Walking with the Dead

An honest love letter from a fan 

(and why season 4 will probably end up being the best season since the first)

Like I did when I addressed my feelings on Family Guy not NOT killing off a major character, I will preface the following rant by stating the obvious: I am going to PLAGUE this article with SPOILERS.

Because I, unlike SO many Walker fans out there, don't enjoy spamming social media with the
"I can't believe they killed so-and-so on Walking Dead tonight, look at me, I don't give a damn if I'm spoiling anyone who hasn't finished the new episode by it's 10PM end time, f**k all the people who don't tune in and wait to watch on DVR"
updates, I am going to be fair and once again, as always, will address that... Again, there will be SPOILERS, not just for this season but for the show's current four-year run, so here's your warning with a final: SPOILER ALRT.

So if for whatever reason you've been a hermit and one day plan on catching up with the Dead, please leave the room now.

Alright... Now, let's walk for a minute (I'm having way too much fun with these puns).

Let me first state that with only 3 episodes left in season 4, I must address the fact that this is the first time I'm going public with my feelings on the show (beyond more than just a Facebook update) and I've been meaning to pour out my feelings because for the first time since season 1, it seems like the writers are finally building a very clear path as to where they want to take the cult-followed series and giving it the well deserved direction it's been hinting at since Rick Grimes awoke in a hospital after the apparent zombie apocalypse happened while he was sleeping.

  Now, I already know what most of you are probably thinking. "Best season since season 1!? The show has been GREAT this whole time."

...It really hasn't though.

Oh shush.

Now, that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed the ride up until now but by ripping a page out of LOST's playbook, the show has FINALLY decided who its major players are and by having the gang scattered after the tragic mid-season Prison fiasco with The Governor, for the first time since its conception the writers are FINALLY giving these survivors room to breathe as we follow them individually, shedding light on their history, peeling the layers off each player, having us actually care about who they are and why they fight to go on (rather than just look at them as new characters we're supposed to care about when we have not the faintest clue as to why we want to see them live and fight the good fight) and these last three episodes alone have shed more (much desired) character development than all of season 3 and the first half of season 4 combined.

I know, I'm crazy, you might assume. "The showdown between Rick and the prison vs. The Governor and Woodbury was fantastic!" You might add... It really wasn't though. If anything season 3 was just a season-length build up of tension that was inevitably necessary to get these characters separated so we can finally care about them. It's as if, whether it was planned or not (the show isn't exactly following the comic page by page), all the events that have taken place over the last three years have been leading up to this group split from the pilot episode and I'll get more into that in a moment but we can't get there without analyzing the three-and-a-half-year-long build.

So let's start from the very beginning.

From the get-go this show has survived on its human element; the clash between its living characters and as much as I could watch Darryl put an arrow through an undead walker's skull, the show is ALWAYS at its best, in its top form, when the humans clash and that clash was easily at its strongest in seasons 1 and 2 and the obvious offender of such brilliant tension was the tragic character of Shane.

Now, I never warm easily to the idea of change but I'm not saying killing off Shane was a mistake. In fact, it was plainly obvious that it was inevitable from the opening moments of the show when we saw him and Rick as partners sharing a burger in their ride along talking about the then-significant problems of a world where their biggest problems involved marriage and tending to their children rather than surviving flesh-eating monsters in a world where everyone and everything is literally dead and gone. The idea was planted right from the beginning once we saw that not only were Shane and Rick's wife, Lori, alive and well but that they were sleeping together, given the presumption that Rick was long gone.
  From there, the inevitability only grew stronger as audiences were in on Shane and Lori's secret and we were first introduced to our first hidden human conflict. But the moment that put the nail in Shane's coffin was early on in season 2 when (in one of the show's most shockingly brilliant moments) Shane shot fellow farmer Otis in order to leave him as literal live bait for a hungry hoard of walkers.

We all shook our heads whispering "you bastard" in our minds while Shane shaved his curly head, physically transforming himself through his metamorphosis of "shady offender " to "dead man walking" and we eagerly awaited the moment where Rick would inevitably put this rabid dog down.




ALL IT TO SAY IS, Shane was a driving force of human conflict that this show needs to thrive and survive and by killing him off, the writers went through their own transformation having to find a way of introducing some kind of bigger threat and what bigger threat could there be than a shady, kindly gentleman who went from running a boarded up community to being a mad menace with an eye patch and a thirst for bloody revenge on our heroes.

