Tuesday, October 30, 2012

"The Walking Dead: Walk With Me" EP Recap

The show opens up with members of the Nat’l Guard on a helicopter hovering over the rural regions of Georgia when they mysteriously get shot down. The soldiers crash down into the trees of a forest. Who are these soldiers?


Within the same rural area, Andrea and Michonne (and her walker pals) can see the smoke in the distance where the helicopter crashed. The women go to the sight of the crash, where Andrea gets sick. Michonne ties up her zombie pals to a tree and hovers to Andrea to comfort her. Michonne tells Andrea to stay put and she’ll keep watch. Michonne goes to the helicopter to find a soldier torn in half. Before getting the chance to explore more, mysterious vehicles arrive on scene. Michonne and Andrea hide within the bushes as they see men jump out of the truck. One black male kills one nearby walker with a bow-and-arrow.  Another one beats them with a baseball bat (with a killer swing, no pun intended). A walker sneaks up behind Michonne and Andrea but because of Michonne’s zombies, the walker passes them. The walker gets shot by one of the men. Andrea wonders if they should reveal themselves but Michonne disapproves. The men go towards the body of the mutilated soldier, whose now waking up as a walker. One of the men stabs him in the head.. Michonne’s zombie pals are making noise and the men are taking noticed so she immediately chops off both of their heads off. The men are startled as to why the noise stopped so they roam out. But a man from behind asks the women to put down their weapons and to spin around. A walker sneaks up behind him but he immediately slaughters the walker with his unusual weapon. The man is none other than Merle. 

The two women are blindfolded and taken to what looks like a military facility While Andrea is given a cigarette, a nurse is checking her out. The nurse tells her they need to stay the night. The women demand where they are at but the nurse refuses to disclose the location. Merle comes in to talk to the women and explains what happened to him after he was handcuffed by Rick in Atlanta; "When they found me, I was near bled out and starving and thinking to myself a bullet might make a good last meal,” he explained. “Took a nice long nap waiting for Daryl on the other side. Have you seen my brother?” Andrea replies that Rick, Daryl and the rest tried going back for him but by the time they got there, all that was left was Merle’s severed hand. Merle shows her the severed wrist. Noticing he’s still resenting Rick and the crew for leaving him, Andrea tried convincing Merle that Rick and the group tried to look for him. Merle then acknowledges the loss of her sister.Andrea then tells Merle about being on the farm and Daryl becoming a valued member of the group. She explains that it was about 7-8 months ago, Andrea was “left behind” after being chased off by a herd of walkers. She then asks Merle want he wants from them. Michonne doesn’t have a fond first impression of Merle either, as she remembers Merle pointing a gun at them back in the woods. A frustrated Merle tells them that they should be grateful that they were rescued and are being cared for. Andrea finally expresses her thanks but Michonne demands her weapons…just in time for Governor to walk in. While the comforting shelter and necessities were luxurious for them, Michonne isn’t buying any of it; “We know enough about you to know you stabbed two men in the head!”  The women said they were already dead humans but the Governor informs the women that no matter how they die, they all turn into walkers. The Governor says they can retrieve their weapons and are free to leave and assures them; “You’re not prisoners here, you’re a guest.” 

Welcome to Woodsbury
The Governor than leads them to the community of Woodbury and welcomes them. Woodbury is a beautiful town with streets, building, homes and trees. It looked like a beautiful, peaceful community. As the women explore the town, they notice it’s a fenced community guarded by male survivors. Andrea asks if they are military but they are not; “We’re self-trained”. The arsenal used to protect the community are weapons that were picked up along the way. Merle then warns the Governor that “we got us a creeper!”! A spotlight is shone on walkers coming in. They are immediately shot down and the Governor commands them to retrieve the bodies in the morning. The Governor then takes the women through town and leads them to a room with food, water, fresh clothes, a comfortable bed. They were also provided a guard stationed at their door.  The governor acknowledges they have questions but that the men are outside and that he will see them in the morning.The next morning, a female tour guide takes Andrea and Michonne through the town, which she explains is populated by 74 survivors and that there had been no casualties since early winter, since the Governor enforced a strict curfew to the townsfolk that no one is to be out after dark. Andrea and Michonne are still suspicious about the Governor and all of Woodsbury. 

