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 an excellent return to greatness after a somewhat lacking return from Winter break. The Scott Gimple written ‘Clear’ was simply one of the finest episodes that the show has seen in recent memory, if not ever. It was an episode that took us far (far) away from both Woodbury and the prison, and instead brought us back to what matters most: people, zombies, and survival. The episode had Rick, Carl, and Michonne headed back to the Grimes’ hometown of King County in search of supplies. Along with the supplies, our group found Morgan, the very same man that saved Rick’s life all the way back in the pilot. Things have turned sour for him however, he lost his son after not ending his undead wife, and now spends every waking moment ‘clear’-ing the area of zombies in an attempt to clear his conscience as well. Unfortunately, Morgan was too far gone, and any attempt Rick made to help him was met with resistance. Our group gathered supplies and went home, while Morgan continued his work. Sad stuff.

This week, we’re back to the grind; Governor and Rick are set to talk things out, and possibly stop this war from ever happening! What happens? Read on and find out!

As always, you’ll see plenty of spoilers below, so don’t read until you’ve watched!

Episode Thoughts – ‘Arrow on the Doorpost’

Arrow on the Doorpost was front and centre, a filler episode. Almost nothing of note happens for the entire 42 minutes, and the only real revelation presented is the true nature of why the Governor is doing what he’s doing.

Arrow on the Doorpost opens with Rick, Daryl, and Hershel en route to a neutral location to meet and bargain with Governor Phillip. Rick, Governor, and Andrea begin speaking in private, while the rest of our trio and the Governor’s men hold the fort outside. Rick quickly presents some terms (Woodbury gets everything East of the river, the prison gets everything to the West), which the Governor quickly rejects. He makes it immediately clear that he’s come for only one thing, the surrender of Rick and his group.

Outside, the two groups quickly move from hostility into bonding; Milton and Hershel talk records and amputations, while Caesar and Daryl take out some walkers and share a cigarette. It was almost perplexing to watch this; two groups getting along and passing time, all while ready to shoot one another the moment the word is given. Nothing personal I guess.

Back at the prison, things are shaken up when Merle decides he wants to go after Daryl and the others. Once he’s told no, he decides to go anyways, but is quickly taken down by Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne. He may be strong and unpredictable, but apparently not strong enough to overpower three average-sized people (or maybe he just didn’t want to hurt anyone).

We cut back to the prison, and the two leaders are still not getting anywhere. Rick seems a little too calm during the whole ordeal, which seems out of character for him this season as he’s been quite the hothead. The two end up sharing whiskey while Governor talks of his family and how he lost his wife. Rick, being the family man that he is, looks genuinely sorry and broken hearted for what the Governor’s been through. Rick, you have no idea what he’s capable of.

Back outside, Hershel and Andrea speak just like in the old days. Andrea states that she can’t go back to Woodbury (right before she does…), and Hershel tells her that she’s family and belongs with everyone in the prison. If Andrea ever makes a right decision, I swear that the apocalypse would end. Her bad choices are becoming a staple of her character, and fans are definitely noticing. A quick twitter search reveals countless messages identical to the one below. Maybe we’ll all get our wish before the season ends? Someone has to die in the big battle.

Back at the prison, Glenn and Maggie finally make up. Glenn realizes how selfish he was being, and Maggie (again) reveals that all she wanted in her time of need… was him. The two start gettin’ freaky, and move into a storage unit before doing the deed, as it was simply too weird with the zombies watching. This was by far the longest sex-scene in the show thus far; does it hold some extra significance? Could someone end up pregnant?

The conversation between Governor and Rick has to end sometime, and it ends on quite an interesting note; the Governor doesn’t care about Rick, the prison, supplies, or anything of the sort. All he wants is Michonne. She (re)killed his daughter and took out his eye, so revenge does make sense, it’s just interesting to see him willing to let everything else go for the sacrifice of one person… or so it would seem.

Everyone heads back to their respective bases, and we see each leader reveal a lie; Rick tells the group that Governor wants the prison (which he clearly stated that he didn’t), while the Governor reveals to Milton that during he and Rick’s next meeting, he’s just going to kill everyone. Classic Governor, right? The episode closes with Rick telling Hershel the truth about the meeting, and Hershel agreeing that Rick did the right thing; Michonne has earned her place, Michonne is part of the family, and family is worth fighting for.

Again, besides the revelation of Phillip’s true intentions, and Glenn and Maggie finally making up, this episode was largely filler, and boring filler at that! It was a sub-par offering by any means, and especially following last week’s phenomenal episode.

Hopefully things get better with next week’s Prey. From the promo embedded below however, we can clearly see we’re not getting the war we were promised just yet, but with only three episodes left in season three, it has to be coming soon! Watch the preview below, and let us know what you thought of this week’s episode!

Comic Comparison

This week’s offering was largely original (and again, filler, which you don’t have a lot of time for in 22 pages), meaning that there isn’t really a lot to compare.

The biggest direct comparison would be the Governor’s intentions. Why is he ready and willing to take down Rick and everyone else? In the comic, the Governor makes it clear quite early that he wants the prison and will do whatever it takes to get it. He eventually attacks from all sides and kills or injures nearly every inhabitant, including Lori and her newborn daughter. One of his soldiers finally sees the evil of Phillip’s ways, and blows him to bits before he has an opportunity to hurt anyone else (or occupy the now abandoned penitentiary).

Based on the episode you just watched, his intention is clearly different in the AMC series. He could care less about the prison, even stating that he would prefer Rick stay there so tabs can be kept. All that he wants is Michonne after what she did to his daughter and his eye. Governor even offered to pull back and let everyone else go if they just gave Michonne up, but as she’s an important (and skilled) part of the family, that’s not happening. War is coming, and its coming sometime in the next three weeks.

Andrea is also not terrible in the comic… that’s quite a big change too! She’s skilled, useful, and very smart in Robert Kirkman’s world, where on AMC, it seems like she couldn’t make more terrible decisions. Maybe this will change soon… or maybe she’ll die! Only time will tell!

That’s it for tonight! As always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week, with hopefully a better episode!