In my humble opinion, I felt season 3 suffered for more than a few reasons. For starters, there was the gaping hole that was Shane and the attempt at creating that lost tension because to be honest, just watching the group survive got repetitive in its first season of a whopping 6 episodes. But all in good time, patience is bound to pay off... Right?

  I'll be honest, I loved the idea of Woodbury and the conflict that arose there because it definitely is a little shady that this perfect little community could survive in some kind of harmony where there were rules and regulations in order to repopulate the world with a group of innocent bystanders governed by the hand of some kind of law, and that law was Brian Blake... Or Brian Heriot..... Or The Governor.... The guy with the soon-to-be eye patch and wearer of black.
  And it's not that the guy didn't prove himself a threat but he stewed a dark, brewing tension with the prisoners led by our hero, Rick Grimes... And that tension lasted a season and a half... Now, like I said, patience pays off and the mid-season cliffhanger this past year was WELL worth the wait, but I'll be damned if it didn't take about half a season too long in order to get there (though that should come as no surprise, as this is the same show that spent half of season 2 looking for a little girl who ended up tragically being feasted by the infesting undead [again, well worth the wait because that send-off was one of the show's first truly heart breaking moments])

: (

But my main problem with the hype was that, following the footsteps of ANY show that builds a buildup, there was no way all the smack talk and tension could pay off to the kind of "war" Rick was predicting. The way that the prisoners talked about this inevitable war planted this idea in our heads that there would be an ungodly ginourmous battle between prisoners and citizens of Woodbury in the season 3 finale which ended up only amounting to a frustrated Governor killing all his own men and fleeing the scene like a coward when our beloved Andrea finally died (and died way later than expected... I get why she switched sides but she was just the worst).

And so, season 3 went out with an agreed fizzle rather than a snap, crackle and pop.



That's not to say the season didn't have its shining moments. With Lori dying in childbirth (a phenomenal and much-needed sendoff, the moment was still heartbreaking in one of the show's better episodes), it seemed like all hope was lost. Rick was no longer a role model of bravery but a distraught husband who would never be able to look at his brand new baby daughter without seeing the death of his beloved wife in her eyes. He had finally cracked. He was now a broken man and the writers finally hinted at a reality where the future wouldn't be led by the seemingly flawless sheriff with a gold plate of armor but that the future of the human race would depend on multiple people surviving as one unit; a group with a strong bond that wouldn't show its roots until an entire season later.

Aww

With the exception of the return of series premiere do-gooder Morgan Jones for one phenomenal episode (all that radio chit-chat from Rick finally paid off I guess, except for the loss of Morgan's son [sad face]), for me, season 3 only truly shined when Merle (dick) Dixon returned with a blade replacement for a cut-off hand, again because he carried the Shane complex of human tension in the group. Because, where The Governor was a man of pure evil that built from a once good man, Merle was ALWAYS  a mixed bag from the very start. Being one of the show's original survivors he never failed to light up the screen as the redneck dirtbag who not only challenged the group's morals but happened to be a role model to younger brother and fan favorite, Daryl (who would later be challenged by his brother's ways). When Merle returned, pure joy struck my heart, not just because it was almost a mini season 1 reunion of sorts (minus Lori... And Dale... And T-Dog [remember T-Dog?]... And Shane....... And Sophia. Okay so maybe reunion isn't the right word) but because the tension from season 1 seemed to be found in that bastard's face.

What works about Merle is, like I said, he's always been a mixed bag. He's a straight up ass but deep down we all know he's REALLY not a bad guy and that kindred spirit really showed in what was also inevitably Merle's last stand. Killing off Merle came as no surprise and it was sad to see him go but wow, what a way to go out. By having him team up with personal rival Michonne (who I will get to momentarily, one character at a time), the sparks flew as the chemistry was both tense and hilarious (the moment where Michonne was left tied to the post fighting off walkers while Merle was trying to shut off the car alarm was one of the show's most savoring and comical [but threatening as always!] moments). And when Merle drank himself into a fearless oblivion in that car, mocking the chomping walkers pouring his whiskey out the window for them to drink laughing to himself, we couldn't help but smile knowing the man was marching on to his well-known death. And when he came at Woodbury, he came HARD, knife-hand blazing and all. It was an expected death but his send-off made for one of the most satisfying episodes in the entire series.

