Season 3 Episode 12 - "Clear" [** Spoilers **]

retalivity

no thread started yet so....ZOMG

fantastic ep, considering so few characters were involved. the dialogue was fantastic, and the performance by

the actor who played Morgan

was brilliant. The last 2 mins were fantastic too... just showing how cold & ruthless that they have become.

also, the woman carl killed in the cafe....familiar much???

improvement on the character(s) specific episode from last week

Richard Dower

lennie james....superb actor, top notch emmy worthy stuff this week!

Martyn1989

In the first couple of eps they rounded off the eps with some hard hitting music, nice to see em get back to it, also completely different writing style then what it was, changed for the better though.

Didn't cop who the girl was in the cafe, elaborate.

Hank Scorpio

Michonne was excellent this episode, really warming to her now. Good stuff all around

deco nate

great episode.good to see so few actors,yet grippin stuff.argh
wanna say so more but wont.
glad to see someone get more
screen time.

and see an old face.would like see more of him in future,im sure we will
after what we have just seen.

one thing.what did they pick up at the end?i know who from,but why??
i guess time will tell.

and thats the thing with this show
stop moanin bout this guy or gal
and let them show/tell you about
them.it takes time,yea i know
didnt learn too much this episode
but more than we did.

think long haul.

love the show : )

edid:by the way who was that in the cafe?
thanks

Martyn1989

deco nate wrote: »

great episode.good to see so few actors,yet grippin stuff.argh
wanna say so more but wont.
glad to see someone get more
screen time.

and see an old face.would like see more of him in future,im sure we will
after what we have just seen.

one thing.what did they pick up at the end?i know who from,but why??
i guess time will tell.

and thats the thing with this show
stop moanin bout this guy or gal
and let them show/tell you about
them.it takes time,yea i know
didnt learn too much this episode
but more than we did.

think long haul.

love the show : )

Picked up his pack incase there was anything useful, showing them to be desensitised and cutthroat, a bit of a theme in this episode, best example was Carl leaning disgruntedly against the cafe door with the walkers clawing at the other side.

Say what you want but we've given Andrea enough time the woman can't act the characters a gob****e, off with her head!

Hank Scorpio

deco nate wrote: »

one thing.what did they pick up at the end?i know who from,but why??
i guess time will tell.

I assumed it was just the backpack off the guy who was shouting for help earlier in the episode, didn't think it was of any significant other than to collect his supplies aswell as showing the "new" cold nature of the group, you could see Rick from season 2 not abandening the guy

wonderfullife

That really was a terrific episode. Also a great example of how a necessary-plot-point episode can be executed. The question of guns/ammo was pretty vital to the plot, yet they turned it into something pretty special. It was always possible for the Morgan reunion episode to feel shoe-horned and contrived but it felt neither of those things.

The scenes with Morgan were brilliant. When Rick said to him "you can come back from this" it sort of paralleled with his own position - how he needs to come back from his own issues too.

Thank the Lord - Michonne finally gets some meaningful dialogue and what do you know she can both act and has buckets of potential as a character beyond a few tasty zombie kills. A tender, caring side shown towards both Rick and Carl.

Even the scenes with the lone backpacker spoke volumes. In s1 or even s2 they'd have stopped the car, did the whole "where you going to" etc but over time their humanity diminishes. It's not as if their humanity itself is disappearing, it's just reserved for those they care about.

I genuinely hope Morgan has more involvement in the show, perhaps turning up at the prison to help Rick. Based on that performance the show could do with him.

I'd probably rank that episode in the top 3 of the season, a feat in itself given we've had at least half a dozen stand-out episodes. Of its type, possibly the best change-of-pace, character-driven episode of the shows entire run.

Jason Todd

Great episode. I know they are desensitised and all that but I can't believe they left the backpacker to die! He was on his own, had survived this long, I would have been looking at what he could bring to the group. Never mind the fact it's another body in the fight against Woodbury!

Thought it was almost, too cold.

