WARNING! Spoilers below.

Look, I realize The Walking Dead is about the characters thrown into this horrific scenario and seeing how it impacts them. I don't need action to enjoy the show. In fact, it has had plenty of fantastic character driven moments which were totally lacking in the undead slaughtering department (Morgan's story, for example). But this was unfortunately a pretty boring episode where my interest was only piqued when walkers were the victims of some harsh violence.

'Prey' strays away from the Prison and focuses on how Woodbury is preparing to handle the upcoming war. As we know, "Nick Fury" is driven by revenge and wants to make Michonne suffer. While he's at it, he wants to backstab Rick and his survivors, too. Meanwhile, Andrea has been hit by a long overdue epiphany: the Governor is completely loco and cannot be trusted. Naturally, she wants to get out and warn the Prison crew.

Before I sound like a grumpy old man and dive into what I didn't like, this episode does deserve some praise. First and foremost, the use of prosthetic makeup was topnotch. The pit of burnt zombies was viciously detailed and a truly horrific sight.

The Governor's shovel kill is right up there with Martinez's bat kills for me. Simply brutal stuff right there. Additionally, I love that they briefly dove back into Rick's mental state. I was concerned they brushed that off after Michonne essentially said, "it's cool, bro, we all see things from time to time," but it's nice to see it's still a factor. It's great they were able to display this without blatantly throwing it in our faces, too. Andrew Lincoln's performance said everything we need to know. He knows he saw something, but then he realizes it's probably just another vision. Furthermore, the game of cat and mouse had a solid conclusion and I was thrilled to see Andrea didn't have a change of heart as her former lover was left screaming.

What was up with that opening scene? It felt completely random and out of place. If it's an attempt to further develop Michonne, we really don't need that. Those walkers being discussed are long gone and she had her time to shine during her team-up with Carl. If it's an attempt to show Andrea's connection to Michonne, why bother? We've seen that countless times before. So, randomly diving back to this time period was a confusing choice and didn't fit.

How'd the Governor not see Andrea while she was creeping on him? Yeah, the dude has one eye, but that screen was huge and not even that high up. We got a perspective from the ground level and it's really, really, reaaaaaally hard to believe he didn't spot them with his peripheral vision.

Andrea finally getting an ounce of common sense is something worth celebrating -- throw some confetti if you've got it. But, it took her seeing the torture chair to finally realize this? What about the room of severed heads? His zombie daughter on a chain? All of her friends warning her? It feels like too little, too late and I honestly don't feel bad at all over her status in the conclusion. Sure, she gets a badass moment or two here, but for me, it just doesn't counteract all of the frustrating nonsense we've seen from her.

I'm happy to see they're turning Tyreese into a man of morals again, but man oh man, did he fall for the worst lie ever or what? "We don't share our tactics with people we don't know," buuut we're okay with having them serve as an essential tool for setting up the tactic. Wait, what? The man has no reason to believe that information couldn't be shared with him, especially if he's being used to set it up. Get it together, Tyreese!

While I like how Andrea/Governor's game of hide and seek ended, it was seriously drawn-out. It was far too lengthy and I don't know about you, but I wasn't feeling the sense of danger or tension at all. A scene like this should have you on the edge of your seat. Instead, I was counting down the sections for something interesting to happen.

WHOA! Who didn't see that final shot coming? Seriously, who didn't? It's tough to feel any sympathy for Andrea at this point (she is without question one of the most frustrating characters in the show), but there's no denying it's at least a solid development. That, in combination with Milton's betrayal has finally spiced things up over in Woodbury. While this episode attempted to take leaps and bounds with Andrea, Tyreese and the Governor, I'm left far more interested in how things will happen over in the Prison. I feel they've done such a better job with those characters and I'm far more emotionally invested and intrigued by them -- especially with Merle back in the mix. There's only two episodes left this season, so here's hoping the season goes out with one helluva bang.

Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment. This is the part where he shamelessly plugs his Twitter page in hopes of getting a new follower or two.

Did seem to be spinning its wheels a bit to kill time this episode. I was also totally thrown off by the first scene, looking back. Odd placement unless it figures in BIG time next episode. But I doubt that.