Michonne giving the Governor, Milton and the rest a permanent side-eye
Back in a mysterious hospital room, the wounded pilot from the crash talks to the Governor about the survivors going “haywire”, about how people went into panic mode and how “the whole place went to hell in a few hours”. He tells him that he and his unit of 10 men abandoned post, grabbed supplies and escape and that he left them in a desolate location so the pilot could scout ahead; “I took the bird up in the air while they were still ahead.” The Governor assures him that the rest of the unit will be rescued and he promises that if they are still alive, he will bring them in to the town. Governor goes outside and into a secret warehouse where he sees his advisor Milton and Merle in the lab arguing about something.  The Governor puts a stop to it and demands Merle tell him about Andrea. Merle talks about Andrea and how she is from Atlanta and how she was “the same one who left me on the roof and forced me to mutilate myself.”  The governor commands him to talk to her more. Merle leaves when the Governor turns his attention to Milton. Milton shows him the zombie head of one of the zombies that Michonne kept with her and explained to the Governor that Michonne cut off the arms and jaws to lose their appetite for flesh and to be used as a repellent. Milton suggests cutting the jaws off the walkers to serve as “zombie camoflauge”.

The next morning at breakfast, Andrea and Michonne had breakfast with Milton and the Governor. The Governor asks the women about what they think about the walkers and their memory; Milton jumps in to mention the walkers Michonne kept with her and  goes as far as to asking her if she knew them. Michonne remains quiet but only speaks to demand their weapons. After breakfast, Michonne confides in Andrea about not trusting the Governor. Andrea is more curious about the walkers Michonne kept with her for 8 months. Andrea boldly asks her who were they; “The way you controlled them and used them to your benefit, did you know them?” Michonne barks back at her “it was easier than you think” and storms off. Meanwhile, one of the Governor’s men is observing the two from a distance. 

Merle, Milton and the Governor plotting something that's probably not very nice
Out in a rural area full of military trucks, a car approaches what is left of the pilot’s unit.  The Governor rolls down the window and tells them not to shoot, waving a white flag. The Governor then gets out and tells the squad leader of the unit that the pilot was shot down but they had him and they were going to take the unit back. The Governor and his men then open fire on the soldiers. One soldier tries to make a run for it but is shot by Governor. He then tells a Woodsbury boy to take a knife and to put a “muscle into his knees”. The men confiscate the trucks and roll into town, which greatly peeks the townspeople’s interest. The Governor steps out and makes an announcement: “We brought in 3 new people yesterday, one was a helicopter pilot in the National Gaurd. He’s clinging to life, he told us about his convoy on the highway. His men….I promised I’d bring them back alive. They didn’t have our walls or fences….the trucks had weapons, food, medicine, things we need. We’ll honor their sacrifice….” He then closes his announcement by advising the people of Woodsbury to “watch out for each other”. The townsfolk go back to their houses as Andrea asks the Governor what she can do. She then asks for his real name, which he tells her that he’ll never tell. 

Back at the Governor’s residence, he takes a drink and contemplates his next move. He walks by his bed where a naked woman is sleeping. He takes a key necklace off and places it on an old family portrait of his wife and son that's on a mantle. He goes in a private room and sits in a room that was lit up by severed zombie heads in lit up tanks. Two of the men are Michonne’s walkers and the other one is the head of the pilot (add that to list of things I do not need to see before bedtime, along with horror movies about Dybbuk Boxes and social media sites after presidential debates)

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Janes Notes: I honestly had to rewatch this one because this episode had A LOT packed into it in such a short time where we are introduced to another aspect of surviving a world full of walkers. I was a bit thrown off at the beginning of the opening scene with the military, which makes me wonder if there are other military units that survived the whole ordeal. Are there other towns set up like Woodsbury? What about Rick and the rest in the prison and how will the two crews clash? Time will tell so we have to stay tuned! I am also very curious as to Michonne's connection with the two walkers she kept with her. Perhaps they were her enemies she had? Who knows....

David Morrissey

This week, AMC featured an interview with David Morrissey, aka The Governor so check it out!. 

And because there was no Daryl Dixon in this episode, I enclose my notes with this picture, which should also help me forget the scene with the walker head aquarium; 

A serious case of puffy hearts and awwwwwwwwwwwwws!
Picture Credit: Syfy, Tumblr

Follow me on Twitter @janedoeghost

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