Walking Dead Discussion Thread: S3 E5, “Say the Word”

Mike Dwyer

Mike Dwyer is a former writer and contributor at Ordinary Times.

Related Post Roulette

25 Responses

  1. Roger says:

    Mike,

    I felt the same way when the episode ended. Unrewarded.

    I actually had to fast forward when Rick took the knife to the zombie to “recover” Lori. I assumed he was looking for his wedding ring or something. Now there would be one heck of a set of good memories….

    The whole idea of a zombie baby is massively disturbing. The ultimate creep out.Report

  2. Sam says:

    “Hey, we’re going to risk our fighters because…uhh…we can!” The GovernorReport

    • Mike Dwyer in reply to Sam says:

      Sam – are you talking about the fight? Did you miss the part where the governor said it was staged?Report

    • Pub Editor in reply to Sam says:

      Among other things, it appears that they (maybe) removed the teeth from the walkers used in the arena.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Pub Editor says:

        But zombie capture & toothectomy is itself risky.

        Plus even with toothless zombies, one of the fighters could break a limb or get concussed or whatever duering the fight – IRL, boxers get killed sometimes too.

        I don’t think it changes Sam’s essential point that it’s pretty dumb to risk the well-being of your fighters, on straight entertainment for the masses.

        A much better use of the zombies would be to capture a few and use them in that same arena for training *everyone* who is able-bodied in zombie fighting/killing techniques. That is practical enough that it *might* be worth the risk, and would achieve the same ends (morale-boosting/confidence-building/even entertainment for the observers).Report

    • North in reply to Sam says:

      Ironically the way Woodbury’s arena was depicted is actually a huge step down in moral horror from how it was in the comics. I would presume the show’s producers wanted to introduce more moral ambiguity to the Woodbury side.Report

  3. Glyph says:

    Did that solar/windmill contraption serve any function other that zombie-lure/bait for the pit/trap?

    Given that we know zombies are attracted to motion/sound, setting some of these up away from your camp, and going around to clear them periodically, could be a good way to keep a relatively zombie-free few miles.

    Although you could end up attracting a herd, which would be bad.

    Also, I know Michonne is supposed to be “bad-ass”, but IMO she is simply an idiot if she chooses to release and fight multiple zombies, when that katana could fit through the gaps in the cage and she could dispatch them with no risk to herself. I don’t care how good a fighter she is, choosing to fight multiple enemies at once increases the odds that you might make one small, stupid fatal mistake. It’s not like there is any issue of “honor” when it comes to killing the undead; efficiency and safety are the only concerns.Report

  4. Sam says:

    Is Carol dead? I was in and out of the room; I know they dug her a grave, but did she definitely die?Report

  5. North says:

    I don’t know about any of you but the killing of XXX annoyed me enormously this episode. She’d just started getting some character and they didn’t even bother killing her on screen. If this is a setup for “Is she dead or isn’t she?” I’m going to be mightily annoyed.
    I agree with Roger; the idea of zombie children/babies was enormously powerful and unnerving and frankly I was a tch irritated with all the setup ultimately resulting in a possum.
    I guess I was alone in that I found Ricks sorrow/rampage tiresome and boring. Yes yes Rick, you’re sad and I’m down with that but did the show have to waste so much time on zombie killing porn? The scene in the boiler room was not only annoying but also stupid. What zombie have we ever seen that eats an entire person? Nor, for that matter, would Lori fit in one zombie belly.Report

    • Glyph in reply to North says:

      Re: the ambiguous death of XXX: it’d be pretty hilarious if she showed up alive and all pissed off that they dug a grave without even looking for her, and Darryl was all like, hey, I’m not falling for the whole “spend all season searching for someone who’s already a zombie” thing again.Report

    • Mike Dwyer in reply to North says:

      Also, time-wise it seems like it was probably only a couple of hours before Rick got to Lori. To eat her whole body, bones and all? Who thought that seemed plausible?

      As for Carol – no way is she dead. You all have to watch the previews for the following week! Daryl finds a knife somewhere in the prison and says, “This is Carol’s knife.” He’ll go looking for her I bet. She’s alive and hiding somewhere I am sure.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Mike Dwyer says:

        Awful thought – not just Carol, but Carol and Lori are both alove.

        Remember that Rick found the bullet – so, Carl chickened out. He didn’t shoot Lori.

        After he and Maggie bailed, Carol found Lori, and was able to use her zombie-learned surgical skills to patch Lori up, and drag her to safety too. Hence, no Lori body either.Report

        • Glyph in reply to Glyph says:

          alove=alive.

          Please, no Carol/Lori slashfic.Report

          • Roger in reply to Glyph says:

            Cool, I like it.Report

          • Sam in reply to Glyph says:

            Sorry Glyph. I’m already putting the finishing touches on the first edition of “Wildfire: A Women’s Prison Adventure.”Report

            • Glyph in reply to Sam says:

              Did it seem, for just a second there, that Andrea and Michonne were going to kiss last night?

              No?

              Just me?

              There seemed a lot of unspoken history that they were referring to in their 8-month period together – though whether that long look that passed between them was “smoldering”, or just Michonne’s usual “glower”, was unclear.

              Michonne gets an A in katana-ship, but an F in interpersonal communications.Report

  6. North says:

    Also no comment regarding the phone ringing? I guess none of us are surprised to see that the one thing that survived the zombie apocalypse was the telemarketers.Report