Oh, and Katie also spotted a bulldog on a skateboard.

Photos: Katie Graef.

After turning around a flailing sophomore season for AMC's The Walking Dead, the network announced that on the heels of an amazing third season start -- and a fourth season pickup -- Glen Mazzara will be stepping down as showrunner after the current season is over. Mazzara, who replaced original showrunner Frank Darabont, said: "I have told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined. It doesn’t get much better than that." Here is the full statement from AMC:

Today, AMC announces the season 4 pick-up of The Walking Dead.

AMC also jointly announces with Glen Mazzara today that for future seasons, the two parties have mutually decided to part ways. Glen guided the series creatively for seasons 2 and 3. AMC is grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success.

Both parties acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways. This decision is amicable and Glen will remain on for post-production on season 3B as showrunner and executive producer.

Well, this news is like getting a delicious cake and then being told it was made by a person who can no longer bake for you. The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, February 10 at 9:00 PM.

Walking Dead Renewed, Parts Ways With Showrunner Glen Mazzara Over 'Difference of Opinion' [TVLine]

Photo credit: AMC

Richard Johnson and Andrew Barr of the National Post have sifted through all two and a half seasons of AMC's The Walking Dead and have come up with one of the most straightforward and fascinating visual guides documenting every single zombie killing that has taken place on the show. It has statistics, graphics, plot points, pretty much everything you could ask for in a Walking Dead infographic. For example, Rick has the most zombie killings out of everyone with 84, out of a total of 347 killings. Firearms are generally the most popular weapon of choice, but something as innocuous as a golf ball can still kill one zombie in a pinch. The number of killings also grew per season as the show progressed. (And we're only halfway through the third season!) It's a really interesting way to see where the show started and where it's led us. (via Warming Glow)

As usual, plot spoilers are discussed after the jump, so you have been warned!

Last week's episode ended in a tense moment when Rick, Daryl, and Oscar finally reached Woodbury, led there by Michonne so they can rescue Maggie and Glen. What they don't know: Andrea and Merle are also there. What the Governor thinks, because Merle told him so: Michonne is dead. This will all culminate in a bloody catastrophe.

But first -- another group of survivors, including comic book favorite Tyreese, played by Chad Coleman! These guys are traipsing about the forest like they've had their own zombie apocalypse show this whole time. One of them is bitten by a zombie, but unlike Rick, Tyreese does not lop off the victim's arm. Instead, they carry her to a building in the distance, which turns out to be the prison.

After last week's zombie experiments and still unaware of her boyfriend's near-rape of Maggie, Andrea comes in and tells the Governor that she's going to help Milton cremate Mr. Colmeman. Andrea seals her position as the official Will Tippin of The Walking Dead.

Glen and Maggie are recovering from their assaults and prepare to make an escape, but not before Glen has the incredibly resourceful idea of ripping out both forearm bones from a dead zombie. He keeps one for himself and gives the other to Maggie like the sickest promise ring in the universe. (I'm going to pretend that zombie's name was Jared.) These makeshift weapons will come in handy when the two are taken to "the screaming pits," as ordered by the Governor. Luckily, Rick and the gang are not far away.

Back at the prison, Axel displays his disgusting side by hitting on 17-year-old Beth in front of everyone, no attempt to be subtle about it. Carol takes him aside, and he explains that there is no one left for him to bone because everyone is taken and Carol is a lesbian due to her short haircut. She laughs at him, walks away, feels true power over at least one stupid man, and a sitcom is born!

After almost overpowering Merle but failing (again), Glen and Maggie are brought by Merle to the aforementioned "screaming pits," which actually just looks like another gross room. Bags are put over their heads, just in time for their fellow survivors to ambush the Woodburians and save them, and Daryl misses a huggy reunion with Merle by mere seconds. The Governor is alerted, and Andrea wonders if anyone she knows is here because OMG she didn't even make tea for them!

Glen tells Daryl that Merle is the one who beat him up, but Daryl is torn between being upset and wanting to see his brother, who he now knows is alive. Um, Daryl? You have a phone call from someone named Severe Loyalty Conundrum. You wanna take it or let it go to voicemail while you head into this gunfight?

The Governor puts Andrea in charge of door-to-door "check-ins" and she gets pissed because she won't be able to shoot anything. Meanwhile, Michonne finds the Gov's office and starts snooping. Andrea goes rogue and joins the gunfight, no idea that she's shooting at her old crew -- and Daryl has no idea he's firing at his brother, who is firing right back at him. In the chaos, Oscar is lost. Then Rick thinks he sees a bearded Shane firing at him, so at least we know who the really crazy one in this fight is.

While his father hallucinates, Carl takes charge of the new survivors and (cautiously) allows them to stay in the prison. Later, he rounds them up into a cell with food and water, and while they whine, Tyreese reminds them all that they've been crapping in the woods amongst zombies, and the prison is a fine upgrade. And he also refers to Carl as "the man," which made Carl's balls grow three sizes that day. Carl Grimes is now a strapping man, trapped in the body of a boy, and feeling totally allowed to drink real beer if he can find some.

