3.12: The Walking Dead - Clear

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Realizing they are heavily outgunned against The Governor’s forces, Rick leads an expedition to get more weapons.

 

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** Spoilers **

The episode is absolute wonderful and absolutely on bar with last season "18 Miles Out." And I wish they would do more episodes like this, where they go to see how the dead owns the land around few fortifications like the prison or Woodbury. What once was free is now full of danger.

There is no going back. The virus is in each and everyone of them, and even if they could clear up the land, who says it wouldn't turn back to same? The plague of is there permanently. There is no cure for it. And there is no cure for the loss. Some could even say there's no hope.

But I'd like argue that. There is hope as long as these people keep blowing in the same coal. They can keep the fire going and build a new society. And I think that is what Rick saw in Morgan.

He saw how much Morgan was hurting and he wanted to help him in his own way, and who's to say two mental patients wouldn't get something right?

Not me.

They need each other and Rick certainly could use some of the spirit that drives Morgan in his remission to clear the land from the dead. Do you agree?





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[Lenny]

The episode is absolute wonderful and absolutely on bar with last season "18 Miles Out." And I wish they would do more episodes like this, where they go to see how the dead owns the land around few fortifications like the prison or Woodbury. What once was free is now full of danger.

It's funny you should mention 18 Miles Out, because both of these episodes were written by the same person. The person who also wrote 3.06: Hounded -- the one where Rick talks to the phone -- and the series two mid-series finale 2.07: Pretty Much Dead Already. That person, if you didn't know, is Scott Gimple, who is taking over as showrunner for series four! It's good to see that he has talent (but then again, everyone was so happy when Moffat replaced RTD as Doctor Who showrunner, and look how that's turned out...).

EDIT: It's probably unfair not to mention the first episode that Scott Gimple wrote - Save the Last One. It's the one where Shane and Otis went to the school for supplies, which ended with Shane first showing his first signs of turning bad.

I agree completely, though - as much fun as the big Hollywood episodes are, with bullets flying everywhere and zombies left, right, and centre, it's episodes like this that really capture the essence of the show, for me. It's always been about the survivors, the titular walking dead, and their desperation, and this episode nailed it.

It was so self-contained, too, with some nice self-referencing - the sign at the start for Erin, who then attacked the car wearing her bracelet (I did wonder if one of the cars was that of the Mexicans from a couple of episodes back), the repeated appearances of the hiker, and his sad demise.

Also some good humour, including: "The mat said 'Welcome'"; "You want to drive?", "Yeah", "Good, 'cos I see things".

Which also means we can't not mention Michonne. It's only taken twelve episodes, but she's finally getting some character development (as well as a look at her garish tastes!), and she's bonding with Rick ("I saw things too [sic]") - either she's being geared up to deal him a blow when she dies, or one of Rick's current deputies is going to be offed by the end of the series, giving Michonne the chance to step up.

EDIT: CARL! Did anyone else notice how he was before Rick showed him the trick to get the car out of the mud? I'm not sure if it was meant, but he looked tired of life, almost depressed. Is he going to do a Rick and explode?

 

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I again ask who's going to get it? Rick cannot lose a single soul and while it could be easy to say that's the reason, I think otherwise. I believe that it was time that we started to see more of the Michonne we have been dying to get known more. I for the fact want to know what sort of person is living behind that invisible samurai armour.

So could it be - as the prison according to Kirkman's words is going to stay as a setting in the season four - that they are building up the characters?

 

[Lenny]

I can see three, maybe four of the group, as well as Andrea, not surviving the encounter with the Governor.

I'd say that Rick, Carl, and Little Asskicker are the only characters definitely safe from death (Rick is the main character, and Carl and Judith are just kids). As the conscience of the group, Hershel is probably also safe, and will likely stay that way until a new white-haired old man is found.

Because Rick has two deputies, and Hershel, being one, is likely safe, Daryl has to go. He's a fan favourite and has become a core part of the group, which means that his death will have a huge impact. His departure will allow Michonne to step up (or maybe Tyreese, if he sees sense).

Glen also has to go. He's no longer the scared kid he was in the first two series, having grown into a soldier. Maggie will probably be the end of him - either him trying to sate his need for vengeance, or protecting her (who may in turn be protecting Beth and Hershel).

With two of the best fighters gone, it also gives the writers another chance to write Michonne and Tyreese into the group (and opens up to main cast spots that recurring characters can fill).

Merle needs redemption, but I don't think he'll be given story arc time, which means the only way he can get it is to be the one who finishes off the Governor (or at least contributes). Merle's most poetic conclusion would be for him to save Rick, giving Rick the chance to end the Governor.

