The Walking Dead: Season 3

This last season of The Walking Dead was a mixed bag for me: lots of good stuff and lots of cringe inducing stuff. This post contains major spoilers for Season 3.

The Good:

* Merle and Daryl -  Daryl is an amazing and popular character. Although he started out rough around the edges, he proved to be a loyal friend and a central part of Rick's group. He shows more of his softer side through his growing friendship with Carol and helping care for Judith, Rick's baby. He is still fiercely loyal to his brother and opts to abandon the group, but returns later to help Rick save Woodbury. Daryl is one character that keeps me interested in the show. Merle is racist, offensive, violent, and tortured Glenn and Maggie for the Governor. Normally, I would not like him, but his exit from the show was poetic and made up for all of his previous actions. He viewed himself as just as horrible as everyone else did, but proved himself to be a good person willing to sacrifice himself to save his friends. His last encounter as a zombie with Daryl was the most heartbreaking scene of the whole season.

* Glenn and Maggie - This couple is the most consistent bright point in the whole series. Their love is unwavering and even if they fight occasionally, they are always there for each other. I just love their relationship!

* the Governor - The Governor is the deliciously evil, two faced villain that makes this season special. At first, he seems to be a great guy that just wants to make a normal, safe place for people in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. Under that Stepford husband exterior lurks a depraved mind. It's revealed that he keeps his undead daughter chained up, brushing her hair and singing to her as if she was alive. He also has fish tanks full of heads (both from zombies and living people) and he won't hesitate to kill or torture or use anyone for his own ends. He maintains his "good guy" facade to the residents of Woodbury to keep them on his side and keep them against Rick's group until he finally breaks and slaughters his own men. The Governor has just the right amount of insanity, manipulation, and delicious evilness to maintain a threatening presence for the entire season.

* Michonne - Michonne is an amazing character both in the comic book and on TV. I would say she's the strongest character on the show in general. She has the most ingenious methods of survival, the best being having 2 zombie pets with arms and jaws ripped off to keep other zombies away. She wields a katana with expert precision and isn't afraid to do what has to be done, no matter how unpleasant. Her voice of reason kept me sane watching this season with so many horrible decision-making going on.

* Carl - Carl is a horrible character who does stupid things and gets in trouble because he doesn't stay where he is supposed to. However, at the end of the season, he kills a young man from Woodbury who was possibly going to surrender. After Rick confronts him, he shows no remorse and insists that the kill was necessary for their safety. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next season and how growing up during a zombie apocalypse can affect children.


The Bad:

* Andrea - UGH! Andrea is still alive in the comic book and easily one of my favorite characters. In the show, she's dead, but not before having everything that makes her awesome become completely obliterated. It all started in previous seasons when she encouraged depressed people to commit suicide and shot at her friends. In this season, she starts by ditching Michonne after being saved by her and staying by her side for 8 months for a seemingly idyllic town and a guy she just met. So then she falls for the Governor and even after a huge amount of red flags (including seeing the fishtanks full of heads), she STILL doesn't see how horrible he is. Even her death scene is terrible. She has pliers to get herself out of the restraints in sight, but she spends way to much time talking to and staring at Milton. I really don't understand why the writers took such a strong, amazing character and ruined her.

* Woodbury - In the comic book, the whole town is complicit in pitting humans against zombies for entertainment. This is an important point because the people of Woodbury are not innocent in that situation and can't be trusted by Rick's group. The horror is much greater in the comic book because it shows how bad it's gotten when people are willing to kill for entertainment. The Woodbury in the show is just as innocent and unaware as Rick's group (except for Milton, the Governor, and the small group of followers that helped torture Glenn and Maggie). The Governor consisently manipulates them and lies to them, so after it all goes down, many of them go to the prison to join Rick's group. I just found this aspect lacking and it could have been much more horrific.

The Walking Dead season 4 starts October 13th on AMC. What are you looking forward to? What are your thoughts on Season 3?