Monday, April 01, 2013

Walking Dead Finale AAR: SPOILERS!

Sort of anticlimactic. AMC fooled everyone into thinking a bloodbath would occur tonight between the Governor's forces and Rick's, and it didn't happen. Oh, the Governor slaughtered a bunch of his own people, true enough, but no one from Rick's group bought a farm, unless you count the erstwhile Andrea as part of Rick's group. I guess David Morrissey gets another season as The Governor.

Andrea's death was sloppily written, from a gun standpoint. Bitten by a zombified Milton, she manages to kill him and survive until Rick & Co. arrive to rescue her. Knowing she's been bitten, she asks to be allowed to end her own life, making a joke about knowing how to take the safety off on a pistol (ref. to Season One, in which Rick showed her the rudiments of using a pistol). Rick then hands her his Python - - a revolver, which of course has no safety. Then, behind a closed door, we hear the fatal shot, and the sound of a cartridge casing hitting the floor. WTF? I suppose the producers of the show will say that was the sound of Rick's Python hitting the floor, but it sure sounded like a cartridge casing to me.

Andrea's death is, of course, a major departure from the plot line of the comic books. The writers are, of course, not bound to follow the comic books - - and haven't, in some major ways, such as the introduction of the Dixon brothers into the Walking Dead universe - - so I have to guess that Andrea, probably the most disliked character on the show, got the axe simply for being unpopular.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the reason for the lack of a bloodbath in the season 3 finale was that the showrunners didn't want to do so on Easter - - which accounted for the gentle scene at the end, where the elderly residents of Woodbury arrive at the prison - - and also because I think that the showrunners wanted to have the evil Governor around for another season. I'm guessing that those new arrivals at the prison probably have red shirts in their luggage, and will serve as cannon fodder for the first few episodes of Season 4.

Carl put a major-league scorning on Rick, didn't he? The kid appears to have been brooding and analyzing carefully, and has decided that Dad lacks the killer instinct necessary in the Zombie Apocalypse. Kid might grow up to be another Shane.

Tell me what you guys think.

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