The Walking Dead S3 Is Now Over...

 

I have very mixed feelings about the Season 3 finale of The Walking Dead. On the one hand, I am glad that Andrea's storyline is done (not glad that she's dead, mind you!), because who she does and doesn't sleep with, and her need to be the leader of the gun brigade in every situation, has never really interested me. However, I did see her as integral to the safety of the main group, and an overall part of the glue that binds them all together. After all, she was there from the get-go. She lost her sister, Amy, in Season 1 and she fought through all that wanna-make-suicide crap in Season 2 (*wiping away a tiny tear with Dale's name on it*).

Only to be bitten (weirdly in the same place that Amy was bitten) and killed?! And have to commit suicide anyway!! Because she pulled the trigger on herself, remember? She said, "I want to do it." So, maybe it was like she finally got her wish. She was able to do the suicide thing, but this time she did it after she had accomplished some stuff. So, it's slightly less pitiful. But it still sucks!

I'm not saying she and Michonne were lesbians or anything, but I do believe that there was a deep love there between them. A serious bond that comes from survival, and from Michonne taking care of Andrea all through that winter when she had pneumonia, or whatever that was. When the two of them separated, when Andrea didn't listen to Michonne and stayed in Woodbury while Michonne marched out, it kind of broke my heart a little bit. So, at least they were together at the end...

So, now I have to ruminate over who else we lost this season...

Lessee... There was T-Dog, Laurie, Hershel's foot, Milton, Axel, Oscar, and I do count Penny among the dead, just because the Governor thought of her as living, and now uses her zombie death as an even greater impetus to do harm.

And, ohmygawd, Merle! I've been screaming since day one at whomever was near him on screen to, "Shoot him! Shoot him!!" But now I'll admit that part of me was really bummed to see him go, just because he such a ginormous asshole, he brings a great tension to the screen. And I kind of thought that, at some point, he would redeem himself (which I suppose he kind of did...) and integrate into the group the way Daryl did. Ya know? Plus, like every American woman who watches the show, I *love* Daryl, and I hate to see him all broken up about his bro. I'm just really glad Daryl didn't shut down and detach himself from the group like he did after the Sophia debacle. Poor guy.

And let's not forget about the gruesome death of young Carl's innocence! He has truly turned into the most badass killer in the group. His heartless and cold-blooded slaying of the little teenage turd who was trying to hand over his gun was pretty brutal. But, in a weird way, I understand why he did it. I'm not saying it was right. I'm just saying, "I understand."

Well, now that I don't have cable, I no longer have Game of Thrones to fill the void left behind by the absence of The Walking Dead. What am I going to dooooooooooo????????

And, hey, I've got to put a little word out to the writers about one last thing...

The Walking Dead S3E4: "Killer Within"

This was arguably the best episode of the entire season, if not the entire series. It was emotionally draining, but damn it was AMAZING!

First of all, the title led me to believe (as I'm sure it was meant to) that either Lori's baby was going to claw its way out of her and show itself to be a zombie, or that someone inside the prison was going to be the killer - the two unwittingly rogue prisoners, perhaps? I was a quarter right, I guess. It wasn't the two prisoners we've seen before - it was the one that got away, the one thought to have been eaten by walkers in episode 2! And what on earth did he think he was doing, calling all the zombies to the prison? I mean, it's not like he was really helping himself with this tactic. Wouldn't it have been easier to approach the two prisoner guys, Axel and Oscar, and suggest a prison take-back, then plan accordingly? Why did he think it was such a super great idea to get a zombie riot going, then just take his chances from there?? What a douche. Well, obviously he's not super-smart. He's in prison...

At least, now we know that the comically-stoic prisoner, Oscar, is on Team Grimes!

Now, let's talk about T-Dog. He's easily the most underdeveloped character in the group. He barely gets two lines per episode, and I've joked several times that I had "forgotten he was on this show." So, basically, what I'm sayin' is that T-Dog has been wearing a red shirt since Season 1. It was only a matter of time before his number came up. And it's cool that he sacrificed himself so nobly to protect Carol. What I was not expecting was for T-Dog and Lori to die in the same episode! And only the 4th episode into Season 3, at that. Very shocking. 

Then there's my personal favorite character, Maggie. Beautiful, tough, but soft-hearted Maggie. She had the wretched job of delivering Lori's baby via c-section, with a funky hunting knife, right in front of Lori's boy, Carl. Now, there's a job I hope I never get! And, of course, I suspect that the care of this baby is going to fall to Maggie and her sister. I think Carol is still too messed up from Sophia's death to be able to do it properly, and Rick has a whole lot of survival stuff on his mind. Carl is going crazy. Hershel is healing from losing a leg. That doesn't really leave anybody else, unless Prisoner Axel turns out to be a baby-whisperer. Hell, on this show you never know!

I'm mildly suspicious that Carl didn't actually shoot his mom. I know he's gotten tougher since last season, but they didn't show us the actual shot. Could he have faked it? Is Walker Lori hanging out in the generator room? What if she's not dead at all??? Maybe she just passed out from the pain, and she's in the generator room feeling extremely thirsty right now. If she is really dead, how awful is it that the baby's half-brother killed both it's mother and it's father. Because, yeah, the daddy's Shane! You know it and I know it too. 

