I'l just say they're pushing my suspension of disbelief about as far as it can go.
Everything everyone is saying is true. Disbelief is ridiculous right now (I mean, who was piloting the tank, Miley Cyrus?) but there was finally some action last night. I still think they could have condensed all of the Governor's priors into one episode and not wasted all of our time, but it was what it was. I will discuss the episode here, so SPOILER ALERT for those that haven't seen it...don't read this post from here on out.
Again...SPOILER ALERT...but first a key:
GBG = Girl Banging Governor
DWT = Doofus with Tank
Apocalypse Barbie = Herschel's 2nd (blonde) daughter
I am not buying anything unless they showed it. What I mean is, they tried to cleverly play this as the end of the arc and the end of several characters...they either went way overboard to do so for no apparent reason, or all of it is a teaser to play Gotcha in February. So here is what we have, and what I think. BTW...I know they also teased a couple of major things that are consistent with the comics...which further makes me believe they are trying to play Vince McMahon and swerve the smarks.
Dead for sure: Herschel (that was brutal), GBG's daughter, GBG's lesbian sister's paramilitary lover
Badly wounded: Rick, Governor, DWT, Bob (I think that's his name, the alcoholic Dr. guy)
Missing: Judith, Apocalypse Barbie
At Large: Rick, Carl, Daryl, Sasha, Tyreese, Maggie, Bob, the Carole Junior Scare Pair, GBG, GBG's lesbian sister, a few various members of the Governor's group
Now, first off, before the shit hit the fan, they went back to the animal torturer thing...again. This makes me think there is more to it than just showing that the Scare Pair are kind of messed up. For some reason, my gut tells me it is Carl that has been torturing the animals and feeding the walkers...which will lead Rick to have to decide if he is going to do the same thing to him that he did to Carole. But I may be reading too much into that.
As for the other characters:
-I am not buying that the Governor is dead. They didn't show GBG shoot him, so that seems to me to be a teaser that maybe she shot a walker and dragged him to safety. He could have shot her too, if he still had a gun on him, which may be an even more distinct possibility, since he would blame her for letting her daughter get bit. I know that's what happened in the comic, which immediately makes it seem like a "McMahon Move"...especially since the comic also had Michonne cut him up and leave him for dead, only for him to survive.
-I am not buying the DWT is dead either. Yes Daryl shot him with an arrow, but it didn't look like a mortal wound. They spent an awful lot of time introducing him (loved him in "Invincible") for him to just go away now...but then this show is know for "WTF" moments, so it could be either one
-Bob will live, again, see above, they have spent too much time on him for his character to not go somewhere
-I don't think Judith is dead either. Again, credit the comic/McMahon Move factor, and also that they didn't see, or even intimate seeing, a body (note the difference between that and GBG's daughter, who they didn't show her face when she got shot, but they showed him shoot her clearly. Hell of a look he had on his face when he did, too). Recall Maggie told Apocalypse Barbie that she had to be prepared to drive off without her in the bus...so I think she went off, found Judith, got back to the bus, and left.
-I get that there was a difference between the seasoned fighters of the prison and the Governor's new ragtag bunch, but Jesus, with that many bullets flying, wouldn't the law of averages state that at least ONE character of significance would have gotten hit? I mean with that many guns firing that many rounds, Brandon Weeden could have hit somebody. Ridiculous that, in the end, no one really died except Herschel, and that took a sword execution.
-The Governor's stupidity is hard to accept. So if it's me, I'm sitting there with a sword, and I can kill either a) The chick badass who kills like she breathes and who happened to gouge my eye out and trach my zombie daughter, or b) the old philosopher dude who wouldn't hurt a fly and has one leg. Yeah, the choice is obvious. Not.
-So what's the deal with the Scare Pair...I guess they were validating Carole's teaching methods at the end? Not sure where they are going with that, and it's hard to see an effective arc, unless they just become 2 of the group...or Carl starts his own Governor's Army after gutting one too many rats, which would be quite a story arc for Season 4, I guess.
