Where we left off: The Governor is planning on taking back the prison from Rick and friends; he takes control of his camp by killing Martinez and teaming up with Mitch, the hardened war vet that he allows to live to help him out and be Merle 2.0; The Governor has been holding a gun pointed at Michonne for about a week now.
[Spoilers ahead]
The Governor is preparing to take over the prison. Again. But there’s something different about it this time around. It has been done before and a lot of people seem to be upset with them revisiting but honestly people shouldn’t be surprised by this…not where The Governor left off last season. If anyone expected The Governor to remain as Brian than that’s just pretty silly as well. Fact is it’s time to prepare for an all out war between The Governor’s new group and Rick and his group. Oh. The Governor also has a tank…so things could get pretty explosive. I believe these characters will die: Glen, Mitch, people who aren’t all that important on either side, Michonne will have a life threatening injury, OH WAIT WE MAY SEE WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN RICK AND DARYL INVOLVING CAROL BEING BANISHED BY RICK. Okay here we go.
Opening up on The Governor, he’s standing in front of the group getting ready to try and convince the rest of them to go and take over the prison. Intercut with The Governor speaking is him looking over the prison, Hershel and Michonne taking the bodies of the walkers from the previous prison invasion and burning them..and then The Governor knocking Michonne out and pointing a gun at Hershel. He’s taken Hershel and Michonne hostage believing those are the keys to taking the prison away from Rick and friends without firing a single shot. The Governor tries to make it sound like the prison group pretty much destroyed his life…what an asshole. But we all knew that. He does assure his group one thing: they will win. His speech wins over the group…pretty easily actually…wow…I didn’t expect it to be THAT easy. The Governor reassures Lily that her and Megan will be okay and he’ll keep them alive…she’s not exactly on board with that whole killing thing…it seems like she may be the only one seeing The Governor for who he really is.
In his camper now, The Governor is keeping both Hershel and Michonne…not exactly taking care of them but keeping them alive. He lets Michonne know that he understands her reasoning for killing Penny for good…that she was dead already. Michonne lets him know she will kill him…such a sweetheart. Hershel tries to negotiate with The Governor, letting him know they could find a way for both parties to live together in the prison. The Governor isn’t exactly receptive to this idea…pretty much saying it’s impossible. Before The Governor leaves the camper, Hershel tries to plead with him once more., saying if he kills the people in the prison he’ll be killing Hershel’s daughters. The Governor rationalizes the idea saying they aren’t his own and he leaves on that note.
The rest of the group is preparing for the battle with The Governor finding a safe place for Megan and Lily next to the water. He then walks over to Megan who is making peanut butter sandwiches…with mud…it’s pretty gross but it’s just children being children so it’s cute. I guess. He’s actually pretty sweet when it comes to Megan and seeing a gentler side of The Governor is new. And finally, we’re back at the prison. Glen is alive and, not really well but getting better with Maggie sitting by his site. I really thought he was a goner…good for him. FINALLY! Rick and Daryl are talking it out now. Daryl, clearly, is upset by what Rick did and Rick tries to justify what he did because of the selfishness of her actions. Daryl decides to go with Rick to tell Tyreese about Carol doing the killing…that should be fun as well.
The two of them walk to see Tyreese, but Tyreese has to show them something first…and it’s…kind of gross. He shows them a rat, split wide open as if it’s there to lure in walkers. As they’re trying to figure things out…well…The Governor is there to make an entrance by sending a shot off with the tank aiming at the prison. This is what it’s all leading up to…The Governor shows his pieces, bringing out Michonne and Hershel while Rick is trying to tell The Governor he doesn’t make the decisions anymore. Like The Governor cares, he’s forcing Rick back into the leadership role to go face to face with him. I should mention The Governor is standing on the tank…which does make him look insanely badass. I want a tank…someone buy me a tank. Anywho, Rick walks on over to The Governor, two gates separating the both of them. Daryl talks to Sasha, figuring out an escape plan just incase things end up going south. Rick tries to bargain for Michonne and Hershel, to let the two of them go. The Governor’s not having it, saying Rick and his group have until sundown to leave or people will die. While Rick is unsuccessfully talking to The Governor, Daryl is arming the rest of the group with weapons as they watch what’s going on.
While that’s going on, Lily is sitting on top of her camper where she sees a walker begin to attempt to walk across the pond. Megan, not too far away, is still building peanut butter sandwiches and is calling for her mommy to help. Megan is trying to lift something…something heavy as Lily prepares to kill the walker…only it doesn’t make it across the river. Megan is able to lift whatever it is she tried to lift, only to discover a sign that said Warning: Flash Flood area…and then the mud around her moves…and a hand sticks out. It’s a mud walker! It ends up grabbing Megan and biting her shoulder, Lily unable to get there in time to save her daughter. This won’t go well…and I fear Lily will end up dead because of The Governor’s wrath and his love for that child.
