TV Review: The Walking Dead: Walk with Me

Note: This review and the accompanying comments will contain The Walking Dead episode spoilers. You have been warned.

We take a radical departure from the weeks of building tension at the prison this week to spend a little more time with Andrea and Michonne, as well as to be introduced to a new villain and reunited with an old one. While we don’t see Rick, Daryl, Glenn, or the rest of the prison crew, last night’s The Walking Dead continues this season’s trend toward addressing the issues of the past.

The episode starts with a helicopter malfunctioning and crashing in the woods, in sight of Andrea, Michonne, and their two chained zombies. They naturally investigate, and find two of the men on board dead. Before Michonne can check out the last guy, company shows up. They hide in the foliage nearby and we finally get a glimpse at the villain a lot of people have been eagerly awaiting: the Governor.

And he seems… nice? Well, maybe not nice, but grounded and imbued with a strong sense of right and wrong. And thus begins the long dance that slowly plays out over the course of Walk With Me, as we see more and more of the Governor, and all the little things that aren’t quite right about him start to add up, and before you know it he — but we’re getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?

Andrea and Michonne manage to stay undisturbed the whole time the Governor and his men are there, although a close call with the zombies leads to Michonne immediately decapitating them. Just as everyone is clearing out and all seems safe, a familiar raspy voice is hear behind them. The jig is up, and they are caught by none other than Daryl’s brother Merle, no worse for wear since we saw him last way back in season one. He’s missing a hand, obviously, but he’s adapted for the zombie apocalypse by strapping a bayonet to the stub. That’s backwoods innovation right there.

The pair are blindfolded and escorted back to Woodbury, where they are cleaned up, given clothes and food, and Andrea is treated for whatever it is that she has. They have more or less free run of the place, which seems like an idyllic small town when you ignore the big walls and all the guys with guns keeping the zombies away. Not only that, but the Governor is accommodating and helpful, promising that they can leave any time they want.

But they can’t leave just yet, and they also can’t have their weapons.

Michonne picks up on these things immediately, but Andrea is more trusting. Perhaps she’s too exhausted and sick from being in the wilderness for over half a year, but the warning signs sail right past her to the point of her convincing Michonne to stick around for at least a couple of days.

I have to give Andrea some slack here. The Governor isn’t quick to show his cards. Not only does he appear to be kind and genuinely concerned about his people’s well being, the actor playing him manages to turn even clear threats into little more than casual conversation. The Governor comes off as a good guy, if perhaps a little severe.

But behind the scenes there are some things going on. The Governor’s two lackeys are definitely not the type to give you warm fuzzies. We already know Merle, but there’s also a nebbish and extremely creepy scientist working in what appears to be a hidden lab on the outskirts of town. There is a lot that is off about these people, but the scientist – whose name I didn’t catch – is one of the creepiest characters on The Walking Dead to date. His attempts to wring information out of Andrea and Michonne over a breakfast of eggs was unsettling, hinting at lots of further craziness to come from this character.

And speaking of craziness, we certainly don’t have too long to wait before the Governor starts showing his true colors to the audience (Andrea and Michonne are on a different timeline). Remember that crashed helicopter? Well, the pilot survived, and fell under the spell of the Governor, who charmed him into giving up the location of the rest of his unit. This, as it turns out, is a huge mistake. The Governor shows up waving a white flag and seemingly overjoyed to find the men alive, only to draw a gun and shoot the nearest man before his men start unloading from the brush in the distance. Once the shooting gallery has ended, the National Guardsmen are all dead, and the Governor has a few more guns and trucks for his arsenal.

It’s a predictable enough move – there’s simply no way the Governor and his cronies can be good guys given the nature of the narrative in a show like The Walking Dead, but the show handles it pretty beautifully. The Governor arrives back in town with the loot, then gives a heartbroken speech to the people of Woodbury about not being able to save the men. Not only are we treated to more of the Governor as a master actor, but we get a sense of how blinded the townsfolk are to him. And seeing his people trust him implicitly, it’s a little easier to Andrea to relax and think she’s finally found safety.

The episode caps with the Governor returning home, having sex with an unnamed woman, and retiring to his office to watch a half-dozen aquariums full of disembodied zombie heads (including the pilot and Michonne’s pair of zombies). It’s not exactly a subtle message about the mental health of the man, and we cut to credits more worried than ever about Andrea and Michonne.

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