I'm also not convinced that Tyreese truly fell for that. Loved the Milton stuff and think he might be filling the Eugene role a bit from the comics going forward.

The next couple episodes are going to be nuts with so much to wrap up! And we all know what Nicotero directing the next episode means...

I was excited at the end, and then BAM! ughhhh!

This season is definitely my favorite of the three so far!

I don't know....two episodes to redeem themselves will be tough.

The Andrea hate is stupid. I could go into a point by point, but I won't bother, because people believe that they would be so much "braver," so much more "noble," so much more infallible if they were put in such bleak circumstances. They wouldn't. Most of those who chide Andrea's choices, like Lori before her, would have been killed long ago, because sitting at home watching TV and calling a character a "stupid bitch" is easy; surviving the zombie apocalypse, I would imagine, is a little harder than playing armchair quarterback. This is why the show is a success--there is no Batman, who always wins no matter what, and there is no Superman, who always makes the right decision.

I actually liked this episode.

But then again, I thought that the show was going to parallel how Rick hunted down Martinez and killed him with the Governor hunting down Andrea and killing her.

I really thought that was going to happen once The Governor was driving after her.

Here is my review for the episode:

Great review. On the Talking Dead, "Andrea" mentioned they cut a scene between her and Milton that sounded much more interesting than the drawn out chase scene. I was seriously watching the clock waiting for the chase between the Governor and Andrea to be over so we could see something interesting before the show ended. I'm not a fan of Andrea whatsoever, just obnoxious all around. Side note, that same actress was the woman who broke The Thing's heart in the Fantastic Four movie. Lol. I truly am not a fan of this woman so any episode focusing on her is a boring one to me. The ending very anticlamitic to me as well, once again because I don't care about that character. Please let's focus on the characters I love back at the prison and wrap this season up with a win.

Am pretty sure Tyreese did'nt fall for that lie, I think his being smart about it his playing along to find out more and to of course stay alive until he works out a plan. It's not like he was going to come out and say "I don't believe you Governor I think your lying, crazy and an evil man ..." how long would he last after saying that.

@shackle said:

The Andrea hate is stupid. I could go into a point by point, but I won't bother, because people believe that they would be so much "braver," so much more "noble," so much more infallible if they were put in such bleak circumstances. They wouldn't. Most of those who chide Andrea's choices, like Lori before her, would have been killed long ago, because sitting at home watching TV and calling a character a "stupid bitch" is easy; surviving the zombie apocalypse, I would imagine, is a little harder than playing armchair quarterback. This is why the show is a success--there is no Batman, who always wins no matter what, and there is no Superman, who always makes the right decision.

I agree, the one of the only reasons that audiences at home feel like they would do better is because you are shown EVERYTHING that happens so you knew he was evil since his first appearance while Andrea was barely getting to know him, you have to put yourself in their situation with only the knowledge they have. But yeah Superman always does the right thing.

Yeah, I wasn't all that crazy about this episode, but I feel like if they had replaced Andrea with Michonne in the chase i would have liked this episode a lot more. I just can't empathize with Andrea I understand why she makes some of the choices she does given the hectic situations she gets suck in, BUT she is just so, so, so... Je ne suis pas!

Also if the governor doesn't tell just anyone about his tactics, why does he trust Tyreese and his crew more than his loyal soldiers?

And the first scene felt really out of place with Michonne hardly being in this episode.

It seems that The Walking Dead is only interesting toward the end of the season. I loved this episode perfect suspense and surprising ending.

I'm sorry, but that ending was kinda BS 
 

Stellar as usual.

@The Stegman said:

I'm sorry, but that ending was kinda BS

I thought you were gonna say that the BS was the final shot of Andrea in the chair. On Talking Dead Chris Hardwick was all "uhhhh, I figureed she was in the trunk of the car or something, how shocking" and I was blown away by how stupid that sounded. I mean, they showed the room, they showed him capturing her, OBVIOUSLY she was gonna end up in there!

