The Walking Dead Season 3 E1: Seed (Part 1)

If you have not read my review of the season 2 finale, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 2 E13: Beside The Dying Fire

Here we go, season 3!  This season starts with a bang.  We find our survivors, looking older and more hardened.  They break into a house and take out several walkers.  Lori comes through the door looking very pregnant, so some major time has passed since season 2 ended.  They are raiding the house for supplies when Carl comes across some dog food.  Rick sees it and throws it.  He is upset at how they are living and what they have become.

T-Dog is keeping watch and spots several zombies outside heading towards the house.  The group heads out to their vehicles and make a clean getaway.  They are apparently trying to avoid situations like at the farm.  We find out they have been living like this for all of winter and have been mapping the movements of the herds to avoid them.  There is a chance some of the herds will run into each other making it difficult to travel to certain areas.

I like how this season is going so far.  Skipping some time is a cool idea, as is making them more battle hardened and using strategy to get things done.  Carl is even useful now, taking out several walkers all by himself without thinking twice about it.  This group has pulled together under Rick’s leadership and are better for it.  Their goal is to find a permanent place to stay and build a real life, not always running and being afraid.

As luck would have it, when Daryl and Rick go hunting, they discover a prison (seen at the end of season 2).  It has multiple layers of fencing, gates, walls, watchtowers, it’s perfect.  The only problem is it’s filled with walkers at every level.  They figure the prison must have fallen early, as the walkers all seem to be prisoners and police.  They have been trapped in there the whole time.

Rick decides to cut through the first fence (wiring it back shut).  He has to travel to the second area and lock the gate, giving them at least one safe section to stay in.  He runs his way through the walkers in the courtyard and closes the gate while the rest of the survivors shoot the walkers and help keep Rick safe.  They manage to clear the zombies out.  For the first time since the farm they now have a safe place to stay, they can even plant crops in this area so they have food.

The Walking Dead Season 2 E13: Beside The Dying Fire

If you have not read my review for episode 12, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 2 E12: Better Angels (Part 2)

We open on a group of zombies who start following a helicopter flying overhead.  The group grows larger and larger as time passes.  We come to find out that this group of zombies is the same group we saw at the end of the last episode, the ones on their way to attack the farm.  Daryl is talking to the group and tells them that Shane was with Randall, not tracking him as he had claimed.

Carl asks Rick what happened (with Shane), when Rick is about to answer they see the zombies heading their way!  Not having time to make it back to the house for shelter, they decide to lure the walkers into the barn…and set it on fire to take some of them out.  Everyone in the house arms up and gets into the vehicles.  With their firepower and speed they drive around taking out as many walkers as possible.  It’s good to see them taking the action to the walkers for once and not just being defensive.

We finally get to see Jimmy, the guy who is always just in the background and never really says or does anything.  We soon find out why.  He brings the RV by to pick up Rick and Carl, only to have the door pushed in and get eaten by walkers.  It’s a good thing they never brought this guy along on the missions, he can’t even stay alive for two minutes when he has to do something!  Hershel on the other hand manages to kill about a million zombies all by himself, this is a man you do want with you!

Most of the important characters escape the farm but in the process are separated from each other.  Each group makes the decision to try and meet up with everyone else.  They all decide the highway is the place to go to find everyone else.  Rick and Hershel are there first and make the decision that the highway just isn’t safe anymore.  Just as they are about to leave, everyone else shows up.  After figuring out who is missing or dead, they leave to find a safe place to stay.

Andrea is running in the woods, still trying to escape from the walkers.  She manages to kill a few of them before being about ready to give up.  Just then, a mysterious figure with a sword saves her.  Looks like we have a new character for season 3 (that comic book fans will recognize).  Back on the road, Rick’s vehicle runs out of gas, they are going to have to find a permanent safe place.  They are tired of running and always being afraid.

After they have stopped a found a place for the night, Daryl mentions Randall to the group.  He says that Shane killed him and he has no idea how he could have turned into a walker.  Rick tells them that they are all infected!  Jenner had told him at the season 1 finale.  The group is angry and feeling hopeless, because Rick didn’t tell them, and what it means.  Jenner was crazy, there was no way Rick could have known if what he was saying was true or not, so Rick probably did the right thing.

