Last
week’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, “Arrow on the Doorpost,” has
been almost universally recognized as a total piece of shit. In a show that has
often been criticized for nothing happening, it was by far the most egregious
offender. The hope of most of us who watch the wildly popular zombie drama was
that the follow-up, “Prey,” would right the ship. Any progress would be a step
in the right direction. Were they successful? Find out below.
SPOILERS
BELOW!
Season
three of The Walking Dead has been frustrating from a fan perspective,
especially after the show returned from its midseason break. For every strong
episode, like “Clear”—one of the best episodes of the franchise—there’s a
mediocre, or worse, installment. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen how good and
how terrible the show can be.
While not
a great episode, “Prey” is better. At this point the best I can hope for is
middle of the road. While the episode starts of slow, it ends on a high note,
with something of a twist, though a twist that is good and earned. To
paraphrase Lisa Simpson, this week’s episode is meh.
Like
“Clear” a few weeks ago, “Prey” is an episode that follows only a part of the
overall action. The producers don’t try to fit in little nuggets from every
separate thread, which more often than not leads to a jumbled feel. This week
the focus is on the happenings at Woodbury. And there is a lot to take in.
Whether the citizens know it or not, they’re making preparations for war.
After an
Andrea (Laurie Holden) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in the woods flashback, we
see the Governor (David Morrissey) setting up what he calls his “workshop,”
which is a glorified torture chamber. You assume that this whole setup is
intended for Michonne, and with the presence of the speculum among his tools,
there’s a definite implication of impending sexual violence.
With his
recent descent into darkness, the Governor is finally becoming the villain we
all hoped he could be. Whereas before he was just kind of a dick and a piece of
crap, now he’s become fully psychotic, sadistic, and straight-up evil. With
only two episodes left in season three, it’s about damn time.
Andrea
knows she needs to do something. She almost shoots him in the head, but Milton
(Dallas Roberts) stops her. In the end she chooses to go, and Milton chooses to
stay. Both seem determined to attempt to make things right, but in their own
separate ways. Andrea runs, after trying to convince Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman)
and his sister Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) that all is not what it seems in
Woodbury. Skeptical of this frantic, nearly hysterical woman they barely know,
they go straight to the Governor, who goes after her on his own.
The
remainder of the episode is taken up in two ways: with the cat-and-mouse game
between the two former lovers—it’s safe to say that their romantic entanglement
has hit a rough patch—and with Tyreese having mixed feelings about the things
he learns about Woodbury.
See,
while the Governor is hunting his human prey, Tyreese goes with Martinez (Jose
Pablo Cantillo) on an errand, laying the groundwork for when they’ll be
slaughtering the survivors at the prison. They show the zombie trap to the new
guy, and collect some walkers to unleash up on their enemies. You can
understand Tyreese’s reluctance to unleash flesh-eating monsters on women and
children.
For most
of “Prey,” things are going on, but you’re not sure they’re going to amount to
much. You have the sneaking suspicion that, for all the bells and whistles,
you’re going to end the episode in the exact same place as you started. But
then, out of the blue, unexpected things begin happening.
Big
revelation number one is that someone, conveniently never shown above mid-chest
and wearing gloves, douses a trailer full of zombies with gasoline and sparks
them off. The resulting mass of twitching, barbecued corpses is some of
the best and most gruesome special effects work of the season.
However,
the question presents itself: who torched the walkers? The obvious suspect is
Tyreese. After all, he had a strong reaction to seeing what was going on, one
that led to a violent confrontation. When challenged with the accusation,
though, he doesn’t appear to know anything. Also, he doesn’t really have access
to the vehicle used in the caper, or even the gasoline. Milton, on the other
hand, had access to all of this and more, plus he knows about the zombie pit.
It’s never explicitly stated, but the implication is that Milton lit the fire,
his way of fighting back. At least the Governor seems to think so.
Surprising
development number two is that, after ditching her pursuer, Andrea manages to
make it to the prison. In fact, in eluding the Governor, she gives you a few
things that make you like her way more than you have in a long time. You get
glimpses of the badass fans always hoped she would be.
It’s not
all sunshine and roses. As soon as she spies the prison walls, she gets
ambushed and taken by the Governor. That’s not going to end particularly well
for her. No one at the prison knew she was coming, so there’s no one out
looking for her. In an ironic twist, the last shot of “Prey” shows her
handcuffed to the seat intended for Michonne.
Things
are definitely ramping up for the ultimate collision between the two groups of
survivors. Of course we’ve been saying this exact same thing since the very
first episode of season three, but with only two weeks left, the clash really
is right there, looming on the horizon. Finally.
Not the
greatest episode, of the season or the series—and roughly half filler —“Prey”
at least pushes the narrative along towards the conclusion of this arc. The
episode ends well, with a cliffhanger that makes you want to tune in next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment