Wednesday, November 28, 2012

"The Walking Dead: When The Dead Come Knocking" EP Recap

Glenn is sitting in an interrogation room in Woodsbury, hands tied up to the chair when Merle walks in and begins to question him of his whereabouts and more importantly...where his little brother, Daryl is. When it comes to Woodbury, there are no rules or laws of question or interrogation and Merle gets right into business; “I didn’t mean no harm back there…I lowered my gun but you raised yours,” Merle said. “You were an asshole out there just like…you were back in Atlanta…people wouldn’t do that to an animal…” Glenn tries convincing him that the group back then (himself, Daryl, T-Dog and Rick) all went back to look for him but he was gone when they got there. Merle clenches his jaw as T-Dog’s name is mentioned and still harbors deep resentment for him accidentally losing the handcuff key. Glenn tells him that T-Dog is dead. Meryl mentions that he hopes he went slowly since Merle isn’t one to quite hold a grudge. Merle takes it a step further and mentions that maybe ‘the farmer’s daughter’ knows something. Speaking of the farmer’s daughter, Maggie is tied up to a chair in a room next door, hearing Merle through the weak walls. Merle then places his blade against Glenn’s face before pushing it against his mouth, demanding Daryl’s location. Glenn is resisting while a Maggie is getting more agitated as she hears Glenn’s grunts and moans from the blade. Glenn headbutts Merle and Merle repeatedly punches him to a bloody pulp. 


Back where we left off at the prison, about 5 walkers surround Michonne with more in the midst. Michonne is hobbling and places her hand over the wound. Unfortunately, the walkers sense her human blood and go after her. Michonne hobbles and slashes a few with the katana. Carl asks Rick if they should help. Michonne is losing stamina and her vision decreases. The last she sees is a walker hovering over her as she lies back, prepared for death. But then she hears a gunshot. Carl shot the walker. She last hears carl’s gunshot. Rick opens the gate they begin shooting the walkers; Rick grabs the katana and Michonne as Carl grabs the basket full of formula and they retreat back to safety. They go into one of the cells in C-Unit and place Michonne there. Rick pours water over her and comforts her, asking her who she is. Michonne tries grabbing her katana but Rick grabs her and asks her who he is. At the same time, Daryl walks in, wondering who their new guest its. Daryl says he has something for the unit to see but is still watching Rick.  “I didn’t ask for your help!” Michonne seethes but Rick tells her he couldn’t leave her out there. Rick locks the cell door to give her some space…and to also see what Daryl has in store. Rick walks into C-Unit to be greeted by an exhausted Carol. Carol and Rick share and embrace and when Carol asks where Lori is, Rick’s expression gives it away. The whole group share a very bittersweet reunion as Carol grieves for Lori but is ecstatic about the newborn. Michonne is watching from afar, taking in a different atmosphere than the one she felt in Woodbury. 

Back in Woodbury, the men are back on guard and Milton knocks on the governor’s door. Milton tells him that “Mr. Coleman is ready”. Andrea is getting dressed and says she’ll be waiting. But the Governor says he could use her help. 

Back in the prison, Rick says he’ll help provide aid for Michonne and then she can be on her way but he demands that she tell him where she came from. She mentions she got the basket from an “Asian guy and pretty girl”. “They were taken by the same son of a bitch who shot me,” she explained. Rick grabs the gunshot wound and Michonne tries fighting back, but Daryl points his crossbow at her. Michonne wants to go after Daryl (Jane’s notes: girl, you’re on my good side, don’t ruin it! I’ll let it slide this one time). “You came here for a reason” Rick told her. Michonne begins talking about Woodbury and how 75 survivors were taken there. She tells them that the town is ran by a man who calls himself as ‘the Governor’ and describes him as a “pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type”. She tells him that there’s sentries posted around the town but they still have a chance to sneak in. Rick asks her how she found the prison. She told him she heard about the prison from eavesdropping on Maggie and Glenn before they were kidnapped. Michonne is then introduced to Hershel as Maggie’s father. 

Back in the interrogation room, Glenn is extremely beat up and covered with blood and cuts, blood oozing from his mouth as Merle tortures him as if he was the Jack Bauer of the post-zombie apocalyptic era. Glenn warns Merle that they will be coming. Merle is convinced that Rick and crew aren’t going to come and that he is outnumbered.  Glenn mentions that Andrea is part of the group, which perks Merle’s interest. 