Who made this? TAKE MY MONEY

And so, season 3 came to a disappointing close.

FLASH-FORWARD! Season 4 premiere! Our heroes continue to survive in the prison with Woodbury fallen and The Governor seeming a problem of the past, yet somehow within just the premiere alone we already feel tired. Rick has become an enclosed farmer, tenderly caring for his grown vegetables and there's way too many new faces. With Woodbury survivors welcome and new friendly faces joining their club by passing the test of asking "the three questions," things start to look up for our heroes and unfortunately feel a little too safe. "Aw look, Carol is a teacher, reading books to children. New, tough faces show up with perfectly apocalyptically fitting names like Axel and Tyreese." Why do we care? It's not that I'm hating and hey, patience is a virtue, but I personally was over the prison by season 3's end.
  The biggest flaw this show suffers by far is that it gets way too comfortable in its surroundings. I totally get that this is still TV, the budget can only call for so much and it must be very easy to physically settle, whether it be at the farm, Woodbury or the prison but when the characters find safe haven and stay there for too long, everything gets a little too comfortable and I really can't complain; the show IS about a group of people trying to find a means to survive and a place to make that survival spread and last until all can hopefully be right with the world again... But I don't watch the show for that comfort. This show was BORN on tension and when not much is at stake, that tension is lost. It's why I place season 1 on such a high pedestal because regardless of the human offenders like Shane and Merle, the show NEVER felt like things were safe. Even when everyone made camp outside the RV by the river and problems like Carol's abusive husband were SO minuscule compared to the threats today, the audience ALWAYS felt like walkers could pop out and get them all at any given moment. Maybe it's the fact that it only had 6 episodes to work with so it had no choice but to be intense enough to get picked up for another season or MAYBE it's the fact that Frank Darabondt was a genius and knew how to hold tension in a way Robert Kirkman could not (ironic given the fact that Kirkman is the sole creator of this series with his inspired comics) but whatever the reason was, season 1 just always felt like there was so much at stake and again, in my opinion, that's when the show had the highest amount of tension at hand.

THE GOOD OL' DAYS

  ALL IT TO SAY IS, I was not happy with the foot season 4 got off on. Save for the amazing grocery store walker-waterfall from a caved in roof, I had no idea where the show was taking itself. And normally we shouldn't know where a show is taking us; the best ones are truly unpredictable, but all I saw for Dead's future was our group making a life for themselves in a boarded up prison filled with simply too many characters to keep tabs on and too many irrelevant questions I shouldn't feel the need to ask myself.

Should I worry about what's in the vegetables Rick's growing? It can't be too healthy. Why did they kill off Kyle Gallner (Smallville's Flash) in the premiere (aside from causing more stress on Hershel's blonde daughter)? Speaking of which, why do I know even less about Hershel's blonde daughter than I did when I met her two seasons ago? Are Daryl and Carol going to get together orrrr was that just some weird what-if tension? What's up with the kids? Which new, bad-ass black guy should I be following?





It was actually ridiculous. And I was worried; patient but worried. I knew there was no way the characters nor the show would last at the prison but how much longer would this go on? It was just too hard to care about a single person anymore. Glenn and Maggie were engaged... Or married? That's cute. Carl had become annoying as ever. That's... NOT cute. Hershel seemed as old and wise as ever but virtually did nothing for whatever was going on (will get to him momentarily). Carol was growing bitchy, Michonne was growing quiet again and Daryl was seeming less badass by the minute. What the hell was going on? It was like watching Little Prison on the Prairie and yet, the show was consistently throwing new faces at us with dilemmas we were supposed to care about but in no way we could. Save for a multi-episode story arc with a spreading infection of the inevitable prison outbreak pandemonium (there's one in every show), and a phenomenally stupid Rick vs. Carol rivalry (someone had to call out Rick for his laziness but the tediousness of it all was equivalent to watching Team Aniston vs. Team Jolie in 2005) there was just NO TENSION.

And I love tension.

  So what does the show do? With only three episodes remaining before the near-three month Winter break, the writers put all their cracked eggs in a basket of a gamble and decided to give us not one, but two FULL episodes featuring ONLY The Governor and holy Santa Claus sh*t were those some of the slowest episodes I've EVER seen on this show.

