Mr. Harvey & Mr. Adair Call The DEAD

Season 3 Episode 6 “Hounded”

[photos: Gene Page/AMC]

Timothy: Greetings Lads and Lasses, your Misters Adair, Smith and Harvey are returned, after an unplanned absence last week. We hope our ramblings weren’t missed too badly, well, actually, we DO hope they were missed badly.

Please tell us we were missed badly.

Anyway, we are back, and Mr. Adair will be filling us in on what we saw last week.

Dustin: I will be?

You will be. Take it away… Dustin!

Rick killed zombies.
Michonne killed zombies.
The Governor is one sick %&$#$.

O… kay… kind of leaving some stuff out.

It was an emotional minefield. I only like to look forward.

Uh huh. In that case, oh far-seeing one, do you want to make any predictions tonight?

Well, seeing that I remember literally nothing about last week’s episode, I really don’t know if I can.

Whatever.

My prognosticating powers are very delicate.

Sigh. Oh please, do try.

Okay. Here goes it:

• Rick’s tiny brain will fully snap.
• Michonne will return to her life as Rambo, happy to not be saddled by her former lady-love.
• Andrea will sleep more soundly in her bed alone, yet late at night, in the dark, she will wonder what might have been.
• Carol, snug an secure up on the administration offices on the prison, will wonder why no one is looking for her yet.
• The Governor will bake a pie.

I do hope it is a blueberry pie.

As do I, Tim. As do I.

In the interests of brevity, which we are certainly not known for, we shall omit Dustin and my ruminations on our love for pie. Suffice it to say we are fans. Mmmmm. Pie.

Besides, Anne-Marie is giving us the “Get On With It” look. 😉

Onward! Merle and a contingent of men arrive in the woods search of Michonne.
Michonne used walker body parts to write “Go Back.” Evil Glenn and Merle think it’s funny. The Day Player thinks the whole thing is seriously messed up.

OK, points for creativity, but really, if you’re on the run from the bad guys, knowing you’re being followed, obviously, do you really pause to make a visual pun?

Merle is not happy with him, and tells him that he will smash his teeth in.
Merle yells into the woods and asks if Michonne plans to take them all on by herself. The answer to that question is “hell yes” because she pops out of the woods and kills 2 of the men before Merle can finish laughing.
Because she is a ninja.

And farewell to Evil Glenn. Michonne is, lets face it, awesome.

Merle chases after her, but she is long gone.
Back at the prison, we discover that Rick is on the phone with some chick.
The land lines are apparently awesome in the Zombie Apocalypse.

Mmmm Hmmm.

Back at the cell block, Team Zombie is eating a sullen meal as Rick returns to the cell block. Anne-Marie points out that they have apparently found the showers.
Rick asks for a status report for the group, and Daryl gives it before Rick disappears into the cell block again.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis  Well, Rick found the bus to crazy town. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Meanwhile back with Merle and Michonne, Merle makes the Day-Player with him de-walker the dead hunters.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Whatchoo doin’ today? Oh nuttin’. Stabbin heads. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

In Woodbury, Andrea runs into The Governor and after a minute of small talk, she asks him if she can ask a question, and he says no. It’s hard to tell if he is serious or not, but he’s serious enough for Andrea to walk off in a huff. Following the Laws of Romantic Comedy, The Governor follows her, and after a moment, they talk about how Andrea is all upset about the Gladiator Battles. The Governor is all “But it’s What the People Want” and Andrea is all “But it’s the Basest Part of Our Humanity on Display.”

Then she immediately asks if she can work the wall as a guard, because she wants to keep her skills as a marksman up.
Hey remember those skills? They are the ones she used to almost shoot Daryl in the head last season. Almost.

Hey, remember when Andrea was an interesting character who didn’t swoon over every man who had some power?

Anyway, The Governor says it’s fine as long as she learns to use a bow and arrow.

Back in the boiler room, Rick answers the phone and talks to a man this time. The man on the phone says the place where he and his group are is safe, no one there has died, or been turned into a walker, or gone crazy… hrm, it seems odd that he should mention the crazy going to Rick at this particular moment.

Yeah, if there was any question left whether or not this is all in Rick’s head, then I’m pretty sure this puts an end to that.

The man asks Rick if he has killed anyone and Rick tells him that he has killed people… which is… correct? It seems like much more.

It is an interesting little list. Give the writers credit here… Rick remembers the people he’s killed, showing that as hard as he’s become, he still remembers the individual lives he’s taken. Of course, he seems to be focusing on how these people were threatening him, personally. Which is interesting.

