Walking Dead Season 3 Finale

I suppose this is game related, since The Walking Dead episodic series was amazing. Nonetheless, I just want to know if anyone else is as giddy as a school kid that Adrea, stupid indecisive useless waste of air Adrea, is DEAD. DEAD. DEAD. I hope the series can move on rapidly now that it has a degree of closure to lingering plot threads/viewing complaints.

I thought is was just okay. That would have been a good penultimate episode to the season, but not for a finale. It was so uneventful. That was a fucking horrid "attack" on the prison. Oh and of course I am SOOOOOO glad Andrea is finally dead.

Off-topic: At least Mad Men is on next week

It was an okay episode, but it was a weird finale. If anything, it felt like a mid-season finale. But yeah, that ending...that person did it to themselves. So many chances to get out...but you just haaad to keep talking for no reason. And heaven forbid you talk and work at the same time. Geez.

Granted, odd finale and not a great episode. I'm hoping they are putting things to rest and getting ready to move on from episodes at the prison and Woodbury, though the time at the farm gives me pause.

Heard a lot of people online saying this wasn't good. Shocker.

It wasn't good...oddly anticlimactic even w/ the "surprise" death. I cannot believe Alan was killed. Kidding. Unfortunately instead of plot movement we got yet another moral quandary to ruminate over and a pretty lame attack on the prison. So, another season at the prison it seems, w/ the Gov still roaming around? Ach, i'm hoping the new showrunner turns the ship around, but I am getting to the end of my tether with TWD The Show.

1) How is the Governor still alive? Do they really need to drag that character out even more?

2) Why the FUCK would they go back to the prison instead of Woodbury with all those new people. It's not like they are threatened by the three man army of the Governor.

3) Carl is an utter cunt.

4) Nobody gives a shit about Andrea, you don't need to give her almost half the episode of screen time. Just kill her and be done with it, for fuck sake.

5) Herp derp Maggie and Glenn are suddenly commandos.

Someone needs to rein these horrible AMC writers in. Absolutely shat over the comics.

Or better yet, get the Telltale crew in.

What a load of shit. I'm out for season 4.

I thought the episode was fine. Andrea has been fine too. What is with all the hate? Am I on IGN?

A rather shitty ending to what was mostly a pretty great season. I was supremely disappointed. Didn't feel like a finale at all, rather completely anti-climactic and poorly paced. I honestly don't know what they're trying to set up or where the show can go from here, so at the very least I'm interested to find out what happens next, but almost everything about this episode was unsatisfying. They couldn't even get me to care about Andrea after I thought that she was starting to redeem herself a little in the last few episodes.

It was an ok episode. Not one of the best. Not one of the worst.

Can't say I understand The Governor and his men just abandoning all of their supplies in Woodbury and taking off. Seemed strange, but I guess they felt as if the situation needed some form of resolution.

Andrea did way too much talking and far too little action for the situation she was in. I guess someone considered a main character needed to die and her coming back into the fold wouldn't have made much sense. Her arc was sort of finished.

I like where they have set things up going into Season 4. Some new characters to get to know. A villain that is still out there no doubt waiting to strike, Father and son turmoil. It should be interesting.

Do you just literally hate everything ever?

They gave Andrea a good send off. She got to be preeeeetty annoying throughout this season, but by the end when she keeps saying how she just didn't want anyone to die, it's easier to understand and sympathize with why, in this world gone to utter shit, she'd try so annoyingly hard to broker a peace between the settlements.

Carl putting Rick in his place (sort of) was such a strange scene. Not strange in its direction or writing or anything, just strange to see a character remember how all the times Rick chose not to kill the living and throw it right back in his face, let alone that character be his son.

I was much more excited about this series at the end of the first chunk of this season, but since they came back they couldn't maintain any momentum for me. This ending doesn't get me excited for the next season like the S02 finisher, but it's an acceptable state of affairs to leave on.

Have you not been watching at all this season? They're all bloody commandos at this point. With infinite ammo when they need it.

You know, I had the same question and more. Perhaps it's just because the episode didn't take/have the time to explain just how many new folks were coming to the prison (but, considering it was just one busload, I guess we're to assume it wasn't the whole population of Woodbury), but ultimately that beat felt woefully underdeveloped. Why, exactly, are all those people coming? Were these people made aware of the Governor's barbarism? Are there still people in Woodbury? Are the people who stayed still loyal to the Governor? Didn't the prison survivors make mention a few episodes back that their supplies are getting low? Wouldn't relocating to a post-Governor Woodbury a more obvious, more viable long-term plan?

While I'm sure the next season might move the necessary pieces into view so we viewers can make sense of it, as it stands there's a suspension of logic that moment requires I'm not sure I can commit.

My instant thought to the last scene was 'Cool, we have a whole bunch of zombie fodder we get to see killed off!'

