If Episode 15 had been the finale... **SEASON 3 SPOILERS**

fitz

Just occurred to me...what if season 3 had ended and episode earlier?
We'd have had Andrea's fate unknown, the Woodbury army tooling up for invading the prison, and the Merle's death being the pay-off instead, I think that could have been a much stronger ending to this season.
It would mean you'd also be able to start season 4 off with a bang, killing off Andrea and dealing with the Woodbury assault on the prison in the first couple of episodes rather than cramming it in to one.

I'd much rather they'd sent the season off with Merle's demise/redemption instead of having use all shouting "talk and get the pliers at the same time you idiot!" at the tv.

Thoughts?

Mr E

fitz for Season 4 showrunner.

SantryRed

Still would have been poor for a finale.

Turtyturd

Would have left more questions for the next series but still wouldn't have provided a decent conclusion to the series. After the 3/4 episodes hyping the war the only satisfying conclusion would have been The Governor dead, and Andrea gone.

And personally I would have liked to have seen the group split up and fleeing the prison because both the front, and the tombs were overrun with walkers.

Jason Todd

Turtyturd wrote: »

Would have left more questions for the next series but still wouldn't have provided a decent conclusion to the series. After the 3/4 episodes hyping the war the only satisfying conclusion would have been The Governor dead, and Andrea gone.

And personally I would have liked to have seen the group split up and fleeing the prison because both the front, and the tombs were overrun with walkers.

But that would have meant both the finale of s2 (fleeing the farm from a herd of walkers) and s3 (fleeing the prison from a herd of walkers) would have been the same and I'd say they ruled it out because of repetition.

(Speaking of repetition) Did anyone notice the first ep of season 3 opened with the camera zooming out of a walkers eye and the last episode opened with the camera zooming out of the Governors eye?! Thought it was pretty cool!

Turtyturd

Jason Todd wrote: »

But that would have meant both the finale of s2 (fleeing the farm from a herd of walkers) and s3 (fleeing the prison from a herd of walkers) would have been the same and I'd say they ruled it out because of repetition.

(Speaking of repetition) Did anyone notice the first ep of season 3 opened with the camera zooming out of a walkers eye and the last episode opened with the camera zooming out of the Governors eye?! Thought it was pretty cool!

Actually never thought of that, although overlooking the repetition it would have highlighted how unstable their world is. I did expect a herd to play some part though especially as someone questioned how they would cope against one earlier in the series.

Syferus

It'd have changed nothing. The finale needed a dead governor and Andrea's 'fate' carries so little weight it was hardly going to have anyone on the edge of their seat.

What you suggested would have been even worse - as it is at least Woodbury as an entity is gone, dragging even that much over the season break would have been even more maddening. The whole arc with the Governor started to lose its lustre after the first episode back from the mid-season break, they were artificially prolonging it simply because they had to service an order for 16 episodes. The fact they didn't offer a proper resolution to it despite all that extra real estate is an unimaginable sin for a creative team to commit.

krudler

I think they seriously overestimated Andrea's death being a climax, people hated her, she's an awful character, has been since the beginning, nobody cared. They made the same mistake with season 2, dragging the location and story over too long, 16 episodes was plenty to have some standalone incidents and the Woodbury arc without boring people with it. It's a pity since the first couple of eps were a big return to form after season 2.