'The Walking Dead' finale: Did all the characters make it through?
It鈥檚 safe to say that since the introduction of the Governor, season 3 has been leading up to a climactic showdown between Philip鈥檚 and Rick鈥檚 group of bedraggled survivors back at the prison.
At the end of last week鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� Rick gave everyone at the prison the opportunity to decide whether or not their new home was worth fighting (and probably dying) for, or if they鈥檇 simply be better off by cutting their losses and moving on down the road 鈥� maybe move in with Morgan and help him build his zombie obstacle course.
Surprisingly, The Walking Dead opted out of spending a significant portion of the season finale showing democracy in action and instead went the bait-and-switch route by insinuating that the group had decided the relative, yet creepy security provided them by the mostly-sturdy walls of the prison were not worth dying over. Carl was seen packing up his belongings and shrugging off his father鈥檚 attempts at conversation, leading us to believe that perhaps the vote didn鈥檛 go his way and despite his child-soldier protestations, the group was headed for the road once more.
But, of course, that鈥檚 not what happened, and it鈥檚 also not the only bait-and-switch 鈥榃elcome to the Tombs鈥� has to offer.
Early on, Philip is seen giving someone a brutal beating, which, considering it plays out from the POV of the victim, the audience may initially believe it to be Andrea 鈥� who was last seen in Philip鈥檚 dental/torture chair. Regardless how problematic and inconsistent her character had become, it鈥檚 hard to believe anyone was looking forward to an episode wherein the Governor actually tortures Andrea, and thankfully, the writers鈥� better judgment won out and no such event occurred. Instead, Philip turns on Milton for setting fire to the walkers and then leaves him to die in the same room as the shackled Andrea.
Ultimately, this would prove to seal Andrea and Milton鈥檚 fate. As the two of them wait for the grievously injured Milton to expire, he alerts Andrea to the pair of pliers he stashed before the Governor did him in. It鈥檚 as tense a scene as it is maddeningly simplistic, which, oddly enough, when coupled with the is-he-still-breathing check-ins on Milton manages to actually heighten the suspense, if not the desire for the viewer to yell at their television.
The Andrea and Milton situation plays out over the course of the entire episode, which eventually ends up in the most likely place: Milton goes full-zombie and attacks Andrea just as she frees herself. There鈥檚 a moment where the viewer is left to wonder exactly what happened. Did Milton chow down on Andrea, or did she manage to get the better of him? As it turns out, it鈥檚 a bit of both. Andrea suffers an undead Milton-bite and although she鈥檚 able to dispatch the zombie, it鈥檚 basically curtains for another character that certainly had her fair share of detractors, recently.
And it鈥檚 here that The Walking Dead is able to play to its strengths. Much as the series did with last week鈥檚 farewell to Merle, and earlier in the season with the deaths of Lori and T-Dog, the characters seem to be given than they ever were while they were still drawing breath.
Which brings the discussion back around to the Governor 鈥� another potentially strong character who was mostly a ball of inconsistent characterization and this season. And here in 鈥榃elcome to the Tombs,鈥� he seems to exist solely to serve the plot rather than develop into a more interesting character.
As far as climactic battles are concerned, there鈥檚 no doubt the one that鈥檇 been hinted at during the season鈥檚 various time-filling episodes would have been considered serious fan service. But instead, the finale decided to go in a different direction by watching as Philip essentially self-destructs; first getting his people caught in a trap set by Rick and Co., and then gunning all but one of them down after they tuck tail and run.
While this sadly leaves the door wide open for the Governor to return, it also allowed for a somewhat refreshingly optimistic turn of events that, although it made Rick look absurdly fickle yet again, brought out an interesting ideological conflict between him and Carl.
In the end 鈥榃elcome to the Tombs鈥� worked out in much the same way as 鈥楾his Sorrowful Life鈥� and, to a certain degree, like season 3 as a whole. About (mostly the pre-hiatus portion aside from 鈥樷��) was fairly strong, but those moments were mostly undone by muddied characterizations and a drawn-out conflict that, as we see here, didn鈥檛 really deliver.
Kevin Yeoman blogs at .
