In the highly-anticipated season 3 finale of AMC's The Walking Dead...
The Governor launches a full offensive on the prison, Andrea's fate is finally decided, Rick confronts Carl regarding a questionable decision Carl makes, and the people of Woodbury face changing circumstances as a result of The Governor's rampage.
For the most part, this was a solid episode, and in many ways turned out to be a fitting end to this thrilling season. However, this finale also had loads of miscues that I felt could've been changed or eliminated to truly make this a Walking Dead night to remember. It could've been absolutely great, but as it stands, it's just "good".
I loved the prologue with The Governor, Andrea, and Milton. Probably the most thrilling six minutes in recent memory of this show. I also enjoyed the fake-out Rick and the group pull on The Governor at the prison. It's a cool scene especially because you don't know what's going to happen next. Later, Carl makes a poor judgement call regarding a captured member of The Governor's ranks. This scene sets the stage for what I think will be an awesome storyline in Season 4 regarding Carl's changing mental state.
I was disappointed, though, first and foremost, in the fact that Andrew Lincoln's assertion that 27 characters would die in this episode seemed to fall roughly 10 short of the mark. Additionally, we don't see The Governor for much of the episode. He runs off with Martinez and one other guy about halfway through, and then we don't see him again. No idea where he is or where he's going. Again, another storyline for Season 4.
I also didn't really care for the ending. It was interesting to see Rick and company take in Woodbury's citizens, and I think that will be another cool aspect of Season 4, especially when The Governor finds out that everyone who was once on his side is now with Rick. But what bothered me most was Andrea. Like WTF happened there? She's in a room with Michonne, a zombie bite, and a gun. It's clear that, if nothing else, Andrea is bound to turn into a walker. But the scene cuts away from Michonne leaning in to put her head next to Andrea's to an exterior shot where all you hear is a gun blast. We don't know exactly who shot who. Did Andrea shoot herself? Did Michonne shoot Andrea? Did they shoot off into space to make the people listening from the outside think Andrea was dead? Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing Michonne again after this scene. Did Andrea shoot her? Or perhaps did they put their heads together and, quite literally, kill two birds with one stone? I'm not sure we'll know for certain until Season 4 premieres this October. The entire dramatic tone of the finale's ending hinged on Andrea's fate which, at least to me, doesn't quite end up being set in stone. This killed a bit of the emotional impact that the episode should've had. Overall it just felt like a weak springboard to leap from into next season.
Still a solid finale that poses numerous storylines to speculate about as we anticipate Season 4, but this episode lacks the emotional impact that it should've had as a climax to this high-tension season.
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