Other than that it was great, Morgan was great and showed some real ingenuity to survive. Rick could see from Morgan how easy it is to descend int madness though so hopefully that's a wake-up call for him.

Michonne now pretty much fully integrated into the group, I enjoyed the scenes with herself and Carl.

Nice to have some background that wasn't Woodbury/the Prison too. Was a nice flavour of Season 1 to the episode.

I complained about the music over the end scene last week and they did it again this week. It seemed to suit the tone better (I think it was just an instrumental?) I must say and if it's going to be a regular thing I'll just have to get used to it! :P

Next weeks episode looks a cracker too.

Also, to me, the person in the cafe:

looked like Morgan's wife.

PirateShampoo

Another brilliant character building episode, really enjoyed Michonne's interactions with Rick and Carl, i warmed to her a lot this episode.

The lone backpacker scene was hard, not one of the group blinked a eye at him, i thought Carl was going to speak out.

Hope we see Morgan again.

DeepBlue

And there was even humour in this episode from Michonne. :eek:

Rick: "What? We're eating his food now?"
Michonne: "The mat said 'Welcome'"

PhiloCypher

Jason Todd wrote: »

Great episode. I know they are desensitised and all that but I can't believe they left the backpacker to die! He was on his own, had survived this long, I would have been looking at what he could bring to the group. Never mind the fact it's another body in the fight against Woodbury!

Thought it was almost, too cold.

I thought the exact same thing, if only for pragmatic reasons, I mean its fair enough if they had decided to cede the prison to woodbury or if woodbury wasn't an issue as why would you want another mouth to feed but when you're dead set on holding the prison Tyreese's crew and this guy may have come in handy . Whats the point in all those guns when there are so few people to hold them.

Other than that it was great, Morgan was great and showed some real ingenuity to survive. Rick could see from Morgan how easy it is to descend int madness though so hopefully that's a wake-up call for him.

I'm taking the fact he joked about his seeing people as a reason Michonne should drive as being a good sign on that front , infact all the humor worked in this episode.

Michonne now pretty much fully integrated into the group, I enjoyed the scenes with herself and Carl.

Well i wouldn't say that but bonding with Rick and Carl is a pretty good start, they did more to make Michonne likeable in this one episode then they have managed with Andrea in the entire series.

Nice to have some background that wasn't Woodbury/the Prison too. Was a nice flavour of Season 1 to the episode.

Agreed

I complained about the music over the end scene last week and they did it again this week. It seemed to suit the tone better (I think it was just an instrumental?) I must say and if it's going to be a regular thing I'll just have to get used to it! :P

I thought the musical accompaniment over this episodes end scene worked far better then the last one .

Its interesting to note that apparently we owe this episode to the outgoing and incoming showrunners Mazarra and Gimble , I hope this bodes well.

mrbrown69

The guy with the backpack had survived for how long??? yet couldn't make it a few hundred yards down the road without being munched :rolleyes:

Awake&Unafraid

Really liked this episode, and I like Michonne so I'm glad she seems to be integrating into the group. Hope we get to hear more of her backstory and see behind the hard shell and all that. I loved the cat part too, it was brilliant.

SirDelboy18

mrbrown69 wrote: »

The guy with the backpack had survived for how long??? yet couldn't make it a few hundred yards down the road without being munched :rolleyes:

So many different and logical possible explanations to how he might have survived. Some people are cynical to the point of annoyance.

Kirby

mrbrown69 wrote: »

The guy with the backpack had survived for how long??? yet couldn't make it a few hundred yards down the road without being munched :rolleyes:

I get your point. He was a plot contrivance, no doubt about it. But how long did the prisoners survive cooped up in that prison cafeteria? What do you think would have happened if they had "hit the road" like Rick and Daryl wanted? They would have been munched in a day.

This guy had supplies on his back and was screaming for help. He wasn't a survivor. He had been hiding somewhere, removed from the danger and had been recently loosed upon the world. You could tell by looking at him.