Having the group composed of just like 7 people would've been weak because they wouldn't kill anyone off as quickly as a big group.

My thought through the whole episode was 'Well this whole season's buildup was for nothing'

As others have said, this seemed like a good penultimate episode. I wish they would have ended the Governor story thread so they could move on in season 4. The show has severly departed from the comic series at this point and I almost hope it continues this way. That is to say, to have the central themes and characters from the comics but with a little twist. I'd hate to watch a shot for shot of the comics. I love them but different stuff is good.

@historyinrust: I think your questions are totally valid. I think with the pace at which shit was revealed in this episode, it would have benefited from another hour of explanation. I guess the whole Woodbury people thing was supposed to be the "hook" for the start of season 4. I don't know.

If I had to guess why they chose the prison over Woodbury would be because of the defensibility. I mean, Rick's group was able to sneak into Woodbury a thousand times without ever being detected. The prison is basically a singular building that has numerous lockable gates with only 2 ways to get in (the front gate and the weird blasted out bit in the "tombs"). I would also imagine that nobody is left at Woodbury. I think the taking in of the Woodbury group can be seen as Rick trying to revert to his old values. Season 1 and 2 showed a perhaps naive Rick who only ever wanted to help people. Half-way through season 2, and all of season 3 showed a Rick who was bitter and detached from the rest of the world (remember when he left the desperate backpacker dude on the road?). I think the show is trying to get back to the idea that just because civilization does not necessarily exist any more, doesnt mean we cannot be civilized. This can be a view that is in contrast with the Governor's "Kill or be killed" view.

I will stick the show out, simply because I love the idea of post-apocalypse worlds and how that affects the human psyche. In reality, I view the Walking Dead more as an anthropological view into the mind of humans than a horror show (which it is not). The best parts are when the group has to make a moral decision. Essentially, that is the same reason why I loved the game so much.

I know right! Its almost like the show is based on a comic book or something.

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Riot_Gear

It's sad that they made Andrea such a useless character in the show, she's a really great character that the group relies on in the comic. Easily in the top 3 character of the comic series for me really.

1) Because he's a interesting character, I would like to see more of him in the future.

2) The Prison is more secure

3) He did the right thing, they yelled him to drop his weapon and instead he pointed at Carl and slowly handed it over. Could of easily gone the other way

4) Yeah pretty much

5) They been killing zombies for over 2 years now, it's not like this is the 1st episodes that showed them being badasses

I actually like this show, the ending could of just been Rick killing the Governor which is what everyone expected, I think it ending quite unexpectedly with them taking the children and elderly from Woodbury.

They can really do something with that premise next season, actually really liked the season overall the town being introduced gave them a real threat.

I don't watch much TV, Breaking Bad, Curb, Louie, Thrones and this is all I really watch and pay attention to. Might have to give Mad Men a try from the start as well.

No.

Mad Men is great but a real slow burn, worth sticking with though.

Hmmm, love people who bash the show with some ridiculous reasons...

1 - The Governor just started getting good. They just started to break the skin with him and he was finally looking like the Governor us comic book fans know and love (to hate.) I was hoping they didn't kill him off because it felt too soon.

2 - They took them to their home? Not sure what is so shocking. Think about it, the group just found out the Governor killed his entire army himself and is down to 3 people. As far as they're concerned, the war is likely over, or at least down to just 3 nut jobs.

3 - Agreed. =P

4 - I never understood the hate for Andrea. She's trying to have everyone survive, she's a character that believes there can still be peace in the world. Everyone bashes her because she makes these stupid decisions when ya, in hindsight, they are stupid, but that's because WE know everything else that's going on around it, she DOES NOT. Put yourself in her shoes, everyone I talk to about a hatred for Andrea can never seem to do that.

5 - They're commandos? I didn't see them kill a single person. What makes them commandos all of a sudden? Because they had riot gear and assault rifles and generated a lot of chaos to scare the Woodbury army out of the prison? Then mine and your definitions of the word "commando" are completely different. If anything, they were terrorists far before they were commandos in that scene.

I do agree that this half of the season was bad compared to the rest of the series so far but I thought the last 3 episodes of the season (particularly the one with Morgan and the season finale) were great.

@sooty said:

i hope rick has to kill him after he's mauled by zombies :3

I like to think that the same disease that makes them into zombies when they die, also makes them go insane when they are alive.

Because in order to keep your zombie daughter in a box, or get phone calls from your dead wife, or even run around with zombie slaves and a ninja sword, you have to be fucking crazy.

Seriously this.

Anyone else think they left the Governor alive due to the fact that for quite a long time after the prison era of the comics, there really isn't a whole lot of 'actual' conflict until even just recently in #100. (The cannibals were only a chapter or two if I remember). Like I'm talking an actual villain who is a figurehead for us to hate and root for the good guys to triumph over.

