The Walking Dead Recap – Season 3, Episode 5: Say The Word

Before I do a recap of this week’s episode of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,“ It was important for me to say a proper goodbye to the two characters that are no longer with us. Last week on Episode 4, one of my favorite characters T-Dog (IronE Singleton) was bitten by a walker due to the revengeful actions of Andrew, a prisoner who we were led to believe was dead. And later in the show, T-Dog’s commitment to the survival of the group was proven by his sacrificing himself to walkers to enable Carol to escape. But did she? Sad as this was, the really upsetting scene was not too far behind.

Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) who knew that she would not survive the birth of her child, asked Maggie to do a C-section on her. Lori’s only concern was for her baby and her son to survive. Her tender, encouraging words spoken to Carl, plays over and over in my mind. Carl, who had been forced to surrender his childhood to the horrors of the apocalypse, was the one who had to shoot his mother to keep her from turning.  Rick and the others learn of Lori’s death after Carl and Maggie, who is holding the baby, enters the courtyard… How will this affect Rick, who never took that final step needed to mend the rift in his marriage or Carl, who may be psychologically damaged and beyond healing? And where is Carol?   More about this week’s episode after the jump.

Town Party

The show starts with a town wide celebration In Woodbury, while back at the Governor’s home he is brushing the hair of a little girl. But this is no ordinary child and in the process of brushing her hair, a patch of scalp gets caught in the brush. Penny, the Governor’s daughter is a walker. His love for the child has kept him from killing her.

Back at the festivities, Milton mentions to Andrea that there will be a special event later in the day. Michonne uses the distractions of the celebration to break into the Governor’s home and get her katana. She finds a book with names which includes Penny’s and is about to open the door of the child’s room, when the Governor, Merle and Milton enter to collect some supplies. Michonne escapes through the window and finds her way to a holding pen where she finds captured biters. She unlocks the gate and kills all the biters with her trusty sword, but she is seen and brought back to the Governor who takes her sword from her. He wants her to join his group. Somehow she grabs the katana from the Governor and leaves the room.

Hunger

Daryl and Maggie go looking for formula for the newborn. If they don’t find food soon, the baby will die. Rick, who is grief-stricken and hungry for revenge, grabs an ax and goes on a killing spree, hunting down as many walkers as he can. While this is happening, Maggie and Daryl find a children’s orphanage and begin looking for supplies for the baby. They find formula and a possum for dinner. It’s an eerie feeling to know what may have happened to all those children.

Back at the prison, the rest of the group is having a hard time with their latest loss and Axil and Oscar, our two remaining prisoners are making attempts to fit in with the group and try to console Glenn who is digging a grave. Glenn hands the shovel to Axil and tells him to dig two more graves before walking away. Glenn finds Hershel and tells him how he met T-Dog.

Friendship Lost

When the Governor tells Andrea that Michonne stole her sword from his house and killed his captive biters, Andrea defends Michonne and wants to know why the town keep biters. Andrea goes looking for Michonne to try and talk her into staying, but they argue and Michonne leaves town and Andrea, who is content to stay. The Governor tries to console Andrea, while Merle and some men go check on the trap they have set up to catch biters. It’s a neat system which uses solar panels. Who says you can’t be green during an apocalypse?

Later Andrea finds out what the special event is and she’s not pleased. In the arena, Merle fights with another man, but they are surrounded by biters who are chained to cement pillars. The Governor tries to explain to the upset Andrea that the biters don’t have teeth so the men are safe and besides, “People need entertainment.”

Names

Daryl and Maggie return to the prison to find the infant howling. Daryl takes the baby into his arms and begins to feed her the formula. He asks big brother Carl to name his sister. Carl runs through a list of names including Lori, but Daryl decides on the name, “Little ass-kicker.”

Call Me Maybe?

Daryl places a flower on Carol’s grave?? Is she dead? Rick is still in shock and somewhere in the prison, but he can hear his child crying and a phone ringing? He picks up the receiver and says, “Hello.”