The Walking Dead S3 Recap

Well walker fans, tomorrow is THE night!!! What we have long anticipated...the season 4 premiere of "The Walking Dead"!!! Is anyone else stoked?? I'm so thrilled because I have a new job with flexible hours and am so happy that I can now actually watch the show and recap immediately. I wrote this post after Season 3 but I'm reposting to serve as a memory refresher. 

After the end of Season 2, Rick and the gang were overcoming a huge obstacle as walkers overran Hershel's farm. Hershel's family had endured the loss of his wife and son. Andrea was separated from the group and when she seemed to reach her end point, Michonne mysteriously appears and takes her in. The gang go from house to house, wondering about the grim future in their nihilistic reality. 

A new sanctuary

The season started out with promise. The group FINALLY found a safe haven, Lori was about to pop out a baby, Michonne and Andrea were taken or kidnapped to what seemed to be like a safe haven and there was no Shane to be a pouting ninny to ruin the fun for everyone. All was well (well, as well as it could be in a post-zombie apocalypse).

But alas, all must things in such a world must turn into a major clusterflip of epic porportions and there's always gotta be that someone to cause it. First season was Merle. Second was Shane. This time, it was the Governor. But before I get to him, lets get to the major deaths of the story: T-Dog and Lori, especially when Carl took Lori's own life and it seemed as if Rick was about to lose his marbles for good....fortunately, his crew gave him space, he earned a trusty companion in Michonne who was sympathetic to Rick's plight and eventually, helped pulled him out of his slump to where he could function as a leader again.

An emotional mid-season blow

There were new friends made, new rivals and new reunions. There was first the prisoners; while Tomas and Andrew turned no pun intended against Rick, Axel and Oscar decided to help within the ranks of the group as much as possible; unfortunately, the new allies's deaths came much too soon. Daryl blindly went off with Merle but not for long before Daryl...with Merle following...returned to his new family to rescue Rick and the others. Andrea and Michonne's friendship of survival and trust turned sour when Michonne left Woodbury but Andrea "chose a warm bed" over friendship. The decision meant that in the end, Michonne was alive and "on the good side" while a blindsided Andrea was stepping closer to her death by, interestingly enough, someone she considered a friend. Lesson learned, ladies...chicks over dicks! But the deaths kept continuing as the troublemaker that survived a walkerfest in Atlanta (I'm talking Merle) did one decent thing in his life and the end result was getting shot and turning, much to his brother's grim discovery.

A tragic end... 

But the Governor's reign of terror made the deaths of Lori and T-Dog seem like a side story after awhile, from his random mafia-style hits, to the walker fights, invading the prison and then going off the deep end and slaughtering his own townspeople. Rick was still lost, searching for Lori and was disappointed to know that when he reunited with his personal savior Morgan, that Morgan seemed to have lost his own set of marbles for good and refused to join the crew back at the prison. At that same time, Rick neglected a hitchiker that screamed for help, only to be fallen prey to walkers. This inhumanity was beginning to rub off on a growing Carl at an alarming rate. Rick was ready to turn in Michonne to the Governor. A MUCH different tune than the way Rick led the group in the beginning. It made me very anxious as a fan to see how the show would end. But once again, the show never fails to disappoint when it comes to season finales. The show leaves behind a glimmer of hope in a world that seemed to get more gruesome, darker and bloodier; Rick's humanity is slowly being restored (maybe perhaps partially influenced by guilt for his recent actions and behavior and how it's rubbing off on Carl) when he and the crew bring in the survivors of Woodbury. While Woodbury and the prison have their comparisons as far as security goes, the people of Woodbury are much better off under Rick than the Governor's facade. But what will the next chapter bring to the table? 

Join me on Twitter tomorrow night at 9pm PT for some live tweeting @janespringfield