In the comics, it's just really them surviving for awhile and setting up a new town to shelter themselves indefinitely while introducing new characters, relationships etc. The TV show has already done the whole "We need to survive and keep moving" to death now, and I think Season 4 will start showing the cracks in the armor when it comes to the differences of comic formats over TV Show formats. Unless the writers can pull some really good tricks in order to hide all that. Which I think they're trying with The Governor. We'll see. I hope it can keep my attention in Season 4 and beyond.

I think the Governor is still around simply due to the fact that the show has been going through budget issues and, like the extensive use of the farm in season two, he and Woodbury are an easy way to keep the show going.

As far as the reason for hating on Andrea,

that nails it. She was great in the comics, somewhere between the portrayal of Andrea and Carl in the show. In the comics, she is a badass sharpshooter who understands that morals surrounding group survival are different now that civilized society had collapsed, but has not simply turned into a fuck everything ass like Carl in the show. The show missed all these points. She can shoot and survive, but turns into a scared fool when having to make a quick decision of great importance. And she seems to have no idea the world has changed - everyone is great, no one is bad, and if she keeps making naive decisions then everyone can sing kumbaya around a campfire later.

Uh, I think I'm out for next season and the rest of the seasons.

@sooty: That was convincing

They're going to need to change something because Season 3 was overall a pretty weak season IMO.

Really anticlimactic. I don't care about Andrea, the governor sucks, and Carl is the only one who has balls. That's it

I liked it for the most part. Can't say that it really felt like a season finale though. When there was about ten minutes left I had to ask one of my friends who I was watching it with if this was an extended episode or just a regular 1 hour finale. It just didn't feel like anything happened that made me lean forward on the edge of my seat after the Governors little rampage on the road. It really seemed like they were hinging on Andrea being the big shocker moment at the end, but considering I don't really care about her character anymore, it didn't really do anything for me. To be honest I was more saddened by what happened to Milton than by what happened to Andrea. I really liked that guy and thought it would've been cool to see how he would change outside of Woodbury.

Compared to the excitement and change that happened on the farm in last season's finale this seemed kind of weak by comparison. Overall I felt it was still a good episode that might be setting up something interesting, but I think it would have benefited from some extra time. Oh and Tyrese is with the group now, that's good enough for me to end the season on.

As many others had said, I just felt it was really, really anticlimactic. In my mind, the entire season was boiling down to this inevitable stand off between the Governor and Rick. It just seemed odd that we saw this 10-15 minute "battle" and then that was it. Over, done, voila.

I still enjoy the show, and am intrigued to see where they go next with it next season, but ultimately I was disappointed by this season's finale.

I guess I'm alone when I say I like the direction Carl is going. He's maturing in a way that I would only expect after living in a zombie world, having to kill his own mother and live with a father who, while loving of him, is somewhat insane and rather neglectful given his responsibilities as group leader. The kid used to suck in the past two seasons and this season he grew a pair, and became cold hearted. I dig it.

Outside of that, this episode was boring.

Can't believe they are gonna drag out this fucking prison arc even more. They fucked it up so bad already.

Yah, the prison seams like the best, defendable place ever, especially considering the zombies are still defending the prison halls, even though they have been through them a hundred times.

I dont know, perhaps its just a new form of zombie, much like the heavy zombie they introduced earlier in the season, like a ninja zombie.

The episode was mediocre at best.

The attack on the prison left a lot to desired and overall just felt rushed. There was no build up, no planning. It was just hey these guys killed a bunch of us lets go kill them back! Nobody questioned the governor (well except Tyrese). I would have much rather the episode to have ended with the Governor loading up his troops to attack the prison and season 4 opening with him rolling up on the prison.

Carl's attitude mirrors a lot of the Carl in the comics post prison. He becomes hard, cold, and ruthless as the books progress. I actually applauded his decision because when someone says "Drop the gun" that doesn't mean keep walking forward to me with gun in hand.

Andrea dying was predictable and not fulfilling in anyway. Yes a lot of people hated her but she was one of the better developed characters in the comics and show. You could tell she regretted her decision to let the governor live but you don't feel any empathy for her when she gives you her reasons. I don't know if it was due to poor writing, poor acting, or both but either way her final scene was the exact way to not end a season on.

I think overall this season was better than season 2 but still not as good as season 1. It'll be interesting to see what they do with season 4 but with how they've been going through show runners my hopes are fading for this show to carry much weight in the coming future.

The writers of the show are really bad. You can tell because if you compare how the characters acted so far to the choice they made that caused whatever trouble, it doesn't really fit. Usually it's fine if it happens once, but like with Anrea, it kept happening over and over and when you see a jar full of trophies of humans AND walkers plus an undead daughter you can't keep fucking that guy. Especially when she's supposed to be non stupid and a really natural fighter (which I assume means you have a keen sense of danger like Michonne does).

