We barely even got zombies.
The Governor’s assault on the prison was like watching a ten-year-old play Call of Duty for the first time. Even though there’s nothing on the screen, they fire everything they’ve got at nothing in particular.
At least five explosions later, the Governor decides it’s a good time to start being stealthy – you know, in case the baby was still asleep. They don’t make it far into the prison though, ultimately fleeing from booby-trapped corridors, and Glenn and Maggie outfitted in riot gear. (I guess we’re just ignoring their poorly-timed, poorly-executed engagement from last week?)
The timeframe for the Governor’s assault also coincides with the amount of time Andrea has to escape from her bindings and kill zombie-Milton. Milton refuses to kill Andrea, so the Governor stabs him and leaves him with her, knowing he will kill her anyways once he turns. After the passing of her sister and coming to terms with the world that demands that she “kill or die,” Andrea discards any and all character development she’s gone through, adopting the fool’s hope that she could save everyone without anyone else dying.
Andrea spends most of her screen-time staring at Milton, wondering whether or not he’s dead. Instead of establishing a suspenseful pause, the scene becomes painfully stupid from its overuse, and comically obvious in how it ends. Andrea has flirted with her own demise in every finale so far: first in the CDC, then again when she’s left behind at the farm. Instead of doing something important with these two reprieves, the writers turned Andrea into Lori, at least insofar as she drew out simple problems with obvious solutions until the audience rejoiced in her death.
Unfortunately, Andrea and Milton are the only important casualties in the finale. The Governor, rather predictably, guns down his entire army after they flee from the prison, and then just drives away without a word.
The rest of the episode redefines the word “anticlimax.” When Rick, Darryl, and Michonne find a survivor who tells them about the Governor’s mass-execution, they depart for Woodbury to patch things up with Tyrese and his sister, to say their goodbyes to Andrea, and to bring the refugees back to the prison. No cliffhanger, no set-up for next season, just an armored-busload of old people and children that a handful of capable people have to take care of now.
It’s a shame that the writers have decided to mostly abandon the source material. The graphic novels are a proven success, both commercial and critical – the show is literally already written for them. Instead, they’ve tried making the story unpredictable, undermining the merits afforded by their creative license precisely by taking such liberties, resulting in a show more deserving of the Talking Dead title than the talk-show which proceeds it.
Some stats and info about The Walking Dead, “Welcome to the Tombs”
TV SHOW – The Walking Dead
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 3, Episode 16
AIRED ON – March 31st, 2013
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – AMC
GENRE – Horror, Drama, Zombies, Thriller
CREATED BY – Frank Darabont
CAST – Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Christian Serratos, Josh McDermitt, Danai Guria, Seth Gilliam, Andrew Lincoln, Ross Marquand, Chandler Riggs
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.