They shot that scene rather well in my eyes.

mrbrown69

Kirby wrote: »

I get your point. He was a plot contrivance, no doubt about it. But how long did the prisoners survive cooped up in that prison cafeteria? What do you think would have happened if they had "hit the road" like Rick and Daryl wanted? They would have been munched in a day.

This guy had supplies on his back and was screaming for help. He wasn't a survivor. He had been hiding somewhere, removed from the danger and had been recently loosed upon the world. You could tell by looking at him.

They shot that scene rather well in my eyes.

Good point well made (certainly a better effort than Dellboy ) ...thinking on it now there could be 2 class of survivors, those who survive and those who hide

wonderfullife

mrbrown69 wrote: »

The guy with the backpack had survived for how long??? yet couldn't make it a few hundred yards down the road without being munched :rolleyes:

There is only so far, and for so long, a human being can keep running from and fighting Walkers before sheer exhaustion kicks in, he finds himself cornered or low on ammo and he's toast.

It's just artistic licence that the point he reached his limits and met his end coincided with them driving past again. That means of death is probably rampant nationwide. A desperate struggle to just stay alive and seek help and eventually succumb to it.

On a broader point, it's not just the group becoming cold/cynical at play here. For all they know this guy could have been a plant by The Gov. Send a backpacker out on the road hope to run into a scouting trip from prison etc. They really can't trust anybody yet we still saw from Daryll on the bridge that their intrinsic humanity is in tact.

Jason Todd

SirDelboy18 wrote: »

So many different and logical possible explanations to how he might have survived. Some people are cynical to the point of annoyance.

I wouldn't say I was cynical, but watching it, you'd just have a feeling that once they passed him that he wasn't going to last the episode if you know what I mean!

Jason Todd

wonderfullife wrote: »

On a broader point, it's not just the group becoming cold/cynical at play here. For all they know this guy could have been a plant by The Gov. Send a backpacker out on the road hope to run into a scouting trip from prison etc. They really can't trust anybody yet we still saw from Daryll on the bridge that their intrinsic humanity is in tact.

I did think that watching it to be fair, and although personally I would have liked to see them stop for him I can understand that it wasn't just a run of the mill search mission, they were going back to Rick's past so to speak and they were looking for weapons, I suppose they couldn't risk bringing someone along who may compromise that.

Still, as an earlier poster said, it wasn't an easy watch.

retalivity

Jason Todd wrote: »

Also, to me, the person in the cafe:

looked like Morgan's wife.

Bingo, that's what I thought too. Although with what morgan said about how is son turned, it seemed that he 'took care' of both them long before. Maybe they just recycled the actress...

expectationlost

if morgan been clearing for a year how has he not got to bar?

ther is no way michonne got the picture in that time.

wonderfullife

expectationlost wrote: »

if morgan been clearing for a year how has he not got to bar?

ther is no way michonne got the picture in that time.

walkers at the door trying to get at carl she runs in back picks it up legs it out? No biggie if it took 10 seconds less on screen than reality

In all fairness what need does Morgan have to clear a contained bar where Walkers are trapped? So he can pop over for a few scoops on his own in peace?!! :cool:

Clearing the surrounding buildings and inside the safe zone he has created is paramount, he's not on a mission to wipe out the worlds zombie population! Just to create a safe zone for himself.

cjmcork

jaysus, shares in strepsils must have gone through the roof after all Michonne's dialogue!

OctavarIan

Jason Todd wrote: »

Also, to me, the person in the cafe:

looked like Morgan's wife.

It 100% was her, she looked the exact same. They wouldn't have paused the camera on her if they weren't intending to get that across. Nice little nod and wink to those who've been watching from Season 1.

[edit] I liked this episode, one of the better character-driven episodes, although the bar wasn't very high to be honest.

