The Walking Dead: "Hounded" Review

The Walking Dead

Channel: AMC

Day and Time: Sundays at 9/8 CST

Release Date:

Buy Links:

Amazon

TV Show Description:

Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

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"Hounded" -- 11/18/2012

Review by Angela D. Williams

Merle and others are walking in the woods. They come across walker parts, set up as kind of symbols on the ground. One of them says it says "go back." Merle laughs and claps. "She sent us a biter-gram."

The curly headed kid (Neil) doesn't want to be there. Merle threatens to smash his teeth in if he doesn't stop acting like he's pissing his pants. Merle taunts her, asking what is she going to do against four of them who are armed with guns and she's only got a sword. Michonne leaps out of nowhere and kills two of the four, leaving only Merle and Neil, who fires at her, several times. She is nicked in the leg, but she disappears into the woods. "We having fun yet?" he yells after chasing her.

Rick is on the phone. He asks where the caller is. She won't say. "Are you someplace safe?" She tells him yes, and that part of why is because they're careful. "I have a son," he tells her. "I have a newborn baby. I'm with a good group of people. Would you be willing, could you take in others?" He tells her they could pull their weight. He's crying, desperate, begging. "We're dying. We're dying here." She tells him she'll talk to her group and call back in two hours.

Rick finally goes back to the main group and asks if everyone is okay. They are all staring at him. He tells them he cleared out the boiler block. That he came back to check on Carl. He tells them he's going back to clear the bodies. Glenn tells him that he and Maggie are planning to make a run later. Daryl tells him they're cleaning out the generator room in case they can fix it, and that they're going to sweep the lower levels, as well. Rick says, "Good," and leaves.

Merle returns to Neil and prompts him to get going. They make sure their two fallen comrades can't return as biters. He tells Neil Michonne's not running; she's hunting.

The Governor and Andrea are talking about the gladiator style biter-fights. "If it's an escape, I don't think it's the right one." She tells him the world is brutal enough already. She tells him she wants to contribute. That she wants to work the wall. He offers to get somebody to teach her archery.

Rick is sitting by the phone, waiting. It rings. "You the guy she was talking to?" a male voice asks, then says, "You could be dangerous. Have you killed anyone?" He asks Rick how many people he's killed Rick says he's killed four people: two outsiders, one that threw him to walkers, and the other one was one of their own. He lost it. He explains about Shane. The guy asks him how he lost his wife. He's suspicious at first, and tells the man he doesn't want to talk about that. The line goes dead. He screams "No!" and kicks the table. Then hangs up the phone and lays his head down.

Back at Woodbury--Andrea and another woman are sitting on the guard wall, and the woman is telling her she'll lend her her old bow. Andrea comments she must be pretty good. She agrees; her dad wanted her to be in the Olympics. The girl killed her dad and brother when they turned. Andrea says she had to kill her sister. "Sucks, right?" They stare at each other. "Walker!" Andrea announces. The woman shoots him, and misses. Andrea gets down on the ground. "You're not supposed to go over the wall," the woman yells, upset. Andrea stabs the walker in the eye. "What the hell was that?" The other woman demands. Andrea tells her that's how it done, and the woman says that this isn't a game.

Hershel shows up and finds Rick. Rick gets him a stool to sit on and Hershel sits down. He tells Rick he still feels his leg. "I have a ghost from the knee down." Rick apologizes, and Hershel says Rick saved his life. "She was sorry for the things that happened. She told me that. She planned on telling you." He tells him to take his time. He praises Rick's leadership ability, and tells him he knows Rick wants to get away from the prison. Rick tells him someone called on the phone. Hershel picks up the phone and listens, then hangs it up. Rick tells Hershel not to tell the rest of the group yet. Hershel offers to sit there with him, and Rick says no. He leaves.

Merle and Neil are looking for Michonne still. Merle saves Neil's life. Michonne kicks Merle in the groin and then in the face--with her boot. Walkers come from the woods and attack. Michonne barely manages to grab her sword and disembowels the walker after her and his guts spill out onto her. Then she vanishes into the woods, leaving Merle and Neil on their own again.

Daryl, Carl and Oscar are exploring the corridors. He tells Carl his mom liked wine and smoking in bed. He was out playing with kids in the neighborhood and the kids had bikes and he didn't. Sirens sounded and the kids jumped on their bikes to find out what was going on. Daryl couldn't keep up. He went around the corner and saw his friends looking at him, fire trucks everywhere. His house had burned down, his mom dead. "She was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?" Carl tells him he shot his mom. "She was out, hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real." He says sorry about Daryl's mom. Daryl says he's sorry about his.

The Governor is in his office, Andrea knocks on the door and then goes inside. "I know why you wanted to see me," she admits. She says she just wanted a little practice. He tells her they don't need her on the wall. She says okay, and turns to go, but she's not happy. Then she admits she liked the fights, but that, "I didn't like that I liked them." The Governor smirks. "But you did, I know." He tells her she could've walked out, but she stayed. Just like she's staying to tell him that. She asks if he's saying that she likes HIM, too. He says he thinks he's growing on her.