Extra Tidbits:

• The look on Daryl's face when he found Carol's head-wrap... I think he loooooooooves her. 
• At the beginning of this episode, T-Dog was proving to be the new voice of reason, replacing Dale as the group's conscience. And then wham-o. Done. Now who's going to be the Moral Police? My money's on Carol. Maybe Hershel.
• Glen and Maggie in the guard tower. Hilarious. But I hope Glen is going to be cool with the fact that, after delivering Lori's baby, Maggie is probably never going to want to have sex with him again. At least not without a lead condom.
• We know Oscar is cool, but I think Axel is a little nuts. Remains to be seen.
• Michonne kind of wimped in this episode. If she wants to leave, wouldn't she just leave without Andrea? I know she cares about Andrea in her own dry way, but she seems like the kind of gal who would just say, "I'm out - you can do whatever you want." 
• Was Andrea seriously flirting with Merle??? Seriously?!

Funniest Tweets Following Lori Grimes' Death

Lori left The Walking Dead the same way she came in. With her pants off.
-- Antonio Martinez

This baby is gonna have to prove itself. Rick doesn't trust newcomers.
-- Sean Clancy ‏

When Maggie says "Lori, let's get your pants off" I wish Carl would have said "That's what Shane said!"
-- Jordan Robertson ‏

 I killed your Dad and your Mom. Happy Birthday and welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse!
-Carl Grimes
-- Drae Dinger

Somebody better start lactating. I'm looking at you Hershel.
-- Ethan Robertson

That episode of walking dead was sadder then when Ash left Butterfree.
-- Jonathan Pummell

Well Rick, there's good news and there's good news.
-- The Mocking Dead

Who gives a damn about Lori? T-Dog just earned the black man of the year award from the horror movie genre.
-- Kenny King

Lori wants to die giving birth to a zombie baby. I wonder how Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan feel about that.
-- Steve Garcia

You know that baby is all spread eagle inside Lori & like "Oh hell to the N & O! I ain't going out there!"
-- Kathi Seymour

Do you think it is maybe time to have "that talk" with Carl about the birds and zom-bees?
-- My Vogon Poetry

Wouldn't it be hilarious if it was only a fart?
-- Juan Merino

Shane in you...oops I mean...shame on you.
-- Haha One Liners 

Lori's baby will be immune to zombie virus because she sacrificed herself for the baby. Learnt that magic from Harry Potter.
-- Mandi Snow

Beloved Characters Whose Deaths Sucked, Part I

Number 1: 

CALLY HENDERSON-TYROL

(Battlestar Galactica)

Cally, Cally, Cally... *wipes single tear from eye* I loved Cally! She was so cute, so sweet, so seemingly positive and innocent amid the onslaught of the Cylons. On the surface, she was so adorably naive, but there was definitely a darker side to her. She was, after all, the one who shot Boomer. She was cute, but tough. And really smart, with mechanical aptitude I was pleasantly surprised to find assigned to a female character. She was only doing time in the Colonial forces to pay for dental school, and she was just days away from being honorably discharged. Then the frakkin' Cylons had to show up and ruin it all.

What pisses me off about Cally's death is that:
(a) she had a fat little baby to take care of, and...

Behold the fattest baby in sci-fi history.

(b) it wasn't even a symbolic or sacrificial death (though opinions vary on this).

She just got unceremoniously sucked out of an airlock by the massive butthole known as Tory Foster.
She deserved better than that.
In an interview I found on YouTube, the actress who played Cally said that she felt the death of Cally was badass. I do not concur.

Number 2:

SIRIUS BLACK

(Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix)

At the very least, it was painless... I guess. I'm not talking about the movie version, either, where he gets Kedavra'd by Bellatrix. No, I'm talking about the book, where he was hit with a stunning spell (was it Stupefy?) and passed through the veil between the living and the dead, then never came out the other side.

Stupid butthole veil.

The poor guy spent most of his adult life being tortured in Azkaban, only to escape, live in hiding, then get killed. I guess there's still a big part of me that lives with the childlike ideal, "The good guy always wins." It pains me when my ideal is wrong.

What really pisses me off about Sirius' death, though, is that he was the only living family poor Harry had. Like all fans, I think, I had that thread of hope inside me that someday - when all the Voldemort hullabaloo was finished - Harry and Sirius would live a happy life together in that creepy old House of Black, with that cranky little elf, Creacher - hosting barbecues and Christmas parties for friends, Sirius being there for Harry's future wedding to Ginny. But, alas, neither Sirius nor Dumbledore are going to make it to that event...

Side Note: I have a black cat named Padfoot, called so in honor of Sirius Black. We call him Paddy, for short. He is very fat, very fluffy, extremely cuddly, and scrumptious to snuggle with. The only downside is that he barfs a lot. But we can't all be perfect.

Number 3:

JOHN LOCKE

(Lost)

Not a single episode went by on Lost where the viewer wasn't given the impression that John Locke is a full-on badass and is a major player in the salvation and lore of the island. His life before the crash of Oceanic 815 was storybook pathetic. His dad conned him out of a kidney, then pushed him out of a window, crippling him. So, John was a paraplegic before crashing on the island, then suddenly could walk. Not only could he walk, but he was strong and vibrant and vital. He seemed tied to the island by sheer destiny. So, how did he die? Strangled by the skeezy, weaselly, little rat-boy Ben, his funeral attended by no-one at all, his corpse just a pawn to return to the island for some other purpose. Wha???

Locke wanted to protect the island. In fact, I think he was the only one who really wanted to stay for the purpose of protecting it. Others wanted to stay to protect themselves from the punishments of the world away, but not John. I'll admit, he went to some seriously dark places, even murdered, to fulfill his perceived purpose, but there was still something noble in his dedication to unlocking the island's mysteries. His death seemed pretty empty and meaningless to me after all the time I'd invested in believing he was special.

But, dammit, he is special. They're ALL special to me!

*wipes another lone tear away*