Warning: spoilers below.
This half of Season 3 of The Walking Dead keeps getting better. ‘I Ain’t a Judas’ was the best episode so far. The story was tightly paced, the acting was solid, the scenes were memorable, and—in rare form for Walking Dead—pretty much all of the characters’ actions and motivations were believable. And I was pleasantly surprised at how the writers developed Andrea’s character in this episode.
The episode starts with an argument within the group. Merle—who has a long way to go until he gains the trust of the group—thinks they should leave. Herhsel agrees. I have to agree with Hershel on this one. The group is clearly outmanned and outgunned.
Merle’s presence in the prison is creating serious tension between Glenn and Daryl, which may lead to violence. Rick won’t kick Merle out—he’s smart enough to realize that they need the extra muscle right now in their battle against Woodbury. Hershel wants Merle there too and thinks Merle’s loyalty to his brother will keep him in check.
In the first of many “holy crap” moments of this episode, Carl tells his dad, Rick, that he should stop being the leader. Carl thinks he should let Hershel and Daryl take the lead, because dad obviously needs to work some issues out with the whole seeing-dead-mom thing. I can’t imagine the Walking Dead writers will actually have Rick abdicate his dictator position. My guess is that Rick will get his stuff together in the nick of time to save his group from the Woodbury threat, one way or another. But we’ll have to see.
Over in Woodbury, the Governor is raising an army, and teenagers are not exempt from service. It’s very Battle of Stalingrad, and it adds some moral weight to this episode. Andrea directly confronts the Governor about this insane policy, and also calls him out on his previous assault on the prison. He responds to her criticisms with lies and rationalizations. Andrea tells the Governor that she wants to talk to Rick and his group and see if a compromise can’t be reached. The Governor lets her know that if she goes, she will not be welcome back.
Andrea decides it’s worth the risk and tries to get Milton to help her sneak to the Prison, but Milton betrays her and tells the Governor her plans. The Governor instructs Milton to give her whatever help she asks for. He might be assuming that Andrea will lose whatever loyalty remains for Rick once she sees how ruthless and brutal he’s become after months on the road fighting for survival.
On the way to the prison, Milton and Andrea run into Tyrese and his group that fled during Rick’s psychotic break. Milton agrees to take the group back to Woodbury. Back in Woodbury, team Tyrese is eager to please the Governor so they can get a safe place to stay. Rick’s ruthless antics may end up costing him dearly. This is an example of how the Walking Dead writers are weaving the various plot threads together in a coherent way, easing my earlier worries that the plot was too complex to juggle effectively.
When Andrea first gets to the prison, Rick is very suspicious of her and treats her like a criminal suspect. Andrea was probably thinking “crap, the Governor was right—they have changed!” This is a great lesson in diplomacy: had Rick known the nature of Andrea’s mission and that she was trying to broker a peace deal, he’d probably have shown her more respect. By treating her the way he did, he only weakened his own position.
Andrea is also shocked by the deaths of Shane, Lori, and T-Dog, which probably makes Woodbury seem that much more appealing. Nevertheless, Andrea pleads with Rick to try to negotiate with the Governor. Rick makes clear their intent to take out the Governor. When Andrea explains their tactical disadvantage, and how the Governor is raising a sizable army, Rick’s group is only more emboldened and basically says “bring it on.”
Just when it seems like Andrea is turning against the prison entirely, Michonne reveals that the Governor tried to kill her, and that he would have tried to kill Andrea too if she’d left. That finally seems to get some sense in Andrea’s head about the true nature of Woodbury. This news makes Andrea much more receptive to a devious plan Carol suggests: Andrea should seduce the Governor, and when his guard is down she should murder him.
After a tense scene, Andrea makes it back to Woodbury in one piece and sleeps with the Governor. While he’s slumbering in post-coital bliss, Andrea gets ready to stab him. But she loses her nerve at the last minute. Is she opposed to the idea of killing a sleeping man? Or is her heart in Woodbury now? I don’t know, but I hope we see a lot more of this brave, nuanced Andrea.
Score: 8/10.
Photo courtesy of Podknox.
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