Rick and Lori have a private talk, he tells her that he killed Shane.  She backs off away from him and is angry.  Lori makes no sense at all.  One minute she is trying to talk Rick into killing Shane, then when he does in self-defense, she is angry.  I wish she would hurry up and become walker food.  Rick gets tired of everyone’s crap and takes charge.  He declares it is his group and if they stay, they will do things his way.  He says he killed his best friend for these people.  Looks like Rick won’t be taking anymore crap in season 3!

The Walking Dead Season 2 E8: Nebraska

If you have not read my review for episode 7 from this season, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 2 E7: Pretty Much Dead Already

This episode opens immediately where the last one left off.  Rick lowers his gun and looks at what was once Sophia’s body.  Beth runs over to see the body of her mother and is attacked by her.  Beth is saved by the group and an argument breaks out between Shane and Hershel.  Shane thinks Hershel knew Sophia was in the barn all along.  Hershel says Otis was the one who put her in the barn and he knew nothing about it.  Hershel says he wants everyone off of his land which causes Shane and Rick to get into it over how all of this was handled.

Glenn and Maggie have a conversation about the group moving on.  Glenn doesn’t seem to really understand why Maggie is so upset.  Carl tells Lori that Rick did the right thing by shooting Sophia.  His environment is hardening him.  The survivors decide to bury the walkers who used to be loved ones and burn the rest since there are so many of them.  Rick starts to question the decisions he has made.  He risked everyone’s lives out looking for Sophia when she was there on the farm all along (though he can’t be blamed for that since no one knew).

Shane argues and mocks Dale while Dale simply stands there and says nothing in return.  Dale doesn’t even have to say anything, Shane just keeps justifying himself like he already knows what Dale would have said anyway.  Carol gets a little time to go through her feelings.  She knows that Sophia died right away and didn’t suffer out in the woods.  She didn’t starve or spend nights alone being scared.  Maggie attempts to talk to Glenn again about staying if they group leaves just as her sister Beth collapses on the floor.  Needing medical attention, they try to locate Hershel but he is no where to be found.

Putting two and two together, they figure out Hershel is probably at the town bar.  Lori doesn’t want Rick out solving everyone else’s problems but he tells her they need Hershel for the baby.  Rick and Glenn head out and on the way to town they discuss Glenn’s relationship with Maggie.  Meanwhile, Dale tells Lori just how dangerous Shane can be and how he is a ticking time bomb.  Lori attempts to get Daryl to go to town and find Rick but he says it’s not his problem.

Rick and Glenn arrive in town to find Hershel exactly where they figured he would be.  Hershel feels like a fool because he thought the walkers were still alive.  Rick tells him there is nothing wrong with having hope and they discuss life and what kind of future their loved ones can have in this world.  Lori, being stupid as always, decides to go to town and find Rick…because if he is in a bad situation he can’t handle, somehow she will be able to save him having zero fighting ability or skills.  While not paying attention, she hits a walker and flips her car over.  I won’t make any jokes about female drivers here lol

Back at the bar, two men come inside (Dave & Tony).  They seem pretty untrustworthy after a short conversation.  They want Rick to take them back to the farm but he isn’t having any of it.  They end up having a shootout and Rick kills both of them before they have a chance to shoot him.  This is one of the coolest scenes in the show so far and shows just how dangerous Rick can be if he is pushed.  This episode ends back at the farm with several of the survivors burning walker bodies.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Prison picture

The first shot of our survivors in the prison has been released.  I am not sure how many fences the prison has but it looks like there are at least two layers of it.  On the bright side, they at least have a secure place to stay, even if they may not have all of the perks from the farm (water, animals, etc).  This season could be pretty interesting, especially since the walkers aren’t going to be the only enemies around, they will have to deal with other people as well.

