Harvey And Adair Go WALKING With "A Judas"
Season 3, Episode 11 “I Ain’t a Judas”
[photos: Gene Page/AMC]
DUSTIN: Is it safe to say I’m in trouble?
TIMOTHY: No? Why?
Well I did skip out last week.
It happens. ‘Twas kinda weird to do it solo, but I think it turned out OK. You read my recap, right?
….
Really? Really?
….
((sigh)) Moving on.
Right.
Predictions. Give them.
Erm.. okay.
• Rick will stomp around like a petulant child.
• Andrea will do something stupid.
• Merle will make things worse.
I don’t know. I didn’t even watch the episode.
Your commitment is commendable. Schmuck.
I know. TO THE RECAP!!
Wait, wait, wait. Ahem. Ladies and Gentlemen! What follows is our review/recap/dissection of AMC’s The Walking Dead, and contains much that is geared for the audience of that show, including SPOILERS and inappropriate behavior. Reader Discretion Is Advised. Heed Ye This Final Warning!
“Heed Ye?”
Get on with it.
Merle and Team Zombie are talking about what to do now the fact that they are about to have to go to war. Rick starts to walk away but Hershel tells him to stop being an ass and do his damn job already.
Rick goes out the survey the damage out in the newly infested prison yard. It’s really not that bad, you guys, but there might be snipers out in the trees.
Carl arrives to be the voice of reason. He takes off the hat for the very first time ever and tells Rick to give up leadership of the group. So now Carl is Tyreese? I just don’t know.
Remember when this scene, well, something like this scene, happened in the comics? It was at the prison then, too, but of course it had Dale and Tyreese in it as well. Still, shades of things to come?
I’m wondering, did the farmhouse burn down? Just a random thought. It might be a nice summer home.
Yeah, but the neighbors suck.
Oh, the Oscars. Stop allowing Seth McFarlane to be a thing. And how come Scarlett Johanssen isn’t an Avenger now? That is so sexist and terrible.
Oh, are we doing Oscar commentary now too?
Meanwhile in Woodbury: The Scientist and The Governor are talking about who in the town could be soldiers. The Governor says child soldiers are going to be the best. Too bad they are late to the game as far as child soldiers are concerned, Carl will @#$%ing kill your ass.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone in Woodbury comes close to Carl. Of course, Carl is a little warped at this point.
Andrea comes in and is all why you do what you do? And The Governor and The Scientist lie and all the lies are lies and Andrea says she is sick of it. And The Governor says it’s too late, that it’s time to go to war. Andrea decides to try and make peace. The Governor feeds her more bull and then tells her that if she leaves Woodbury to go to the prison, then she should bugger off completely.
Do it Andrea. Grow a @#$%ing spine.
Normally I’d say that there’s a fat chance of that, but this episode looks like we may actually have her DO something for a change. We can live in hope.
A walk through town makes her feel suspicious and sad. Child soldiers etc. The guards are terrible! Come on, Andrea!
At the Prison, Rick tells Team Zombie about how walker filled their world is. Glenn and Daryl have a tiff about Merle and then Daryl walks away. How awesome all this is. Glenn hates Merle and there is a lot of talk and nothing is really solved.
Shocked, shocked I am! Of course it’s also a little unrealistic to expect it to be solved this quickly, but still.
Hershel goes to talk to Merle, I wonder how terrible this will go. They talk about the loss of their respective appendages. Hershel tries to be all magnanimous and of course Merle is not going to have it. Hershel gives Merle a Bible lesson, and Merle knows the verse. These two actors act the hell out of each other. Merle says that The Governor will kill everyone; he even knows the order everyone will die.
Yeah, he’s just a bundle of cheerfulness, isn’t he? And it’s one of those weird scenes, where Merle isn’t awful… he’s almost the voice of reason, which doesn’t say much for the rest of these folks, but still. And yes, both Michael Rooker and Scott Wilson are really good here.
In Woodbury. The Governor inspects the new troops. He dismisses a sweet old lady. Andrea tries to get a kid with asthma out of the army, but it doesn’t work.
Bets on this kid getting shot soon? Probably by Carl.