Merle tells Neil it's time to head back. Neil protests, wants to keep going after her. He tells Neil she's near the "Red Zone," and she's as good as dead. That Michonne's not right in the head. Neil tells Merle he's not lying to the governor. Merle shoots him in the head a moment later, then picks up his gun and walks away.

Michonne pulls her bags from a tree. She is limping badly. She pulls her sword as four walkers approach. They move right past her without so much as a glance. She is clearly confused.

Back at the prison, the phone rings again. The voice tells him he needs to talk about it, and addresses him by  name. He asks how she knew that, and hangs up when the connection gets bad.

Michonne limps her way back toward part of a town. She spots a truck rolling down the street toward her and she hides behind another car. It's Maggie and Glenn, who look around. "It's clear outside," Maggie announces. They kiss, and then make their way to one of the buildings where Glenn breaks through a chained door, ducking when a bunch of birds fly out. Maggie encourages him to get the toy duck, because the kid will need toys.

The Governor and Andrea are outside in his backyard, drinking and talking about his life in the past. He asks her how long it's been. Then he clarifies he's talking about the last time she had good whiskey. "I want to be here, right now," he tells her. "Talking to you." She tells him she feels special, and he reminds her to call him Phillip off the clock. Tells her she doesn't need to be ashamed about liking the fight. Or fighting the fight. He tells her he loves it. "It's part of being alive. Really alive." They stare at each other for a long moment, and tells her she has the fighting spirit. "Eat, drink and be merry, tomorrow we die." She tells him she's not planning on dying. "It just happens." She tells him other things happen. They kiss and he sets her glass down on the table.

"We just hit the powder formula jackpot." Glenn says to Maggie. Merle suddenly shows up, gun drawn and pointed at them. "Merle?" Glenn says, in disbelief. He puts the gun down when he realizes who it is. He asks about his brother. Glenn and Maggie keep their guns trained on him. He asks them to take him to his brother, and he'll let go of everything that happened in Atlanta, no hard feelings. "I'll tell Daryl you're here, and he'll come out to meet you," Glenn says. They get nervous as he gets closer. He pulls another gun that was hidden in his waistband and fires at Maggie, who ducks. Then he holds it to her head and tells them to get in the car. Glenn says they're not going back to they're camp and Merle says no, they're going somewhere else. Michonne sees the whole thing and looks unhappy.

Daryl, Oscar, and Carl are looking through cells. A walker appears and both Daryl and Oscar shoot him. There is a knife sticking out of his neck. Daryl kneels down and pulls it free, staring at it. "That was Carol's knife." He stares at the walker.

Rick is standing in the room with the phone. It's ringing again. He answers, and asks how they knew his name. "Because we know you," the woman answers. "The people you were talking to today, that was them." He realizes it's Lori, and she's talking about their friends who have died. She asks him what happened and he collapses to his knees, crying. "I loved you," he whispers. He tells her he made her a deal, he would keep her alive, he would find them a place, and he couldn't get back together with her and keep everyone together, too. "But I loved you. I love you." He tells her he should have said it. He wipes tears from his eyes. She tells him he has the baby--their baby. And Carl. She tells him she loves him. Not to give up. "Can you do that, Rick?" she asks through very static-filled line. He slowly gets to his feet and hangs up the phone.

The Governor and Andrea are in his bed. There's a knock on his door. He's not happy. She asks if she should hide under the bed. "Not this time," he jokes. He gets up, throws on a robe, and goes to the door. Merle is standing there. He tells the Governor they lost all three guys. "Biters got in the middle of it. Then I got her." The Governor tells him to say it was a supply run gone sideways. The Governor asks for her head and her sword (for his creepy ass head collection, I guess). Merle makes up a story about how her head had gotten all tore up. He tells him he brought the Governor something else though: a couple of people from Atlanta. "From the looks of them, they gotta be set up pretty good. I'll find out where," Merle promises. The Governor returns to Andrea and gets naked once more, kissing her again.

Rick returns to the main cell block. He moves over to where Hershel is holding the baby girl. He looks down at her, and she begins to cry. He takes her from Hershel's arms and holds her for the first time. He smiles at her as a tear rolls down his cheek. He holds her close and then kisses the top of her head.

Daryl is stabbing the knife he found into the floor repeatedly, then paces back and forth, moves the walker aside that is blocking a door, and finds Carol just inside, hurt, but alive. They stare at each other for a moment, then he reaches out and touches her cheek. He carries her out of there.

Hershel, Beth, Carl, and Rick, carrying the baby, are walking outside. Rick tells Carl the baby looks like him. Rick looks into the distance and spots something, and heads toward it. He pulls his gun from its holster. It's Michonne, standing at the gate, carrying the basket of baby formula that Glenn and Maggie had found. They stare at each other through the chain link fence as the episode fades to a close.