  Now, I get why they did it. With a tease of The Governor's return, it simply wouldn't have been enough to have the bastard show his face to reign hell on the prison again. In fact, by having him just jump into a vengeful attack on the camp with no lead up it would have just felt like a retread of the season 3 finale and no one was ready to see another dud with this supposedly gruesome governor.

But we still tuned in to see what happened to this bum anyway.

  So instead of jumping into the attack, the show jumps through time. The beginning of part one of two, opens with the governor weakened and retreating, mere moments after his failed attack on the prison in the finale. The middle of part one explores said weakened Governor meeting two surviving sisters and being taken in as "Brian." What makes the Governor's relationship with these girls so scary is the fact that he has SUCH a dark past and in the hands of these innocent (but tactful) sisters taking him in, he has a second chance. His slate is wiped clean... And these girls have NO idea what this man has done to good people. Part two of two explores the Governor taking initiative first with these girls then with a new camp by poisoning their minds that there's a wicked camp of people staying in a prison and they are responsible for all of his pain and anguish. Something big is coming and we can all feel it.

  As much as I LOATHED these two episodes, shaking anxiously, waiting for the payoff like a kid going to bed on Christmas Eve who just won't stay the f**k still, I respected these episodes for one reason. They reminded me how awful The Governor really is. It only took two long episodes to remind us because they're built on a season's worth of a foundation of a mad man. The episodes reminded me of how scary a world can be where people are so easily brainwashed and influenced when they're told really convincing lies. It really puts not just the character of The Governor but the literal government of The Governor and the political undertones of the show into an entirely new perspective making the terrible influence of one man ending up being more horrifying than any horde of zombies.

  And so, the Governor, his new kind-of-girlfriend, kind-of-daughter and his new army marched on to the beat of the drum to Cell Block A. And all hell was FINALLY let loose.
  The mid-season cliffhanger was proof that this show had me by the throat because amidst ALL my complaining of nothing happening, it was quite literally ALL paid off in this one episode. It was the season 3 finale I could never quite dream up. Tanks made returns. Guns blazed. And two hostages kneeled before a once proud Rick Grimes. Where the still new-feeling Michonne was a target we knew wouldn't perish, it was the tragic Hershel; the grandfather of the series who struck all of our hearts, right in the feels, when The Governor BEHEADS the poor old man. I know he was only introduced in season 2 so he wasn't exactly there from the beginning but he proved himself so much more than just a wise, old man. He was the voice of reason and though indeed sounding like a cliche grandfather, he spoke lessons and words of wisdom through the characters in their immature moments of peril. Seeing him go was a huge loss but the character was on his last leg as is (literally). But once The Governor went through with it (with Michonne's sword, horrifically), it all went down. In a flash, Rick was firing shots at The Governor, the tank was blowing down the fence with huge blasts, characters on both sides were getting killed left and right and oh yeah! Walkers were now able to penetrate the campsite.
  It was the episode to end all episodes and it made the lagging of season 3 all the worthwhile. The Governor had gone mad and the girls who took him in realize they had brought in a monster. With not a shred of remorse, the man shoots his daughter-type-stand-in upon noticing she's been bitten and comes at Rick, stone faced, ready to kill anyone and everyone in order to exact vengeance. THIS was The Governor we've been waiting to see.
  Naturally events expanded in the only way they could. The Governor was killed by the hand sword of Michonne and I'm not at all disappointed that it was her and not Rick (in fact, that probably would have been a little cliche) and it instantly made her go from a solid 6 to an 8 in my book of badass characters.
The scene was distraught. Walkers stormed the prison. The Governor's army fled. Baby Judith's carriage was empty, filled with only blood stains. And for the first time this show has seen, all of the characters disbanded. Scattered in all directions with no clear sign of who was dead, who was alive, or who got away with who, for the first time since season 1, I felt true, remarkable tension and it didn't require a trouble-making human in the mix to make me feel it.

Except for, well, ya know, The Grinch.

AND SO, HERE WE ARE. Winter is coming to a close (or so I hope. I fear it will never be warm again) and we're trekking down our favorite survivors and maybe it's just me, but these last few episodes have restored full faith in this show and have ACTUALLY made me care about these faces, old and new.

First, we naturally followed Rick and Carl on one end and Michonne on another. Where Rick and Carl's father-son tension explored MUCH needed diffusion (that really hasn't been explored since Lori's death/Judith's birth), we see Michonne's brief back-story in a LOST-style flashback to "a time before the incident" even if it was only a horrific hallucination in what was one of the more interesting segments this show has ever seen.

