Harvey and Adair On WALKING, DEAD, And A SORROWFUL LIFE
Season 3, Episode 15 “This Sorrowful Life”
[photos: Gene Page/AMC]
DUSTIN: So….
TIMOTHY: Yes?
Gale Anne Hurd, one of the producers of The Walking Dead, tweeted that she has read at least one of our reviews.
Yes, yes she has. She even said it was “Pretty Funny”.
But not “Really Funny”.
Ah, no. She said “Pretty Funny”.
Hmmmph.
She did forward the tweet on to Robert Kirkman.
There is that. You know what I’m thinking, right?
Set visit?
Set visit.
Yeah. That would be cool. So what’s the word on your computer?
No computer again today.
((sigh))
But!! I am doing better about it this week!
Are you gonna fake your way through predictions again?
Eh. Sure, why not.
- Rick will spend most of the episode in an existential crisis over a decision that should be easier to make than ‘paper or plastic.’
- Daryl will mumble something incoherent about how his Grindr profile isn’t getting any hits. Stupid Zombie Apocalypse.
- Michonne and Merle will go on an adventure together. It will be madcap and also feel good.
- Carol will be the best thing ever without trying.
I’m sure the folks at home are on the edge of their seats. Ladies and Gentlemen! What follows is Mr. Adair and my review, recap, analysis and rant about this weeks episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Like the show, it contains Adult Themes, much that is questionable in thought and taste, and in no way is an attempt to get the Production Staff of The Walking Dead to invite us out for a set visit.
Not that we’d say no. Just so you know that Gale.
What he said. The above was your warning, and as always, there be SPOILERS here.
RECAP!!
So in the prison yard, Rick is outlining the plan to turn Michonne over to The Governor to Daryl as Hershel stands in the background with his head hanging low. Daryl is pretty much shocked that Rick would even consider this, but like Hershel before him he is willing to go along with it if Rick thinks it’s the right thing to do. Daryl tells him that they will more than likely need a fourth for their kidnap and betrayal party.
Of course he suggests his brother.
One does have to wonder though, why, after all of the clear evidence that Rick is, mmmmm, having issues, everyone is so willing to go along with this plan. After all, even Carl and his Hat have said he should stop being the leader.
Daryl offers to go to Merle, but Rick says it’s his choice, so he’ll talk to Merle. Disgusted by the whole thing, Hershel hobbles away.
And yet, still, no active resistance to this horrible plan.
Rick then goes and talks to Merle, who is digging for drugs in the mattresses of the prison. Rick outlines the Terrible Plan and as he listens, Merle gets more and more agitated. Even Merle is put out by this plan, which should be a sign that IT’S A BAD PLAN!!!
Yeah, if Merle is hesitant…
Merle, with something that might be contempt in his voice, tells Rick that he has become cold, and then outlines for him the tortures that Michonne will face if she is turned over to The Governor. Then he asks if he is really willing to subject someone to that on just a shot that it will buy them some peace.
I hate Rick right now. And I hate that at this moment, Merle (MERLE!!) is the voice of reason in Rick’s ear. I hate that Rick KNOWS THIS IS A TRAP! Rick told Hershel that he knows it’s a trap! TWO EPISODES AGO!! This is another great instance where The Walking Dead is using soap opera logic to prolong the drama. Either that, or Rick is just the biggest douche in Douchetown.
In fairness, if that’s actually the right word, Rick is in a writer-induced corner here, and if he was just to have the rational and evidence-based reaction to the Governor’s clearly bogus offer, we wouldn’t have an episode, would we?
So Rick wanders off to contemplate consequences or imagine implications or combat that Not So Fresh Feeling and Merle wanders off to attempt to be awful to Carol (HI, Carol!!)
Merle tries to get under her skin by asking if there is any booze about. Carol counters with a “Who are you really?” and basically sends him on a vision quest. Carol is just the best.
What I like here, is that Carol is not even remotely letting Merle get at her in any way. She really is the best. How is it that she’s managed to be written so well, when we’ve had so much of a mess with Rick and Andrea this season?
So let’s just get this over with: Of COURSE Rick is going to not send Michonne off to her doom. OF COURSE HE’S NOT! But he can’t just change his mind right away; where would the drama be in that? So Rick spends the rest of the episode wandering around the prison thinking about CHOICES and CONSEQUENCES and WHAT KIND OF LEADER HE WANTS TO BE. He sees Lori crying on a balcony. All my hate this episode, Rick.
Again, he’s been written into this dumb corner. But when you have what we’ve seen in episodes like “Clear”, it makes you wonder what the hell the writers are thinking, aside from dragging things out.