Prison. Carol goes to Daryl and tells him she missed him and she is glad he is back. They talk about home and family and Daryl is all philosophical about whether the prison is a home or a tomb. Carol tells Daryl that Merle is bad for him, and they laugh at the situation. They are the best ever.
They are. Good to have them back playing off each other. But, OK, now I’m worried… that’s a good scene for Carl and Rick, a good scene for Merle and Hershel, a good scene for Daryl and Carol… how are they going to screw this up? Oh, wait, there’s still Andrea.
In Woodbury, Andrea is inspecting the wall. The Scientist arrives and Andrea asks him to be honest with her, and of course, he lies to her. He’s a terrible gay best friend. Don’t you know that it’s part of the Gay Guy/Fag Hag code that we homos are always honest with our bitches? Bad form, dude. Andrea tells him she is going to the prison and he stomps off to write in his journal. Andrea follows him and appeals to his better nature. The Scientist is upset to be put in the middle.
Heh. Of course, that Andrea thinks that she can trust Milton AT ALL is just ridiculous. But it reinforces that bizarre character flaw she has, where she seems to believe whatever nonsense someone spews at her.
Meanwhile, The Governor inspects his eye wound. It’s fantastic. He takes a match and really gets a good look in there, then puts on a proper patch. Super villain status achieved! Of course, here comes The Scientist to sell Andrea out. The Governor tells The Scientist to help Andrea escape Woodbury, and for a moment, The Scientist isn’t sure if this is a trick, but The Governor assures him that this is not a trick. Then he praises The Scientist, which I’m sure leads to a night of one-handed love for him.
See, I don’t think that Milton is all that fond of the Governor at all. I think he’s scared to bloody death of him. Pun intended. I think it’s more of a case of latching on to the most powerful… ohhhhhh, that’s why Andrea thinks she can trust him… she thinks he’s just like her. Oh Andrea…
On the Oscars, Jennifer Aniston and her prom dress present an Oscar to Les Mis for makeup. The women accepting the award must have just come from work. And there is Halle Berry in her sex robot dress. She is amazing. She remembers James Bond, you guys!!
Can we discuss just how hot George Lazenby was for just one second? No?
Walking Dead. The show we’re reviewing? Change the channel back.
In the woods, Andrea and The Scientist are out collecting a walker for her to take to the prison. They cut it up the way Michonne taught her so many weeks ago. Taking off its arms and lower jaw. It’s pretty fantastic. Andrea curb stops a bitch and I am LOVING IT. This is the Andrea I want.
Less talk, more action! Hey, she seems like she has a plan, and that’s finally a good thing.
More walkers arrive, and then Tyreese, Shovel and the other Tailies show up and kind of save the day.
There they are! Hey guys! Welcome to the other group of crazy people!
At the prison, Michonne is doing her push ups while Carol cooks when Merle arrives, he is gross all at her. And of course she says 100% of nothing. Merle tries to apologize for hunting her like an animal and takes a walk. Michonne buys none of it.
Yeah, it may be the most pragmatic way to look at things, since they are all in the Governor’s crosshairs, but I wouldn’t turn my back on her Merle. Probably a bad idea.
Tyreese and the Tailies talk to The Scientist and Andrea. The Scientist agrees to take the Tailies back to Woodbury. This is going to end so badly.
I can’t imagine why you would think that.
On the Oscars, someone was getting a standing ovation; it wasn’t Adele because she wasn’t wearing a glittery trash bag.
Meanwhile, back at AMC’s The Walking Dead…
At the prison, Andrea arrives with her pet and Carl, who is on watch, sees her. He tells Maggie and she sights it up in her rifle. This reunion is going to be odd.
Ya think? Ooh Ooh! Maybe Michonne will actually talk to her!
Andrea walks right to the prison and cuts down and few of the walkers just to be safe. Everyone takes up positions with sniper rifles as she approaches.
Rick and Andrea yell at each other for as hot minute before the gate is opened and Andrea is frisked. It’s not a happy moment. I kind of wonder what she was expecting.
Not the reunion she was hoping for, I’m sure.
Rick helps her up roughly and they enter the prison. Andrea is not impressed. Carol greets Andrea with her first hug.
