The Walking Dead Recap – Season 3, Episode 6: Hounded

With each weekly episode of The Walking Dead, there is so much going on that I need to take two steps back before I’m able to go forward. The unexpected surprises of the past two episodes have left us all in a daze and so I want to revisit one particular scene.

At the end of Episode 5, Rick who is in shock, needs to see what happened to his wife, but on the way, he slices through every walker he comes across, finally making his way to the area where his dead wife should be. What he finds is blood, bits of flesh and a bullet, the bullet from Carl’s gun. Looking for Lori, Rick follows the trail of blood which leads to a walker. The descended bloated belly and the hair and bone inside the walker’s mouth reveal to Rick the nightmarish and final violation to his wife.  Rick goes primal on the walker. Has he lost his mind completely? Maybe, and who is calling on the phone?  The recap for Episode 6 begins after the jump.

Michonne

The show opens with Merle and a few men from Woodbury hunting for Michonne. They come across zombie body parts that are positioned to spell out the warning, “Go Back.”  As Merle jokes about the message being a “biter gram,” Michonne attacks and kills everyone except for Merle and Neil. Merle manages to shoot Michonne, but she escapes and Merle and Neil continue to hunt for her.

Phone Call

When Rick answers the phone a woman claims that her group is in a safe place. Rick tells her that he needs to meet with them and mentions his son and infant child, but the woman says that she needs to check with her group before giving any further information and then hangs up.

Rick finally checks on the group and after making sure that Carl is okay learns that Daryl and the others will continue to search the prison for walkers while Maggie and Glenn look for more supplies. He totally ignores his infant child who is being cared for by Beth.

Hershel finds tries to comfort Rick by telling him that Lori wanted to make things right for them. Rick tells Hershel about the phone call. Hershel offers to stay with Rick and wait for the next call, but Rick wants to be alone. When Hershel checks the phone, there is only static. After Hershel leaves, Rick gets a call from a man who begins to ask some strange questions and when Rick refuses to answer the personal ones, the man hangs up. Later the woman calls back and questions Rick. That prison has better phone service than I do?

Merle

Merle and Neil are tracking Michonne when she ambushes them, but then all three are attacked my walkers. In the battle, Michonne escapes. Merle wants Neil to lie and say that they killed Michonne, but Neil won’t lie. Merle kills him.

Andrea

Andrea and the Governor are becoming more attracted to each other. Even though Andrea is uncomfortable with how the town enjoys the zombie gladiator games, she wants to stay and help protect the town. Andrea shows one a young woman who is guarding the perimeter that sometimes hand to hand combat is just as lethal as a bow and arrow. Later Andrea and the Governor have a few drinks and wind up in bed together.

Daryl

Carl, Daryl and Oscar are searching the prison cell for walkers. Daryl opens up to the traumatized Carl and tells the boy how his mother had died in a house fire due to her smoking in bed. Carl, for the first time, mentions his mother and how he had to shoot her. Daryl gives the boy the attention that Rick at the moment is unable to do. While Oscar grabs a pair of slippers, they are attacked by a walker. Daryl kills it, but he finds Carol’s knife stuck in the walker’s body. Daryl’s love for Carol is apparent as he searches for her body.

Reunion

Maggie and Glenn are being watched by Michonne as they gather supplies. They are surprised by Merle who sneaks up on them. He wants them to take them to Daryl, but they wisely refuse. Merle captures Maggie and then forces Glenn to drive all three back to Woodbury. Michonne stays hidden, too injured to help them.

Closure

This time when the phone rings, Rick realizes that he has been talking to his dead wife the whole time and he tells her how much he loves her. She says that she is with the other members of the group who have died and that she wants Rick to take care of “our baby” and their son Carl. The connection broken, Rick goes and finds his son and for the first time, holds his infant daughter in his arms.

Woodbury

The Governor and Andrea are interrupted by Merle who reports that Michonne killed the other men and that he was forced to kill her, but when the Governor asks for the sword, Merle changes the subject by telling him of his new captives.

Surprises

Daryl finds Carol who has been hiding in a cell and tenderly and carries her to safety. Rick sees someone at the prison gate… Michonne with the supplies left behind by the captured Maggie and Glenn.