So that happened! Last night saw the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead, after the mid-season finale left us all desperate for our weekly fix of genre TV. We here at Cheat Code Central have decided to give our own take on AMC’s zombie apocalypse. Beginning this week with “The Suicide King”, we will be recapping all of the action, drama, sucktastic revelations, and, of course, Rick’s mental breakdowns.
Oh, and this pretty much goes without saying: There are massive SPOILERS ahead.
The Great Escape – This episode begins exactly where we left off in December.
The Governor pits brother against brother in a fight to the death in the walker fight club pit. Merle attacks first to prove his loyalty to Woodbury, but soon informs Daryl to follow his lead and that they are getting out of there. The onlookers seem unfazed by the display, as the Dixons (in a true display of back-to-back badassery) fight off the walkers with their bare hands and Merle’s steely nub. The Cavalry (Rick and Maggie) arrive and the breakout ensues. Smoke grenades cover the escape while Daryl recovers his crossbow in spectacular fashion—with an awesome redneck smack spin move to disarm the poor sap that was holding it. Needless to say, the Governor is not pleased.
Merle helps their saviors escape Woodbury, leaving a gaping hole in the perimeter. Once outside the town, Merle stirs up trouble for the group when meeting up with Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne. Rick gives him a well-deserved pistol whip to the back of the head.
The Sherriff is clearly done putting up with Merle’s crap, and it’s about damn time. Rick and company decide Merle can’t come to the prison, and Daryl, staying true to his blood, protests. The Dixons walk away as the rest of the group heads back to the prison. Rick tells Michonne that once they patch her up, she’s gone—sorry, but take your samurai sword and get the hell out.
On the way back to the prison, our ragtag team is stopped by a roadblock, and after Glenn shows off his newly acquired kick-ass zombie killin’ skills, Rick and Glenn get into heated argument about how pointless the rescue was.
The Deterioration of Woodbury – The Citizens of Woodbury are panicking, storming the gate and demanding to be let out, following the previous night’s events. Rightly so, as they were attacked by people and zombies in the past 24 hours, and their fearless leader has lost an eye.
They are stopped at the gate by the Governor’s thugs as walkers get into Woodbury and attack a citizen. In the midst of the chaos, the Governor walks out, caps the bitten citizen in the head, and walks away stone cold. He reveals his intentions to go to war with the other group to Andrea and tries to drive her away by dismissing her as a visitor to town.
After her spat with his Governorship, Andrea gives the crowd at Woodbury an inspired speech to calm them down and emerges as a leader of the people. Who knew?
The Return – Tyrese and group attempt to endear themselves to Herschel, Carl, Beth, and Axel at the prison, but to no avail. Allen and Ben of the new group debate taking weapons from Carol and Carl while going out to bury Donna, but Tyrese and Sasha put a stop to it. I wouldn’t mess with Tyrese either; the man is a mountain.
Carol and Carl have a talk about the pre-zombies life as Rick and team return. Rick tells Carol that Daryl left with Merle instead of coming back. Rick tries to hold his baby, but as she cries we see his deteriorating state start to emerge again. Carol may not be happy about Daryl Leaving, but she says “He has his code, and the world needs more men like that,” while taking care of lil’ Asskicker.
Herschel tries to get to the bottom of what’s going on between Maggie and Glenn. However, neither wants to talk about what happened to them at Woodbury.
The group discusses integrating Tyrese and crew into the group. Despite his reservations, Rick seems to be considering giving them a chance, but then is confronted by the ghost of his dead wife, Lori. It looks like he has really lost it this time, and this may be the push over the edge that has been coming for some time. Tyrese and his group get out immediately, and who the hell can blame them?
I must say, I’m losing faith in Rick. Hell, at this point I think Carl is a better candidate for leader in terms of mental stability, and he had to shoot his own mom in the head. Let’s get it together, Rick, your son is making you look bad.
Check back at Cheat Code Central next week for more Walking Dead goodness. We’ll keep you posted.
| By Josh Bruce Freelance Writer Date: February 11, 2013 |