Andrea is all googly eyed and asks for Shane immediately, then Lori. Welcome back to the real world, Andrea. I think she is a little disgusted by how hard everyone has turned. It’s like when you go back home and see an old high school friend who is now, like a cop or something and you’re all wierded out because last time you saw him, he had a bong.
Thus forgetting everything she and Michonne went through, and everything that she went through when she was part of Team Zombie. What world is she living in?
Rick does not allow her to go in too far into the prison at first. Rick tells her about all the bad @#$% that has gone down. She tries to tell them about how terrible she has been.
This is going so great. I love it.
Oh it’s so long overdue! Liking how it’s going, yeah.
Rick says that The Governor has to die. Hershel tries to ask what is really going on back in Woodbury, and Andrea tells them that a fight is coming. Team Zombie welcomes the war.
Andrea tries to talk some sense into them… did I just write that?
Yep. And curiously, she is. Of course, things have gone way too far for that now.
Liam Neeson introduces some the best picture nominees. There is a montage of the more political ones. But they basically show all of the best parts of them, Ben Affleck’s arms are amazing. And can I tell you how happy I was to see Lee Pace in Lincoln? It was a happy moment. Jessica Chastain deserves all the awards for Zero Dark Thirty. She ran that movie.
They were very good movies. No argument there… I really enjoyed Argo. And Lee Pace always makes me miss Pushing Daisies. Now change the channel back.
Out in the prison yard, Andrea and Michonne talk about how they broke up, and how Andrea is under the spell of The Governor. Andrea has cast herself as Jesus and Michonne calls her out on it pretty amazingly. Michonne tells her the things that she should have said last time they talked. She is very upset that Andrea chose comfort over her, and she admits that she went back to Woodbury originally to expose The Governor because she wanted to hurt Andrea.
It’s so sad when lesbians break up, you guys.
But again, this is so just plain DUMB. If Michonne had bothered to say anything remotely resembling this before when it actually mattered… but no, that would have made sense.
Meanwhile, Tyreese and the Tailies (awesome band name if anyone wants it) are in the infirmary. I bet this is about to get real, real quick. The Governor turns his shining smile on Shovel and then they tell him that they had a run in with Team Zombie at the prison and how Rick is obviously going insane. Then the Tailies offer allegiance to Woodbury. Which is what they did to Rick before they he kicked them out.
Somehow I suspect there’s a group of Walking Dead fans out there tuning up their instruments. Or at least there should be. I’m thinking, though, that when push comes to shove, Tyreese and Co. will end of being the backup Rick will need at just the right moment.
Back at the prison, Andrea goes to meet Lil’ Asskicker. Carol is happy to hand her over. There is cooing and baby voices. Carol tells Andrea about the c-section and Andrea is so sad. Carol then tells Andrea about what happened between Rick and Shane. I think this is the first time she realizes that she and Shane would not have worked because Shane was in love with Lori. The look on her face when Carol tells her this, is quite simply heartbreaking.
Carol tells Andrea to kill The Governor after some sex. I don’t know if any of this is helping Andrea.
Maybe not, but it’s what she needs to hear. She’s been living in her own little dream world for long enough.
But I just realized something: Andrea is still living in the Pre-Zombie mindset. And I think that she is the only one that has not fully accepted the new world. She wants to believe that people are always telling the truth, and that they want to be helpful to their fellow man. She wants to believe that people are still basically good. All the blind eyes that she has turned, all the compromises she has made, all of this come from the belief that if everyone can just talk to each other and work out their differences, everything will be fine. Part of me respects that. Part of me wants her to be right.
But then there is the part of me that remembers that people in power want to keep that power. And that some people have leadership they can’t handle thrust upon them. Some people are weak, some are cruel, and some are only are only as strong at the situation they find themselves in. In a perfect world, Andrea’s world view would be a great one, she might even be the hero of the story. In a perfect world. But Andrea is not in a perfect world, and her world view is dangerous. I hope tonight she is learning this.
You could be right, but it doesn’t quite add up for me. She’s lived through the same things that they all have, more or less, and unless we’re going to have a storyline where she deals with those opposing mindsets, she’s going to keep being a pale imitation of her comic counterpart. I’d LIKE you to be right, and I’d LIKE to see her change, and this episode is promising, but. We’ve seen her written so poorly for so long, that I think you’re giving the writers more credit than they deserve. But by all means, let them prove me wrong, because that would be just grand.
