The Walking Dead Season 3: Synopsis Episode 11- I Ain't a Judas

The Walking Dead: Season 3 

Episode 11: I Ain’t A Judas

Review, Plot and Synopsis. 

After the first face to face meeting last week between Rick and the Governor we are left to simmer down in a quiet, less eventful episode of The Walking Dead. Last week saw an action packed finale by where a small attack force tested the inmate’s reserve (with Axel departing from the show).

(SPOLIERS)

With Rick still living in crazy land where he can see the dead walking the earth…. Oh wait, zombie apocalypse, the group are finally having their reserve tested and are divide whether to leave the prison or not. They actually confront Rick and start conversations to tell him he needs to rest. Carl approaches his farther early on in the episode and expresses to Rick that he should step down as leader for a while. Hard hearing it from your son, but perhaps he is the only person who can break through this barrier Rick seems to have built around him, repelling any offer of help, with Carl experienced the same loss as his father.

Rick definitely needs to get a grip because he is the only person with all the qualities to lead the group. Hershel has the right attitude and can talk to people, having been in charge of the farm before Rick showed up, but is weak (having only one leg). Merle for obvious reasons isn’t trusted and his brother, Daryl's, ability to make quick decisive decisions is what lets him down. Glen seems too hot headed and is currently enraged with anger and Carl, though he does seem likely to be a better leader than Rick when he is older, is too young at the moment. Carol is the perfect replacement for Rick though; she needs to learn some of Hershel’s dictating skills and learn not to be talked down. She doesn’t seem confident enough when confronting the group, but she clearly knows what she is talking about and express smart, quick ideas in the interest of the group. But one things for certain, there is no way the prison can sustain an attack without a leader and Rick is currently more of a hindrance than a help in his current state of mind.

Andrea learns of the attack on the prison but an altered version from the Governor. He tells her that they fired first when obviously we know that never was the case. Andrea elects to go back to the prison to try and reason with her old friends after seeing that the Governor is building an army (the word army could be questioned as normal vulnerable citizens are filling the boots as what he will probably soon class as solders) as she is torn between her mad boyfriend and the group currently run by crazy Rick.

We also see Milton’s true loyalty to the Governor when he snitches on Andrea as she asks him to help her escape the town so she can create a truce between the two groups. Milton seems no hero and buries his head under the sand on the slightest sign of danger. The Governor tells him to help her and report back to him and so Milton and Andrea head off into the woods to use one of Michonne’s Zombie survival tips (to have your own pet Walker). In doing so another Walker comes up from behind them and as in typical fashion as of late the two are saved from a figure emerging out of the woods. I hope this isn’t a feature that is recycled as we saw last week when Daryl and Merle came out of the woods to save Rick.

The saviours were Tyreese, Sasha and the other two survivors that Rick scared away from the prison. They soon learn about the town and as Andrea heads alone back to the prison Milton offers and takes the small group back to the Governor. The later confrontation seems slightly unrealistic where after talking, the Governor learns that Tyreese and crew have been inside the prison; know the state of the settlers and the layout. It seems slightly weird how this friendly looking character (Tyreese) and worthy looking leader, despite only knowing the character briefly, would give the Governor a prison layout and some insightful tactics on how weak the group is. It's clear what the Governor is planning, why else would he ask for a layout to the prison. It’s hard to see why he would do this especially as Carl saved their lives by leading them through the prison to safety.

When Andre returns to the prison, wading off interest from the Walkers by her pet zombie, Carl spots her and alerts the rest. The group move out of the prison, almost army like in a formation as they are scared that it’s a trap and are being watched through the scopes of others. Rick’s madness is personified when he throws Merle the keys to the gate and he has a gun. Trust is certainly an issue with Rick and for someone who they don’t trust to live in the same part of the prison it seems madness for Rick to give the keys to him. You then hear Rick shouting “are you alone” to Andrea and then secures her like she is a prisoner they have captured.

Andre is taken inside and the atmosphere seems very hostile. Andrea’s absence from the group has been quite some time now and she learns about the loss of Shane, T-Dog and Lori. The group are very reluctant to trust her with the only exception being Carol who has a normal conversation with her and fills her in on what she missed. Even her friend Michonne isn’t as friendly as she had hoped. Michonne tells Andrea the Governor sent Merle to kill her and would of sent him after her as well if she had left. She goes on to tell Andrea that she “picked a warm bed over a friend”.

Andrea is clearly divided between her friends and her new boyfriend. She knows the Governor isn’t what he makes out to be and with all the deceit and lies she knows he has this mad crazy side to him. The confrontation seems very awkward and she isn’t seen as the friend she left as. She has become very distant and more of an outsider showing pity for the rest of the groups loses.

During the only real confrontational conversation between Carol and Andrea she is given the idea to kill the Governor in his sleep. She then is cast out of the prison to return to the town as she came in, more of a stranger than a friend.  But with Andrea being torn between the two and having a foot in either door you see her, on return, waking up in the middle on the night next to the Governor, getting up and retrieve a knife. Despite knowing his plans and his madness she can’t carry out the task and instead stand cowering above the vulnerable looking Governor.

I didn’t expect there to be a great deal of action after last week’s episode. The Walking Dead seems to follow a formula as of late where by once a character leaves the show they are soon replaced and when one episode has action the next tends to be a more chilled episode. The only thing is that it’s so late into the series that the finale looks likely to be the attack on the prison and until then are we just going to be waiting around with more chilled episodes as it builds up for another five weeks until episode 16. Well next week’s episode seems more action packed with the action coming from what looks to be a Walker attack.

Episode Rating:- 7/10