Back to The Governor and Rick, he continues to let Rick know that his men outnumber Rick’s men and he could kill all of them if he wanted to. Some walkers decide to intrude and The Governor just casually shoots them in the head. Rick knows he’s in a pretty terrible position as Carl let’s Daryl know he could hit The Governor from where they’re standing. The children are heading to the bus, but then Lizzie (Carol’s “daughter”) tells them to stop…that Carol told them to be strong and to get guns. Sheesh she’s almost as bad as Carl and she’s gonna get some children killed, including herself. Rick attempts to use Hershel’s argument, saying they could all live together. The Governor is stubborn though and is sticking by his guns. Rick lets him know they are not leaving…that pisses The Governor off as he gets Michonne’s sword and puts it at Hershel’s neck. Rick, instead of trying to talk to The Governor, talks to his people to try and sway them. The Governor, listening, takes the sword away from Hershel’s neck…for a moment things look bright.
…And then The Governor partially decapitates Hershel…and war begins. Rick is wounded while trying to run away and Michonne does her best to evade being seen while trying to make her escape. Hershel is still hanging in there until The Governor finishes the job and slices him up fully killing him. As he turns around he sees Lily standing there, holding Megan’s lifeless body. He takes Megan’s body in his arms and shoots her in the head. The Governor signals to get in the cars and to storm the prison. The tank decimates the fences, allowing passage for the rest of The Governor’s pack to get through. Beth and Maggie continue shooting alongside Bob, Tyreese, and Sasha. All five of them head on out to try to get to the bus. But where are the children? Are they on the bus or not? The Governor walks into the prison and Rick tackles him and punches him. The two fight, Rick wounded and The Governor taking advantage of that.
Maggie goes back into the prison to help Glen get out as the tank just continues to keep on firing. Maggie gets Glen on the bus only to discover Beth isn’t there. Daryl, is shooting at several men but a walker comes from behind him and attempts to bite him. He saves himself, putting an arrow into the walkers head and using the walker as protection. Maggie continues running to find Beth and in the process Bob is shot but will survive. Tyreese is on the run now from two shooters, only to be saved by the children with Lizzie shooting Alice in the head. The Governor continues to pummel down on Rick, choking him. Rick, for a second, looks like a goner. But a sword goes through The Governor’s chest…Michonne saving his life. Daryl continues fighting his way around the walkers and then puts a grenade into the barrel of the tank. Mitch, the only one inside, escapes the tank. Only to be greeted by an arrow into the heart by Daryl.
Rick continues to walk to the prison in search of Carl only to be greeted by walkers who are then greeted by Carl. The two go on to look for Judith and they see the car seat…but no Judith. Carl shoots rapidly at a walker but is restrained by Rick…the two trying to escape from the prison. The Governor is left dying on the fields alone…but Lily walks over to him and gives him a bullet to the head. Rick and Carl continue walking through the forest with Rick telling Carl, “Don’t look back,” as the prison is left in flames. ‘Wow’ is all I can say to this episode. To clear things up, the bus with Glen and some of the other members of the group left the prison. Rick, Michonne, Carl, Daryl, Tyreese, Sasha, Bob, Beth, Maggie and the children are all out somewhere but are in separate groups. Hershel, The Governor, and a majority of The Governor’s men are killed. Tara ran off somewhere, not being able to take everything going on. Lily is also somewhere after killing The Governor. And no one knows for sure where Judith is.
Leading up to this mid-season finale, there was talk that it was going to be explosive and insane and emotional and wow…it delivered. During the middle of the episode with Rick and The Governor talking it did get a bit slow but as the conversation continued the tension built up, questioning if The Governor would actually kill Hershel or Michonne. I am sad to see Hershel go as he was kind of the father figure for everyone in the prison and really was the heart of the show after losing Dale in season 2. But there are a LOT of questions to be answered for the next half of the season which, unfortunately, doesn’t come back until February 2014 and no date has been announced as of yet. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next for the group as everyone attempts to find their way back to each other while surviving. Well…until next year…now if you excuse me I’m gonna find a corner to sit in and cry.
Joshua Kaye (@JKaye57) is a recent college grad with a BA in Cinema Studies. A Queens, NY native, Josh hopes to one day rule all of New York, then the United States, then the world. But after he writes an Oscar winning screenplay.
