By the end of the mid-season opener, “The Suicide King,” Rick and the gang have returned to the prison, their mission accomplished, knowing now that Andrea has taken up with the enemy. Daryl and Merle are gone, and Rick has to deal with a group of new faces.
The cliffhanger of the mid-season finale had the Dixon brothers on the Governor’s chopping block. Their predicament is quickly resolved when Rick and co. break cover and start shooting things. Merle flees Woodbury with the group and comes face to face with a bruised and very pissed off Glenn.
Knowing that both Merle and the Governor are still breathing drives Glenn berserk, and he stomps a walker’s head into jelly. Merle lets the group in on Michonne’s late walker pets, confirming to Rick that this girl is more than a little bit off her rocker. Like Rick himself.
Our main players are now aware of much of the things that we as viewers have known since early this season. Now it remains to be seen how they will run with this new information. Rick’s solution to the Merle problem is hasty and dismissive of Daryl’s importance to the group. Who’s going to kill owls for them now?
It only proves Daryl’s own doubts about his place among the survivors. Last season, Merle came to him in a dream, belittling him for believing that he was accepted as part of the group. Now here Merle is in the flesh, and Daryl fulfills his own prophecy in siding with his brother.
Andreas speech is evidence that she has come full circle since nearly committing suicide in season one. Since poor Dale saved Andrea from the CDC explosion, she has morphed from shrinking violet to hard assed zombie killer; at Woodbury, sharing the Governors’ bed has fired her ambitions. She snatches up the reins and becomes political, assuring the populace that Woodbury will be in history books one day.
It’s apparent that self-deception is at Andrea’s core. We all like to think we would stay altruistic in an apocalyptic situation. Andrea believes that she is on the high road, but her actions never fail to be self-serving.
We are treated to another ghost scene with Rick. The phone scenes from a few episodes ago were much more effective. Now that Rick’s hallucinations are getting to be a gimmick, it’s already getting old.
So the game of wits between two crackerjacks continues. See you all next week!
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