Misty Here….

Good Afternoon ‘Walking Dead‘ fans. If you were like me and had not read the comic, then you walked away from last nights episode shocked and a little saddened. There’s a lot of information is this episode so let’s get to it. Outside of the prison, Rick and Hershel are telling Darryl about the deal with the Governor to trade Michonne for peace. Daryl ask if Rick is going to tell the others and he says he will after it’s over with. He asks Daryl to keep it quiet. The plan is to lure her away from the others and then ambush her.

Daryl says that its not them to do this and Hershel gets mad and says no it isn’t. Hershel then walks away. Rick says that they need Merle. Daryl offers to talk to him and Rick says that he will go and talk to him alone. Rick finds Merle upstairs in the cells tearing apart mattresses looking for dope. Rick tells him that he needs his help and tells Merle about the deal. He also tells Merle that it needs to be kept quiet. Merle comments that when the Governor would go out on runs, he would just bash peoples heads in. Merle tells Rick that the Governor will not kill Michonne. He will “do things to her” like taking out an eye. He asks Rick if he would let that happen for a shot. He tells Rick that he is as cold as ice. He tells Rick that he will need a wire so that Michonne cannot chew through it. He tells Rick that he does not know why he does the things he does, but that Rick does not have the spine for it. Rick cuts him off and tells him that they need to get her to the Governor by noon.

Rick runs outside to see the group putting down spikes in front of the prison gate to stop vehicles from coming in. They tell Rick that it was Michonnes idea. They all head back into the prison and the camera shows Merle watching them from a window. He says, “There ain’t no way” and Carol asks what. She is taking care of the baby and working on filling clips with ammo. Merle laughs and asks if there was any whiskey or vodka. Carol asks Merle if he is with them. She tells him that she is not meaning occupying the same space. Merle says that he is there for his brother. She tells him that it is not time to do shots, it’s time to pick a side. Merle points out how she has changed from back at the camp. He tells her that she is no longer scared of her own shadow and she points out that it was her husbands shadow she was afraid of. He tells her that she does not seem scared of nothing anymore and she says she is not. He called her a late bloomer and she tells him that maybe he is too.

Glen is fixing a gate when Daryl walks up and asks if he has seen Merle. Daryl then helps him with the gate and asks if Merle has apologized yet. Daryl tells Glen that he is sorry. Daryl wants to make it right but says that there should be a little forgiveness. Glen tells Daryl what happened in Woodbury and how he is more upset about what happened to Maggie. Glen says he cares more about Maggie than himself. Daryl walks away and continues looking for Merle. He finds Merle in the boiler room. He asked him what he was doing and Merle says that he was looking for crystal meth. Daryl asked if he has talked to Rick yet. Merle states he has and that Rick will buckle and not do it. Merle asks Daryl if he wants Rick to buckle and Daryl says that what Rick does and says goes. Merle asks Daryl if he even possess a pair of balls anymore. He informs Merle that he use to call people like that sheep. Daryl talks about Glen and Maggie and Merle says that he has done worse and that Daryl needs to grow up. He tells Daryl,”You people look at me like I am the devil, snatching up those love birds like that”. Merle points out that what they are going to do with Michonne is the same as what he did to Glen and Maggie. He says that people do what they have to do in order not to die. Daryls tells him that you can’t do stuff without people anymore. Merle says that maybe they need people like him around to do their dirty work. Daryl says that he wants his brother back. Daryle walks away and Merle grabs the infamous black telephone and puts it in a bag that he has already been packing, along with a gun.

Hershel is sitting in the common room with Beth and Maggie and is reading the Bible to them. Camera pans to Rick walking outside gathering wire, overhead you can still hear Hershel reading. He is having issues gathering the wire and he looks up in the breezeway and sees a pregnant Ghost Lori. He tells himself that she is not there. Rick puts the wire back down on the ground and walks away. Camera pans back to Hershel and he gets begins to get choked up. Beth asks if he is ok and he tells her that there is nothing that he would to keep them safe. Rick walks back into the prison and Hershel walks to him and says “What you are about to do..” Rick cuts him off and tells him he won’t and he can’t. Merle and Michonne are downstairs in the tunnels. He is telling her about a breach with the walkers. Some walkers come out and Merle hits Michonne on the head and then he kills the walkers. He takes her sword, puts a pillowcase over her head and wraps her wrists with wire.