The man asks how he lost his wife and Rick tells him he doesn’t want to go there right now, so the guy hangs up.
Rick loses it. He screams and throws things and acts generally like a crazy person.

Because Rick is, in fact, a crazy person.

At the wall, Andrea is sitting in a lawn chair with a … woman? Wow. Apparently women are allowed to do more in Woodbury than wander around with baskets full of flowers. I’m actually shocked. Andrea and the wall girl discuss how she and her dad really wanted her to go to the Olympics back in the day, and how she is an awesome shot with her bow and arrow.
Then they discuss how they have had to kill all sorts of their loved ones after they became walkers.
A walker arrives at the wall and the arrow girl tries to shoot it, but it turns out that her Olympic dreams were basically doomed, because she is terrible with a bow and arrow. She misses twice. Shooting at a slow-moving target. Finally Andrea decides to show her how Team Zombie does things and goes over the wall for a little hand to hand with the walker.

Wait, did that walker just duck? That walker just ducked. But of course it did.

She kills the walker, but it only makes the chick mad at her. Apparently Andrea learned more from Michonne than the… ((ahem)) scissor kick.

Well, remember, back when Andrea wasn’t swooning, she did have some good walker killing moments. You know, not this season.

Back the prison, Hershel shows up in the boiler room to talk to Rick. Wow, Hershel is very ambulatory. Good thing he had a whole 2 days to recover.

OK, here’s my new, completely ridiculous theory. The zombie virus that everyone is infected with causes miraculous healing in the living. This, of course, makes no sense, but how else do you explain the fact that no one in Team Zombie heals from extremely serious injuries at anything like a realistic rate? Either that or our writers are just hoping that no one is paying attention.

Hershel says he still feels his leg. It’s almost like it’s a ghost. Rick apologizes and Hershel tells him he saved his life. Hershel says that Lori was sorry for being pretty much awful for two whole seasons. Hershel tells Rick to take all the time he needs. Sitting in the room where his wife died. Because that is so healthy.

Rick tells Hershel about the phone calls he has been receiving. Hershel is skeptical, so he picks up the phone. There is a kind of buzzing noise, which makes me think that Ma Bell is alive and well out there somewhere.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that Hershel just realized that Rick has slipped loose the tethers of sanity here. That wasn’t a dial tone, that was dead air.

Hershel is sworn to secrecy and asks if Rick wants him to wait with him for the next call, but Rick says no.
Hershel hobbles off, I hope to find Rick a little Xanex.

Or maybe to bring back some of the others to take Rick out of the room his wife died in, which is clearly not helping his mental state? Nah, that would make sense.

Meanwhile in the woods, Merle and the Day Player that is obviously doomed finally catch up to Michonne. They commence to battling, but walkers show up. During the battle, Michonne slices a walker open and his guts fall all over her. After taking time to kill the walkers, she escapes.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis  YES!! GUUUUUTTTSSS! @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Back at the prison, Daryl, Medium Tiny, and Carl are clearing out another part of the prison. Daryl and Carl talk about how much it sucks to have a dead mother.
Apparently, Daryl’s mother fell asleep with a cigarette in her mouth and burned up in her bed.
This monologue has been brought to you by Season One.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
“I have no opinion on Lori’s death.” – Carl’s huge hat. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

And Season Two. Oh joy.

Carl enjoys it just as much as any of us, because he does not seem to be listening. Carl finally tells Daryl that he is the one the shot Lori. They bond a little over being the children of dead mothers and terrible, insane fathers.

OK, wait. Our band of zombie hunters just walk past a door that clearly has a zombie on the other side, and instead of opening the door and killing it, thus avoiding the obvious possibility that the zombie could find its way out and come up behind them, which, in this show, means it will be quiet until dramatically convenient, they decide to come back later and deal with it. Isn’t the point of cleaning out the prison the killing of the undead infesting it? Why do I have a bad feeling about what is clearly a bad decision based on a writing decision? Oh yeah, it’s because every time this show does that, it ends badly.

Andrea goes to The Governor and he reprimands her for going over the wall. He tells her that she can’t stay on the wall. She is sad, but then she says that she actually liked the Gladiator Battles because, let’s face it, Andrea is the biggest follower of all the followers in all the world, and as long as there is a man there to tell her what to do, she’s happy.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Since Andrea’s okay with Friday Night Fights, all that’s left to do is talk him into blood orgies. Tuesdays? @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Insert annoyed rant about how much this show has mishandled the character of Andrea here. Tim, that’s your cue.