I used to be all about hating Andrea from way back when she accidentally shot at Shane, but this season makes me respect her a lot more. I believed that the reason she has been staying at Woodbury for long wasn't because she was torn between the Governor and Rick but because she felt a sense of responsibility for the citizens of Woodbury. I think she foolishly and naively thought she could make the Governor change his ways. Also the fact that Woodbury is a functional town amidst the madness of a zombie apocolypse would be something hard to walk away from. I do agree that the past few episodes have felt kinda long and boring to me. We know there is going to be a huge season-finale fight but do we really have to slog through so much slow plodding episodes? Anywho, good article as usual. Its good to read an article on an opposing viewpoint when it is well written and defended.

I liked this episode alot. The "Murder Whistle" was awesome. During the chase scene it became obvious that the Governor is f'n scarier then any zombie. I would rather take my chances out in the wild then be strapped down in his damn torture chair. For awhile now I was hatin on Andrea but she's long since redeemed herself in my eyes. Sadly however I fear she will now serve as plot device. Oh make no mistake, she's gonna get Hostal'd in that chair and eventually Afro Samurai will find her but it will be to late. Just my prediction.

Boring? Geeze-la-weeze...

Gee ripes, if the Governor isn't a real twisted psycho. Obvious, I know, but man oh man...

Its been drawn out for WAY too long now to be honest. The fight with the prison and Woodbury These last few episodes have been ridiculously pointless filler, and all we really saw was the same thing tonight but with a few things to wow us. Sure, we got to see some zombies barbecued Southern style in a pit (nope I definitely didn't overlook the symbolism there), and got to see Andrea finally quit being an effin' ditz and wake the eff' up for a change, but other than that, was there really anything good here? Sooooo the Governor is kinda going a little serial killer now with all his tools and props and methods of torture? BIG DEAL! Again, just an okay episode...they are just dragging out this calm before the storm far too long. The Woodbury vs. Prison fight better be stupendously amazing. I'm serious...

I gotta disagree with you here Gregg. I thought This episode was so much better than last weeks sit down episode. That episode I felt was lacking in intruguing dialouge. This episode set the tone and made me respect Andreas charcter more than any episode this season. Tyreese wasnt fooled over I think its more about him needing something to hold onto, some belief that there is some where he and Sasha could call home, and I think he wanted woodbury to be that. I believe hes just keeping his mouth shut and will make his move soon. Good review, I just disagree, I think this and the Morgan episode were the best episodes of this second half season.

While I agree this episode could have been better, it was far site superior over last episode which dang near had me falling asleep. Although it was still very good but not up to par with previous episodes.

I thought the scenes with One Eye Jack hunting down Andrea in the warehouse was suspenseful.

Seemed like Tyreese did a complete 180, almost inexplicably. Why? Because of the other dufus he has issues with? Seemed really forced to me. Unless it is an indicator that some who have survived this far have done so because deep down they are all immoral? I still can't shake the feeling that Rick and Michonne's abandonment of the orange backpack hiker will have some kind of impact later on. Maybe I am way off, who knows.

Let's hope the next two episodes will pick up; hopefully it won't be too little too late.

@Decept-O: @SavageDragon: I agree this episode was better than last week's, but that's not really saying a whole lot, is it? ;)

IMHO 'Clear' has been the best episode this season by miles.

@ComicAddict2814: Thank you.

Andrea badassed all over this episode, I love Tyreese now, Hate Allen more than anyone, and now love Milton. This episode did it, this episode convinced me most of the cast will be killed off in the next 2 episodes

@k4tzm4n: I think, IMO, it showed a lot more events and action, and also opened the door to a lot of questions, not unlike Andrea's "letting the dogs out" when she introduced the zombie horde to the Governor during her ( temporary) escape.

I think perhaps your disdain for Andrea is affecting things, and I totally understand, and can agree, I just am trying to overlook that aspect of the recent episodes and question what the heck is gonna happen next! Even though these past two episodes have been a bit lackluster, I am still hooked and hoping for something really incredible to happen. *fingers crossed*

@Decept-O:My feelings for Andrea absolutely played a major role in "I ain't a Judas," but not as much here. Seeing her finally come to her senses was fantastic and she was provided quite a few badass moments. I love her moment of hesitation before leaving the warehouse as the Governor screamed in the background. Brilliant and quite satisfying moment there. That said, my biggest issues with this one was the painfully slow pacing and, IMHO, mostly uninteresting interactions between the other characters from the Woodbury gang.

