Welcome to Walking Dead Weekly! As the title implies, each week (bearing a new episode of course), we’ll be taking a look at the latest episode of the AMC series. I’ll let you know how I felt about each weekly offering, and will also compare it to what Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were doing with the comic at the same time.

Last week was a decent (mostly) return to the series after a long (long) Winter break. The episode began with an anticlimactic, seconds-long duel between the brother’s Dixon before Rick and Maggie’s rescue party arrived. Merle and Daryl then decided to go off on their own (as nobody wanted Merle around of course), and Michonne’s welcome in the group seems to have also expired. Things are getting antsy in Woodbury after the multitude of deaths the night before, and it seems like Governor Phillip is having some trouble dealing with it. The episode ended shortly after Rick and friends returned to the prison; Just as it seemed Rick was about to welcome Tyreese into the group, he saw a dead, sillouetted Lori and went absolutely nuts!

What exactly went down afterwards? Read on and find out! As always, there are plenty of spoilers below! You’ve been warned!

Episode Thoughts – ‘Home’

I have to say that I’m pretty torn on this episode. On one hand, the final scene was an intense action piece that rivals the best that we’ve seen from the series. On the other, Home seemed to feature an abundance of unnecessary scenes and moments that made the entire episode seem to drag on (and on)!

Home opens with a still crazy Rick on the hunt for his (long) dead wife. It appears as though he’s been on this wild goose chase for some time; he looks tired (more so than normal), and doesn’t look overly surprised as beautifully dressed Lori disappears from one location, only to lead him to another. As Rick finally reaches her once more, he expels a touching sigh of relief as she lays her hand on his cheek… We then get the same shot from Michonne’s perspective, in which Rick simply looks batshit crazy (he’s pretty much Tom Hanks in Cast Away at this point). Roll opening credits.

Back in Woodbury, Governor commends Andrea for her uplifting speech in the previous episode. He also ensures her that he won’t retaliate agains Rick and the gang’s previous ‘attack’, because, “what would that get us?” Of course at this point the audience knows how untrustworthy The Governor is, so when he states that he will not retaliate… you know it’s going to happen pretty much immediately. Governor, being the smooth talker that he is, convinces Andrea of just how much Woodbury needs her; he kindly requests that she steps in as leader while he takes some much needed time off. Yeah right.

We then get to catch up with the brothers Dixon; hungry, tired, and argumentative, the pair seem to be getting along just as well as ever. It isn’t long before the two come across a family in dire need of rescuing, and while Daryl runs to their aid without giving it a second thought, Merle instead shouts “I ain’t waisting my bullets on a couple’a strangers who ain’t never cook me a meal.” Classic Merle.

Once the family is safe (with Merle only stepping in when a walker gets too close to himself or Daryl), Merle attempts to rob the family of supplies; it isn’t until Daryl turns his crossbow on his own brother that the older Dixon lays off. The family escapes, and an argument ensues between the brothers. We actually get a moment of legitimate emotion from Merle here; as he rips Daryl’s shirt in anger, he realizes that after he left home all those years ago, the abuse he suffered was passed on to his younger brother.

Back at the prison, Glenn is on a (as Hershel deems it) warpath. He barely says a word to Maggie for the entire episode, and when he finally does, it isn’t at all what she’s looking to hear. The only thing that’s on his mind is revenge, while all that Maggie wants is her lover’s support. Unfortunately, Glen can’t see it, and sets off for vengeance before the two can get to any sort of common ground.

In Woodbury, Governor scares Milton half to death before asking him to keep tabs on Andrea. Andrea gets suspicious when she realizes that one of his men, Martinez has disappeared, and The Governor is nowhere to be found as well. Hmm… I wonder where they’re off to.

The sweet, loveable, misunderstood Axel gets more development in Home than in any prior episode. We learn about what he did to get into prison, his life before the dead started coming back, and some of his hopes and dreams. He seems to be making a real connection with Carol this episode, and for the first time in quite awhile, we get to see her genuinely laugh and smile. Of course, development of new characters has typically been a bad omen so far this season, so I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d see Axel taken out before Home came to a close.

Just seconds after I began to wonder about his fate, a single bullet ripped through his skull; he fell to the ground at the same rate thatmy jaw fell to the floor, and seconds later absolute chaos began. Of course, Axel’s death happened right in front of Carol; another heartbreaking moment for the poor soul, not to mention that she must then use his corpse as a shield for the remainder of the attack.

The Governor and a choice few of his men have arrived at the prison. An extremely intense shootout takes place between the two teams. Both groups share similar qualities: seemingly unlimited rounds, and terrible, terrible aim. After nearly five minutes of fire, bullets found their way only to Axel and one of Governor’s men.

The Governor had one more trick up his sleeve however; a delivery van full of walkers. The vehicle easily burst through the prison gates before spilling its contents, causing absolute hell for everyone around. I wasn’t quite sure how our survivors were going to get out of this one, but just a moment later The Governor gathered his men and left the area. Glenn arrived seconds later (I guess he didn’t make it to Woodbury) to pull Hershel and Maggie to safety, while Daryl and Merle showed up to save the day for Rick. The episode closed as our group shut and locked the gate… from the outside. Where do they go from here!?

The episode certainly went out with a bang, but I felt as though it dragged on at other times; the start of the episode may have been one of the weakest in recent memory (in my opinion of course). I certainly hope that we see Lori’s ghost again soon, because at this point she’s been a strange anomaly in the last two episodes, and nothing overly useful or entertaining has occurred because of her. I also found it rather strange that Glenn set off for Woodbury but then showed up just in time to rescue those in need. Why did he turn around? Wouldn’t he have passed The Governor’s men on the way? How did he have such perfect timing?

As with most of the season however, the good definitely outweighed the bad, and if the conclusion of this episode is any indication, next week should be an absolute blast. Check out the preview for Season 3, Episode 11 – ‘I Ain’t A Judas’, and let us know what you think!

Comic Comparison

I think that Rick may be just a little crazier in the AMC series. Sure he goes a little bit insane and tries to talk to his dead wife on the phone in both versions, but just a few days later in the series he then sees her and spends a respectable period of time following her around (after having a gigantic tantrum in front of everyone). Weird.

Home saw The Governor launch a small attack on the prison folk, but it played out a lot differently than it did in the comic. Kirkman’s version had The Governor offering a choice via megaphone; give up the prison or die. The AMC version had Governor’s men simply ambush the group and take out whoever they could (like poor Axel). The comic saw Axel shot in the arm during the first invasion (Issue 44), while in the series he took a bullet through the head.

It wasn’t until the comic’s second invasion that Axel would fall victim to The Governor (Issue 47).

We also haven’t seen any tanks for quite some time in the series, which left me wondering how The Governor would be breaking down the prison fences in the show. Turns out a delivery truck will do just fine, and it also gets walkers in the yard much more quickly than the tank method would have.

Andrea is also in a very different spot in the series than she was in the book at this time. AMC has her as the stand-in leader of Woodbury, while Kirkman had her on the cover of issue 44, a warrior of the prison, and on the opposite side of the Woodbury battle.

Six episodes to go, and The Governor has finally launched an assault on the prison! Who will be left standing as the season closes? Will Beth suffer the same fate on TV that she did in the comics? Will Merle and Michonne be rejoining the group? Just six more weeks until we have all the answers (or at least some of them)!

As always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week! Happy belated Valentine’s day!