Our favorite moments from The Walking Dead season 3

Morgan returns

Season 3 episode 12: “Clear”

Sara L. says:

Lennie James deserves all the awards for this performance. This episode never fails to reduce me to a puddle of tears when I watch it. When we first encounter Morgan in the pilot episode of The Walking Dead, he is such a strong father figure. He teaches Rick the way of the world and saves him. Rick goes on the regain his wife and son, and in “Clear” we learn Morgan lost his wife and son forever.

As a wife and mother now, I cannot even fathom being in that situation. Morgan was constantly living with the fact that his wife, and love of his life, was no longer truly with them. He lived during this time knowing that she was a walking corpse. That alone is something so horrifying to think about. If it was me in that situation, I honestly can’t say if I would have it in me to put down my significant other.

Now not only does Morgan have to live with the fact of his wife dying and reanimating but now we learn he witnessed his wife devour the child they had together. I think a very telling part of this scene, is that we truly do not get all the answers. Did Duane survive the bite his mother inflicted upon him? Did Morgan have any time to say goodbye to his son? Was it immediate or minutes of horrifying agony for Duane and Morgan. We get a small hint in the form of “Duane turned” written on the wall. All we know for certain however is that Jenny and Duane are now gone forever.

Morgan goes from being a solid survivor to a completely shattered and empty shell. It’s so heartbreaking that we do not even need all the information to feel completely gutted. We see that Morgan has demons now, that we learn later will take years to even address. What we learn in this scene drives so much story seasons and an entirely different show later.

Now watching this scene back, we also learn that he predicted Carl’s untimely fate and everything he says is just so haunting. Part of the time Rick spends with him Morgan speaks in incoherent sentences, but one quote that will truly always stay with me is, “Everything I see is red, and I do it.” Even the mighty Rick Grimes is truly shaken by the man before him.

This scene is why I never want to see Morgan in “clear” mode again. Morgan has been through so much that he deserves happiness again as he had with Jenny and Duane. It may make for absolutely jaw-dropping, phenomenal acting and amazing entertainment, but this scene has made me grow so incredibly fond of the fictional character Morgan Jones. So much that so that not even on TV do I want him to go back to that mindset. His life is too precious for that.