The Walking Dead: Season 0316 Welcome to the Tombs

Hello everyone! I am an avid fan of the Walking Dead (both tv show and comics) and while I have not agreed with many of the changes that have been made, I am still happy and entertained by the show and where it is going. Anyways, since this finale was supposed to contain one of the most pivotal moments in the series, I wanted to rip it apart.

THE WALKING DEAD – S03E16 WELCOME TO THE TOMBS

I have to admit, I had no idea that the Walking Dead was actually based off of a graphic novel.  About mid season 2, I picked up the first 100 issues of the comic so I have some reference material.  I have to say, there have been many changes over the course of the show that I didn’t exactly agree with. Many characters have been cut quite short, stories have changed, but overall it has prevailed. The governor is one of the few characters I was disappointed with, only in appearance though.

Left: TV Show                                                                Right: Comic

First a little background. I know basically everyone has now seen at least one episode of the Walking Dead, but if you haven’t here is a quick rundown. Walking Dead follows the adventures of Rick Grimes, a Georgian sheriff, his family (Carl and Lori Grimes) and a group of rag tag survivors they meet during the zombie apocalypse.

Now on to the review:

*SPOILER ALERT*

Welcome to the Tombs, the season 3 finale, was suppose to be the major confrontation between the Governor (and his makeshift army of Woodbury) and Rick Grimes group at the prison.  The build-up to this episode was huge, the last four or five episodes were strictly for building up to the climatic battle between Woodbury and the prison.  In an interview with Andrew Lincoln, he revealed that twenty seven people die.  That is a hell of a human kill count for a Walking Dead episode.  The episode definitely started off quickly, starting off with what happened to Andrea.

Andrea has been stuck in that chair for since the end of episode S03E14, after her attempted escape.  The first scene begins with the Governor threatening Milton, his second in command, with his life, only regaining his life by killing Andrea.  Good ol’ Milton tried to kill the Governor instead, but was easily overpowered.  The rest of their story is inter cut with the assault on the prison. I’ll come back to Andrea and Milton in a bit.

Back at the prison, after some much needed deliberation of whether or not they should stay and defend, the Governor invades with his 25+ army.  After some extremely epic zombie killing, Glenn and Maggie manage to scare them away with some machine gun fire. That is all it took. An army of 25+ with gatling machine guns and grenade launchers was driven away by two people.

This ends up with a very important character development scene for Carl Grimes.  Once the Woodbury army retreated, Carl, Hershel, and Beth were hiding in the brush waiting for one of the soldiers.  The soldier that they caught was a young teenager, probably not even 16.  As he hands his gun over to surrender Carl shoots him in the face, dropping him dead.  Finally Carl kills a human!

As our prison survivors rejoice, We watch the Governor’s reaction to his army’s retreat.  This scene shows absolutely how degraded the Governor’s mind has become season his appearance in S03E03. The Governor, so disappointed and frustrated at his army’s defeat, murders his entire army.  After the slaughter, there are only four people left alive, one barely escaping death.

Cut back to the prison. Rick, Michonne, and Daryl decide to return to Woodbury and kill the governor once and for all.  On the way they discover the remains off the Woodbury army and Karen, the sole survivor that did not leave with the Governor.  Bringing her along, they group reaches Woodbury and confronts Tyreese and his sister, the sole defenders of the town.  Tyreese lets them in after after agreeing to find Andrea.

Tyreese finally did something!

Anyway, the group discover Andrea, suffering from a large bite in her shoulder from zombie Milton.  After some heartfelt catching up, Rick gives Andrea his gun and she commits suicide with Michonne by her side.  Andrea you will be missed.

SCORE: 6.9 / 10 Stars