Hershel and Daryl drive up to a seemingly abandoned farm on the edge of an abandoned town. Rick hops out of the truck and Daryl rises from his bike. The two quietly begin scouting the area, weaving between rusted silos while Hershel waits in the truck, armed and ready for whatever is about to happen. Eventually Rick enters a run down feed store with his pistol in hand.
The Governor walks in with his hands raised and tells him "We have a lot to talk about." After Rick takes aim at him The Governor hangs his holster on a nearby hook. Moments later he takes a seat and we see a gun taped to the table. We're not sure why it's there, but I think it's fair to say: we don't like it.
Daryl who has been spying through a window, moves back to the front of the building with Hershel, telling him that something isn't right when the Governor's cronies -Martinez and Milton- drive up in an SUV. Andrea hops out of the passenger seat, surprised to hear that both men are already inside, and heads in herself. Andrea appears to believe she is part of some boys' club... when the reality is she is far from it. She makes the worst decisions and has zero natural instincts when it comes to trust. While inside she learns The Governor did something to Maggie, but doesn't know what. After a few minutes of trying to negotiate with Rick and The Governor it's apparent that neither of them want her there and she's sent back outside to wait with everyone else, including Daryl and Martinez who are already sizing one another up.
Back at the prison Glenn is trying to manage the rest of the survivors and prepare for war. Merle suggests attacking now, but Glenn refuses to put Rick, Daryl, and Hershel in danger.
At the feed store Rick is trying to reason with the irrational Governor - offering that Woodbury can take west of the river and his group will take east. The Governor scoffs at Rick and demands surrender (excuse us, have you sir, not met Rick Grimes?) Rick delivers one of the best lines of the series when he tells ole Phil "You're the town drunk who knocked over my fence and ripped up my yard, nothing more."
We also learn that dear, sweet Andrea has relayed to The Governor that baby Judith may in fact, not even be Rick's biological daughter. To that we say: WTF ANDREA?! Can someone just off her already? The Governor tries to use this to his advantage, telling Rick he has failed to see "the devil beside you" in reference to Shane.
Milton continues to take notes outside while Andrea, Martinez, and Daryl take turns clearing a small group of zombies that have wandered up. Martinez and Daryl even have a little bonding movement over a cigarette, courtesy of one of the walkers while Milton questions Hershel about his bite and amputation. He also creepily asks if he can see Hershel's stump, which is no dice since he's a perfect stranger.
Back at the summit in the feed store The Governor shares a sad little story about his wife's death. It seems to rattle Rick, but seriously - at this point everyone has lost someone, and most in much more disturbing ways, so thumbs down to the pity party, it's no excuse to become a lunatic.
At the prison Merle is packing weapons and ammo with intent to ambush Woodbury while The Governor is away. Glenn firmly stands his ground. Maggie even notes that if Michonne can follow their rules, Merle can too. He and Glenn still end up in a fist fight over the ordeal, but the group gets their way and Merle stays.
Andrea finally asks Hershel what happened between The Governor and Maggie and he simply tells her that "He's a sick man." This is not her first clue that something is up with her latest fling. Andrea admits that she doesn't belong in Woodbury, and Hershel tells her that she's right and should be with her family at the prison, but once she's with them she can't go back to The Governor. She's obviously torn, although she really shouldn't be. (So over her already.)
We finally learn what The Governor really wants - Michonne. He offers Rick and his group freedom and peace in exchange for one of their deadliest members. Otherwise he fully intends to annihilate all of Rick's people.
In the meantime, Merle is trying to recruit our beloved Michonne to go with him to Woodbury. Still. Even she tells him it's not happening. Oh yeah, and Maggie and Glenn get hot and heavy when their supposed to be on watch. Luckily nothing happened outside of the prison while these two were, umm, "mending" their temporarily broken romance.
At the feed store Rick tries again to smooth things over with The Governor, telling him that he's wasting his time on this one personal vendetta but this man is not one to reason with at all. Rick wonders if he can even trust in the deal or not. The Governor gives him two days to decide before he leaves with Milton, Martinez, and yes - Andrea in tow. When they arrive back in Woodbury The Governor instructs his men to surround the feed store at the exchange and kill everyone, then bring Michonne to him alive. Milton questions his deal with Rick and The Governor tells him that they'll have to "eliminate Rick sooner or later." Milton looks surprised and disgusted by his leader and it is very obvious that he wants to talk to Andrea immediately. Kudos Milton for finally realizing what a scumbag this guy is. Seeing as they're on the same page, maybe Andrea and Milton should get together?
Upon returning to the prison Rick tells the survivors that they are going to war. In a private moment with Hershel he confesses that The Governor has requested Michonne in exchange for their safety, but even then he's not sure if he can trust him or not. Hershel tells him that she has earned her place among the group, and Rick asks if Hershel is willing to trade his daughter's lives for hers. This is obviously not an easy conversation and every choice has a negative consequence that likely ends in death. Hershel asks "Why are you telling me?" Rick simply replies: "Because I'm hoping you can talk me out of it."
This week is a huge build up to the impending war, the season finale, and what we can only hope will be the demise of The Governor.
It appears that Andrea is FINALLY seeing the error of her ways in trading her strong, silent friend Michonne in for a warm bed, the carefully crafted facade that Woodbury is, and of course a little s-e-x with a sadistic douchebag (that's her thing it seems.) While it would be great to see her play a hand in The Governor's downfall, it's taken a long time for her see him for who he really is and I'm not sure we would be sad to see her go down with him. The other survivors > Andrea, just sayin'.
The Ricktatorship appears to be back in action, as predicted last week! More than anything about the convo with The Governor, I think Rick was irked at mention of a phone call in his wife's final moments. After all, when Lori died and he went off the deep end (the first time) there was some creepy ghosty phone call business that I'm sure he hasn't forgotten in the slightest. However, I think it was very apparent that he was not about to let The Governor rock him now that he's getting a grip on reality, not to mention the severity of the current situation.
As per the usual, Rick is attempting to make peace for the greater good - even willing to part ways with The Governor and living apart without a war (we believe he could actually make good on a deal of this nature.) If only it could work that way. Obviously he knows The Governor's word has no value and is prepared for a fight, which seems inevitable. Even in his discussion with Hershel we can see that he doesn't want to give up Michonne, he's only considering it for his family of survivors.
In the end, we don't see Rick handing Michonne over, period. Even if they walk into the feed store next week and have us going for an entire episode - we're calling that Rick's people will ambush The Governor's ambush on them, make sense? Hopefully Andrea and Milton can rally some troops in Woodbury (TYREESE?!) to defend the good guys and go up against the big bad Governor.
Also worth noting: It's about time that Glenn and Maggie have worked through some of their problems. She strong minded and he's really come into this protector/leader role which caused them to clash after they were held in Woodbury. There was obviously going to be tension after Governor Phil's creepy almost-rape-scene, but it was nothing to ruin their relationship over. And, Hershel has become quite the BA, missing leg and all.
Do you have an thoughts or predictions for The Walking Dead? Season 3 is winding down and we have some ideas about the finale, what about you? (Please, if you have read the comics do not spoil anything for those of us that are watching the show first and reading later.)
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