The Walking Dead review: ‘I Ain’t a Judas’

Here’s what went down if you missed this week’s episode: Hershel’s voice of reason yelled at Rick and he seems to have left CrazyTown (yay!); Daryl and Merle are back with Team Prison and Merle’s finally trying to make nice with everyone (double yay!); Michonne had more than two lines (triple yay! Okay, I’ll stop); the Governor is building an army; Andrea visits Team Prison and decides to pledge her loyalty to the Governor—well sort of. That’s the gist of it.

I was at a crossroad with reviewing this show. I thought I could either be the passive viewer and just watch the show as it is so I could enjoy it like pretty much everyone else does or I could continue to be critical and expect more from this show. After some thought, I chose the latter. The Walking Dead has always left me feeling like being the first one though just because it’s a fictional zombie apocalyptic horror show, sometimes you just have to sit back and let things be because who knows what zombies are really like? I mean, some seem stronger and smarter than the real people and bite off their leg or any other part of their bodies with ease, while other zombies seem like a breeze to kill. My point is, although part of me really wants everything to pan out the way I want it to, sometimes it just doesn’t and that might make it more interesting to watch.

I wanted Rick to come back from his craziness and lo and behold, he’s back. I honestly thought it would take more than Hershel’s voice of reason for Rick’s return. Also, I expected a lot more from Carl and Rick’s scene. Carl just said one thing and Rick’s like “nbd, I’ll show you”. Not literally, but you know what I mean. Rick still hasn’t had any sleep from the last episode and he seems like he’s still at the edge of the cliff, ready to jump and yet he’s back to being our hero (which I’m not entirely unhappy about). I’m just hoping he doesn’t break down when the group really needs him. It’s been a constant split between the group whether they should run or stay and they’ve finally hunkered down to a decision for staying. How could they possibly run with Hershel and the baby anyway?

What I did enjoy in this episode though was the show’s recognition of all the deaths of the characters thus far. We really see how much loss the group has had to deal with yet we also get to see the addition of characters to Team Prison that ultimately strengthen it (i.e. Merle and Michonne). Everyone making nice with each other, even Rick and Merle—sort of, relaxes the internal tension allowing Team Prison to gear up for battle. I’m extremely excited for this fight but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon judging at Rick’s clue onto the next episode being a run for supplies with him, Karl, and Michonne. I’m not sure Glenn’s over Merle almost killing him but I think Glenn knows deep down that Merle is much more useful fighting for Team Prison than he is for the Governor.

At this point, I don’t know how I feel about Andrea. I’ve never really liked her character to begin with and I was glad for the short while she was gone but now she’s back and I guess we need to start talking about her. She’s been trying to be a leader in any group she’s been in since day one and it’s no exception with her plea for peace between the two groups. Team Prison doesn’t welcome her with open arms at the reunion and honestly, it’s because she really doesn’t deserve it—even when compared to Merle. I think it’s important to note that Merle understands the Governor is a psychopath and he’s willing to help Team Prison defeat him, or at least as Hershel points out, we can’t overlook his loyalty to Daryl and we know Daryl wants the Governor dead. Andrea, on the other
hand, is still in love with the creep and has no plans of leaving Woodbury behind. That is why Merle gets a point and Andrea doesn’t. Andrea is “still under his spell” and it becomes even more annoying at the end of the episode when she sleeps with him, then fails to end it. The scene between Andrea and Michonne was hands down the highlight of this episode. I thought that the revealing of the Governor’s plan to kill Andrea if she had left with Michonne that day just might push her over to Team Prison but she is still dumb as—I mean, she is still under the impression that there’s hope and I guess you can’t completely hate her for trying.

One thing that surprised me this episode was the resurfacing of Team Tyreese. I was wondering where they ended up in the last episode and here they are, agreeing to fend for the Governor in a heartbeat. This is extremely puzzling because the show has made Tyreese and Sasha to be decent people so far, maybe not the other two, but Tyreese and Sasha definitely. So, how could they agree to take Team Prison down for the Governor whose character they have yet to know? Team Tyreese has had a chance to experience the hospitality of Team Prison and they know of the baby and Hershel and that they are good people. Sure, it was Rick’s craziness that pushed them back out there but c’mon, you can’t just jump ship like that!

I’m quite certain that the big fight between the two groups won’t be happening anytime soon and definitely not in the next episode, though I could be wrong, but I hope it happens soon. The buildup of the past few episodes have been quite mellow and calm and I want to see some action already! Do you think this plot is dragging out too long and is it going to drag out even longer? What do you think of Andrea deciding to go back to the Governor? Will Tyreese and Sasha come to their senses? How do you think the Governor—and he most certainly, eventually—will die?