother is still alive."
"eight months ago. you can track with the best of them, but..."
merle wants to go after daryl, and the governor seems hesitant.
he doesn't want people getting hurt (uh, which people?)
merle wants to go on his own, and it seems the governor won't let him.
"this whole place would fall apart without you."
"it's my brother."
"i know my brother. if he's out there, i'll be able to find him."
creeeeeeepy. poor daryl! considering how much merle used to abuse him, that is. or at least, how much we infer this was the case, based on the minor amount of backstory we got through that one decent-ish episode of last season.
the governor tells merle that if he gets more solid info he'll come with him himself. he him him he he.
9:35 - we come back with a nice mix of alarm/gun shot sound, and rick is screaming for lori and carl. he's pretty pissed off. we haven't seen rick panic like this over lori since maybe season one! it's pretty intense, though slightly confusing.
"somebody is playing GAMES!"
back in the room with carl and lori, we find out the baby is coming now. oh man, is this when lori dies?
carl's freaking. oh man, poor carl. but really, POOR LORI! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!
how frightening, and also how awkward!
this umm... is totally in the comics?
(it's not.)
"you're going to need to help your brother or sister, are you up for it," maggie asks carl.
so now there's like, an intense scene where lori is birthing? standing up, cause she couldn't sit?
great.
carl is totally peeking though.
9:37 - maggie tells lori to stop pushing, and there's a reveal that she's bleeding badly.
"lori, stop, don't push! something's wrong!"
ay, did she rip her - what is that part called? forchette? - or is this due to the zom-baby? i can't even
i am
very unsettled by pregnancy-themed body horror
you guys
seriously
below, carol and t-dog are trapped. they've run out of bullets and some walkers have cornered them in a hallway. heroically, t-dog rushes them and pins them to a wall giving carol room to escape. as he's eaten alive, she looks back and he screams "go."
goodbye t-dog, you were pretty awesome when they remembered you were there. which was...um...
(link)
drink, and pour one out.
commercials.
speaking of commercials, hey... kevin smith. you're pretty irrelevant these days.
how about you go, oh, i dunno - do something?
9:42 - shot opens on michonne's sword.
andrea and the governor discuss her leaving. andrea is silly and tells everyone anything they ask.
governor offers a drink.
"i haven't had hard liqour in a while. i'm sure my tolerance is close to nil."
"lucky you."
9:43 - yeah, so the governor deeefinitely just gave andrea a look like he is thinking about corralling her in the breeding farm he obviously has. yeesh. then he starts asking emotionally probing questions about her family, prompting her to toast "to better days," despite her previously avowed lack of tolerance for hard liquor.
dear television show: please don't do it. please do not go there. you...you know what i mean. back to a synopsis:
the governor thanks andrea for giving merle the info about daryl, and then asks if she's found what she's looking for.
andrea explains she's lost everyone.
apparently the governor lost his wife 18 months before the thing happened. car accident. just him and his daughter now? well, that is in the comics.
so andrea takes a drink "to better days"
"truth is, i don't know what i'm looking for. truth is, for the longest time, it was all about survival."
they talk about how economics and social norms aren't the driving forces of day to day life. marriages, mortgages, etc.
andrea says everything's changed so much
"the scenery. the landscape. but the way we think..." the governor gets up in her face, and she decides it's time to leave.
"merle will see you out. he'll have your weapon. remember, it gets tough out there. you're welcome back at any time."
"thank you, governor."
"phillip," he responds.
"i thought you never told anyone your name."
"well, someone recently told me never to say never."
they have some creepy-cute never say never shit, and i can't be asked to reference beiber, so i move on.
except, of course, now you all may have that music in your brains, so...i'm an asshole?
9:46 - at the prison, they've shut down the alarms, but shit - there's an attacking crazy guy there. it's andrew! he's got an axe, and he and rick are going at it while daryl holds the door closed.
i mean, eventually he has to kill a few to make it work, but he does nicely.
rick loses his gun in the scuffle. but no wonder andrew wants to kill you, bro. good thing we had two expository lines about how he's a bad guy earlier, huh? now no one will remember you tried to passively execute him by walker! yippee!
the inmate gains rick's gun in the struggle, and in the show down, guns andrew down over rick's shoulder, swings rick's gun around and hands it back to him (all while daryl stalks him in the background)
9:48 - maggie puts lori down on the ground. she's super pale. wow. she wants a c-section, because she wants her baby to live (she obviously can't, thanks to rick the hero).
she's hardly dialated and losing lots of blood.
