Ever sense the show first premiered on the AMC network, I’ve
been a captivated fan of “The Walking
Dead” television series. With lots of zombie action and situations that
feel big and cinematic, this show certainly ranks high on the entertainment but
it’s not just about the gory action. A lot of the show is devoted to the
characters, how they change over time in this apocalyptic world and the show is
even bold enough to ask some legitimately deep questions about our humanity.
What would we do in one of their situations, would we make the hard choices
that keep people alive, even if that means resorting to actions that are both
morally and ethically wrong? It’s simply captivating and easily one of my
favorite TV shows of all time. Now I’ve loved every single season of the series
so far but one particular season is a mixed blessing, and has especially given
fans of the show mixed thoughts, this of course is season 3. Well, I’d
definitely put this season in the category of good, but it isn’t without some
faults. P.S. If you haven’t seen this season I’ll be spoiling a lot of it in
this post, and if you haven’t seen the show at all, definitely see it before
reading this, if not, I have other posts.
The set up for
the season goes like this, back in season two, our traveling group of survivors
took refuge at a farm and gained some new allies. Unfortunately, a herd of
zombies stormed through their land, forcing them to go off on the run again.
Now, Season three picks up with the former Sharif Rick and his group taking refuge
in an abandoned prison, which will become a main stay location throughout the season
and most of season 4. The first half of the season focuses on the group trying
to subtle in and deal with a group of prisoners that were left behind.
Meanwhile, one group member named Andria, who was separated from them at the
end of season two, has now found herself in a small town called Woodbury, which
seems like an ideal safe haven, with families and children living in peace, but
there’s something far more sinister to this community then she realizes. Enter
a new main stay villain called the Governor, who leads the town people. He
maintains the illusion that he’s a cheery guy and only wants what’s best for
his people, but when his true colors are revealed, he becomes a serious threat
to our hero’s at the prison. The whole second half of the season becomes a
never ending battle for survival between Rick’s group and the Governors
town.
All the
characters that have survived the last two seasons are back, most of which are better
than ever but some aren’t nearly as good as before. Sharif Rick for example
began as an awesome lead protagonist back in season one, and we cheered for him
all the way. He’s the guy that made selfless decision’s and always did what was
best for the group, but in this season, he goes through a serious change. He’s
now become cold, bitter, more violent and even a little crazy. It’s
understandable, considering what he’s been through, but I just don’t find
myself rooting for him the same way I did in the first two seasons, he’s mostly
by himself and a lot of his actions feel very out of character for him. Thankfully,
he becomes an awesome lead character again by the end of the season, he starts
to look cleaner and I love that he renounced his position as leader of the
group.
One thing that
remains constantly bad in this season is his hallucinations of his late wife.
Yes, after his wife dies, her spirit keeps appearing at the prison, or maybe
its Rick losing his grip on reality, but every time she appears, the show goes
for a magical mood, with light music, and his wife warring an attractive, clean
white dress, which really breaks the mood of the show. It gets especially
annoying after a while and by the eighteenth time Rick sees her, its like “Geese,
would you cut that out already!”
Thankfully,
most of the main stay heroes are greatly improved in this season. The young
adults Glenn and Maggie finally have a solid relationship going, and it’s a
real treat to see them get married in the end. The old man named Hershel has
gone from being a grumpy farmer, to the moral compass of the group and
personally one of my favorite characters. My favorite character in the show has
always been the red neck hunter named Daryl, he’s the underdog of the group,
but no-one else is as bad ass as him. This season just elevates his
awesomeness, he’s now become a respected member of the group and is no longer a
lone wolf. I really liked Andria in this season, which is interesting because
she was one of my least favorite characters, but she really improved in this
season, I liked her story arch and her determination to bring peace between
Rick and the Governor.
One of the
biggest highlights of season three is the introduction of a new main stay
character named Michonne, who’s arguably my second favorite character in the
series next to Daryl. She’s a bad ass chick, who wields a samurai sword, almost
reminds me of the bride from “Kill Bill”.
At first, Michonne is a lady of phew words but as she opens up to the group,
she has more to say, and we find out that she’s actually very carrying, has an upbeat
personality, conveys some genuinely thoughtful words of wisdom and it’s just
been a real treat to watch this character grow over the series.
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Another highlight of this season is the
introduction of The Governor, honestly, one of the best TV villains ever. David
Morrissey is just spot on in the role, finding that perfect balance between a
wicked charm and actual scares. I love how over the cores of the series, the
Governor seamlessly transitions from cartoony antics, to threatening actions,
to complex character development, specifically in season 4. He’s everything
you’d want in a good villain and that makes him one of the best. Plus, I’ve
seen a lot of characters look cool with an eye patch look, but for some reason
no one pulls it off quiet as well as this guy, he just owns that eye
patch.
