Walking Dead 307: Unexpected Showdowns and Glenn's Big Stand

There are some unexpected showdowns in “When the Dead Come Knocking,” episode 7 of the Walking Dead’s third season. Things heat up intensely, and Glenn gets to demonstrate how tough he can be!

But let’s look first at the prison, where there is still never a dull moment. Obviously, Rick and crew saw it as a sanctuary, but it has thus far been more of a…, well, a prison. In addition to fighting against various walkers and prisoners, and having a few prominent (and/or well-liked) characters die, we’ve had the birth of Rick’s child and a glimpse into Rick’s slipping insanity.

(On the bright side, Rick’s daughter is given a name — Judith, after one of Carl’s former teachers.)

Michonne: Known To Us, Unknown To Rick

Now, atop all that, there’s a new visitor named Michonne. Is she a threat or an ally? At this point, no one knows, and not everyone would want to take chances. Still, when she arrives outside the prison fence, she is wounded and too tired to successfully fend off a walker herd. Exemplifying mercy and good will, Rick and Carl take action in her defense, and bring her into the prison. No doubt, there’s still a part of Rick that realizes not everyone is evil — or at least not as evil as some.

However, they no doubt get on her bad side when they confiscate her katana, much as the Governor — her new nemesis — had attempted. Is Rick going to be similar to him? Will she be able to trust him? Understandably, she hesitates to respond to questions, and no doubt has possible escape routes and techniques in mind already (that is, pretending she’s not just a character, of course!).

Eliciting groans and sighs from yours truly, the much beloved Daryl and Rick actually threaten her. Daryl even tortures her leg wound a little, to elicit information! Inevitably, she explains that she got the baby supplies from Glenn and Maggie after they were kidnapped, and proceeds to spill details about the town of Woodbury.

Wasting little time, Rick decides to travel with Daryl, Michonne, and Oscar to rescue Glenn and Maggie, with the obvious insight that their lives could be on the line. It’s also obvious that showdown is imminent at some point, and that some giant egos are going to clash (a standard ingredient for the Walking Dead)!

Merle Tries To Intimidate Glenn

Glenn dealing with one of Merle’s weapons. (AMC’s The Walking Dead) /

Back at Woodbury, Merle is relishing the hell out of interrogating Glenn. While it’s true that Merle is a menace, it doesn’t help that he has a semi-legitimate beef with Rick and the gang. It’s hard to not understand his hatred, his sense of revenge. Lousy personality aside, how many people deserve to be stranded on a rooftop in Atlanta?

Not only did he risk dying of exposure, thirst or some other internal health problem, there were flesh-eating walkers chained behind a door on the roof, too. The madness of it all must have been overwhelming, even before Merle elected to saw his own hand off to flee the scene.

Now, as he has Glenn tied to a chair, he no doubt considers a “hand-for-a-hand” treatment. It is how many people would feel, even if they weren’t normally attuned to Merle-like behavior. Still, a zombie apocalypse survivor has most likely seen violence, and has over time developed a hard outer shell. Glenn is no exception, and takes a firm attitude against Merle’s tactics.

When Glenn assures Merle that Rick’s crew will come to rescue him, Merle merely scoffs at him. Being a slippery snake, Merle decides to let a walker do the talking (so to speak), while he leaves the room to do Merle stuff. Rather than simply panicking, Glenn surprises America by not only escaping from the chair he was tied to, but also dispatches the walker like it was nothing. Way to go, Glenn!

It is, without a doubt, a classic Walking Dead moment, and really showed us that, under trying circumstances, Glenn means business! Though he seemed like a mild-mannered nerd previously, Glenn definitely came roaring out of the gate — not only due to his love for Maggie, but also as a man of burgeoning self-respect.

Maggie’s Tormentor

Meanwhile, the Governor of Woodbury is no doubt creeping America out, demanding that Maggie remove her shirt, and implying that he may rape her if she doesn’t reveal information about her group. This alone suggests something very twisted about the Governor — if anyone doubted those aspects before! Still, his next tactic is simple: Bring Glenn and Maggie together again, and threaten to kill Glenn if they don’t spill the beans. It works!

Now the Governor has the information, and he immediately sets to work constructing a plan for taking the prison. It is no doubt a tricky question, as the prison exists within the dreaded “Red Zone.” Zombies! It also implies that the survivors are a force to be reckoned with.

Is The Prison Worth Risking Woodbury?

Not a bad looking walker, if I may say so.(AMC’s The Walking Dead) /

That’s the question the Governor never seems to ask, and it easily indicates his lack of intelligence, and lack of true leadership. Obviously, nothing about Maggie’s information suggests any immediate course of action.

Instead, the Governor acts on his instincts, like any true would-be conquering dictator. The idea of peace between the two groups never enters the initial picture, and that the Governor relies on Merle for gathering reliable “intel” suggests a deeply flawed approach to Woodbury politics.

As The Walking Dead suggests often, these characters fail by focusing on each other, rather than on the most obvious threat: The walkers. While characters like Milton could hypothetically research the walkers, it hardly even matters if nothing is done to alleviate their threat, and to use the information to restore normalcy among surviving humans. If humans refuse to cooperate — and in fact do as much harm as the walkers –, it’s very difficult to make room for optimism.

The Cabin

As if to further diminish optimism, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Oscar are ultimately trapped into doing something Governor-esque when on their way to Woodbury. It all happens when a walker horde forces the gang into a cabin in the woods, where they encounter an ornery hermit who threatens them at gunpoint. Rather than trying to reason with the man — who seems totally oblivious to the walkers somehow –, Michonne simply slices him up with her katana! His body is then used to distract the walkers, and they sneak away to rescue Glenn and Maggie.

However, what was the point of this scene? A cynic might say it was to simply give us more zombies, but I give The Walking Dead more credit than that. I think the cabin represented an insular life, and how if we are too protected from knowledge of the outside world, it will turn on us and use our ignorance against us. If you think that’s too philosophical, I advise you to think again: That is quite literally what happens in the cabin, and it’s strongly implied that this anonymous hermit would have died anyway.

More from Undead Walking

That’s the thing about The Walking Dead: There are so many mistakes to make, and so many different ways to make them. That’s why there’s so much death on the show, and there’s a lot to learn from it if we’re paying attention.

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Walking Dead 307: Unexpected Showdowns and Glenn’s Big Stand

By Wade Wainio | Sep 7, 2017