Major gripe for me was Morgan's ability with that gun. Everyone else in the series seems to be able to pick up a gun and start getting walker headshots instantly, while Morgan somehow couldn't hit a barn door. Then he gets knocked out by a blow to the ribs (!), and stabs Rick with what must have been one of those joke knives that retracts into the hilt. He played the craziness well though.

mrbrown69

OctavarIan wrote: »

Then he gets knocked out by a blow to the ribs (!), and stabs Rick with what must have been one of those joke knives that retracts into the hilt. He played the craziness well though.

A blow to the ribs??? he was shot was he not....and Rick stabbed with a 6" blade.....and hour later and they're both right as rain with a bit of spit and polish :D


Riddle me this...no blood? no blood anywhere from either wound!! since when do you just 'sleep off' a gunshot wound

expectationlost

the actress who played morgan wife is not listed in the credtis not there imdb is totaly complete, is the walker that karl shoots, how does she go from wandering the streets to a bar. be very disappointed if morgan hadn't killed her finally.

expectationlost

zombies suddenly can't break glass and grab karl

Elessar

One of the best episodes of the season. The walking dead still is not as near as good as it was first season though. It keeps trying to be a great show, it wants to be but it falls short consistently. Weak dialogue, not enough character arcs, mostly average to poor actors (with a few magnificent exceptions i.e. andrew lincoln) but this episode is up there almost exactly where this show needs to be.

Keep this up for the rest of the season and we'll definitely have a great show on our hands.

OctavarIan

I retract my "it was 100% her" statement, on closer inspection it wasn't! Just someone with similar hair, similar clothing and the same open mouthed expression.

mrbrown69 wrote: »

A blow to the ribs??? he was shot was he not....and Rick stabbed with a 6" blade.....and hour later and they're both right as rain with a bit of spit and polish :D


Riddle me this...no blood? no blood anywhere from either wound!! since when do you just 'sleep off' a gunshot wound

Well Morgan was wearing body armor so he was just bruised. He might have hit his head when he fell but he was wearing a helmet. Just a bit puzzling that one.

Conmaicne Mara

mrbrown69 wrote: »

The guy with the backpack had survived for how long??? yet couldn't make it a few hundred yards down the road without being munched :rolleyes:

I lol'd at that too. When his pack was shown first I almost blurted out WTF are you thinking?! All sorts tied on to the outside of the pack clinking and clanging, no wonder he got munched.

wonderfullife wrote: »

In all fairness what need does Morgan have to clear a contained bar where Walkers are trapped? So he can pop over for a few scoops on his own in peace?!! :cool:

Clearing the surrounding buildings and inside the safe zone he has created is paramount, he's not on a mission to wipe out the worlds zombie population! Just to create a safe zone for himself.

I would clear it if I was him and had a plan to do so. It's like the USA leaving Cuba the Soviet missiles, big trouble right in your back yard should anything go wrong.

mrbrown69 wrote: »

A blow to the ribs??? he was shot was he not....and Rick stabbed with a 6" blade.....and hour later and they're both right as rain with a bit of spit and polish :D


Riddle me this...no blood? no blood anywhere from either wound!! since when do you just 'sleep off' a gunshot wound

Morgan was wearing body armour. It clearly shows the bullet stuck in the armour. Not sure whether it would knock a person out, it may do, guns do pack quite a punch.

Rick's short had blood on it, but I thought for him getting stabbed little was made of that. I think it may have a bigger effect than was made out.

---

That walker behind the counter :eek:

Conmaicne Mara

By the by, I like this format of having a thread for each episode. Less chance of walking face first into a wayward spoiler

Rob30888

Did anyone else think Michonne was going to get killed off at the end of the episode when she was standing at the back of the car with Rick? I was getting serious flashbacks to Ana Lucia in Lost - hugely unpopular character becomes somewhat likable and is then killed off as a result of a fan backlash shortly after.

A Neurotic

From the opening scene, I knew this episode was going to be a bit special. Wonderful stuff, the epitome of everything this entire franchise is about.

And no Andrea. No Andrea at all. Perfect.

