3.10 Home It’s also a great metaphor for Rick’s mindset. He’s so locked in on himself that he can’t even function among the group anymore. Indeed, for most of this episode, Rick stays away from pretty much everyone, and in that leadership vacuum, someone has to step up. Fortunately for the prison survivors, that’s Glenn. Unfortunately for the survivors, Glenn’s a little blinded with rage at the moment. The Governor knows where they are. They know The Governor may be coming, and there’s an internal conflict in the group. Glenn, the ersatz leader, wants to just attack Woodbury, kill The Governor, and get it all over with. Or they can just hunker down, wait for the Woodbury attack, and use their superior defensive capability. That’s the question. Do you attack when they know you’re coming, or wait for them to attack… if they even will attack you. That’s the sort of tension that is meaningful; it’s not whether or not they’ll get to stay on the farm, but whether or not they’ll all be alive with armed men from Woodbury potentially creeping up on them through the woods and zombies streaming in through the tombs via the damaged outer wall. The show breaks up into three individual settings this week: the prison, Woodbury, and the Dixon brothers wandering alone. Breaking up the big cast in such a way is a good way of getting individual relationships a chance to develop. See, for example, Glenn, Maggie, and Hershel from last week, or Daryl and Merle together this week. We saw hints of their pairing and their brotherly dynamics last week, and we get to see more of how they interact this week in some strong scenes for both Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus. It’s interesting to see how that dynamic changes over the episode, how Daryl goes from the little brother being bullied to the man we know from the farm who risked his life daily to find Sophia. Of particular note, at least to me, is Steven Yeun’s performance this week. Glenn is the leader, because no one else can step in, and it weighs on his shoulders in a palpable way. He’s angry for all that’s happened, he’s angry for his own failings to protect Maggie, and he’s angriest of all at Rick for putting him in a position to where he has to take on the leadership role of the group while Rick’s off chasing ghosts through the woods. There are little moments when you can see Glenn steel himself in an attempt to do what he thinks is right, to make the right decision when he doesn’t know what the right move is. Mann is also no slouch with the episode’s action scenes, of which there are a couple of really good ones. In particular, the last set piece is brilliantly handled, both in terms of the idea behind it and in terms of how it was shot, staged, and executed. In a show in which running children can execute perfect head shots on moving targets, it’s an odd touch of realism to show how most firefights seem to work on the rare occasions they happen in the real world. It also leaves the show in an awesome position to finish out the season. It feels like a brief plateau leading to something really big coming up in the waning weeks of The Walking Dead‘s third season. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, The Suicide King, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan will give credit where credit is due for the cleverness of this week’s episode of The Walking Dead. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here
