The second episode of this third season is hard to watch for me. Its isn't the violence that sets me off and I can still point out several parts of the episode that I loved (and I will) but there is just something that doesn't sit right with me about this one. I've watched it a few times and had all week to review it but when I try to really think about why it's not right, I can't put my finger on it. I'm really only making myself write this so I can watch the next episode that is downloading as I type. I put all the spoilers after the break in the last review but I don't think this one will be as long so expect spoilers throughout.
I knew that dealing with these prisoners was going to show the audience that Rick no longer is going to let strangers put his group in danger. If Randall would have stumbled on the the group now (he would literally be stumbling with how badly his leg was messed up) he would need to be simply let go or taken out and Rick would have needed to make that decision quickly and without debate. This is why there are dictators after anarchy. This is what we see him do when it's clear that at least one of these men was not going to play well with others. Maybe something that bothers me is how quickly Tomas comes to the conclusion that they should stay at the prison after learning that there are no locks on these doors and certainly not men with guns on the other side. These guys are told the world is over and they ask for typical things like cell phones to call loved ones and it takes very little explaining before they see for themselves that the outside world has changed. These guys have just spent 10 months shitting in a freezer together, having no idea what is going on outside and then they see this Rick dude chop off another guys leg, tell you the world has ended and would they like help cleaning out a whole cell block just for them? They all jump at the chance to stay there and not even attempt to take off or challenge what this stranger has told them. It just seems that Tomas decided on a plan before even really knowing what was going on. I felt like there were enough guys in the group that one of them could have made a run for it and they could have watched walkers eat him on the other side of the fence giving the rest of them more of a reason to want to stay. (I know, the show is only an hour long and they really had to fit the long scene in where Maggie says goodbye or the one where Carol is lifting the corpse's dress to reveal her dirty underwear.)
They all seem conformable with killing or "shanking" the walkers (I laughed so hard at Rick's face when they went all prison-riot style) but it's not the fact that Tomas really likes the killing that makes him so dangerous. Daryl may have pointed out his love for the blood but the scene when he kills Big Tiny is disturbing for more than just that reason.
Big Tiny was a gentle giant. He did his part but when the violence got more graphic than you're average prison riot, he backed away. He wasn't a bad guy who enjoyed the brutality that is involved with clearing out a cell block from these prisoners that he maybe knew and were now trying to bite them, and scratch them with the exposed bones from their wrists because they were still handcuffed when they turned and now their rotting flesh is more like butter than skin...
Tomas is dangerous because the world he lives in hasn't changed at all. In a pack of animals the alpha male will kill not just for sport or food but as a way to show all the other males that he is the alpha for a reason and if he would just kill at will then you could always be next. This "don't fuck with me" mentality can make living on the streets, in a gang, or cell block C a better place so I don't think Tomas killing Tiny had anything to do with the fact that he could change but was more of a show for T-Dog, Daryl and Rick.
One of the things I loved about this episode was the relationship we see between Rick and Daryl. Even last episode in the oping scene when Rick opens the door and it's Daryl and his red neck smirk on the other side, or when the other's were pantie-washing and so Daryl wanted Rick as his hunting buddy. These men have become close, they have each other's back, and this will really become Daryl's story line when we see that Merle is back. The brother relationship between these two is complicated to begin with but I'm sure when we add the guilt leaving his brother on the roof.... wow, it's going to get really hard for Daryl to choose between the brother that we saw in his pain-fueled hallucination insult him but ultimately giving him the anger to get him up that hill and this man that he's learned to respect like a brother and he's watched out for. The only thing that bothers me about Daryl is that he's still driving that loud motorcycle (It's not a motorcycle it's a chopper, baby) I have one that lives on my street and you can hear it until it's half way out of town... I know it's his brother's so I'm really hoping they use that somewhere because it can't get that great of gas mileage...I'm just hoping that the writers are holding on to it for a reason other than it makes him look cool.
I think my prediction for who was creepily watching Carol preform her walker C-section is going to be (drum roll please) : Merle
At first I just thought it was someone from the Governor's camp but now I think it's M-Dog himself.
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| I hope we see Oscar again... |
Yes, I skipped over Lori and Rick (his hand on her shoulder)... Lori and Hershel (mouth to mouth, really?)... Beth (who I'm surprised isn't back in her catatonic coma state), and Glenn being dumb enough to leave Hershel's side but I have to say something about Carl. Of course he took off to get medical supplies! No one was watching him and no one else was doing it! When Lori gets on his case about doing what needs to be done and then coming back unharmed it really makes me wonder where her story line is going to end up... Are we supposed to hate her that much?
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