Tinie

A Neurotic wrote: »

And no Andrea. No Andrea at all. Perfect.

Shes the one character I hope gets killed off before the end of this season. The actress is brutal.

OctavarIan

Tinie wrote: »

Shes the one character I hope gets killed off before the end of this season. The actress is brutal.

The actress is fine. It's the character that's brutal.

wonderfullife

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I lol'd at that too. When his pack was shown first I almost blurted out WTF are you thinking?! All sorts tied on to the outside of the pack clinking and clanging, no wonder he got munched.



I would clear it if I was him and had a plan to do so. It's like the USA leaving Cuba the Soviet missiles, big trouble right in your back yard should anything go wrong.



Morgan was wearing body armour. It clearly shows the bullet stuck in the armour. Not sure whether it would knock a person out, it may do, guns do pack quite a punch.

Rick's short had blood on it, but I thought for him getting stabbed little was made of that. I think it may have a bigger effect than was made out.

---

That walker behind the counter :eek:

Well we gotta assume those walkers have been in that bar for the bones of a year and not escaped. He'd be stupid to attempt to clear it. Narrow entrance, about a dozen walkers, he'd have to open the door lure them out and pick them off, if it went wrong he'd be toast. Leave them in there, if they escape (somehow) they come right on to his fortifications. Unlike Cuba.

I've never been stabbed in the shoulder so can't really tell if it's a minor injury or not, i have required 14 stitches to a head wound and other than a headache was right as rain after stitches. Artistic license here. Gotta allow for some implausible situations should as stabbings being minor flesh wounds. What can they do anyway, not like they can rush him to the hospital for 8 stitches for a shoulder cut lol. He has to just man up and get on with it.

Just curious but this season is focusing on the prison and their attempts to secure it. After seeing Woodbury, do Ricks group not have any aspirations to take Woodbury? Whether it's defending the prison or attacking Woodbury, it's gonna end in bloodshed, might make more sense to launch an attack on Woodbury now they have the guns and ammo?

willmunny1990

Good episode. I was glad Michonne got more dialogue.

Acting was superb from Morgan, he has a lot to offer IMO and i hope we see a lot more of him.

I still however can't stand Carl, the more on screen time he gets the more i hate the little sh*t. I don't know what he looks like with that stupid cowboy hat on, if he lost the hat it would be a start but either way i hope he gets killed off, but i know that wont happen.

wonderfullife

willmunny1990 wrote: »

Good episode. I was glad Michonne got more dialogue.

Acting was superb from Morgan, he has a lot to offer IMO and i hope we see a lot more of him.

I still however can't stand Carl, the more on screen time he gets the more i hate the little sh*t. I don't know what he looks like with that stupid cowboy hat on, if he lost the hat it would be a start but either way i hope he gets killed off, but i know that wont happen.

It might be a little out of sync but i wouldnt mind him ditching the hat and shaving his head, just something that reflects his new hard-man approach to life - it's hard to take seriously that he's able to put a bullet into Lori, kill zombies and shoot a man whilst wearing a cowboy hat looking like the Milky Bar Kid.

willmunny1990

wonderfullife wrote: »

It might be a little out of sync but i wouldnt mind him ditching the hat and shaving his head, just something that reflects his new hard-man approach to life - it's hard to take seriously that he's able to put a bullet into Lori, kill zombies and shoot a man whilst wearing a cowboy hat looking like the Milky Bar Kid.

It would be a start alright but I don't get his new hard man approach, okay i get the fact he's desensitized but this storming off wanting to take on walkers, clearing buildings on his own and thinking he can handle himself is ridiculous IMO.

Michonne saved him more than once in this episode.

CastorTroy

I thought the Governor had someone watching the prison. surely he would've sent someone to intercept Rick and co.

And will Melissa McBride ever get in the opening credits and not just an "Also starring" credit

Tinie

OctavarIan wrote: »

The actress is fine. It's the character that's brutal.