The Walking Dead Season 2 E6: Secrets

If you have not seen my review for episode 5, you may do so here: The Walking Dead Season 2 E5: Chupacabra

At the beginning of the episode we find out how Hershel and his family have been feeding the walkers.  They take chickens and break their legs, then throw them in the barn.  Maggie and Glenn talk about the walkers in the barn, she doesn’t understand just how dangerous they are.  Everyone keeps telling their secrets to Glenn and he is acting weird because he isn’t good at lying to people.  It’s pretty obvious it’s just a matter of time until he has to tell everyone what is going on.

Rick and Lori get into an argument over Carl carrying a gun.  It doesn’t help matters any that Carl lied to Dale in order to get into the RV and steal a gun from there, showing how irresponsible he is.  After Glenn tells Dale everything he knows, Dale takes it upon himself to confront Hershel over the walkers in the barn.  Dale finds out that Hershel just believes that the walkers are sick people who need help.  He also discovers that Hershel’s wife and step son are in the barn as well.  Hershel doesn’t know what it is like out in the world and because of his connection to several of the walkers, he doesn’t want to know.

Shane takes Andrea out teach her how to shoot at a moving target, which is much different than shooting at a piece of paper like they had been doing.  He attempts to make her emotional and brings her dead sister Amy into it to put her under stress.  Andrea just gets angry and walks off and Shane realizes that he has gone too far.  He goes after her and tells her they have a lead on Sophia.  They go into an abandoned neighborhood and search through some of the houses.  They don’t find any sign of Sophia but they do run into a herd of walkers!  They make their way back to the car after taking out a large herd, giving Andrea first hand experience.  On the car ride back, Andrea makes advances towards Shane and they pull over.

Maggie and Glenn make a run to town to gather more supplies (and items Lori asked for which Maggie doesn’t know about).  While digging around for whatever useful items they can find, Maggie is attacked by a walker.  It’s a close call but Glenn saves her and takes out the walker with his knife.  We find out that Lori wanted morning after pills.  Without even talking to Rick she is going to try and kill her baby so it doesn’t have to live in this cruel world.  After taking them she instantly changes her mind and forces herself to throw them up.

Dale, thinking there is something going on between Shane and Andrea, confronts Shane and tells him he knows what kind of man he is.  Dale lets Shane know that he thinks he killed Otis and wants him to stay away from Andrea.  Shane threatens Dale and walks off.  Meanwhile, Rick finds the opened packet of morning after pills and confronts Lori.  She tells him that she threw the pills up and he wants to know if she has anymore secrets.  Lori lets Rick know about what happened with her and Shane when she thought Rick was dead.

The Walking Dead Season 2 E5: Chupacabra

If you have not read my review of the last episode, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 2 E4: Cherokee Rose

We open on another flashback of what happened before Rick woke up from the Hospital.  I really like these scenes and it’s interesting to go back and fill in the gaps we the audience have missed.  People are all along the road and traffic has stopped moving.  Shane and Lori leave Carl with Carol to go and see what is going on.  As they look into the city, Helicopters fly over and drop napalm on the streets.  They are now starting to understand just how bad things are.

Back to the present, Rick and Shane are out looking for Sophia and have a talk about if they should continue this or not.  Shane thinks it’s a waste of time and the daily searches are only endangering them and making the group weaker.  Rick has hope that Sophia is still alive, and because he has a son, he knows he would want others to keep looking for Carl if he was missing.  After they get back to the farm, Hershel has a quick talk with Rick about controlling his people.

Daryl is also out looking for Sophia, but after a snake scares his horse he falls and one of his arrows sticks him in the side.  Due to his injury he can’t climb back up the hill he fell off of and ends up passing out when he falls again.  Probably from being in shock, Daryl starts to hallucinate about Merle being there and talking to him.  “Merle” is telling Daryl how the people in the camp don’t care about him and how they are just using him.  Daryl comes out of it to realize that “Merle” kicking his boot is actually a walker trying to eat his foot.  Daryl takes out the walker and another one that is coming for him and makes it up the hill to travel back to Hershel’s farm.

