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Rick Should Have Shot The Governor

Rick Should Have Shot The Governor

With only three episodes left in Season 3, The Walking Dead has a lot a ground to cover in a short amount of time. And at this point, all of the unanswered questions, underused characters, and converging plotlines seem to be pointing toward one thing: The Governor’s full-scale assault on the prison.

Now, it seems the Governor may be a bit overconfident when it comes to the ability of his chosen flock. Everyone that dwells within the walls of the prison has fought for their life on the road and dispatched countless walkers. Meanwhile, the citizens of Woodbury have been living in relative safety. Not to mention that Rick’s crew holds the more defensible position in terms of location, elevated firing positions, and battlefield visibility. This makes the fog of war dramatically reduced for Team Rick, and if the Woodburians can’t see that, then they will be doomed by the Governor’s lack of vision.

No matter what happens, people will die on both sides.

This week’s episode, “Arrow in the Doorpost,” puts us on the path to this conflict, so here are the juicy bits.

Shoot Him!

We finally get to see the long-awaited meeting between Rick and the Governor. In this standoff, Rick barely speaks and the Governor tries every trick in the book to lure Rick into his trap. We don’t know if it worked yet, but while they were sitting at the table, I found myself shouting, “Shoot him, Rick. Shoot him like Han shot Greedo.”

They missed a golden opportunity here. Hero and villain seated directly across from one another. All the pieces were in place, and all Rick had to do was pull the trigger.

Hey Buddy, Want a Smoke?

In a display of zombie apocalypse male-bonding, Darryl and Martinez go to town on some uninvited guests: walkers. Even Hershel and Milton get in on the buddy action by chatting about Hershel’s leg (or lack thereof). Both sides may now see the humanity of their enemies, which could make for some hard decisions down the road.

Hershel’s Got a Rifle?

Throughout this episode, Hershel is carrying a semi-automatic assault rifle slung over his shoulder. I don’t know if he realizes this, but he only has one leg. So if something serious goes down and he has to start shooting, he is going to have a big problem.

One of two things could happen: Either he’ll fire his weapon to be hilariously launched to the ground in a display of ill-planned zombie marksmanship, or he will somehow fashion himself into a human tripod with his crutches and singlehandedly take out the walker threat. I’m torn as to which one I would rather see.

Glenn and Maggie Finally Make Up.

Glenn and Maggie haven’t been the same since their time at Woodbury. They’ve been disconnected for a while now, and it’s probably time for them to make up. And make up they do. In fact, they actually redefine the term “safe sex” for the zombie apocalypse.

After beginning to “make up” outside, they decide that the onlooking walkers aren’t exactly creating a romantic ambience. Moving the party inside, they find an empty storage unit and get started. Of course, in their hurry to get down to business, they fail to pull the door all the way down.

Seriously? I couldn’t think of a more compromising position to be in if you were set upon by walkers, much less Merle if he had the itch to investigate interesting noises.

Rick Should Have Shot The Governor

Badass Rick Returns. Kind Of.

This week, Rick returns in rare form, the steely-eyed gunslinger that we all knew and loved from before Lori’s death. This cowboy persona fends off all tactical advances from the Governor with ease, and in the end, we almost feel as though Rick is just going to tell him to shove his deal where the sun doesn’t shine. If only that were the case.

Rick keeps up the façade for the entirety of the episode, only to let us down at the end by considering the Governor’s offer to turn over Michonne in exchange for Woodbury backing off. Rick is an excellent leader, but he is terrible at judging character.

You should have shot the Governor when you had the chance, Rick.

By
Joshua Bruce
Contributing Writer
Date: March 11, 2013

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