The Walking Dead 4-8: The Governor Yokos Rick’s Rebels

(Unsurprisingly, spoilers below!)

Rick believes nobody is ever “Too Far Gone,” but the Governor disagrees… maybe because he’s a crazy-ass monsterpants! The Walking Dead mid-season finale pooped the bed real good, leaving Rick’s Rebels standing in a deep pile of doo-doo. How will they ever clean this up? We won’t know until TWD returns February 9, 2014.

As always, let’s check with Dale before jumping in with the recap.

Well, I can’t say I’m glad to be here, but, if it had to happen, I suppose I went out better than most.

Hershel, you ol’ rascal! How’ve you been?

Not well. Got m’head cut off with a samurai sword.

Seriously?

Yes. It was mighty unpleasant. Still, I kept my dignity intact, much as you did, when the time came.

Hershel what the heck are you talking about?

COME OVER HERE AND GIVE ME A BEARD HUG!

Haha, all right, Dale, you goofy sonofagun. It’s beard hug time. Then it’s Spaghetti Tuesday. After that, well, I think I’m gonna go meet the Lord, ask him how his day’s been.

Thanks for the recap, Dale, and Hershel, we’re all sad to see you at the Afterlife RV, buddy. Anyway, onward, to the recap!

The Gov captures Michonne and Hershel, and feeds his crew all kinds of lies to get them to rally behind him in an attack on Rick’s Rebels. He plans to use Michonne and Hershel as leverage, claiming that he wants to peacefully transfer the custody of the prison to his crew. Michonne’s response: “I’m going to kill you.” That’s right, Michonne, to hell with making peace with The Governor! After all,  she knows what really happened in Woodbury. Once Michonne gets done copping a badass ‘tude, Hershel tries to use his epic people skills to get through to the mayor. He’s a master of getting through to people with their guard up, and he sneaks around to the conversational backdoor by pinpointing that one bit of humanity left in the Governor– his dead daughter. Hershel implores Govvey-boy to leave his daughters, and the prison, alone, but, alas, it’s all for not. Govvey-boy is too far gone.

The Gov and his crew show up in a flipping gosh-dang tank, toting guns aplenty. Rick’s Rebels are out numbered and out gunned, and they know it. Rick does the sensible thing by ffering to accept all of them, even Govvey-boy, into the prison and they can all live together. Rick pours his heart out in this speech, and Andrew Lincoln acts his ass off, encapsulating so much of the loss Rick’s felt over these past few seasons, his madness, his rage, and ultimately, his hope for peace. The Gov’s response to this magnificent speech? He slices Hershel’s head off with Michonne’s sword!!! Hershel nooooooo! It breaks my heart to see the most kickass Santa go, but his loss seemed to be the most logical choice out of the cast. He had a great, long run on the show, surviving multiple crazy season finales, viral outbreaks, and an amputation. Now, we can all feel better that Hershel will meet up with Dale in that RV in the sky- they can compare beards and talk about how they’re pretty much the only people on The Walking Dead to make it through with their morality intact.

After Hershel’s beheading, all hell breaks loose. Megan and her mom (whose name escapes me, but I’ll call Brunette Andrea) stay back from the prison to be safe…which doesn’t work out so well. Megan gets bitten and dies, and Brunette Andrea brings her body to the Gov, which makes zero sense but whatever, let’s roll with it. Without missing a beat, The Gov  walks up to Megan and shoots her in the head. Then everyone opens fire. Every single person in Rick’s Rebels takes up a gun, even the two girls Carol was prodding to stab their father two seconds after he died. During the fight, these two kiddos murder a couple of living, breathing people to save Tyreese’s big powerful butt. Uh… awesome? Uncomfortable laughter?

A lot of Rick’s Rebels get on the pre-prepared  escape bus and drive away, leaving a big chunk of the group behind fighting for their lives. Glenn, still recovering from being sick, is on the bus while Maggie gets left behind. Tyreese and some of the kids run away together. Maggie pairs up with Sasha and Bob. Beth ends up paired with Daryl- after he single handedly takes down the tank and half of the people behind it! Rick and Carl make it out together… although it looks like baby Judith didn’t, judging by the blood-spattered baby carseat she was in not five minutes earlier.

Once again, you may outnumber Rick’s Rebels and have more gun power but they will still come out on top! Only a few of the Gov’s crew is left standing while the zombies approach and overtake the prison. Still, it’s a Pyrrhic victory for our team, with all the dead Hershels, dead babies, and the fact that the prison went to shit.

And where’s the guy behind all of this? The Governor and Rick throw down in a massive fist fight during this shootout, and just as Govvey-boy is about to strangle Rick to death, Michonne appears out of nowhere and and impales him through the chest! Whoo-hoo! Finally! Only…not so finally. She leaves him there, bleeding and gasping, instead of finishing him off. Michonne nooooo you’re better than that! Michonne, of all people, would have double tapped the Gov in a heartbeat, so having her leave him behind feels like a convenient plan for the writers to keep the Gov around longer. In the end, it’s implied that Brunette Andrea shoots the Gov to finish him off, but it doesn’t count until we see a body; she could have been shooting a zombie for all we know. If she’s anything like her predecessor, she probably was shooting a walker. Ugh! I don’t want to see the Gov return. I want him dead. Enough already. KILL THE BASTARD!

All in all, this was a great episode. It was meaty, savory, and will keep us chewing and digesting for a couple of months until the mid-season premiere in February. I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I’m missing what happens next.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!