The Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 5: Say the Word, Review

Last week’s episode was the best episode of The Walking Dead that viewers have seen to date.  T-Dog and Lori both died, Carl shot his mom to ensure she didn’t become a walker and Lori’s baby was delivered.  What could happen next? 

The episode opens up with the Governor combing a little girl’s hair.  Here’s the kicker–this little girl is a zombie and, formerly, his daughter.  The Governor looks out of his window to see Michonne looking up at his window.  The Governor then has a gathering with the townspeople and raises a glass to their survival.  

Michonne takes advantage of the gathering, and takes it upon herself to snoop around the Governor’s house.  She finds a strange book, first filled with names and then filled with hash marks.  I am assuming this is a running tally of who the governor has killed.  Michonne also finds a cage filled with zombies in the Governor’s backyard.  She opens the cage and tactfully, and awesomely, kills all of the zombies that were in the cage.  

Someone sees Michonne and brings her to the Governor.  The Governor asks Michonne to join his research team, while holding her sword.  Michonne catches him off guard and snatches her sword back.  She holds the Governor by sword point, right to his chin, doesn’t say anything, and then backs out of the room. 

The Governor talks to Andrea about what happened with Michonne.  Andrea and Michonne decide to try and leave.  Merle lets them go, so Andrea decides there is no reason to leave if the people of Woodbury aren’t making them stay.  Michonne gives Andrea an ultimatum, but Andrea decides to stay and Michonne leaves without her.  The Governor swoops in and tries to comfort Andrea by inviting her to his house for a private drink.  But first, he takes Andrea to a strange event; it is like a mixed martial arts match in a cage created by walkers.  It is deeply disturbing, especially to Andrea.  She expresses her concern and the Governor tells her it is their form of entertainment–ummm, twisted, dude.

Daryl, Glenn and Maggie go on a run to find baby formula.  Daryl and Maggie take the motorcycle.  Glenn is left behind to dig graves.  The two prisoners talk to Glenn.  They show their remorse and sorrow for the loss of T-Dog and Lori and ask if they can help him dig the graves. 

Rick snaps (as we saw in the preview for tonight’s episode).  He grabs an axe and goes deep into the prison, killing zombie after zombie.  After digging the graves, Glenn goes into the prison after Rick.  Glenn finds Rick in a psychotic state.  Rick pins Glenn up against the wall and then throws him away.

We have to assume that the Governor was holding onto these zombies for experiments.  We see the scientist and Merle capturing zombies, and pulling out their teeth.  What are they doing with the teeth? 

Daryl and Maggie find a house on their journey.  Maggie loots some things for the baby.  They clear out the house and find a possum.  They also find the baby formula they were looking for, so mission accomplished.    They return to the prison and Daryl, of all people, feeds the baby–showing Daryl’s soft spot.  We see another soft spot of Daryl’s when he places a flower on Carol’s grave–although it is important to know we don’t have a concrete conclusion as to Carol’s fate. 

Rick finds where Lori was in the prison, only to find a zombie with a swollen stomach, as if he had just eaten her.  Rick repeatedly stabs the zombie in a fit of rage.  At the end of the episode, we see Rick sitting next to the zombie in a state of awe.  And then, the phone rings.  What the hell? 

While we don’t know who is on the other end of the phone, or if it is just Rick’s psyche playing tricks on him at this point, here is my prediction for next week.  I am predicting that Carol–keep in mind we do not know where she is at this point–is in a security office of some sort and sees Rick in the room where the phone is and dials the phone.  Tonight’s episode was a good episode.  While we knew it was virtually impossible to top last week’s epic episode, tonight’s episode is still important and relevant to the story, while still having some awesome kills and developmental plot points.

Quote of The Night: “People with nothing to hide don’t usually feel the need to say so.” – Michonne

Episode Rating:  8/10

Gore Meter: 6/10