I'm right there with you, man. We all want nothing but the best from these final two episodes.

@k4tzm4n: Gotcha. I guess last episode was so painfully slow that this one seemed far better! You're right about the pacing regarding the interactions with the Woodbury group. I think the Woodbury gang's actions just don't make any sense, esp with Tyreese. I don't get him!

I normally don't mind all the changes made from the comic to the show. It causes the show to be fresh for me an not entirely predictable. But, I've not liked Andrea one bit this entire 3 seasons. For one, she's not the same age as the comic (which I could get over) but her attitude and half/wit stupidity is nerve racking. Finally this episode she does a few smart things, but they don't cover for her stupidity in the past. You don't sleep with a man like the Governor and not realize how wicked he is.

I thought this episode was OK. I find it hard to care much for Andrea as she is probably the character I like least next to the Governor. Thought the Governor you are supposed to dislike, so that clearly shows something wrong with Andrea as a character. I did like that we saw more of Tyrese and his girlfriend/sister (I don't really know who she is to him).

One thing that's starting to bug me is that the zombies seem less threatening now. I know they are wanting to illustrate how bad man can be with the Governor, but the zombies seem like more of a hindrance now than a real threat. I guess this is why series like Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead have stronger "special" zombies, it helps off set the lessening threat of the zombies. I'm sure once things blow up in the season finale and people lose their security the zombies will become a threat again.

Worst episode ever, last weeks seemed more interesting and that was still a poor episode. Can't wait until this season is over, it has been so boring since Laurie died. Worst thing for me is any episode that focuses solely on the Woodbury side of things. I just don't care at all about them, especially Andrea who is such an idiot it actually forces me to hate her as a character.

Overall I liked this episode. The opening scene was a little out of place. Maybe those of you who keep complaining about this show week after week should find a new show to watch.

ae;dw

(Andrea episode;didn't watch)

I liked the beginning of the episode and I think it resonated with me because of the comics. When Michonne said something along the lines of "they weren't human to begin with" regarding her two guardzombies it leads me to believe the

@desmond006 said:

Overall I liked this episode. The opening scene was a little out of place. Maybe those of you who keep complaining about this show week after week should find a new show to watch.

In a bigger picture, a zoomed-out kind of way, the Walking Dead is still one of the better TV shows on television period. "one of the better", but not THE best... and its extremely popular as far as the ratings tell.

However, it suffers from 2 pieces of luggage (or, armless zombies on chains if you will) trailing behind it:

1. Its based off a comic book, which is superior in every way possible

2. The TV series is on during a time where television is currently in a upswing, and on a cable channel who also shows the perfectly written and paced Breaking Bad.

So what that all means is that WD is a TV show that people can't stop watching, but will forever be comparing against #1 and #2.

Plus, its kind of a stupid assertion on your part ... you like the show and have no complaints, and would rather it lose viewership (aka ratings) because people on the interwebs (*gasp!*) like to complain. I say if people keep watching and keep those ratings up, let them say whatever the hell they want about it. It would be better and easier on you to just not read the comments.

@The Stegman said:

I'm sorry, but that ending was kinda BS

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

You're telling me, Andrea, who has at least SOME fighting skills from handling walkers, couldn't force the Governor off her long enough to yell for help to Rick?? He dragged her all the way back to Woodbury without her putting up any kind of fight? What, did he have chloroform or something??

Quote for truth.

I honestly really liked the episode, and it's kind of obvious she was gonna get captured by the end, I'm sure pretty much everyone knew since the beginning, but it's not because of the writers of anything, but because of "fiction law" or whatever you wanna call it, and it's that if you get the chance to solve something easily, you'll be stopped. And if Andrea wasn't captured, I'm pretty sure the final confrontation between Woodbury and the Prison won't be near as interesting.

BUT, I also believe that the way she was captured is complete and total BS, since she has shown to be quite competent in combat, and even though she was tired, I'm sure the Governor was as well, I can't really see who she couldn't manage to fight him enough to at least scream out to Rick...

So yeah, that's the only part I really didn't like about this episode.