Well, I think both character and actor are very poor and annoying.

Jofspring

Really enjoyed the episode.

Was I the only one who thought when the picture fell below the walkers and Michonne said she would go get it that there would be a great scene coming up of her taking out a load of walkers? I was a bit surprised that she just went off screen for about 20 seconds and then came back with the picture, even though it must have been very tough to get it back under the feet of all those walkers.

Finally Michonne is becoming likable too. She look pretty hot in the episode also. Maybe it's just cause when she talks its harder for her to have puss on her face.

grizzly

Richard Dower wrote: »

lennie james....superb actor, top notch emmy worthy stuff this week!

Yes, he was fantastic. It's very hard for an actor to be believable playing a character this unhinged, while keeping him sympathetic.

wonderfullife

If i had one gripe with an otherwise brilliant episode it would be the beginning:

The "previously on TWD" intro was shambolic. Whoever gave that the go-ahead should be fired. Completely ruined any suspense of the reveal of the masked sniper. There could only be one conclusion by showing Morgan in the intro.

Martyn1989

wonderfullife wrote: »

If i had one gripe with an otherwise brilliant episode it would be the beginning:

The "previously on TWD" intro was shambolic. Whoever gave that the go-ahead should be fired. Completely ruined any suspense of the reveal of the masked sniper. There could only be one conclusion by showing Morgan in the intro.

Yeh it's this American show BS where they're so afraid someone won't get it they spell it out painfully, the teasers at the end are woeful aswell, theres no need.

Grimebox

I'm gonna completely ignore all the little niggling issues with this one. Best episode since the break

Yakuza

I thought the backpacker got run over by another car, I must check it out again on a larger screen, after I sleep

Fantastic ep.

sparkthatbled

wonderfullife wrote: »

If i had one gripe with an otherwise brilliant episode it would be the beginning:

The "previously on TWD" intro was shambolic. Whoever gave that the go-ahead should be fired. Completely ruined any suspense of the reveal of the masked sniper. There could only be one conclusion by showing Morgan in the intro.

That has been a consistent problem for this show. The worst one was recapping them leaving Merle on the roof at the start of the episode where he comes back into it. I remember being very p*ssed off about that. I don't think the previews at the end of the episodes give too much away, generally speaking, though.


Very happy with the episode, even though someone spoilered Morgan's return in the Ep 11 thread (it was under spoiler tags, but spoilers in episode threads should really be limited to what happened in that episode or the preview of next week, right?). He put in a cracking performance, really makes you want to see more of him. Wish he could have snapped out of it and gone with them to the prison. Crazy or not, though, you can kinda understand his reasons. You could see all over the walls in the background names of people who had turned, obviously he had a group at some point and watched them all die one by one. Can't blame him for being afraid of going through that again.


Michonne had a whole episode where she did nothing irritating and made a couple of jokes. Obviously she forced herself out of her shell when she overheard Rick and Carl talking about ditching her once the governor was dealt with. We did see flashes of this Michonne at the start of the season when she was alone with Andrea, I guess they had just decided to spend over half a season establishing that she has trust issues.

As for the backpacker theories, I thought they would end up picking him up on the way home and next week it could be revealed that he left Woodbury during the panic, snuck out the back while everyone else was crowding the gate or something. It would explain how someone so inept had survived this long and would have given the group a potential advantage of some inside information. Have to say i laughed a bit when he had almost caught up to them and they just drove off again, but felt kinda bad for doing so when they came across his body at the end...

Jofspring

I am watching about 4 American shows at the moment and everyone of them do the "previously on" and show an episode from a season or two ago which gives away who will be in the upcoming episode. It's very annoying.

Penn

Jofspring wrote: »

I am watching about 4 American shows at the moment and everyone of them do the "previously on" and show an episode from a season or two ago which gives away who will be in the upcoming episode. It's very annoying.

Or putting their name in opening credits or "Guest starring:..." bits which happen right after the credits. Lost was a disaster for that.