The Walking Dead - S03E04 Killer Within (2012)

Review

Someone is dragging a deer carcass back to the prison where he/she deposits it to attract the attention of a couple of errant zombies. Having thus distracted them said person breaks some locks and leaves the deer heart in front of a now open gate. Meanwhile Rick and team are pulling the cars into the prison while Lori, Carl, and Beth are helping Herschel with his new crutches. Herschel decides he needs to take a walk and Glenn is so shocked at seeing him that he whoops with joy forcing Daryl to remind him any noise will attract walkers. Glenn remarks that can't they just have one good day, guess not as whole bunch of walkers are within the prison and soon it's a raging battle as chaos reigns. T-Dog is bitten but flees into the prison with Carol, while Carl, Maggie, and Lori find another escape vector. It just gets out of control from there as three separate groups battle zombies in the darkened hallways, Lori goes into labour, and someone sets off the prison alarms attracting even more walkers.

Meanwhile in the quiet fortified village of Woodbury Michonne is checking out the National Guard vehicles and her mind is not set at ease with what she finds. Andrea wants to delay them leaving for a couple of days, which Michonne is dead set against but the Governor has Andrea believing. She gives a map to Merle pinpointing Herschel's farm, which should allow the big Redneck to go find his brother. The Governor has other ideas and Merle's search is put on hold.

The main action this episode goes down at the prison where Rick and the survivors learn once again that the zombies are not their only issue. Rick doesn't trust Axel and fellow prison Oscar and blames them as things deteriorate; however the real danger is from someone we thought was already dead. With the zombie hordes breaching the defences due to some fifth column activity within things get a bit hectic and the body count mounts, you wanted zombie action then hell yeah you got it this episode.

All hell breaks loose and we lose another couple of major characters

Guess I pretty much gave away that T-Dog goes down in this episode, but he does so in heroic fashion and may have saved Carol via his self sacrifice. Going to miss the character to be honest, but once again the onus on the viewer is realising that not everyone is going to get out alive, besides Rick and Carl I don't believe anyone has guaranteed end of season passes. I'm not going to mention who, but another major character also meets their end in this episode, in pretty dramatic and I have to say well constructed fashion. I would challenge anyone to not call this one of the great performances, you're going to need to watch the episode to see what I mean.

An interest aspect to the episode was Carl finally coming of age, and taking on responsibility rather than being the kid that fired that shot that lead to the massacre at Herschel's farm. If you have been reading the comics then you know that Carl is the one character who will take decisive cold blooded action when it's called for. We're almost talking Dexter levels of doing what needs to be done. With Killer Within I believe we are finally seeing that character emerge, the ultimate survivalist warrior in the zombie apocalyptic ashes. Hopefully the television series keeps building on this aspect of one of the more intriguing characters from the graphic novels and doesn't wimp out going with expected television norms. Come on all sorts of taboos are being broken with this show, let's not pull the buggy up to the curb at this late stage.

Anyone catch one of the more face palming decisions yet in The Walking Dead production? If you didn't then to jog your memory Lori has a C-section, no pain killers - ouch, in C Block. A bit twee for mine to be honest but the episode needed something to break the tension and overall dramatic bulldozer driving into the audience, guess it was this. Not entirely sure that someone shouldn't have been taken outside and beaten most severely with a rolled up script for this lapse in judgement, but then guess not a lot of viewers took any notice.

I want to get back to Woodbury, well okay swing over there for the first time this review, but first a thumbs up for Director Guy Ferland and his handling of the prison block battles with the zombies. Two groups split off and are driven deep into the prison's myriad dark corridors by the zombie attack. T-Dog and Carol in one group, Maggie, Lori, and Carl in another group. Ferland cuts between both groups expertly, brings on the claustrophobic atmosphere, but still manages to get his lighting exactly right so we don't miss a single frame of the action. It's tight, tension dripping, and one hell of a sequence that could be the best ever to go down in a Walking Dead episode. Simply awesome stuff that really cranked up things for this little black duck, more of this Director please!

Over in Woodbury things are bringing brought to the boil, and if you haven't read the graphic novels then let's just say it's going to get real insane from here with some dark consequences for all involved. We learn that the Governor's first name is Phillip and that he has a daughter, said off spring yet to appear, and that's going to shock some viewers. Anyways the Governor goes all Bond villain in this episode, which personally I found to be something of a hoot. Who else would practice their driving skills with a golf club off one of the barricades keeping the zombies out. Old Phil nails a zombie with a well directed shot as well, hole in one? We also learn that the Governor is a bit of a megalomaniac as well as being a sociopath when he decides Merle shouldn't go looking for Daryl. Talk about your wanting to control every aspect of people's lives, if the zombie apocalypse goes down in Oz say hello to Tony Abbott!

While the audience are all no doubt aware by this stage that the Governor has a few Roos loose in the top paddock his schlock seems to be working with Andrea. She decides that herself and Michonne should give it a few more days and gives Merle a map indicating where Herschel's farm was located. Michonne of course has her radar up and running and wants out of Woodbury on the next available train. This would be the Michonne who got Andrea through the winter reasonably alive and hearty, the Michonne who has shown amazing abilities to adapt and survive the new world order, the Michonne who Andrea of course doesn't listen to.

Viewers should of course be aware that the structure of the season thus far, and the interlude involving the Governor's forces ambushing the National Guard unit, are all pointing toward a confrontation between Rick's group and Woodbury. But for mine there are still two wild cards in play, namely Michonne - what will her involvement be, and Merle, will blood run deep and Merle back his brother in a conflict? I'm not about to say what happens, and we clearly aren't following the graphic novels with the Governor, but expect his season to end with one hell of a battle.

Simply going to say it folks, Killer Within is the best episode of The Walking Dead to air thus far, and it promises a great season for us to groove too. While the dual story arcs are being developed well, there's simply the promise of a major clash being held tantalisingly out there. Will Rick's unwillingness to trust new comers have a major impact on coming events, or will he have a change of heart? The battles looming in season three are not just physical; quite a few characters have their own demons to face. I can't wait to see where the season goes from here.