With the end of Season 3 closing in fast, we all expected last night’s episode, titled “Prey,” to make some headway in closing out the season. We were wrong.
Almost nothing of value happens in this episode. While there was early promise for Andrea to rejoin the prison group and for Tyreese to finally figure out that Woodbury sucks, none of that actually happens. We end the episode exactly where we started it, with all the pieces in the same place.
There were a few things that happened this week worth discussing, though.
Milton Grows a Pair. Maybe.
After finding the Governor’s makeshift torture chamber, Milton finally makes a stand and tells Andrea about the Governor’s plans. But when he shows her the torture chamber, he keeps Andrea from shooting the Governor. Why? The Governor has clearly lost what little mind he had left; it’s probably time for him to be put down.
Later, when asked if he helped Andrea, Milton nearly pisses his pants as the Governor slams him against a wall. Milton is visibly terrified of his former friend, and his silence during the questioning confirms the Governor’s suspicions. This may have pushed him too far though, because the walker barbeque at Woodbury’s Walker Pits was most likely Milton’s way of lashing out at the Governor.
Milton needs to just buck up, shoot the Governor in his remaining eye, save Andrea, and take over Woodbury. Problem solved.
Andrea Is Almost Useful for a Moment.
Andrea, the most useless character on the show, finally decides to leave Woodbury. This episode was mostly about her and her journey back to the prison. After Milton comes clean to her about the Governor’s plans to kill everyone at the prison, she feels the need to warn her former group and takes off immediately.
Her rollercoaster ride of dodging Woodburians and zombie encounters culminates in an excellent scene in which she hides in a deserted warehouse to escape her former lover. Unfortunately, he begins to search the warehouse. It doesn’t take long for him to get bored of this, though, and he starts smashing everything in sight with a shovel.
Tension grows as the clearly insane Phillip struts around the warehouse without a care in the world, while Andrea hides from him, dodging walkers along the way. At one point I thought he may have spotted her blond hair sticking out above her hiding spot, but apparently his eyesight just isn’t what it used to be.
The Governor Almost Bites It. Literally.
As Andrea tries to escape through a large metal door and a stairwell full of biters, she finds herself trapped when the Governor finally spots her. Facing a decision between going back with Phillip and taking on the zombie horde, she makes an epic move. She opens the door to the walkers and pins herself behind the huge door, unleashing a herd on the unsuspecting Governor and giving her a clear route for escape. For once, Andrea does something right.
Phillip fends off the biters with his trusty pistol and whatever else he can find. As the herd closes in on him, it looks pretty bleak. But since we never actually see him die, we’re pretty sure he’ll be back. At least she tried.
Just as Andrea reaches the prison, she is grabbed by the Governor and forced to the ground. He returns her to Woodbury and straps her into his torture chair. Thus, Andrea wins back her title as the most useless character in the Walking Dead.
Why Hasn’t Anyone Killed the Governor?
Even though there have been multiple opportunities to take out the Governor, somehow this guy is still alive. Andrea points a gun at him, only to be stopped by Milton. Andrea unleashes a herd of walkers on him, but he survives. Last week, Rick could have ended it all with a shot to the brain, but didn’t. Hell, even at the end of this week’s episode, Andrea could have called the walkers down on them both in the woods outside the prison, just by screaming, and she might have been able to escape.
It just seems as though everyone simply refuses to kill the Governor, and I can’t figure out why. Maybe he will finally meet his end in the season finale, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
 | By Joshua Bruce Contributing Writer Date: March 18, 2013 |