The Walking Dead - S03E07 When the Dead Come Knocking (2012)

Review

Rick and Carl are surprised by Michonne's appearance at the outer fence to the prison and with the zombies starting to smell blood Carl starts shooting. Michonne is pulled into the safety of the prison but is put on lockdown while Rick evaluates her story. Herschel fixes the gunshot she received from Meryl and Michonne opens up about Glenn and Maggie being hauled into Woodbury. Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Oscar tool up and head toward the Governor's domain on a rescue mission.

Meanwhile Merle has been beating the crap out of Glenn, but can't make him talk. In a fit of anger Merle unleashes a zombie into the room with Glenn, but our boy is able to take it out pretty quickly. The Governor decides to use his own method of interrogation on Maggie but can't make her talk either. It's only when he threatens Glenn in front of Maggie that the farmer's daughter divulges the information about the prison. Rick and team fight their way to Woodbury, while Milton discovers the truth about the zombie transformation. Things are left simmering nicely for the mid-season episode next week.

Strange episode in that it moved things along but side tracked in a couple of plot lines that on the face of things would appear to have very little to do with the season arcs. Sure Glenn and Maggie are in the not so delicate hands of the Governor, but they are safe as value is seen in having them on hand as hostages, and Rick is leading a rescue party to Woodbury, but what was the point of the Milton interlude and the cabin in the woods?

Tense episode that really isn't for the faint of heart

The initial scene in the episode kicked off right from the close of last episode with Rick coming face to face with Michonne and being surprised she was alive and kicking. Thankfully Rick and Carl rescue Michonne from the zombie hordes but Rick is in an untrusting mood, and they lock her away with the plan to fix her up and send her on her way. This changes of course when Michonne informs the group that Woodbury has captured Glenn and Maggie. Seems Rick becomes a lot more trusting as Michonne agrees to be a part of the rescue effort, even returning her katana. For her part Michonne gradually moves from almost hostility towards Rick's group to taking action to defend them when needed. Director Daniel Sackheim and Michonne actress Danai Gurira nail this aspect with Michonne listening to exchanges between Rick's people and the clear care they have for each other. There's a real feeling by the end of the episode that Michonne has arrived home and is with people she is prepared to fight for.

Milton Mamet has his own journey to enlightenment as well, along the way explaining his background to Andrea. Clearly Milton is going to be around a few episodes as they tend not to spend too much time on the fodder in this franchise. There's an old dude, Michael Coleman, who is dying of bowl cancer, something Woodbury lacks the facilities to treat. Milton has been conditioning Coleman via a singing bowl, a song, and a series of questions to react after he dies and re-animates, Milton believing something human is left in the subconscious. Andrea can inform him that there is nothing human when they come back, but since the Governor has asked her to ride shot gun on the experiment she hangs in there till the invariable conclusion and result. Milton has his answer, there's nothing human in a zombie, they simply try to devour the living and if deprived of anything with a pulse fall into a dormant state. Either the scene is to raise Milton's profile or the Producers want to recap on some zombie knowledge they feel the audience may not have clued onto yet. We did already; hope it's the former that is going down.

Rick's rescue team, himself, Daryl, Oscar, and Michonne drive as close to Woodbury as they can before heading into the woods on foot. Interesting they are not unduly troubled by a single zombie that is lumbering towards them. I should also point out it's a nice mixture of old timers and newbies heading to Woodbury. Okay single zombies not so bad but a mob of them and Rick's team are getting out of Dodge. They find shelter in what appears to be a cabin abandoned in the woods but they find themselves in a siege situation and it turns out they aren't so much home alone. Some hermit type guy is packing heat and appears blissfully unaware that the apocalypse has gone down and a whole bunch of zombies are coming to call. Some drastic action by Michonne and quick thinking by Rick gets the team out of zombie clutches leaving only the feeling that maybe the scene was a tad redundant.

I guess I should mention a couple of other developments that warrant some attention. Carol is back with the group after her ordeal and while shaken up by her experience looks none the worse for wear and tear. And Andrea is bonking the Governor, which makes me wonder a) what happened to the chick the Gov was previously doing the nasty with, and b) how does he keep his daughter quiet and the fish tank hidden from his new squeeze? Clearly Andrea is going to have a few decisions to make as tensions between Woodbury and the Prison escalate in coming episodes, the Governor wants the prison and Rick is not going to let that happen without a fight.

The episode ends with Rick's group near the Woodbury fortifications, and in a nice touch pans across from the group to inside Woodbury where Andrea remains blissfully unaware of what day of the week it is. Clearly there's going to be a clash and I'm expecting some casualties as a result, possibly on both sides of the divide. The two wild cards in the pack are of course Michonne, who still remains enigmatic though I'm expecting that katana to get a work out for Rick's team, and Merle who doesn't seem to be drinking the full six pack, but who might just jump ship for Daryl's sake. In North America they are taking a break between the first half and second half of the season, don't worry we'll plow straight through.

Just going to quickly mention one aspect of the show that I haven't been paying much attention to, the score laid down by Bear McCreary, it's been excellent throughout each season thus far. Nice use of an industrial beat this episode which I really grooved to.

I was on board this episode and grooving to the mood sent my way. We're clearly being set up for a mid-season cliff hanger of some description and are no doubt going to get almost wall to wall action next episode. Cool to see Rick out of his funk and back in action ably backed up by one hell of a team of bad asses, the Governor is going to discover he is messing with the wrong people. Out of interest the comics were a lot gorier with the Woodbury plotline, or are the Producers holding back, if they are get ready to have your socks blown off. Yeap full recommendation, When the Dead Come Knocking is an excellent episode, though I still don't get the episode title.