They just used her character for what they needed to get done and it showed. That to me made this season the worst.

What I think could bring the show back on track? Turning Carl into a bad guy. He cements the idea of this kill first mentality. He get reprimanded for it but he doesn't change his attitude. So then he starts doing it on the sneak. People start dying and nobody knows how they did. Then after a while the killing starts getting to Carl in some way. Maybe deep down he knows it's wrong after he kills a kid or woman or something. Somebody gets the idea that it's Carl and eventually Rick finds out then deals with it.

That'd be a pretty good sub plot.

@jams: It's funny you bring that up because that's exactly what I told my fiance after we watched the finale. It would be interesting to see the writers build up a tension in the differing philosophies that both Rick and Carl are starting to have. I have no background with the comic, so maybe they already did that?

The thing that baffles me is that none of the Governor's right-hand men had the balls to put a bullet in his skull. Were they really too shocked to stop him slaughtering their friends?

It's like I was watching some alpha wolf male showing his flock his dominance. The other betas just stood by.

I was out after season 2, despite the fact that the latter half of that season got pretty great.

Is this season worth a watch when it comes to Netflix?

There's some really good episodes and really boring drawn out episodes. I remember the first two episodes being really great.

From what I remember, something similar did happen with Carl. He killed another boy his age that was raped and went serial killer crazy. So Carl killed him. It was okay that time but I feel like there was another occasion that more closely resembled what happened on the show but Rick set Carl straight pretty quick. It's been a while since I read that part but that's what I remember.

I thought it was a little underwhelming, though most of my frustration is directed to Carl who continues to be an awful character. There was no reason to kill that kid who was surrendering. I was really hoping that Carl would be taken down this episode because he's too idiotic for me to care about him one bit.

I think the Governor is one of the best things about this season. Especially his coat in the finale. I want that coat.

I feel like the hipster hate squad is on the loose once again. All the people who are shitting on the show, have been shitting on it all season in the other thread, which begs the question: why are you watching it in the first place?

I personally thought it was a pretty good episode. The attack on the prison was kind of short, but it makes total sense in the context that the Governors "army" was nothing more then a group of people who had been lounging around sipping lemonade a few episodes back. Obviously they would be spooked and they would run. Which led to the great scene of the Governor massacring everyone, finally revealing fully, the animal that he is. It also did a good job of creating a tension between Carl and Rick. Rick realizes that the way he's been acting isn't the way that will benefit everyone. You can't exclude people, or else you end up producing a group of heartless drones ala the Governor. Carl is going on that path, but he can still be saved.

All in all, it was pretty good. Sets up some interesting stuff.

I remember immediately thinking: Wow, they really put in a lot of effort and money in the whole war-sequence. Explosions, equipment, sound, gore and general technical prowess seemed to indicate the creators really were lashing out on this finale. But then this long-teased war was prematurely ended by some of the most basic scare-tactics one could imagine like a minute later and I realized, that this was indeed a TV-show and not a budget cinema blockbuster. And while I can live with the fact the governor's attack on the prison thus fell short (there's is logic behind his "army's" reaction after all), they way this episode was put together just felt generally anticlimactic and disappointing. My urge to continue on with this series is pretty much at a minimum right now. But that's okay, considering there are a couple of shows out there I follow, it's actually pretty cool to be able to put this one aside for real until the next season hits (might even hit me by surprise like the third season did ;)).

My reaction toward this episode, and perhaps in some ways the show as a whole, can be summed up with pretty much one question:

Oh for fuck's sake don't you know how to multitask?

A big ole' damp squib. That's my impression anyway, especially regarding the whole Woodbury/Prison battle that seemed to be hyped up no end. I want to like this show, I really do, but some of the writing and general character development is just so standard. I will go into next season with a glass half full approach now that they have Scott Gimple as showrunner.

Not that I was expecting much but man was that ever weak. I could go into everything that sucked about it but its pretty much already been covered here. This show is just awful really. The zombies are well done but after 3 seasons I dont think that stuff will be able to keep me interested in this show anymore. What a sad group of characters. They killed off one of the best on the show the other week too. On a bright note I just started watching Boardwalk Empire and that show is great. Reminds me of Sopranos in alot of ways. Almost done season 1. Oh and that Game of Thrones season premiere was great as well.

They told the guy to drop his weapon, that doesn't mean slowly handing it over while aiming at carl. How many times have you seen in movies people shooting someone when handing it over, the guy should of just dropped the gun like they told him to do.

I agree with almost everything you said. People seem to be forgetting that Merle killed most of the Governors best men when he went off on the suicide mission leaving the Governor with only two real soldiers to attack the prison with.

Also http://begthequestion.info/

Ah yes, Boardwalk Empire. After hearing about and watching a bunch of clips of Richard Harrow, I really need to get on watching that.