Finally, because I doubt Daryl will go in open combat (he's not going to get picked off like Axel), his set-piece will come after the death of Carol (maybe to a herd?). Together, they might both save Little Asskicker.

On the Governor's side, Andrea has to go, the soldiers on the wall have to go (the woman who hates Andrea and the guy who was going to shoot the people in the car trying to leave), and the Governor has to go (even though a small part of me thinks he'll slink off to lick his near-fatal wounds and pop up again in a couple of series time).

I'm not sure about Milton. He'd be useful in turning the prison into somewhere people can actually live, but I have a feeling he's going to be killed by someone to negatively add to their characterisation (for example, if Shane was still around he'd be the one to kill Milton) -- maybe in an attempt to soften the blow of a death.

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I can't see Morgan coming back as a recurring character. He served to introduce us to the world, and the event that ripped families apart, in the first series, and now he's been used to drive the point home that everyone is going crazy.

You could probably say that his use in the first series was to give us a mirror for Rick, and now he's being used as a mirror for the Governor.

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After such a terrible track record, I have to get at least one prediction right!

 

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Yeah, someone has to go that's for sure, but you know, the BS Galactica had quite a large cast and even though there were deaths, it didn't mean when someone reached a pinnacle they had to go.
Also I don't want to piss in your fire, but Glen/Maggie angle isn't really fully developed. In fact, a lot of them are still pretty undeveloped characters, and what's going to happen at the end of the this season is going to mature many of them.

PS. Four episodes left.

 

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Does any of you believe that they should abandon the prison and leave the territory to the Governor? Can you image Andrea's face when the Governor would come back and declare that they'd won without further blood spilling?

 

[Janga]

This episode was my favorite of the season so far. Love the portrayal of the Morgan character, and the bonding between Michonne and Rick/Carl.

My only problem with the episode is the whole thing with the hitchhiker. That was cold! I felt really bad for him.

 

[Lenny]

The review on the Tor blog explains the hitch-hiker well - he's there to parallel Rick and Morgan's relationship, as well as to show the moral problem Rick has:

At first that hitchhiker seems like another random redshirt like the hermit, a character who wanders into frame as a too-convenient plot device. This time, however, he functions as a road not taken. In the pilot, Morgan took in Rick, a complete stranger. Morgan owed nothing to Rick, and bringing him into his home could’ve backfired spectacularly if Rick had turned out to be more like Merle or the Governor. He risked his life and that of his son because helping people is what good people do, and only a coward would leave someone to die. But that’s exactly what Rick does with the hitchhiker. He knows he should help him—and if they crossed paths a season ago he probably would have—and that if he doesn’t he’s condemning that man to certain death, but the nice thing about being weak-willed and cowardly is that you get to shift blame off yourself and onto uncontrollable events. Rick did with the hitchhiker the exact opposite of what Morgan did in the pilot, which makes him not the good man Morgan thinks he is but the weakling he truly is. Morgan is right, cowardice is a method of survival just as strong as power and dominance, and being good only gets you dead that much faster. Three possibilities have emerged for Rick: he can go back to ruling his Ricktatorship and end up like the Governor, keep talking to ghosts on the phone and end up like Morgan, or he can try to be a good man in an evil world like he originally wanted to be. Only time will tell....

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/03/the-walking-dead-s3-e12-qclearq

He also serves to show us how this new life has changed the characters - not long ago, Carl would have been dogging Rick to go back and pick up the hitch-hiker. Now, however, nothing is even said.

In a similar vein, another thing to note was how utterly calm all three occupants were when the car was surrounded by zombies.

 

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He also serves to show us how this new life has changed the characters - not long ago, Carl would have been dogging Rick to go back and pick up the hitch-hiker. Now, however, nothing is even said.

Oh he wanted to say something probably even to bled for the stranger life, but he didn't dare and you were able to see that in his face as well. Carl was not happy but he accepted the way imho.

My only problem with the episode is the whole thing with the hitchhiker. That was cold! I felt really bad for him.

I felt for him as well. So you're not alone but in good company. But the thing is who can you trust? The stranger at the side of the road or the one going down the rye-field (see 18 miles out)?

 

[Connavar]

Im glad in this last ep Michonne finally got character development and is moving away from clichè angry woman with a sword. Her interaction with Carl and then with Rick in this ep was good for her.

Of course these on the road, more thrilling eps is more interesting than big cast soap opera in Prison and Andrea getting weak every time she sleeps with Governor.

I liked what happened to hitchhiker because it wasnt cold, it was humans adapting to their new world, its lessons. They have lost more people to new people they cant trust. You cant be a good samaritan when every new person you meet can be crazy as Morgan or cold killers like Governor and his crew.

 

[Connavar]

Oh he wanted to say something probably even to bled for the stranger life, but he didn't dare and you were able to see that in his face as well. Carl was not happy but he accepted the way imho.

