By: Greg Payne
Comic-Con 2012 just wrapped up, having delivered more goodies than Mrs. Fields, the Keebler Elves, and Ben and Jerry ever have, combined. One of my personal favorites was the first trailer for Season 3 of AMC's The Walking Dead, one of the best dramas on television right now.
Before I dive into any analysis, take a look at it for yourself (warning, a forgotten character from the past springs up at the very end, but other than that, it's spoiler-free...But keep in mind, said character has already been confirmed to return for weeks now, so I don't know how much of a spoiler it actually is anymore).
I mean, holy shit, right?
I've never read the comic book series the show is based off of, but Season 3 gives us three of its most memorable characters and settings: The Governor, the prison, and Michonne. I can't preach that I know a whole lot about any of the three, but I do know that Michonne is a katana-wielding badass, the Governor is a hell of a villain, and the prison makes for one of the most intense and genuinely creepy settings the characters have been forced to endure.
There's so much to love in that trailer, starting with Rick and the survivors trying to take the prison from the zombies. I'm guessing all that footage we saw was a part of the Season 3 premiere, and if so, what a two hours (I'm guessing) we'll be in for. So much carnage. So many intense moments. So many horrific moments. It has all of the potential to go down as the best episode of the series yet. I absolutely love the way Rick acts when things get intense. The forcefulness of his orders, the genuine emotion that Andrew Lincoln is able to exhibit. It's fantastic, and it appears we'll be in for a wealth of that during the opening episode of the season.
Meanwhile, Andrea's formed an alliance with Michonne, but the two seem to be captured by the Governor's crew and brought to the town/village called Woodbury, which I'm certain won't be the secure safe-haven it probably looks to be at first glance.
And then of course comes the confrontation between Rick and the Governor. Season 3 should really thrive due to the microscope being pushed over to the threat of the living, not just the dead. Other people, with guns, weapons, and sinister intent will prove to be just as dangerous as the hordes of zombies that roam the land. That idea hasn't really been explored yet on the show, and I'm assuming that once the survivors establish themselves within the prison, the human threat will really take center stage. It certainly looks like the Governor has a vast amount of resources, in terms of people, weapons, and transportation, at his disposal, so it'll be really interesting to see how Rick and his team deal with that outside threat.
Also, notice how Rick tells someone (the Governor? Another member of the group?) that they're not giving up the prison, claiming they spilled blood? Does that mean that they spilled blood trying to secure it, or is he just referencing all of the deaths the group has endured on the path that has ultimately led them to it? If it's the former, it looks like we're in for a fairly substantial death in the season premiere.
Additionally, Lori, shut up, unless you mean whatever it is you're saying. Last season you told Rick to protect what was his, meaning you basically gave him permission to kill Shane if it came to it, and then you exploded on him in the season finale when he told you he did, the same way Topanga exploded on Feeny in Boy Meets World when she suspected she wasn't getting an A on an assignment. If you tell him to keep the group safe in Season 3, don't go all nagging housewife on him later if he has to gun down a few (dozen?) dudes.
I'm really curious to see what makes the chopper go down. I'm assuming that's the chopper that we saw at the tail end of Season 3, flying over Atlanta -- the same one that, I guess, ultimately brought the herd across the state of Georgia and wrecked Hershel's farm and splintered the group for a period of time. I don't think the zombies are carrying around RPGs just yet, so I'm not entirely sure what would make that chopper fall. Perhaps just a mechanical error. In which case, that just sucks. Flying high over the apocalypse and technology turns on you? Bummer.
And then there's Merle Dixon, Daryl's long-lost brother from Season 1. We always figured we'd see him again, and sure enough, he's got his little pirate hand working just fine at the end of that trailer. I'm wondering if that's actually a scene from the show (is he talking to T-Dog, maybe?) or if that's just a special scene they shot for the sake of the trailer to re-introduce him as a character. Either way, I'm sure he'll be causing plenty of headaches, prompting Michonne to go slay several more walkers in a rundown convenience store to obtain some aspirin.
Want to watch it again? I know I sure do.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 14 at 9:00pm (EST), and I couldn't be any more excited about it.
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