Merle and Michonne are walking down a street. Merle is telling her about the deal and how Rick would have flaked out.  Merle tells her about how Rick came back for him on the rooftop. Merle sees a walker and uses Michonnes sword to kill him. He tells her that he is surprised that she did not run. She tells him that she wants her sword back before she gets away. Back at the prison, Rick and Daryl are talking about how they cannot find Merle or Michonne. Daryl takes Rick to the boiler room and find out that he took her. Daryl tells Rick that he will go track him.

Merle tells Michonne about how he wanted to be with his brother and his brother wants to be in the prison. He tells her that maybe this will keep it standing. Michonne comments on Merle talking about the weight of what he has to do. She tells him that a person who is bad does not feel anything. Merle tells her that he has killed 16 people since everything went down. Glen finds Hershel in a cell. They talk about Merle and what he has done. Glen brings out the watch Hershel gave him and tells him that he now knew what it meant. He tells Hershel that he wants to marry Maggie. Hershel gives Glen his blessing. Merle and Michonne walk to an abandoned hotel. He hotwires a car that has a alarm. The alarm goes off and attracts a group of walkers. Eventually, he has to cut Michonne free because the number of walkers is so great that they have to drive off to get away from them.

Merle and Michonne are driving down the street. Michonne says all Merle does is take out the trash. She says that Rick respects and needs Daryl. She says that Merle could have changed the way people see him and really stepped up. Merle chose to be on the outside. Merle tells her that she is also on the outside. She says maybe she is, but at least when the Governor is done with me she will not have to live with herself. Glen goes out in the courtyard and cuts a finger off a walker. Michonne asks Merle if he killed someone before the virus and Merle says no. She asks about before Woodbury and he says no. She comments that the Governor saved his life, cleaned him up and feed him a line of bullshit. She tells him that they can go back to the prison. Merle says that he can’t go back. Merle stops the car, cuts the wire around Michonnes wrist and tells her to go back and get ready for what’s next. He tells her he has something he has to do alone and drives off. While Michonne is heading back, she runs into Daryl. He asks where Merle is and she tells him that he let her go. Daryl tells her to not let anyone come after him.

Merle is sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant. He is in the car with the windows cracked and music blaring to attract walkers. He is also drinking a body of whiskey. He sits there for a minute to attract as many walkers as he can. He then puts the car in drive and drives forward very slow. He is leading those and any other walkers he comes across to the meeting location. He then puts the car in neutral and lets it roll a little bit more while he runs and hides in a building. The Governors men hear the music and head towards the car. Merle sits in the building and picks off the men one by one as they are battling walkers. The Governor comes out and starts shooting the walkers. Merle kills four men until Martinez sees that there is gunfire coming from the building. Martinez and another man jumps Merle while he is fighting off a walker. The Governor then gets involved and starts beating Merle. Merle sticks his fingers in the Governors mouth to block him and the Governor bites his two fingers off. The Governor then breaks his arm and tries to strangle him. The Governor then walks away and Merle tells him that he is not going to beg him. The Governor looks at him and says no, then he aims his gun at Merle and fires it.

Back at the prison, Glen and Maggie are talking. Glen says that they need to head back due to Rick calling a meeting. Glen then says he has one more thing and puts a ring in Maggie’s hand. She says yes. Rick tells the group about the deal he made with the Governor. Rick says that he was going to give the Governor Michonne, but he changed his mind. He tells the group what Merle did and how Daryl is out looking for him. Rick says that he was wrong for not telling them this. He says that what he said last year the first night after the farm is not what the group can be anymore. He tells them that they are why they are here, not Rick. He says that all of this is life and death and they he is not their Governor. He cannot sacrifice someone for the greater good. He tells them that they all need to stick together and vote whether to stay at the prison or go. Rick walks away and walks to the guard tower. He sees Michonne walking towards the prison. He is in disbelief to see her.

Daryl walks up to the scene of where the meeting was to take place. Merle took out four of the Governors men. Daryl is killing walkers that are feeding off the corpses. He comes up to a walker eating and sees that the walker is Merle. Merle looks at him and Daryl start crying. Merle walks towards him and Daryl pushes him off. This happens a couple more times until Daryl stabs Merle repeatedly in a fit of rage and sorrow. Daryl then lays down on the ground and cries.

I was very sad to see that Merle died, but I was not shocked. You knew he had something big planned when he left Michonne on the road. The rest of this episode was a good foundation to the season finale. Merle gave the group a fighting start against Woodbury. Now we shall see what the Governor does in response to that. The storyline between Glen and Maggie is refreshing to see. I have a feeling that it will not be a long love story. Now we all must wait and see what happens in the season finale.

– Misty