CliqueClackThe Walking Dead finale: Boring? Or misunderstood?
Was the season 3 finale of ‘The Walking Dead’ really that lackluster? Did it not live up to the hype and expectations?
And there you go. The season ender of The Walking Dead, in the books.
The build up to the finale was, by many accounts, too prolonged with not enough meat to sink one’s teeth into before reaching fruition. (“Prey,” of a few weeks ago, in particular was one of my least liked episodes.) And when the season ender finally came around? It seemed not to deliver the goods. It was a let down as far as a season capper goes. I said that about the finale on my initial viewing because that’s exactly how I felt after having watched it. It wasn’t really that bad, but it was far from great. And, in fact, there were some excellent aspects to it.
Without a doubt, an accusatory finger was pointed directly at the writer of “Welcome To The Tombs” — none other than season 3 show runner Glen Mazzara himself — with a lot of “no-pulled-punches” talk complaining, it contained enough suckiness to fill a sack. The question is: Was there? Was there that much lackluster resulting in a finale of substandard quality failing to satisfy?
And then I watched it again and picked up on subtleties I’d missed the first time around. The reality is, whether you liked this episode or not, it all came down to a matter of perspective. …
The Good
Rick’s Turn About / Change Of Heart: I’m a character guy. I love the interaction between players. It’s a main reason I enjoy The Walking Dead. I loved Dale and Shane for who they were, but not necessarily what they stood for. I even got off on the ever-changing monkey business Lori perpetrated during season 2. But they’re gone. Now? We have Rick and Carl and Daryl filling their voids and taking up some of the slack. And, yes, they’ve always been present, but now they’re all the more prominent. Regarding Rick, he had me thinking. I tried figuring out what he was doing and where he was going mentally — not an easy task: the pressure he was under as the leader, the decisions he needed to make, the responsibility he shouldered, Carl in the back of his mind … even a new baby in the fold. Concerning Shane’s death, dealing / not dealing with Lori and, subsequently, contending with her death, there was (and always has been) more to Rick’s “going off the deep end” than what appeared on the surface. Deep down, he’s a rock. But being continually on the go both of mind and body, heading down a path of incomprehensibility and mental unhingedness seemed inevitable. Sure enough, it manifested itself with flair. But, for who he is at the core, Rick’s change of heart regarding Michonne (in not turning her over to The Governor) as well as his realization and comfort toward Andrea knowing her eventual demise, didn’t we know that compassion was always inside him? Getting his common sense back and not letting knee-jerk reactions get the better of him where outsiders are concerned had to be in the end what won the day. So letting the remaining Woodbury denizens into the fold wasn’t a stretch. That wrapped up a nice little arc for me where Rick’s fragile mind was concerned.
Carl’s Degradation: Wow. You could easily — and wrongly — state “like father, like son” when it came to Carl and his explanation why he shot the Woodbury kid. At the start of the episode, when we saw Carl packing his things in his prison cell, he took out and contemplated the picture of he, his mother and father. I found that rather telling in light of the shooting death, especially when taken in context with his conversations with Rick. Do I need to get into his attitude in demanding he go with his father to Woodbury post “war” aftermath? Carl is definitely traipsing down a dark road, one spurning decency and replacing it with a single mindedness sans compromise. Come next season, I’m curious to see if they expound on his condition.
The Governor’s Further Depravity: As if The Governor’s conversation with Milton about Penny at the start of the episode wasn’t proof enough, we got further evidence via the throng of Woodburyans he cold-bloodedly gunned down after the attempted prison seige. I’m pleased he gallivanted off into the sunset and the door for the character is left open. He’s pretty sick and twisted and, more than the anticipation of the confrontation between the two groups, I want to be witness to The Governor’s ultimate fate. Before that happens, however, you can bet there will be a no-pussyfooting-around, grand reappearance from him.
“He gave us a chance …” — responded Carol
Daryl Post-Merle: There was only a quick exchange between Daryl and Carol about Merle, but it spoke volumes about how he felt about his older brother. In Daryl’s eyes, maybe there was some redemption there after all … given the added boost of Carol’s reassuring hand squeeze.
The Bad
Andrea Dragging Her Feet (Literally): This was the worst part of the episode. Holy Pick Up The Pace, Batman: Could she have dawdled and wasted any more time while Milton was stewing in his own juices getting ready to turn? Because, you know, she had all the time in the world to cut herself loose from her confines before he reanimated and began munching on her …
On the flip side, her demise was one of the better, more emotional moments of the finale. If you’re in the camp that thought Andrea had turned into “annoying Lori of season 2,” you loved the fact she died. If you liked her fence-sitting wishy-washyness this season, you grieved over her death. She made you care, if just a little bit … no doubt spurred by Michonne’s water works.