Rick and Team Zombie give Andrea a car so she can go back to Woodbury for a nice shower. Come on Andrea, don’t go back. But she does. Rick gives her back her gun and a knife and tells her to be careful on her journey.
As they let her out, she looks back and sees the armed friends she is leaving behind again. At least her car isn’t a 2013.
Jessica Chastain and the beautiful She-Man Jennifer Garner present the Oscar for best foreign film. I saw 0% of these. Amour wins. Yay for dying old people. The guy who is accepting the award looks like homeless Christopher Lee.
Salma Hayek is dressed like she is ready of a role as an Evil Space Dominatrix in a science fiction film.
And now let’s meet to the orchestra! This is why the telecast is a million years long. John Travolta. He’s talking about musicals. I just hate him.
Sigh. Change. Channel. Back.
Andrea arrives back at Woodbury, where she is greeted by astonished guards. She is brought to The Governor and he acts like this wasn’t his plan all along. Andrea tells him that Team Zombie is basically broken and gross. She tells him that Michonne and Merle were there. And then she tells him she chose to come back. The Governor asks her why and she says that she was unwilling to give up daily showers and her lifetime supply of Prell. They hug. Both of them have their eyes opened to other now. So when they kiss it’s extra gross.
Remember when Michonne and the Governor had that “We both know we’re both lying” conversation? It’s like that only with sexual tension. It’s creepy. Very creepy.
At the prison, Daughter Fodder and the others sit around a small camp fire in silence. Daughter Fodder starts to sing. Everyone gathers around her and asks when her new album is dropping. Even Merle’s cold cold heart is moved. But I feel this is a waste of time. Does she have to sing the whole song?
It does feel like padding, and I happen to love the song. “Hold On” by Tom Waits, for you kids at home, and at least her voice is good. It just feels artificial.
Daryl, Rick and Hershel talk about how Andrea may be the key to Woodbury. Rick says he is going out on a run and he is going to take Michonne and Carl with him.
Well, at least he’s going out with the most efficient killers.
He tells Daryl that he is in charge, and to watch out for his brother. I really don’t think Merle is going to be a problem. I think Carol would put a bullet in his brain without a second thought.
This is one of the most sensible things Rick has done in a while. Putting Daryl in charge is both good for the team, AND for Daryl. Maybe it’ll help put that Alpha Male crap between him and Merle to rest.
Back in Woodbury, Andrea is in bed with The Governor. She lies there in the dark and thinks about the things that she learned that day. She climbs out of bed and goes to her clothes and pulls out the knife that Rick gave to her. She looks out the window at the night, then goes to The Governor’s bedside. She hold the knife over him for a moment. She doesn’t even know where her loyalties lie.
And instead of leaving us with a cliffhanger of her standing over him, she walks away. Nice. Of course, we now have the image of two people who don’t trust each other and more of less have plans to kill each other having just had sex. So… that’s a creepy thing.
And there you go folks! Andrea opens her eyes! Rick sorta stops being the leader! Carl takes off his hat! Stuff that happened! And now, despite being less than thorough in his research, due to being a schmuck of the first order, we shall review Dustin’s predictions. Such as they are.
You’re going to beat me over the head with this, aren’t you?
It’s possible. Let’s review. Rick, stomping, petulant. Gonna say that’s a no. He tried, but Hershel slapped him down, and then he got to play off Andrea and put Daryl in charge.
He did try though.
Not good enough. Andrea being stupid… this I will give you, although she was the best she’s been all season here. Her trust in Milton is really, really dumb.
She does make it easy.
Yeah, you don’t even need to read last week’s recap to see that. Next!
Would it help if I said I was sorry?
Are you saying you’re sorry?
Well, no, I’m just asking if it would help.
Merle! Making things worse. Nope, not right there either. Oddly reasonable and at much less horrid than expected. One out of three. Might have helped if you’d… you’re not listening.
Oscars are on. Someone’s winning an award for something.
We’ll see you kids next week.
>>>>