I think you are reading too much in Carls face. The kid who shot Morgan without a problem dont really care about the stranger. Killing his mother and what he have seen made me see that he knew the stranger was gonna survive or die on his own.

The kid didnt want to even help Michonne, be part of their group until she helped him with the family picture.

 

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Why he would want help when he's been doing all these things without a permission?

He went to the river and cast the stone on the walker, who eventually killed Dale. And then he ran out from the farm-house and shot Shane. But it didn't stop there as at the prison he went to clear out the pharmacy before anyone really realised that he'd gone again.

I look at him and I seen part of teenage rebellion in a young man, who had no time to grow up and date some girls. It's like the time is going backwards to a point, where "thirteen year old ones are adults," just like the Governor said.

Then you look at him at the back seat and you concentrate on that face and you know there's something going on. One part of him might be thinking why cannot we pick him up, while the other might think, "Oh he's getting whacked so why to bother." But you forget something and that's Tyreese gang. Without Carl's help they would be now wandering around the tombs as undead people.

Remember what Michonne said, "You can refuse my help, but you cannot stop me helping you."

 

[FireDragon-16]

Wow, great episode!

There is definitely a fight brewing, however since it's been said that the prison is going to remain a setting for next season, I wonder how much of a fight there's actually going to be. Maybe this season will be just a first wave kind of thing?

Anyway, as to deaths, hate to break it to you Lenny, but kids aren't saved from death, even Rick's kids. Comic spoilers: In the comics, when the Governor attacks the prison, Lori and Judith are both killed while everyone tries to escape. Carl is running for an exit followed by Rick and trailed by Lori carrying Judith. Someone (can't remember what her name was) takes a shot at Lori and hits her in the middle. She dies and (at least in my house) there's a small debate as to whether Judith was hit because the shot was a through-and-through or if she died when Lori landed on top of her.

Daryl is a fan favorite, so I have a feeling that if his character was going to die sometime soon, there'd be some kind of chatter somewhere out there. Glen and Maggie still have plenty of story to cover so I think they're safe especially when you compare Glen's evolution on the show to his evolution in the comics--they seem to be following that line fairly closely.

Then there's the virus. Something we've been thinking about in my household is whether or not it's transferable--like was Judith born with it or would she be safe. If she was born with it, is it possible that if people stay around that the virus could die out within a few generations. If she wasn't born with it, does that mean that people should work at trying to have kids and then make sure that they know where/what they came from and are able to start over. Unfortunately, without having a baby either die soon after birth or be still born, there's no way to know for certain.

 

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Then there's the virus. Something we've been thinking about in my household is whether or not it's transferable--like was Judith born with it or would she be safe.

If she was born with it, is it possible that if people stay around that the virus could die out within a few generations. If she wasn't born with it, does that mean that people should work at trying to have kids and then make sure that they know where/what they came from and are able to start over.

Unfortunately, without having a baby either die soon after birth or be still born, there's no way to know for certain.

True you don't know for certain but you can assume that babies are born around the world all the time and in some cases, if they have the virus in them, they might born as baby zombies. Taking that one step further you might even find them in growling in their cots at hospitals and other places. But is an interesting idea to stipulate that some of the babies are born immune to the viruses. However would it mean that zombies avoid eating them?

 

[Perpetual Man]

Realised I have not been commenting on the episodes recently, things are just getting in the way at the moment, but rest assured I am still watching and loving every minute...

 

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Deleted Scene.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Cheers for posting that scene. Shame a line about turning/changing (and not become zombiefied) wasn't included.

Very good episode, I thought. Nice tight focus, and a great juxtaposition between the hiker begging for help and Morgan begging for death. Although I see the contrast mentioned on the previous page (Rick would've helped the stranger, as Morgan helped him, a year or two ago, and now he doesn't risk it) the comparison I drew was between the way Rick treated Morgan and the hiker today.

 

[rune]

I really liked the episode, so nice to see Rick and Morgan thrash it out. I do hope Morgan joins the group. Also nice to see Michonne making her mark, at least with the Grimes family

 

[thaddeus6th]

I'm not sure I can see Morgan doing that... he was bloody far gone.

However, something that was slightly unexpected was the fact he didn't put back on his body armour or mask (certainly the latter) when 'clearing'. Given his post-apocalypse strand of insanity I would've thought he'd immediately return to the masked* outfit.

*In videogames it's common to mask (either literally or by monsterification) the people who are 'ok' to kill (zombies, Darkspawn, vampires, enemy soldiers). The mask dehumanises and makes anonymous, because it's through the face (and the eyes especially) that we identify one another.

Maybe the absence of the mask is a sign he will come back. He's certainly got the weaponry to make a difference.