6 Comments on “The Walking Dead finale: Boring? Or misunderstood?”
I thought it was a pretty disappointing finale to a fairly good season.
They dragged the 2nd half of the season on and on offering us the eventual showdown between Rick/Michionne and the Governor like a carrot on a stick and then they said, ha ha, April’s fool!
Andrea… is like, they really ran out of ideas. After fighting zombies for so many months sometimes with as little as her bare hands, she just gets bitten even though she even had a weapon? Just doesn’t ring true and honestly made her whole story arc this season moot. Governor can survive 30 zombies going at him in a closed room, Andrea can’t even make it through one!
(And yes, the whole time I was yelling, omg shutup and pick up!!)
About Carl, I actually kinda agree to a point of why he did it, that other guy was taking forever to lower the weapon and he kept inching closer. Don’t we always yell at the TV when a character doesn’t shoot or trust someone else that looks suspicious and then they end up in trouble? Carl takes care of it but everyone acts like he’s the devil. (Not that I like Carl very much)
This felt like a mid season finale, not a season finale. I’m really disappointed they are making the Governor a multi-season arc because I’m more interested in Rick’s group’s interactions in a world of zombies than their war with a random psycho with some zombies thrown in to kill the characters fans got tired of.
I think the backlash is solely due to the non-event that was the “war” between Woodbury and the prison. I think though that it was necessary to show the strength of our core group and the madness of the Governor. He spent all that time protecting his people only to gun them down because they didn’t feel his war was worth fighting?! Yikes! And after all the hype of “27 people will die” before the episode and people wagering on who in the prison would meet their demise — I was sure Hershel and Carol were for certain casualties — I can see why people are angry. Unfortunately, that anger is negatively impacting their perception of the show, and could possibly drive people away come next season. I think they should have just left the hype behind and let everyone watch the episode without such high expectations.
As for Andrea, I agree with you. I mean, could she not have at least taken the pliers to Milton’s head since she had that free hand?! Apparently that entire scene was reshot. In the original version, Rick and crew never made it back to Woodbury, Milton was shot in cold blood by the Governor as he was gathering the torture instruments, and he tried to strangle Andrea while she was trapped in the chair before he turned, but he bled out before he could finish her, turned and started taking bites out of her. Probably would have been a satisfying ending for all the Andrea haters, but I liked that the new ending gave Michonne a chance to make peace with her and was really her friend to the end. I thought it was a very poignant moment.
So, yes, I was a bit let down that the war that had been promised just about all season was just a blip, but I’m actually glad that the core group actually lived to see another day.
let’s just say that I fast forwarded through parts of the last 2 episodes of the season. That should never happen.
The Andrea scene was nothing short of ridiculous. As stated above, she should have easily dispatched Milton. if they needed her to die, they should have had them break into the room as Milton was choping on her (still bound) arm or something.
Other than that, though, I was satisfied.
I would have disarmed Carl and reminded him that he is 12 (or whatever he is) and I am his father… that thread/arc/flight of fancy on Carls part would end right there.
I was fine with the War. I’ve had a very big conflict and subsequent reservation about the seemingly unavoidable war. Simply put, the majority of the people of Woodbury were decent folks just looking to start a new life. having Rick’s group kill a large number of them would, in my mind, ruin the humanitarian theme they (at least try) to maintain. Having the governor go ballistic on them takes care of at least some of the problem I anticipated… to many characters for the show. I still believe there are too many… so we’ll see how that plays out. However I was pleased with the results of the “war” and, specifically the lack of carnage dealt by Ricks crew.
hahaha. lame article / blog rant.
walking dead season 3 sucked big time. the finale tried to do too much to inject some “WOW, THAT’S UNEXPECTED”. Instead, it turns out cliched.
come on… rock music in the last couple of episodes? are they trying to inject some “hip” into the show? didnt work. turns out lamer than usual.
Rick changing his mind? Please, Rick can never consider giving Misho up. So when he told the ‘inner circle’ to do it, it just doesn’t make sense. Out of character and without reason. what made his give up Misho? No reason, thus totally unbelievable. and lame. Then he decide, “oops, my bad… we love Misho. let’s not give her up”. Even lamer.
Seeing ghost laurie all the time? Well, didnt really go anywhere. Boring.
So they were supposed to meet at noon, but Rick decides to skip it? So whats his plan is he doesnt give up Misho? No plan on how to save everyone? So boring.
Meryl becomes a good guy? Why? No answer. He just became a good guy because the writer was too lazy to come up with a back story. Doesnt make any sense. Boring.
Worst of all.. why do people “turn” without being bit? No explanation after an entire season. “We are all infected”?? THATS ALL?? LAME!!!
There is no story in season 3. It is the same as season 2. Season 2 was stuck on a farm. Season 3 is stuck in prison. Is season 4 going to be stuck up your ass?
lame.