The Walking Dead Episode 309
“The Suicide King”
Written By: Evan Reilly
Directed By: Lesli Linka Glatter
Original Airdate: 10 February 2013
In This Episode...
We pick up precisely where we left off last year: with Daryl and Merle facing off in the death ring. Merle sucker punches his brother, but when he gets him on the ground, he tells him just to go with it. Soon they are both on their feet and on the same team as the walkers on leashes are brought in. Things get hairy and they are having a hard time fending off the walkers and their handlers, but luckily Maggie opens fire and starts shooting the zombies while Rick throws out a few smoke bombs. The Dixons use this opportunity to escape, Daryl grabbing his crossbow on the way out. Rick does not want to bring Merle with them, but he leads them to a weak point in the perimeter, so Rick doesn’t quibble - until they get to Michonne and Glenn, waiting by the car down the road. The fighting starts immediately, with Michonne and Glenn pulling weapons on Merle, and Daryl and Maggie trying to calm them down. Rick absolutely forbids Merle from coming back to the prison, so Daryl sides with Merle and the brothers strike out on their own. Rick agrees to let Michonne come with them for medical attention, but then she is on her own.
Our group at the prison is starting to warm to the n00bs. Hershel tends to their injuries; Beth shows off the baby (a sight that Sasha thought she would never see again) and Carl, though he watches them like a hawk, brings them tools with which to bury Donna. They want to join up with the prison crew, but Hershel hesitantly tells Tyreese that they will have to wait until Rick gets back. Alex and Ben don’t like this idea, and want to overthrow our group and take over the prison. Tyreese flat-out says no.
Rick’s crew returns to the prison with hardly a glance at the n00bs. Rick has to tell Carol that Daryl isn’t coming back. Glenn and Maggie are not speaking to one another - he seems more offended and traumatized by what Maggie went through than Maggie herself. Beth is concerned that the Governor will try to retaliate against Rick, and Hershel uses this as an opening to bring up letting Tyreese’s group join theirs. Sensing Rick’s hesitation, Tyreese promises they will keep to their own section of the prison, get their own food and supplies, and back them up if anyone invades. Rick still says no. Hershel takes him aside, telling him that they have always done what he says, and he has protected the group, but now it is time to let others in. Even Carl begs his dad with his eyes. But Rick holds firm. A woman up on the second floor catches Rick’s attention. No one is there, but Rick sees Lori, and starts losing it, screaming at the vision to get the hell out, waving his gun around menacingly. The group is not sure if Rick is responding to Tyreese or something else, but Glenn quickly ushers them out of the way, just in case, while the rest of the group cowers from the madman.
Meanwhile, Woodbury is in a state of chaos. A half-dozen citizens were killed in the “invasion” and when Rick and his group left, they left a hole in the fence that allowed a walker in. The Governor has holed up in his apartment, which has left the people of Woodbury scared and nervous. They try to leave, but the guards at the gate won’t let them out. One of them even gets violent, until Andrea steps in. She helps kill the rogue walkers who come in, but when they get a few good bites into one of the Woodbury citizens, everyone just stares at the dying human - even Andrea. The Governor comes down from his apartment, shoots the guy in the head, and goes back inside without a word. Andrea goes to see him, and finds he is readying for war. All his compassion is gone. He wants revenge on the “terrorists.” So Andrea takes it upon herself to be the voice of reason to the residents of Woodbury. She calms them down, turns them from fighting one another to hugging one another. Awwww.
Dig It or Bury It?
I thought that we were over this whole “Rick losing his mind” thing. I guess not. He is not only going crazy, but he is debilitatingly paranoid, too. This will only be good if he goes full crazy. Anything halfway - like tonight’s episode - is going to be really annoying. I want to see him shuffling around in tissue boxes and swatting invisible bees. I seriously do not understand the paranoia of pushing all parties away, especially when you have a pair like Tyreese and Sasha, who are able-bodied and genuine. Maybe Carl will just overthrow his dad.
Kill o’ the Week
Goes to Glenn. The group stops on the road to check a pickup for supplies, and finds a walker inside. Glenn is mad that Rick let Merle leave instead of killing him for what he orchestrated against him and Maggie, and Glenn takes his anguish out on a walker. He stops the walker’s head in, over and over until it is literally just a puddle of moldering tissue and black fluid.
Prophecies?
There seems to be some debate as to whether it is safe in the prison anymore; if Michonne is an asset or a liability; and if Rick is crazy or not. In other words, more of the same.