  *Quick break: SPEAKING of LOST, this episode and particular flashback to Michonne's past makes me sad for what could have been. I'm not asking for LOST at all (believe me, most people aren't) but if they actually showed flashbacks for each of these disbanded survivors to bridge the gap to them then and them now, I can't help but feel like the characters would mean a SIGNIFICANT amount more to me because I would get glimpses of who they were beyond just passing words and stories here and there. I understand sometimes it's better to leave things up to the imagination but actions speak louder than words sometimes and that fact doesn't ring quite as true for anything else the way it does for film and seeing a visual of Michonne's nightmare of a kind-of-back story was ten times more emotionally compelling than hearing her talk about any traces of her history with Andrea, oh so long ago.*

And so, Carl thinks a near comatose-Rick has become a walker and after whining his teenaged hissy fit for an entire episode's worth that just makes us wanna see the little bastard get eaten, Carl breaks down after being unable to put his father down and just wants zombified Rick to end it all for them both. But alas! This is Rick Grimes we're talking about folks. He can't be dead. Without Rick, there's no show. And so the two share a warm embracing hug that brings a tear to our eye (or does its damn-near best to attempt it). It's a single moment that makes us hate Carl then instantly love him and his relationship with Rick. After all, what would the two be without each other, at least emotionally? They're all they have left.

Blending in like a boss.

Next, we follow Tyreese (one of the newer faces the writers clearly want me to care about [and hey, look at that, I DO care! Well done writers]), the children (including a not-dead baby Judith! HOORAY!!!) and a surprising Carol, the inevitable den-mother-Wendy of the group (all that story time in Neverland prison finally pays off).
Rick and Carl meet up with Michonne. Tyreese meets up with Carol. And even though we all knew it was going to happen, it somehow gives us a rushing feeling of exhilaration because there's nothing more scary than being alone and so there's nothing more exciting than reuniting with familiar faces.
  One by one the episodes are starting to win me over because we're FINALLY not focusing on a huge-ass group, but one, two or three players at a time to give them room to breathe. ACTUAL character development? Yes please. Three-dimensional characteristics that shape our survivors? It's about time.
  I remember last year, Kirkman commented on how he was going to slow things down this season for the sake of the characters and fanboys got pissy because they wanted to see zombie action. Well folks, the zombie action would be as undead as its walkers if it didn't have these finely carved characters being whittled before our very eyes.

What a proud family

Along the way Glenn wakes up at the prison, somehow high up in a safe haven, away from a hoard of walkers trying to eat him down below. He meets up with one of the Governor's former younger ladies (another new face) who's clearly emotionally rattled after the prison massacre (and so, because of that history we already feel more for her and if written correctly, her character has potential to truly grow) and seems more than willing to accept death by defeat. Together they venture out to find Maggie, who he refers to as his wife (how sweet) and by trekking through the sea of the dead with a guard SWAT-like uniform (brilliantly filmed with foggy, bloody POV vision through the helmet), Glenn makes his way out to new life (or, just the isolated empty world) with the Governor's new lass (I'll be damned if I can remember her name) and together they are thwarted by newcomers The Mustache and The Mullet-- I mean, Eugene and Abraham.

And their unknown intentions definitely seem hairy

In the most RECENT episode, we follow Maggie who while equally, desperately searches for Glenn, leads former newcomers Bob The Alcoholic and... Sasha? (I need to find something to add on to her name or I'm going to forget it [hooray more new characters to care about! I'm not being sarcastic. At least the show is finally narrowing it down]) and while Bob remains as sketchy as ever, he chases after Maggie so she's not alone and Sasha stays behind in a newly discovered abandoned shelter of sorts... Where Maggie just so happens to be sleeping on a pile of corpses. Bob makes himself established that he's always been alone and never wants himself nor anyone else to ever feel alone (aw) so he leaves Sasha with a questionable kiss and tails off.
  The themes of isolation and what it means to be alone has become a common theme amongst these last few episodes but now it's truly, finally coming to light.
  But we won't be alone much longer (and I'll be damned when all this spread out character development comes to a close in what will inevitably be a beautiful, weary-eyed reunion of stinky hugs). Seems all these folk are heading in the same direction: To Terminus! And beyond!