"i know what this means," lori says "you gotta cut me open."
jesus!
lori wants maggie to give her an emergency c-section on the floor in a prison with no sterilization or anesthetic or surgical tools. but hey, carl has a knife. fuck, poor lori! i mean, this is certainly her choice, except that she never really had a choice about whether or not to have this baby - but apparently we are skipping past that because lori dying in childbirth is like, a waaaay more character-building storyline for rick and mini-rick. godDAMN.
and carol's not even there!!
we go to commercial with lori begging maggie to do it. and to kill her afterwards. maggie is resisting, maggie is refusing
but lori is begging her. oh no. how awful.
this was a very obvious outcome based on the previous episodes (and lack of respect for lori as a character, and not a plot device), and i kind of resent the writers for not giving us something more creative or surprising. but it is still very emotional! i can't deny that.
speaking of commercials, man - i play instruments. ipad minis are way to small to actually play complex things on... so don't buy it for that purpose - 'kay?
save your money, and buy some bear mcreary music.
9:52
"i thought we had an agreement."
andrea doesn't want to leave.
michonne is upset, and walks away.
9:52 -
"you see my old c-section scar?" lori asks maggie
wooooow. i mean, lori will die either way at this point. but this is so terrible. poor lori, carl, and maggie! the goodbye between mother and son is pretty touching, and i am crying. just a bit. by which i mean a lot.
"you take care of your daddy for me. and you take care of your little brother or sister for me" lori insists to carl, her eyes bright with oncoming death.
holy shit. then she tells him he's going to beat this world, and that he can do it.
then she makes him promise to always do what's right?
"if it feels easy, don't do it. don't let the world screw you."
aww, they're crying, and the music is sappy, but they love each other, and it's, well. it's pretty fucking hard, man.
"maggie, when this is over you have to do it. it can't be rick!"
well, that's pretty serious. but you know, i wouldn't want it to be rick either. both because it would be too hard for him, and because...um...you know, fuck that guy.
maggie apologizes and then she cuts her.
9:54 - THAT WAS KIND OF GRAPHIC MAYBE? I DON'T REALLY KNOW?
everyone screams, and then they're reaching in for the baby.
"carl, give me your hand," maggie says.
if she cuts too far, she'll cut the baby.
but she sees the uterus! somehow? perhaps this is less complex than i think it is.
(link)
whelp, maggie's done it. it seems.
the baby is out, but it's super quiet.
oh, wow.
there's like, a bigtime tease that the baby was dead.
the music was pretty awesome.
but then it turns out that the baby is alive. and i'm kind of disappointed. it would have been a much stronger message if the baby died too.
"we can't just leave her here," carl tells maggie. "she'll turn." he insists on being the one to kill lori. because she's his mom.
maggie leaves, and carl is left alone with lori to do what's right.
there's a pretty sweet flashback, but unfortunately it involves carl and rick instead of carl and lori. but it is a nicely turned bit of exposition, and on theme with the sort of erasure lori was experiencing throughout the entirety of the show.
rest in peace, lori. you were a confusing, strangely written character, but you were our confusing, strangely written character. we'll pour one out (into our mouths) for you as well.
...and hey, they stayed close to the timing of the comics at least. sort of?
drink, and pour one out.
9:57 - as maggie approaches the door to leave, she holds back for walkers. a gunshot goes off, and carl comes out like a little child soldier. which is a pretty horrific comparison.
in another hallway the group is slowly reconvening, the smaller groups coming together.
they find some walkers feasting on what was t-dog, and shoot them.
9:58 - daryl picks up carol's scarf.
outside hershel and beth are safe.
"what about t, and carol?"
"they didn't make it."
"that doesn't mean the others didn't," rick half yells.
everything is interrupted by the baby crying.
maggie and carl appear with the baby, and rick is pacing about, asking where lori is. he obviously knows, and it's moderately wrenching.
maggie tries to hold him back.
"aww, no!" rick says, and begins crying.
carl does nothing.
maggie takes the baby to glenn and starts crying.
rick falls to the ground crying, completely broken (and eliminating any lingering opportunity to grieve for t-dog and carol - who may not be dead yet!).
carl walks away, crying silently and no longer able to rely on his father for strength.
silent credits roll.
nice.