While Rick is living through the dumbest Long Dark Night of the Soul ever, Hershel is leading a Bible study with his girls. Of course Hershel hated this plan almost as much as I did, and his resolve completely crumbles once Jesus is involved. Rick comes in and Hershel jumps up to tell him to cancel his Idiot Plan, but Rick has already decided to cancel it on his very own.
He goes to Daryl and tells him the Idiot Plan is off. Daryl is relieved and the two of them skip off to tell Merle the good news.
Uh oh, where’s Merle? Merle is gone! Merle knew that Rick would never go through with the Idiot Plan, so he took it upon himself to complete the Idiot Plan on his own! This is not what Carol meant, Merle!
See, Merle, after a conversation with Daryl about how they both know that Rick will never got through with it, Merle decided that the best way to prove that he was part of the group, and willing to be a team player, would be to execute the Idiot Plan on his own. So he McGyver’ed a rope out of a telephone, lured Michonne off on a walker hunt, brained her and dragged her off to Woodbury.
Rick is about to go off after them, when Daryl stops him. Merle is his responsibility and he should be the one to go after him. He leaves Rick to protect the rest of the family back at the prison. I love you, Daryl, even if your hair has gotten progressively stupider over the course of the season.
Of course, he sets off on foot, despite the fact that Team Zombie has cars, thus ensuring that he doesn’t catch up too quickly. Because that would make sense.
Now the two of them are on the road together, and Michonne begins to work her particular brand of magic. Namely being surly while pointing out the logical flaws in everyone’s major malfunctions. You know, I kind of think that if Michonne and Carol were to take over leadership of team Zombie, we’d all be a lot safer.
After finding a car, and almost getting Michonne bitten while Merle hotwires it, the two of them trade walking for driving. To Merle’s credit he makes it clear that while the Idiot Plan was Rick’s idea to begin with, Merle knew he would never go through with it, and so all of this is on Merle. I’m sure that makes Michonne feel so much better.
Yes, because hey, it’s not like Merle came up with the Idiot Plan, so sure, that makes it all better. I’m curious what kind of conversation this might lead to between Rick and Michonne, should she survive the Idiot Plan. Speaking of which, any question if we think she’s going to survive the Idiot Plan?
To entertain herself until she is turned over to be raped, tortured, and eventually murdered, Michonne decides to psychoanalyze Merle. She breaks him down pretty quickly actually. Merle is tired of being on the outside, but does not have a single life skill that would allow him to be anything but on the outside. His contempt for Daryl’s place in the group has nothing to do with thinking Daryl has gone soft without his big brother, but recognition that Daryl has grown into a man without him and jealousy over the fact that he will never be as respected as Daryl has become. Oh, and also, even though he puts on villainous airs, Merle is a good man who had never killed anyone until he was under the influence of The Governor.
This leads me to think that in the Time Before Walkers, Michonne was a therapist. One of those really intense ones that sit in a chair behind you and don’t say a word unless it’s to guide you on your own voyage of self-discovery. I can just see her in a smart suit, her locks pulled up in a bun, in an office elegantly appointed in Japanese cultural items. It makes so much sense I can barely stand it.
Well, she was a lawyer in the comics, and that could work here too, and although I like your image, I think there’s shades of cross-examination there. And can we just talk for a moment here about how good both Michael Rooker and Danai Gurira are here? Yes, Michonne’s daft silences at the most ridiculous times are irritating as hell, but when she does talk, she’s wonderful, and Merle, for all his awfulness, is clearly a broken and ultimately tragic figure. Both these actors are giving us really fine work here, especially Rooker. Watch his face when she’s telling him that she can see who is really is… it’s really excellent work.
So Michonne finally leads Merle to the realization that following through with the Idiot Plan will not only not change anything between Woodbury and Team Zombie, it will also not change the way Team Zombie views Merle.
And that really is the problem with Merle’s agreeing to the plan, isn’t it? Betraying one of Team Zombie, to save the rest, when the whole idea of believing the Governor is honest is fatally flawed, something Merle knows extremely well, isn’t going to make him any more trusted by, say, Glenn for example. Or Maggie. What’s interesting is how much Merle wants it to.
Merle finally gives Michonne back her sword, frees her, and sends her back in the direction of the prison. But he does not return with her; he has his own Idiot Plan to complete.
OK, you know what I wish? That we’d had more here in the car with Michonne and Merle, and less with dithering Rick, because if I have one complaint about this scene is that it comes to an end so quickly. It could be that Merle really is just looking for someone to tell him what he really already knows, and when he hears it… well. Maybe it’s just because they are both so good here.
Merle cranks the stereo, starts to gather a walker following, and heads off to meet The Governor.