This season also
marks the return of an old adversary named Merle, who’s Daryl’s older broth and
the first official foe to take on the group. Back in season one, his efforts to
gain control resulted in him losing his left hand to Sharif Rick. Now he’s back
with a sword replacing his missing hand, making him far more threatening than
ever before. However, he becomes more of a wild card in this season, struggling
between his loyalty to his brother and seeking vengeance on the people who left
him for dead. I like what they do with him in this season and where his story ends
up at the finally of the season is very satisfying. Ricks arch enemy Shane, who
died at the end of season 2 also makes a cameo during a fire fight, which was a
very nice touch. I know I’ve made a lot of complaints regarding Rick’s
hallucinations, but having him imagine that his old nemesis Shane was shooting
at him during the heat of a fight was actually quite effective.
That takes care
of the characters, now let’s look at what goes on this season. Well, this is
pretty much the season for people that didn’t like season 2. That season didn’t
rely on much gory action and was actually a lot more subtle, focusing on the
characters and some genuinely thought provoking themes. Season 3 on the other
hand is a strait up action packed romp, with lots of gory zombie battles and
shoot outs. This makes the season a lot more entertaining to watch, but it doesn’t
tackle as many subjects that make you think. There are some good elements in
there, and even episodes that study the human condition, it’s just not as deep
as I’d like it to be. The story also gets very repetitive by the end, almost
like a record player repeating the same song over and over again. Having said
that, there are still some great action highlights, and the season stays
consistently entertaining to watch. My favorite episodes are in the mid-season
finally, when our young lovers Glen and Maggie are captured by the Governor,
which forces Rick’s group to go on a desperate mission to rescue them. This was
the first time the two groups cross paths and it’s hear that their on-going
battle officially begins.
Now fans of the show already know that you
can’t get too attached to the characters because this series has no problem
killing off its main cast. Personally, I think season 3 went way too far with
axing of its main cast. Some of the character deaths like Merle’s and T-Dogs
were excusable and while the death of Rick’s wife was sad for him and his son,
I never really liked her character, in fact, I found her annoying. But then we
have Andria’s death, which was completely uncalled for. Even if you weren’t a
fan of this character, her death still disappoints because it ruins one of the
main story arch’s that was a main focus for most of the season. I feel like
they wasted her for no good reason, and the show even wasted it’s time with two
episode focusing on her trying to get back to the group, only to be kidnapped
by the Governor and killed before she can reunite with them, that sucks. Then
there’s the issue with those prisoners who were introduced at the beginning of
the season. This started an interesting conflict for Rick’s group, having to live
with these convicts and slowly welcoming some of them into the family of
survivors. Unfortunately, they all drop like flies before the mid-season
finale, so what the heck was the point of introducing these characters and
setting up an interesting conflict if there just going to get killed off so
suddenly.
Another element
that comes into play for this season is religious metaphors and symbolism. Now
there have been moments in season two that lightly touched on religious themes but
this season really utilizes its symbolism. Some may be annoyed by this but I
think it’s a great touch. There’s lots of lines and quotes taken directly from
the bible that are conveyed frequently by the characters, discussions that
revolve around maintaining ones faith in a critical situation and even the
titles of some of the episodes have a religious background to them. One of the
episodes involves a character that plans to betray someone they were once close
to, and the name of the episode is “I’m no Judas”. Even the final image of the
season is a little wooden cross.
The actually
resolution for the season is slightly disappointing but it has its good
moments. The final four episodes of the season start to get very conversation
heavy, which was great at first. There’s an episode titled “Arrow on the Door
Step” which features Rick sitting down with the Governor, and the bulk of the
episode is just these two talking back and forth. Honestly, I loved this, it’s
so cool to see the hero and the villain just sit down and talk to each other,
plus it just builds up the excitement for when we see these two battle each
other. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a pay off, at least until season 4.
After so much buildup and high anticipation, this season ends on a relatively
quiet note, the Governor disappears and the town’s people all join Ricks group
at the prison. It’s not a bad ending by any means, it just leaves you wishing
for a little more kick.
As of right now,
seasons 4 and 2 are my personal favorite’s of the show so far, but season 3 is
still a good fallow up. The story may get really repetitive at times, and the
ending could have been a little stronger but it is still very entertaining. It
improves on most of the characters, the battles are awesome, the new characters
are some of my favorites that the show has to offer and in conclusion, I think
this season has a lot more good quality material to offer then not.
The End
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