As a token of gratitude, the women in the camp decide to cook dinner for Hershel and his family.  Hershel knew nothing about this and when he walks into his house and sees everyone cooking he asks Maggie what is going on.  She tells him and he says not to get close to these people because they will not be staying.  During dinner, Maggie and Glenn are passing notes to each other.  Maggie wants to meet Glenn alone after dinner and he writes the location down on the note.

Andrea decides she no longer wants to help with the chores the other women are doing.  She wants to help keep an eye out for walkers and be able to carry a gun around.  Andrea’s character continues to become more and more annoying.  First she wanted to kill herself, then she whines constantly about wanting to carry a gun around, even though she barely knows how to use one.  After she thinks she spots a walker, she starts to take aim and Rick tells her no.  Shooting a gun to take out one walker would be stupid as it would just attract more to the area for no reason.  She doesn’t listen to what anyone said and shoots the “walker” anyway.  The walker turns out to be Daryl, who is bloody and dirty from his trip back.  Luckily Andrea only grazed the side of his head but it is just more proof that she is an idiot who isn’t responsible enough to have a gun.

Later that night, Maggie opens the note from Glenn to see where he is going to meet her.  When she sees where it is she panics and runs out of the house after him.  Glenn is climbing into the barn when he hears a noise and looks down.  The barn is filled with zombies!   Glenn turns around and Maggie is standing there and says “You weren’t supposed to see that”.  Well, now we know what Hershel’s secret was, the question is why?

The Walking Dead Season 2 E4: Cherokee Rose

If you have not read my review of episode 3 from this season, you may do so here:  The Walking Dead Season 2 E3: Save the Last One

This episode opens with Otis’ funeral.  Unfortunately for Shane, who is still feeling guilty over murdering him, he is asked to give a speech about Otis’ final moments.  Of course the entire speech is a big lie Shane is making up on the spot.  Dale seems to have a shocked look on his face, like he doesn’t buy it.  No one else seems to question Shane though.

While the search for Sophia continues, Hershel has a talk with Rick.  He wants Rick and his group to leave after they find Sophia and Carl heals up from his injuries.  Hershel explains that they do not normally take people into their home and there are reasons for that but he does not say why.  What kind if secret is Hershel hiding?  Things may not be as pleasant on the farm as it appears.

Several of our survivors are out gathering water when they find out that a walker had fallen down into one of the wells.  They decide the best option is to try and pull him out so they can still use the water.  I do not understand the logic on this one.  The walker has been down in there for some time.  Taking out the fact that he is a zombie, he is also a decaying corpse that has been floating in that water for some time.  There is no way I would drink that.  They have several other wells they can use as well, they just need to make sure the other wells are secure so this doesn’t happen again.  After almost getting Glenn killed, they do get the walker out but he breaks in half (the lower half falls back into the well) and the water is ruined anyway.

Daryl is out searching for Sophia and runs across a house that looks like someone had been in recently.  While there, he picks a flower he later gives to Carol (Sophia’s mom), explaining this flower (a Cherokee Rose) grows for a lost one love.  Meanwhile Shane is talking to Andrea about what it is like to shoot at something trying to kill you, how it is very different than shooting at a paper target.  Though Andrea doesn’t know it, Shane is getting out his feelings on how to get over his guilt for killing Otis.

In an effort to acquire more medical supplies, Maggie is sent to town with Glenn.  Before they leave Lori secretly asks Glenn to pick up something for her but we are not told what it is.  The town they go to seems to be completely abandoned, there is not even a walker in sight.  While there picking up supplies, Glenn and Maggie start a romantic relationship with each other…kind of.  We do find out what it was Lori asked Glenn to get, a pregnancy test.  Lori then finds out she is pregnant.  Considering she had just been contemplating letting Carl die to be out of this nightmare, she obviously isn’t going to deal with this very well.

Rick and Hershel have another talk.  This time Rick says he is responsible for the group, they look to him, and he wants to be a good father and protect his family.  He says Hershel doesn’t understand what it is like out there in the world, it’s not safe like on the farm.  Rick basically begs Hershel to let them stay and Hershel says he will consider it, if everyone obeys his rules.

This was a pretty good episode, it opened up a few new interesting plot points and makes one wonder what Hershel is hiding.