The Walking Dead: Review: Season 3 Ep 11

AMC, 24 February 2013

Andrea sets out on a mission to unite the prison and Woodbury, but both sides seem intent on war…

Laurie Holden’s Andrea has been something of a problem for The Walking Dead this season. After going AWOL, she ended up in Woodbury and fell under the spell of the Governor, a spell you’d have thought would’ve been broken when her old gang raided the town to free three of their own who were being held captive and tortured. However, she’s played it all conflicted—clearly she’s got a good thing going in Woodbury, but is that enough to completely blind the character to the fact that David Morrissey’s Governor is bat-shit crazy?

Having now gone back and forward between the prison gang and the Governor, she still seems unable to make-up her mind. Even with Carol’s clear suggestion of assassination, she seems unable to go through with the necessary act. That weakens the character, one that has developed hugely across the seasons (unless the writers have a major development up their sleeves—the danger is it might be too little, too late).

That aside, this was another good episode, with plenty of zombie action and some nice comic book framing (especially in the discussion between Michonne and Andrea) by director Greg Nicotero. It’s even possible to forgive his natural tendency to linger on his own zombie effects handywork: the shot of the removal of the second arm went on just a tad too long, revealing the effect as fake, a trap that The Walking Dead has rarely fallen into.

Also of upcoming interest is going to be how Tyreese’s gang will fare if they align themselves with Woodbury against crazy Rick and his bunch in the prison—it’s easy to see how they, like Andrea, could be seduced by the Governor’s surface charm and miss his all-too-present dark side. Could’ve done without the god-awful song at the end, though…

Verdict: A solid entry, if lacking in the major character development that Andrea’s crying out for…

Episode 11 ‘I Ain’t A Judas’: 7/10

Brian J. Robb