As the first half of the third season of Walking Dead draws to a close, the show is in a good place. "When the Dead Come Knocking" continues the great momentum established by the previous episode "Hounded" and ratchets up the intensity. This was an episode that was extremely tense, and provided a very palpable of unease that any show of this nature should try to cultivate.
Some of the most intense sequences involved Milton and Andrea (a rare worthwhile scene involving either of those two), and the journey of Rick and his crew through the walker-infested woods. Unfortunately, the resolution of that last sequence was a little disappointing. Michonne stabbing the hermit served a purpose (it showed Rick and company a little about the nature of her character), but the idea that a seemingly deranged man could survive for so long locked up alone in his cabin with a dead dog and surrounded by walkers was more than a little far-fetched. That part was a little too "deus ex machina" for me, but it was nonetheless overall an effective and scary sequence.
Obviously, though, the most tense and scary parts of this episode were the Merle torture scenes involving Glenn. The character of Glenn has been an under-used one throughout this series (and he isn't alone), but it was great to see him front and center for this episode. And Steven Yuen does a good job in what was no doubt a challenging performance. Seeing Glenn's face so beat up was striking, but I can't help but wonder why Walking Dead didn't show more of the actual punishment that Merle inflicted on him. I'm not asking for Hostel level torture porn, but I was a little surprised that, given how little this show has shied away from displaying violence or gore, things didn't get a little more graphic.
Speaking of graphic, I had a little issue with the scenes between The Governor and Maggie in this episode. It seems that since I praised the character of The Governor so much in his first appearance, I've only criticized him since, and unfortunately that trend has to continue this week. When it comes down to it, I want The Governor to be more nasty, or at least show more of that side of himself. One of things that Robert Kirkman has always said is that The Governor represents what the character of Rick could have become had he made different choices. Well, so far in the television version of Walking Dead, I don't see much distinction between The Governor and Rick at all; they both are simply making very tough decisions in the name of doing what they see as right. The Governor hasn't really done anything more evil than Rick has at this point.
Maybe that is intentional and the television show wants to go a more subtle route in it's portrayal of The Governor. I don't have a problem with that, but I do prefer my villains a little more villain-y. At this point, Merle is a more convincing and threatening villain than The Governor, which is no good if The Governor is expected to be the Big Bad. The scene with Maggie was a perfect illustration of my point: when The Governor orders her to take off her shirt, it was an incredibly frightening moment. I thought we might finally get a glimpse of a more sadistic Governor. In the end though, he just came off as a bit of a creeper. If Maggie had actually undergone some sort of more physical trauma in that scene, it would have established The Governor as a true villain, while giving the character of Maggie (one of the most boring on this show, and that's saying something) something to do. Instead, it all just seemed like a pretty ham fisted attempt to get Lauren Cohan topless.
Overall though, the good in this episode certainly outweighed the bad. Even the sentimental moments were solid (the reunion between Maggie and Glenn, and everyone and Carol). In addition, this episode ends with the promise that the first half of season three will not end with a whimper. Things could be headed for full-scale war. And several characters on the show (Darryl and Andrea chief among them) will have some very serious decisions to make in the near future about where their allegiances lie. That should make for great television.
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