Back in the prison, Hershel is stiching up Michonne’s wound as Carl watches, hand ready on his gun. Michonne thanks Hershel. Back in C-Unit, Daryl suggests going after them. Oscar, Rick, Daryl and Michonne decide to head on out with the car as they stock up on guns and tear gas. Daryl assures Carl that he’ll look out for Rick. Michonne looks around the prison yard and asks if the place was overrun; Beth mentions it was and that there were others that helped clear the prison. Michonne is in awe at how such a small group took control of the prison. Rick goes to have a quick, private chat with Carl about Lori and acknowledges that no boy his age should’ve done what he had to do. Rick advises that if anything happens, that Carl has to lock everyone up in the cells and to look out for his baby sister. “Daryl’s been calling her asskicker!” Carl chirps in. Rick laughs and asks what Carl thinks she should be called. Carl wants to name her Judith after his 3rd grade teacher.  Judith, meanwhile, is being held by Carol. Daryl tells her to be safe while Hershel commands them to bring Glenn and Maggie back. Axel opens up the gate and the car takes off. 

In Milton’s lab, old 40s music is playing on the record player and the room is full of paintings. The Governor brings Andrea to the lab where Milton and an old, dying man is lying on a bed. The Governor introduces Andrea to Mr. Coleman, the man that is in the bed. The Governor goes over to him and thanks him ‘for his service’. 

Before Andrea can ask anything, Milton tells Andrea to put the record back to the first track and then rings a singing bowl. Milton begins interviewing Mr. Coleman and tells him that he is going to ask him questions and Mr. Coleman will respond with a “yes” by raising his right hand. He asks about Mr. Coleman’s name, his wife and his family while showing pictures. Mr. Coleman raises his hand for all the questions Milton asks. Mr. Coleman grabs Milton’s hand and whispers to him to keep the song playing “while they wait”.

Back in the interrogation room, Glenn struggles to free himself. Merle comes in and brings in a walker with a rope around its neck, asking Glenn if he can empathize with the way Merle felt back in Atlanta.Merle commands Glenn that this is his last chance to talk. When Glenn refuses, Merle lets the walker go. Glenn kicks the walker back and flips himself over. He knocks cases and boxes over and shields himself between a spring mattress to prevent the walker from biting him. Glenn kicks the table to the walker before breaking the chair against the wall. He lifts his covered hand up just in time to prevent the walker from biting him. Glenn stabs the walker and lets out a scream. 

Back in the lab, the same music is playing. Milton explains to Andrea that when Mr. Coleman dies, they will restrain him and wait for him to “reanimate” where Milton will ask the questions again, then Andrea will kill him. His intent is to find out if after a human has passed on and has turned, whether or not memory and human consciousness exists in the walker’s mind, so to speak. Milton explains that Mr. Coleman has prostate cancer so due to lack of treatment, he willingly volunteered to be part of Milton’s experiment. Milton is hoping the music and singing bowl will linger in the walker’s mind. Andrea is dumbfounded and tells Milton that they are monsters and who they once were are now gone. Andrea asks Milton if he ever saw the transformation involving loved ones. Milton explains he grew up an orphan and telecommuted to work. During this time, Mr. Coleman passes away so Andrea and Milton restrain him. Andrea holds Milton’s shaking hand as they tie Mr. Coleman up.  

The Governor, Merle with 2 others are out back. The Governor is concerned that Rick and company will come back. They wonder what will happen, should they arrive. Merle said he was going to talk to Maggie but the Governor will take care of them. The Governor goes in the room where Maggie is in and asks to sit down. He cuts the ties wrapped around her wrists. He tells her that Maggie will be taken back to the crew and explain it was a huge misunderstanding. Maggie wants to talk to Glenn. Governor won’t allow it because he feels that “your people are dangerous”. Maggie knows nothing about what happened at Atlanta. The Governor promises her safety but Maggie refuses to talk. Governor suggests something else and demands Maggie to stand up and take off her shirt and her bra. Maggie reluctantly complies with his perverted demands. The Governor walks up to her and strokes her hair and caresses her before grabbing her neck and forcing her down at the table. He then grabs her neck and forces her down the table. Maggie tells him that he can do whatever he wants as long as he goes to hell afterwards. 

