(The Verge) – Warning: Absolutely full of spoilers.
The Walking Dead wrapped up its third season Sunday night with an on-screen bloodbath, a roller-coaster of character development, and overall, a bit of an anti-climactic ending. It’s difficult to clump the entire happenings of the episode, titled “Welcome to the Tombs,” into one general emotion.
Season three of AMC’s hit zombie show has been significantly more gruesome and bloody than the previous two. The characters are well-adapted to their new style of life and desensitized to the death they are surrounded by. Killing walkers is no longer the characters’ main priority; they are now faced with threats from other humans.
The entire season has focused on the conflict between the Governor, played by David Morrissey, and the group at the prison, which consists of Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, and the gang. A war has been proposed, and the Governor and his army of average citizens set out to attack the prison group in the beginning of the episode. There were a few impressive explosions, a nice massacre of walkers, and then a little bit of combat between the two groups before the Governor’s army retreated. For being anticipated the entire season, this battle scene was just a tad bit disappointing. A full-out war was expected, and that was not what the show’s audience received.
The Governor’s actions after the retreat, however, were shocking. When the Governor snapped, killing all but three of his
innocent followers, the show took a more interesting turn. Finally, the Governor’s dark side has come out in the open. As he drives off with his two wingmen, however, we can’t help but be disappointed that he is still alive. Where is he going with his two buddies? There is no hope that he could gain the respect of the people of Woodbury ever again. It will be interesting to see the fate of his character, whenever he reappears in season four.
Meanwhile at the prison, Carl, played by the talented young actor Chandler Riggs, is proving to be one of the most intense and complex characters on the show. Aside from baby Judith, he’s the youngest, and still has the guts to shoot a kid who is surrendering right in front of him. After the initial jaw-drop and question of Carl’s morals and well-being, we have to consider how well he has adapted to his environment. Later, Carl tells Rick that it’s better to kill the people you can’t trust, which eerily mirrors the Governor’s line from the beginning of the episode, “You kill or you die.” A key point in the episode is when Carl drops his father’s sheriff’s badge on the ground, symbolizing his new ideas on how things should be run. Is Carl the new Governor? Doubtful, but it’s clear that this poor kid is the only one who truly understands the way to survive in this world.
Throughout the entire episode a dying Milton and a tied-up Andrea are conversing. The question is, WHY ARE THEY CONVERSING? Milton is going to turn into a walker, and Andrea is taking her sweet old time trying to escape. Andrea, played by Laurie Holden, has not been a favorable character this entire season, due to her constant stupid decisions to stick by the Governor’s side. Andrea finally escaped to destroy walker-Milton’s brain, but not before he took a chunk of flesh out of her neck. Andrea was found by the prison gang before she chose to take her own life, to avoid turning into a biter. Andrea was one of the few original characters left alive on the show, but because of the steady slump of her character, she really will not be missed. Any attempt to make her death upsetting was not successful.
With a large death toll and the Governor alive and missing, the finale ends with Rick and the gang bringing the remainder of Woodbury’s citizens back to the prison. New, intense-Carl is not happy. One really significant point in the final scene is when Rick looks up to where he usually sees Lori, his late-wife, but she is no longer there. Is this the end of Rick’s crazy streak? Hopefully, because this new, larger group needs a solid and sane leader.
The final scene, which ended with the sun shining over the prison and a final shot of Lori’s grave was more anti-climactic and mellow than anything else. Previous season finales have ended with intense cliffhangers that make you hate AMC for forcing you to wait for the next season. Season three, full of blood, violence, and moral questioning, should not have ended with a subtle, sun-shining shot. There is nothing that draws the audience back to the show, besides “Hey, where did the Governor go?” and “I wonder how all of those old people are going to fit in at the prison.”
Season four of The Walking Dead is set to air in October of this year on AMC. We can only hope for a dramatic return of the Governor, and to get even more into the messed-up minds of the characters. Stay tuned!
