Given that most episodes of The Walking Dead can feel like a season finale, it makes sense that the thrilling hour on AMC last night was the mid-season finale of TWD Season 3. And before you groan about it being the last episode until February, let’s at least take time to dissect what happened in the episode “Made to Suffer.”

The Solider Boy

Carl has really been stepping up, so much so that I hardly know where to begin. Hershel can hardly protest when Carl hears yells and decides he’s going to go investigate. Armed with his gun (which he’s really good at, now) he helps get this new group of survivors to a safe place. He also offers to help take care of their newly deceased. After giving them food and water, he locks them away from his own group. Though they protest, he stands firm. And it can’t be easy to hear the emotional appeals of people, but Carl knows they’re all strangers and he can’t trust any of them. He also talked about how he’ll go get more formula for Judith, being in charge of that task especially since they don’t know if his Father will make it back alive. He’s a hardened realist, now.

RIP Oscar – We really, really hardly knew ya!

I hate to pull the race card, but it’s kind of odd that only one black man at a time is around on this show. We had Morgan, then T-Dog for a long time, then Oscar, now Tyrese. Of course, we do also have Michonne. But she’s a woman. It’s sad to see Oscar go, because I actually really liked him in the brief time we got to know him.

Operation: The Funny Bone?

Okay, there’s no way we can ignore what Glenn did in this episode. And I mean besides look horribly injured and have tender (albeit quick) moments with Maggie. There was also that whole thing where he realized there were weapons to be found in the human body, so he pulled off a walker’s arm and pulled out some bones. I’m not sure why, but this struck me as more gorey than a lot of the zombie images we’ve seen.

Michonne’s Agenda

Michonne and her katana were waiting for The Governor, when she found his secret room o’ horrors. I actually think she could have let his daughter stay alive, if only to use as a bargaining chip. But he offended her so much that she wants to bring him to his knees. But she only managed to put him down one eye.

Shane Returns! (Kinda…)

We must note that Rick’s having some mental distress, which is totally justified, of course. But still, he heard that telephone of the dead. And now he saw Shane. He needs a few days at a spa. Which, fyi, is where I’ll go if there’s zombies around. Maybe the aromatherapy will make them more pleasant.

There are plenty of questions now…

  1. Will Andrea break up the possible “fight each other to the death” thing between Merle and Daryl? Will she vouch for D? And does she realize that the “terrorists” were her friends? (And if she does realize that, will she side with Woodbury or her old team? After all, they did ditch her…
  2. Will both Merle and Daryl survive another episode?
  3. Will The Governor get a custom bedazzled eyepatch?
  4. Will the new survivors at the prison merge with our other group?

What would you grade this episode?

Photo: AMC. The Walking Dead Recap of Season 3 Episode 8 “Made to Suffer” | Episode written by Robert Kirkman. (The quote in the title is said by Carol to Axel.)

Written by Jessica Rae

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