Nope. First of all, we’ll be here all damn night if I go there, and second… OK, a little bit. Why, in this season, where everyone else is being written so well, did they pick Andrea to be the new recipient of all the stupid? I mean… no, no. Stopping there. Andrea is an idiot and she shouldn’t be and the writers should be ashamed of themselves.

In the woods, Merle is ready to throw in the towel, but the Day Player wants to go after Michonne.
Merle says they should just go back to Woodbury and tell The Governor that Michonne is dead, since she is going into an area that the Woodburians call ‘The Red Zone’ anyway and she will not last out there. The Day Player does not want to go back to Woodbury and lie to The Governor, so Merle asks the Day Player’s name then shoots him in the head.
Then he heads off after Michonne. Because Merle is the worst.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Merle only makes “shootin’ friends.” @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

OK, “nice” to see Merle return to being a genuinely awful person, I suppose. His neutering was really odd to see. Still wondering where the racist pig version got off to, though.

Meanwhile, Michonne digs her bag out of the hollow of an old tree. She turns around just in time to see a small group of walkers approaching her.  But they pass her right on by? Why you may ask? Well she is covered in walker guts.

Messy but effective.

The phone rings and the caller, a woman this time, tells Rick that he needs to talk about how his wife died, she calls him Rick and hangs up.

Rick, of course, wants to know how this person knows his name, because somewhere in the Zombie Apocalypse, people started having long, cryptic conversations with mysterious strangers on the other end of a phone line without ever asking who they are talking to.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Will Rick get a clue, or just surrender to the crazy? @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Meanwhile, Michonne finds her way to a grocery store parking lot. She is about to climb into a car when a very familiar suburban arrives. Glenn and Maggie climb out of the suburban, bantering cutely. They kiss and talk about what a pretty day it is before heading into the store to look for supplies.

Back at the Woodbury, The Governor and Andrea talk about how mundane The Governor was before the dead began to eat the living. Andrea asks if there was anything that The Governor was proud of before the Zompocalypse, and he says that he was proud of ‘something’ before… the way he says it makes me think it might have been his skills as a lover, but then I remember that he has a creepy zombie daughter holed up somewhere.

Can’t wait until he introduces Andrea to her. I’m sure that will be a touching moment.

The Governor says that Woodbury with Andrea is the only place he wants to be, Andrea is of course putty in his hands. She is after all, just a woman.
The Governor’s soothing sex voice is getting to her, I can tell, because it’s getting to me too. Andrea smiles that smile and so does The Governor.

Down boy.

Andrea and The Governor toast to the fact that they would much rather be together than dead, then they kiss. I guess the boning is going to happen. It makes me wonder how much Andrea got laid back in the days of cable TV and 24 hour waffle houses.

Back at the store, Michonne watches as Maggie and Glenn come out of the store. Before they can leave, Merle jumps out!!

Yep, did not see that coming.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
I’m back to not liking Merle again. It’ll pass. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Glenn is not happy to see him. Merle tells them that if they take him to Daryl then all will be forgiven from Season One where he was abandoned, handcuffed to a roof.

That’s believable. Sure.

Of course all a lie. Come on Glenn. You are not that stupid.
And he’s not. I was worried for a second. Glenn tells Merle that he should stay at the store and he would go and get Daryl and bring him back to see him.
But of course Merle gets the jump on them, and grabs Maggie. She drops her shopping basket. Merle forces them to drive away while Michonne watches.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
I think it’d be awesome if Michonne and Merle made friends. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC #hippieloveforall

Daryl, Carl, and Medium Tiny find some slippers, Medium Tiny is very excited about this. It will give him something to change into for lounging around the cell block.

OK, that’s both funny, and a kinda neat little moment. In all of this, Oscar is made happy by the thought of comfy slippers. I like it.

Then a walker approaches all three of them shoot. Daryl heads over to the walker to receive his arrow, and he notices a knife in its neck. The knife used to belong to Carol, and it makes Daryl very sad to see it.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Barbershop Quartet zombies.  @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC #zombies_we_haven‘t_seen_yet

Oh yeah, Carol! You remember Carol, don’t you? The character none of you have been looking for since she disappeared, but just decided that she was dead without finding a body in the enclosed space that is this prison?

