So why are are now following around Andrea as she trots along a road trying to warn the prison that Michonne’s surrender will not bring peace? Why do we have to hang out with Tyreese and his sister as they fight with their own group and become suspicious about the Governor only to ultimately do nothing about it? This whole episode turns into one giant merry-go-round of pointless action and movement that leads us back to the same place we were when we began it. Andrea tries and fails to do something important and ends up imperiled, but who cares? Her character has been wasted over three seasons, and seeing her dispatched would be something of a relief. To the best of my knowledge, she wouldn’t even have to be mourned much, since no one seems to like her all that much in the world of the show anyway.
Tyreese and his group have their moments, as it seems that the wife of one of the men became enamored of Tyreese after he saved her, leaving the husband feeling upset and lost. Tyreese shows his early-era-Rick-style kindness in assuaging the doubts of the man (who is just another of the most terrible people to ever survive the apocalypse) up until it becomes convenient to be a jerk to him. The characters swing wildly between anger and understanding and to see Tyreese end the episode affirming his desire to be part of Woodbury is infuriating in a bad way, because it makes no sense.
Milton is the only person who gets out of the episode not only intact, but possibly elevated. He tells Andrea about the plans the Governor has for Michonne and the prison group, but of course he stops Andrea from killing him when she has the chance. He has some justification about how Martinez (the zombie-hating lackey from last week) would fill the power void and that would be worse, but would it? We don’t know, because we barely know Martinez. Also, why couldn’t Milton take command? Milton claims to have known the Governor (or “Phillip” as he calls him) way back when, and Milton expects that his old friend is alive somewhere in this bitter sociopath, much as he believed people existed somewhere inside the zombies.
Milton’s idealism is endearing, so long as it is being put to good use. But answer me this, why would he go torch the walkers in the pit that would be used as living weapons and then come back to Woodbury? Why wouldn’t he warn the prisoners? Or help Andrea? If it wasn’t him torching the walkers, why tip the scales so heavily in his favor? It’s nice to see one person who still values human goodness, and to get a glimpse at the past, but when he acts so stupidly it’s hard to really feel too great about it.
Such a waste. When the episode began with a flashback I thought we might be getting a Lost-structured episode, filling in background to inform the present and invest us emotionally in the actions we were watching. No such luck. Instead, we get a meandering episode with a failed central set piece taking place between Andrea and the Governor and one vaguely menacing moment at the end.
Where do we go from here? There are two more episodes left, and honestly, right now, I don’t care, just so long as the answer is, for once,
“forward.”
