rating: 3.5
MASSIVE SPOILERS ENSUE Well, Andrea, you almost made it out alive. You almost made it to the prison gates yet again. Now you're at the mercy of a sociopathic killer. Comic Andrea laughs at you. Comic Andrea also had a skirmish with a sociopathic killer, and she not only escaped but learned from it. This is the Andrea we've been waiting for, for a long time. The survivalist, the rough neck, the warrior, the balls to the wall heroine, it's just a shame that her journey is pretty much for naught, because for a long time she was blind, and now she can finally see. It's just too bad she'll be seeing through a pool of her own bodily fluids soon enough. Comic Andrea is disappointed at you, Television Andrea. She survived so much more and you couldn't just fight your way out? Hey, I know, when the governor tackled you and covered your mouth, how about biting his hand, attacking him with the knife, and getting Rick in the watch tower to see you two duking it out in the bushes? You may not have survived it, but at least Rick would have gotten something out of you, in the end. Scream, holler, scratch, go all mixed nuts on him and garner Rick's attention. It would have been a great plan.
Comic Andrea scoffs at you with derision. "What a lightweight," she sulks with pity. This is yet another Andrea-centric episode, and once again this is mostly filler. But entertaining filler. I mean, I read an interview last year that the producers insisted there was so much storyline the Governor and Prison story arc would last two seasons, and now there just seems to be so little story, the writers are pacing themselves until the big finale. "I have to kill him," Andrea declares. You think? "The Governor is not the man he seems to be." Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Hindsight! I almost expected Andrea to proclaim, "The Governor is wearing an eye patch." And of course, Tyreese and his wife whom fled the jail when Rick began having a tantrum at the sight of his ghost wife, suddenly decide to stay in Woodbury when confronted by someone who is so desperate to leave she sticks a knife at them, jumps off the wall, and makes a run for it like her butt is on fire. Good leadership, Tyreese and Mrs. Tyreese. I'm not sure why Andrea would travel the open fields and big roads to get to the prison, when she could have gone through the woods. It would have been very problematic, but it would have been smart. And once the Governor basically made it through the tombs, why not just knock off a few of the prison people while you're there? What is the governor waiting for?
More to the point, what does the governor ultimately hope to gain by torturing Andrea? What else could she tell him that she hadn't already through bouts of lying face down and biting in to pillows? I don't quite understand it, really. Andrea though s the one true dissension Woodbury has had from within for a while, so perhaps he's hoping to condition her? And now that Milton has bitten his master, the Governor, on the hand twice, The Governor knows now that he has no one he can trust or really confide in. Especially with Tyreese and his group gradually second guessing the entire living situation. The emphasis on Tyreese and the tension in his group is great so far, and I really truly hope this is all set up for Tyreese to join Rick and his group at the finale and be one of the regulars on the show. Tyreese is such a great character and they can do wonders with a lot more variety in the show. The only real focus is on Woodbury for this episode, as the writers seem to have flipped the focus leading in to the finale. There was one episode for Rick, Michonne, and Carl, the big summit, and now we see how things have begun crashing down all around the governor before his very eye. There are a lot of close calls for Andrea and the Governor, but that's really all they are. Close Calls. AMC ruined the suspense by featuring Laurie Holden in a promo for the upcoming episode of "Talking Dead,"
* so I was then on convinced that Andrea was indeed dead once the episode ended. In fact, once it became clear that the Governor wasn't going to murder Andrea at all, I was kind of disappointed. I'm still not sure what he wants her for, and there's not a lot of cause for leaving her alive. If she breaks free, or if Milton or Martinez get ballsy and free Andrea, she will go on a rampage and murder the Governor, once and for all. So his move is foolish, and the character has revealed once again he's as motivated by passion and trivialities like everyone else in this world is.
Once again, "Prey" is another episode of filler leading in to the final two episodes of "The Walking Dead," but it was at least entertaining filler featuring a close facsimile of the Andrea comic book fans have been wanting to see for a long time, now. I foresee so much death in the final two episodes. So much death. At this point I can definitely also foresee Andrea going out like a champ while trying to stop the governor once and for all, Andrea being saved in the last minute and integrating with her people again to become a valuable asset to the team, or perhaps Milton will go down with the Governor and Woodbury like Frankenstein and his Bride in the burning castle being slowly devoured around them. Two more episodes, we shall find out.
* How frighteningly pretentious was Todd McFarlane during "Talking Dead"? Everyone on the show seemed to be irritated by him, by the time the show came to an end.