Back in the boiler room, Rick answers the phone and there is a woman on the other end… it is Lori.
Rick… is a salty nut ball.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
The only song Rick has in his head is Yackity Sax. Over and over and over and over.  @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Lori asks him what happened and Rick says that he loved her, past tense. He bemoans not being able to “put it back together.” Rick tells her that he made a deal with himself to keep her alive until they could find a safe place. Then he would work on falling back in love with her. He tells her that he loves her and he is sorry he didn’t say it before.
Lori tells him that he has to suck it up and be a father to the baby and Carl. But I don’t think he can. Because well then, where would all the drama go?
Rick hangs up the phone.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
If you’d like to speak to the ghost of your dead wife, please press one. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

And now, just like the amazing Carl and Hershel, Rick will recover from an obviously severe mental breakdown without any real after effects.

So The Governor and Andrea are enjoying a little afternoon delight when there is a knock at the door. The Governor robes up and heads to the door where Merle is waiting.
Merle reports that Michonne killed all those guys, and The Governor comes up with a story. Merle lies and tells him Michonne is dead.
Merle tells him that he found Maggie and Glenn and he will find out where the rest of Team Zombie is holed up.
The Governor is impressed and does not ask questions. Then he hops back in the bed with Andrea. Who has such great taste in men.

Her track record is pretty crappy, isn’t it. Hey, remember the Andrea in the comic, who isn’t such a power junkie?

Rick comes back to the cell block and goes to see his baby for the first time. Where did they get the onesie, I wonder?
Rick holds her like she is a football then hugs her and it’s actually really awkward, I was afraid for the baby the whole time.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis
Let’s name it Carl’s Jr. @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

Yeah that was really, really, really awkward. You would think that Rick would know how to hold a baby, since he’s done it before, well, one assumes he held Carl as a baby. On the other hand, considering how Carl has turned out, perhaps not. Also nice to see that Hershel has clearly discussed his concerns about Rick’s mental state with the others, or not.

Meanwhile, back in the bowels of the prison, Daryl has found his way back to the door they ignored when they first started exploring. He is afraid to open the door, because he is afraid that Carol is inside.
And she is.
But she is not Walker-fied.
She is pretty great shape actually, a little dehydrated, but fine. Daryl picks her up and carries her to safety.

Curtis Smith ‏@Creepy_Curtis 
YAAAAY! Carol’s okay!!! @SciFi4Me @WalkingDead_AMC

And there’s the reason for not opening that door earlier. A completely contrived, stupid reason. Nice to see Carol is OK, though. And also nice we didn’t have to go through half a season before we saw her again. Sophia, anyone?

Rick walks out to the yard with the baby, and sees something out in the distance.
It is… Michonne with the shopping basket Maggie dropped.
I am seriously in love with her.

Yes, that would be something of an unusual thing to see if it wasn’t Michonne. Although since we have ninja zombies and stealth zombies, picnic zombies can’t be far behind.

If this show stays this good, I really don’t know what I’m going to do.

Yes, bitching about the little things aside, this season really has been very, very good. That’s why the little things  – OK, those and how Andrea is being handled, ’cause that’s awful – are bothering me so much. With all that’s good here, the bad stuff is standing out more. Still, it’s a damn sight better than last season.

And now, let’s look at those predictions of yours, shall we?

If we must.

Oh we must, we must. Let’s see… Yes, I think you have a win with Rick going off the deep end there. ‘Twas a short-lived snap, but still. One for you.

Powers. I have amazing powers.

Don’t get cocky. Two… half a point here. Michonne definitely goes Rambo, but I’m calling foul on the happy part. Actually, I don’t think we’ve seen her happy yet, have we?

That is what she looks like happy. I have seen it, with my amazing powers.

Whatever. Three! And that’s a no… Andrea is a fickle one that, jumping into bed with the crazy Governor, and thusly not, in fact, sleeping alone.

I was clearly being optimistic that she wasn’t going to be horrible.

Clearly. Four! Close, but no, not really. Carol was snug in a conveniently walked-past-we’ll-look-in-there-when-dramatically-convenient closet, and if there’s any justice in the world, next week we’ll have asking why the hell Team Zombie wasn’t looking for her in any real way.

But she was snug.

Five! Annnnd no. There was no pie.

Pity.

Indeed.

And our moral?

Right. OK, our moral this week is: When in doubt, open the damn door! Seriously. Open. The. Damn. Door.

Alright kids, that’s us for this week. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and we’ll see when our intrepid Team Zombie returns!

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