Out in the woods, the crew stop in the middle of the road. Michonne tells them that the roads are heavily patrolled so it was best to go on foot. While they are walking in the woods, Rick quickly thanks Daryl for taking care of Judith; ‘it’s what we do,” Daryl tells him. Before any more tender moments are shared, Daryl hears a rustle in the woods and tells the group to get down.  A small herd of walkers pop out from the woods. Rick tells them to stay close and to not use gunfire. The crew slash their way through but the number of walkers multiply and they take a deserted road to a cabin where they break in. Rick tells them to be quiet but Daryl is taken aback by a very foul smell in the cabin. They come across a dead dog while Rick notices a bed and uncovers the blankets to reveal a man with a shotgun. He demands them to get out. But at this point, walkers are crawling at the front of the cabin, thirsting for flesh. Rick tells him that they can’t leave. The man said he’ll call the cops; Rick says he is a cop. Rick tells him to lower the gun and that he is going to reach down for his pocket to reveal his badge. Instead, Rick gets him in a chokehold. The man escapes and Rick warns him to not open the door but Michonne takes care of it real quick in the form of a slash to the back through the chest. Daryl takes a peek out in the front, where there’s at least two dozen walkers. Rick asks Oscar to check the back…Oscar looks at them and knows what they are doing, muttering “you gotta be kidding me!” but Oscar checks out back and signals it’s clear. Daryl and Rick grab the body of the dead man and throw him out to the hungry walkers. They throw the dead body to the walkers as the walkers feast. The crew sneaks out in the back pass the distracted walkers. 
  
Back in the lab, Mr. Coleman begins waking up, his eyes an abnormal bloody red. Milton uses the singing bowl and plays the record. Milton begins asking the same questions he did before and asks Mr. Coleman to raise his right hand to answer ‘yes’. Milton shows a walker Coleman the pictures. Milton is convinced that Mr. Coleman’s hand moved but can’t move because of the restraints and tells Andrea to remove them because they are blocking him from “responding from his subconscious”. Andrea refuses, knowing very well what will happen if those restraints come loose. Milton does so anyways as the walker grabs Milton’s shirt and lunges towards him but not before Andrea stabs Coleman in the head.

Back in the interrogation room, Glenn is armed with a weapon ready for Merle to return; Merle does but with the 2 men, the Governor and a topless Maggie, who is covering her breasts. The Governor tells to stop playing games and demands one of them to reveal Rick’s location. The Governor points the gun at Maggie’s head but then points it directly to Glenn. Maggie immediately tells the Governor that they consist of ten and are at the prison. The Governor lowers the gun but not before trying to embrace and ‘comfort’ Maggie. Maggie rushes to Glenn’s arms. Meanwhile, the Governor and his men are plotting what to do. The men are wondering if Maggie is lying about the number in Rick’s crew.  The Governor begins to question Merle’s loyalty because Merle told the Governor it was not possible for Rick’s crew to have succeeded the way they have. Merle states his loyalty to the Governor. Just outside Woodsbury, Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne are hiding just outside the walls plotting their next move….

Back in the Governor’s room, Andrea walks in to give the Governor a hug and kiss. He asks her about Milton and she reaches for the whiskey. He asks her what happened. “Mr. Coleman died,” she said. “Did Milton find what he was looking for?” the Governor asks. “No” she responds. The Governor wraps his arms around her to “comfort” her.  


Jane's Notes: If there’s one thing that’s safe to say, is that we saw a MUCH different Glenn then the sneaky pizza delivery boy we saw back in Atlanta. Glenn has always been a very valuable character but this episode truly displays his mental strength, above his already excellent physical strength. Speaking of Glenn, AMC has an interview with Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn as he discusses the transition from one of the crew to surviving solo.

I’m glad that they have added a ballsy female to the group because for the most part, the men went out and the women stayed behind (save for Maggie and Glenn and Andrea and Shane but the ladder is just a clusterf*ck and doesn’t really count). I’m also glad that they added some tender moments to soften the brutality that’s still in affect from “The Killer Inside” with Carol and baby, with Rick’s sanity restored and sharing a moment with Carl.

I’m not going to go into the Governor because he’s just CUH-REEP-AY with a capitol C and that whole scene with Maggie was just flat out uncomfortable.

While I still think Andrea is a bonafide dumbass, I do feel for Milton. He seems like a smart cookie that hasn’t really seen the Governor’s “darker side” and is just so focused on his work and genuinely wanting to contribute to a civilization in the post-apocalypse.

As usual, Merle is being Merle. BUT I do predict he might slightly turn (no pun intended) when the upcoming showdown between Woodbury and Rick’s crew and solely focus his loyalty to his family, which is my husband.
Speaking of husband, where did that poncho go that he wore??



Picture Credit: AMC 
Follow me on Twitter @janespringfield

No comments: