The Walking Dead- “Arrow on the Doorpost”

Another week, another great opening sequence.  Not knowing what Rick, Daryl and Hershel are looking for is a wonderful build up to finally see The Governor come and say to Rick, “ We've got a lot to talk about.”  The quiet tension of the quick scene set up a fantastic episode.The episode is one long negotiation between Rick and The Governor with small look-ins to the other characters.  Let’s look at the meeting between our two main characters.  The Governor tries to get Rick to a sense of calm by saying no weapons are needed, but of course as per the usual, The Governor has one hiding.  Guns don’t come into play between them, but the tension is always there for it to happen at any moment.  Andrea comes in fairly early to the negotiations and we learn that she set everything up.  It was very predictable that she would be the one to set it all up, and it was nice that she was kicked out rather quickly from the talk so the two of them could continue.  She could have only made a tense situation worse.  She doesn't belong in the talks.  More on her later though.

The back and forth between the two of them the remainder of the episode was for the most part great.  Rick coming right out of the gates with an idea for peace: splitting the land up.  This seemed like a good solution, but of course The Governor just wants a full surrender.  He has an ego he needs continue to booster and this would only look like a loss.  The Governor’s tale of his wife’s fate was a nice look into what could have started the beginning of his darker side to come out was great.  The Governor also revealing he knows of Rick’s run to get guns and get prepared for a war was a nice piece of information to try and get Rick to surrender was another sly move to try and win this discussion.  Nothing seemed to faze Rick until The Governor told him all he wants is Michonne and everyone else stays safe.  This was on Rick’s mind for the remainder of the episode.  His talk with Hershel at the end was a nice look into how far Michonne has come into the group and how hard it is for Rick to still lead this group of people he now calls a family.

Onto Andrea and her relentless quest of becoming the most hated character in television.  The writers just do not want to help her out.  Having her being the one to set up the meeting was predictable.  Then continuously asking for peace between the two is also just so hard to watch.  How she could still root for The Governor at all is beyond me.  Her talk with Hershel was good because she realizes that she cannot keep going back to Woodbury, but still she leaves with them as the episode ends.  The whole season screams for a redemption arc for the character, but can we get to it already.  I’m tired of the show screwing this up.
The dynamic between Hershel and Milton, as well as Daryl and Martinez were nice.  Some human emotion is good every now and then for this show.  Milton writing everything down because all of this is going to be history one day was great in my opinion.  Someone at least is hoping that there will be a future where all of this is going to be read by people like we read of history now.  Someone’s got to do it, right?  His and Hershel’s joking around was nice to see.  Also the “who can kill a zombie better” game between Daryl and Martinez was funny.  Some great kills in this short sequence.  What followed was a short conversation by the two “enforcers” of the factions knowing full well that they could work well together, but in the end that war will come and they will have to face off against one another.

Finally the few scenes in the jail were a good distraction from the meeting of Rick and The Governor.  Merle knowing that The Governor should be taken out if the chance is given and trying to get the group to realize that is nice.  No one listens, but Merle is the only one talking sense here for once.  Glenn and Maggie finally getting back together was good to see too.  I don’t think Maggie is completely over what happened in Woodbury, but this is a start.  Glenn is slowly being turned into a leader when Rick isn't around, and he wears it nicely.

This episode was all about the emotions that everyone is feeling, as well the choices they make based on those emotions.  War is coming and this was a good episode to set it all up.  There are only a few episodes left, but I think this season is going to end perfectly.  There are going to be some surprising deaths, hopefully some good zombie killing, and god willing, Andrea will kill The Governor, and maybe die in the process so the writers are released from their hatred of this character.