At the meeting place, Merle drives the car, the walkers and the badass into what was supposed to be The Governor’s ambush. The walkers and Merle’s marksman skills make short work of a ton of henchmen, including one of The Tailies, that weird kid who wanted to try and kill Carl and Carol a couple of episodes ago steps right in front of The Governor the second before Merle puts a bullet in his brain.
I have to say I’m surprised. I was expecting Carl to take out the weird kid.
This tips The Governor off to Merle’s location and after a quick, feral fight that costs Merle a couple of fingers, The Governor gets the best of Merle.
The Governor clearly has some impulse control issues. Or he’s been wondering if maybe the walkers have the right idea, and was wondering what the whole eating people thing was about.
Strong to the end, Merle’s last words are “I’m not going to beg.” I hated you Merle, I thought you were the worst impulses of the collective writing team of The Walking Dead made into an odious character, but I have to say, I was sad to see you go. But at least you went out strong.
And oddly heroic, in a Pyrrhic kind of way. I mean of course he knew that he was going to his death, that should be obvious, but since he knows that he isn’t really ever going to be part of Team Zombie by being the man he’s become, he does the only thing he really can doesn’t he? And it is almost sad to see him go, not because I liked Merle, ’cause I don’t, but because Michael Rooker is so good.
But let’s be really real here. The best scene of the entire episode is the one where Daryl, who has been on Merle’s trail this whole time, finally catches up to him. Norman Reedus deserves an Emmy for the breakdown, and ultimate ending of Merle’s suffering. It’s heartbreaking.
No argument here. It’s one of the scenes in this series that really has emotional weight, and Reedus is truly powerful here, in both the breaking down in tears and the rage that is so clear in his killing of the zombified Merle. It’s all the anger and pain and loss made manifest, and for a scene that really isn’t very long, it’s really powerful.
But I can’t believe you haven’t talked at all about Glenn proposing to Maggie! And what is arguably the grossest way to go ring shopping… ever.
I was… feeling like I was dominating the recap portion of our program, and wanted to give you a chance to talk about it.
You got on a roll and slipped right past it.
I was being kind. You’re just ungrateful.
Uh huh. Thanks ever so much. Anyway, Glenn goes to Hershel and asks his permission, in what is a really nice moment, again showing how far Hershel has come from his initial distrust of Glenn and the others. Then, however, Glenn goes out to the yard, lures some walkers over, and cuts the finger with a wedding ring of one of them. Because, yes, not too many jewelry stores at the prison, but what the hell? Sure, it’s the thought that counts, but still. Yeesh.
Maggie, to no one’s surprise, says yes. It’s sweet, and wonderful, and I’m pretty sure one of them is going to die in the finale now. I hope I’m wrong.
So do I. Back at the prison, Rick finally tells the rest of Team Zombie (which I was shocked to realize had gotten so small) about the Idiot Plan and how he is sorry for all the general acting a fool he has been doing this season. He relinquishes control back to the group and hopes that they can make a good decision about what to do now that they are a democracy again.
And then turns around and walks away, not being a part of whatever decision they might make next? Or reaction to what he’s said? Huh?
And finally, Michonne walks calmly back up to the gates of the prison, sword in hand. Welcome home, bitch.
“Hi Rick! Hey, can we talk for just a moment? Got something to discuss with you.”
And there you go folks! Aside from the Rick nonsense, which hopefully is finally over, I think this was a pretty strong episode, and a hellava send-off for Merle. Would you agree to that sir?
I would.
But?
Well, we really weren’t that funny this week. I mean I was, but…
Yes, yes, we all know that you are funnier than I am. So what… oh. Gale Anne Hurd. “Pretty Funny”. Right.
I don’t think we’re going to get a “Really Funny” for this week.
No, probably not. Ah well.
Yeah.
Oh, your predictions. Let’s see here… Well, yeah, not the whole episode, but Rick did spend way too much time with what should have been an easy decision. You know, as in, “This is a terrible idea that I will not entertain for more than a moment, because it so clearly is a really incredibly stupid, terrible idea.” One for you.
OK, even I admit that was sort of a gimme.
We know. We all know. OK, as for Daryl’s Grindr account… you are just engaging in wishful thinking there.
I regret nothing.
Of course not. As for Michonne and Merle’s “adventure”… not sure the words “madcap” and “feel good” actually apply there, unless they have developed new definitions that I wasn’t previously aware of.
I was living in hope.
And that’s what was your undoing. Dead right on Carol though. She is the best.
Carol is always the best. The best I say.
No argument. So… next week. The season finale. I suspect there will be some conflict and some violence on display. Perhaps even a sharp word or two. We’ve had a lot of buildup for just one episode to resolve….
I live in hope.
Riiiigggghhhhttttt. Actually, I do too. See you next week kids!
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