Review

Rick and his group have been doing it tough over the winter, they are low on food, ammunition, and have been driving in circles trying to avoid the large zombie herd that over ran the farm. On the bright side they have become more of a paramilitary unit able to operate on training without the need for Rick to give orders. The group is surviving on what they can scavenge and one feels what Daryl can bring down when he can hunt. During one stop Rick and Daryl head into the trees to see what game is about and discover a Federal Prison which Rick latches onto as the perfect place to hole up, with the likelihood of ammunition and food inside.

They storm the outer perimeter and take the fenced in land lapping the actual prison, unfortunately they have to expand quite a bit of ammunition in securing the area. Rick wants to press their advantage and storm the actual prison, but warns they will need to rely on hand to hand fighting to save ammunition. They succeed the next day and clear one prison block, setting up living quarters etc. The next morning Rick and team venture further into the prison looking for munitions and the food storage areas, they encounter a large number of lurking walkers and Hershel is bitten badly on the leg by one. An impromptu amputation of the injured leg is the only hope for Hershel and Rick wields a hand axe. Daryl is surprised by what he assumed were more zombies only to discover they aren't the only live people in the prison.

Meanwhile Michonne is doing some scavenging of her own, Andrea is sick and Michonne is after medicine. The girls are alone and surrounded by zombies.

Sensational end to the season that had me screaming for more, bring on season 3 stat!

If the final episode of last season rocked everyone's socks off then the first episode of this season continues the adrenaline rush. Things kick off with a slow pull back from a close up of a lurker's eye; it's kind of haunting and a startling effect. Unfortunately for our zombie pin up Rick's team come crashing in looking for food and dispatch the zombie in pretty quick fashion. The notable thing there is how well the team work as a unit, checking, killing, and apparently having designated jobs. We immediately figure out some months have passed since the final scene of last season as Hershel now has long hair and a beard while Lori is heavily pregnant and looking due any day.

Once Rick and team discover the prison however it's on for young and old in an adrenaline drenched assault involving some pretty gnarly looking zombies. Initially it's all shot them in the head, we find Carol has become a pretty decent snipper, as the ground between the boundary and inner fences is rapidly depleted of hostiles. With the survivors relaxing in their new found sanctuary Rick decides they should assault the actual prison, Hershel points out they are lacking in ammunition, so Rick decides it's going to be close quarters the next morning. Notably there's some cool stuff as Rick leads his team into the prison. Zombies are more decayed than they were last season, in some cases just skin and bones, and in an awesome demonstration of originality there's some riot gear clad zombies. In one of those scenes that simply make you a fan for life, the group are having problems dealing with the riot gear zombies till Maggie discovers you can force their heads back and push a knife up through the exposed neck and into the brain. Actually Maggie seems rather excited by the discovery and looks like she just hit the jackpot.

Once inside the prison we go from wide open spaces to claustrophobic darkness, from all out zombie attack to the fear of what might be lurking around the next corner. Rick's group manage to clear out one wing and the survivors set this up as base camp, finding the accommodation a lot more comfortable than they had thought it would be. The next day Rick leads a small group further into the prison and we find there's a hell of a lot of lurkers in the dimly lit hallways. Fighting a retreating action Hershel is bitten by a zombie and the team take cover in what I guess is a common room.

Guess I should point out this episode hits the gore without any apology, Hershel's leg being amputated via an axe being one scene a lot of viewers are going to shy away from. The zombies aren't exactly winning any beauty pageants and got to say they are going down in particularly messy fashion. There was a lot of bitching about lack of zombies last season, I note there's been a fair amount of rewriting of thoughts by some individuals since I and a number of other Reviewers pointed out that was blatantly untrue, so maybe the Producers of The Walking Dead heard about it and really got their zombie on for this episode. As I was saying, the undead are pretty messy and juicy in the episode, so if faint hearted you might just be in for a torrid time of it.

The episode finishes with the discovery that Rick's group aren't the only ones living in the prison, there are at least five prisoners who appear hale and hearty. Okay for those of us who had read the graphic novels we were expecting this, but clearly things are going to differ in the show from the books. Intriguing to see where the prison plotline might take us from here. For sure Rick is going to need all the help he can get, what with a certain other character not that far away from making an appearance. Remember, in the zombie sub genre the walking dead are the least of your concerns. That would be a hint rather than a spoiler folks, we have all seen the season trailers after all.

It was great to see the episode spending significant time with Michonne and Andrea, who are out in the cold, alone and surrounded by zombies. Clearly Andrea has what amounts to "man flu" and Michonne is supplying the TLC. Nice break from the fulsome prison blues right there. Michonne sure can wield a katana, two thumbs up there as she slices and dices her way through the zombie menace.

Okay I'm back in Walking Dead mode and have to say the first episode of season three rocked the house down. We get caught up on events quickly, thankfully no characters have disappeared over the break, and are then thrown into some pretty awesome action sequences. With a new danger emerging this season I'm pretty confident the show is only going to get better, recommended kids, get your zombie on yo! Was it just me or is Beth Greene being focused on a bit more already this season?