No more Twinkies

But I must give my tip of the cap to our last two noted survivors, Daryl Dixon and Beth (So THAT'S Hershel's blonde daughter. I'm so far behind). Their episode (not last week, the week before) was hands down my favorite episode in this post-prison series of individual character spreads. Between Daryl's hard-ass don't-giva-damn attitude and Beth's sweet-yet-determined innocence, the two have EXCEPTIONAL chemistry that has been brewing since the farm (sure it wasn't as obvious then but it was there). I just wanted to watch these two interact forever. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for the Shakespearian romance between two characters who are so drastically different that it shouldn't make sense (though it always does), but these two carry so much life in the means to survive, at least from totally different ends of the spectrum.

 Between the two playing "Never have I ever," drinking moonshine (after Dixon properly points out that Peach Schnapps should in fact not be her first-ever drink of alcohol), we see two very opposite ends of the spectrum. The game naturally gets out of hand pretty quick. Beth playfully questions Daryl were he a criminal and Daryl accuses her were she spoiled and "got gifts from Santa Claus" which naturally ends with a drunkenly aggressive Daryl teaching Beth how to kill a walker with a crossbow (since never-had-she-ever killed a walker with a crossbow) and it's just sad to see. The two have insane chemistry that works but it's also really tragic.
  You see, Daryl's spent 4 seasons convincing us he's a bad boy and by divulging into his history with Merle and their alcoholic father, he sheds more light and why he, according to her, was born to live in a world "the way it is now" where she grew up on a small farm with a big family and righteous values. Daryl explains that "the good ones don't live" even though he defends her, unable to vocalize his feelings for her, and carries her while's she's injured to shelter (a funeral home mind you) and sleeps in "the comfiest bed he's had in years" (a COFFIN mind you), while she sweetly serenades him on the piano with a very poignant tune (just kiss already dammit!) 
  and naturally the episode ends with a one-eyed dog leading its pack of walkers to ambush the shelter. Beth is captured by... Someone, and Daryl comes across a gang of new thugs. What's up with the dog? Who took Beth!? Who are these thugs and WHY do they think they can cross Daryl effing Dixon!?!

*SIDE NOTE* I know what the writers are doing. I'm no fool. They're foreshadowing Daryl's inevitable death by having him say all that mumbo jumbo about only the good dying young good and having him sleep in a God forsaken COFFIN (too many metaphors) but I WILL speak for what is at LEAST 50% of Dead's viewers.
The Dixons were 100% invented for the show and in no way, shape or form appear in the comics; a true accomplishment for this AMC gem in the making since they are far and away some of the show's most interesting characters. What's scary about this fact is that the fans have no clue as to when Daryl will get the axe and if Kirkman has the stones to off Daryl anytime soon, fans will without a SHADOW of a doubt, not only stop watching but they will go BANANAS if it happens. The fact that "If Daryl dies, we riot" keychains and SHIRTS are available in stores now should speak for the idea of an unspeakable horror. Granted, like Game of Thrones, the show is bound to kill off anyone and everyone, and here they will do so leaving us with only Rick and Carl standing (that's my opinion) but if they axe Daryl soon, like I said, it will be a GRAND mistake.

So here we are. The cards are up in the air. The stakes are FINALLY high again. Walkers are popping out of the fog (in one of the show's most visually brilliant segments) and leaving our characters with slim choices like hiding in trunks or worse, hiding under a pile of corpses, in order to stay safe.
  Speaking of which, surrounding yourself with corpses... WORKS... Buuuuut, why hasn't everyone taken a page from the season 1 players guide of the good old days when Rick and Glenn were walking around Atlanta streets covered in guts to disguise their smell? (Those truly were the glory days)
  Alas, I've said FAR too much to be pointing out character actions and questionable decisions (or lack of rather).
   Our heroes are on the road to Viridian City Terminus. But what awaits them there? Eternal glory? New friends? New foes, one can only imagine. Lord knows Team Rocket a Governor-stand-in is on the trail. Let's just hope we can all make it out alive. With only three episodes left, we march on and pray that the tension is worthwhile and that our characters continue to be fleshed out until their flesh is entirely threatened by a pack of hungry, inevitable, inevitable walkers (I've used the word inevitable SO many times today)... But hell, at least they would be threatened together right?
10 points to Gryffindor Terminus for character development!

WALK ON, WALKING DEAD. You are phenomenal.

May the undead Lord be with you.