Speaking of kids, Michonne finally meets Penny (as well as the Gov's head collection). Right before she is about to kill her, the Gov walks in, begging for her life to be spared. It's a pretty insane moment, considering 1. Michonne and the Gov seems to have a connection, having tried to keep undead loved ones close (it's been implied that her "pets" were not strangers), and 2. the Gov was told that Michonne was dead. There is undeniable sympathetic moment, but when Michonne finally kills Penny, the Gov flips, a tussle happens, and Michonne stabs him in the eye with a chunk of glass. Andrea walks in, seeing the most undelightful shit she's seen all day, including dead-undead Penny and chomping zombie heads on the floor. She might be onto something, you guys.

Michonne escapes and asks Rick to take her in. Daryl and Merle are reunited when the Governor -- who has now lost everything -- throws Merle under the bus for lying about Michonne, telling Woodbury that Merle led the "terrorists" to them, that he was a traitor because of his brother. And what's the last scene before we sign off until February? Daryl and Merle, facing off. What a predicament!

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, February 10 at 9:00 PM (EST)! More good news: The Talking Dead will start to air at 10:00 PM (EST) and will be extended to an hour!

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: This week's The Walking Dead recap is full of ugly situations and withheld information! [SPOILERS]

As usual, a discussion that includes spoilers will commence after the jump.

At the end of last week's episode, Michonne had shown up at the prison carrying groceries procured by Glen and Maggie with a gunshot wound in her leg (courtesy of Merle). At the start of "When the Dead Come Knocking," Rick and a few others see her, but are all hesitant to let her in. To prove her worth, she kills a rash of zombies while favoring her un-shot leg. One-legged Hershel is impressed. After a graphic zombie beheading, Michonne collapses and passes out, and is brought inside.

When she wakes up, she discovers that once again, her weapon has been confiscated by potentially untrustworthy strangers. She keeps her guard up, observing everyone welcoming Carol back to the group and Carol learning of Lori's death. They seem nice, so Michonne tells Rick about Woodbury and the Governor, "a Jim Jones type," and says that's where Glen and Maggie are. What she doesn't tell them: that Merle was the one who took them.

Merle, meanwhile, is violently interrogating Glen while Maggie sits alone in another room, listening to the whole thing. Glen, who knows how much stronger he's become, refuses to give up his group, saying that they had all been on the road and learned a thing or two. When he names Andrea as part of their group, Merle realizes that they have no idea that she's in Woodbury, and the whole rest of the episode becomes a game of "what knew what when." It's like that episode of Friends when everyone finds out Monica and Chandler are together!

After Michonne's gunshot wound is treated, Rick forms a group (with Daryl and Oscar) to go to Woodbury. He has a now-routine "If I die" talk with Carl, who is pretty much completely prepared to lead the entire group by himself if necessary. The talk ends with a name for the baby: Judith, after Carl's third grade teacher. Because calling her "Lori" would have been weird for everyone, and Carl doesn't know any other girl names.

In this episode, we see what Milton, the doctor, has been up to. (I think I referred to him as "Dr. Stevens" earlier, so I apologize for the error.) A bedridden gentleman named Mr. Coleman, who was dying of prostate cancer, has volunteered for Milton's experiment: finding out if there is any humanity left in zombies, specifically their memories. Mr. Coleman had been infected with the zombie virus and was expected to die shortly; Milton makes him go through a series of tests first, then asks Andrea to kindly murder Mr. Coleman once he reanimates. Uh.... sure? Sure.

Since Glen has still not given Merle what he wants, Merle decides to sic a zombie on him -- but Glen, in a scene that would make Black Widow proud, breaks free from the chair to which he's duct-taped and kills the zombie. What else you got? Oh, right -- Maggie in the next room. The Governor decides he'll deal with that.

This was the part in the comics that got seriously icky. In case you aren't familiar, the interrogation had Michonne in Maggie's place, and the Governor beat, raped, and tortured her. (She later got some equally violent revenge.) It was, to say the least, viciously awful. It served to push the Governor and the extent of his evil over the edge, and it was effective. To be honest, I was really hoping this wasn't going to happen on the show because of the monumentally icky feelings. Fortunately, it didn't go quite as far as the comics -- David Morrissey's Governor threatened to take it as far as the comics Governor did after leaving Maggie physically vulnerable. For me, that was plenty. We now have a man who will use his position and his penis as a weapon to get what he wants, and that's scary.

Maggie eventually gives up the prison when she is brought to Glen and the Governor holds a gun to his head. And that's over.

Michonne has brought Rick's group about a mile outside of Woodbury, saying that they'd do better on foot. Rick thanks Daryl for taking care of things while he collected himself. Daryl says, "That's what we do." This is noteworthy because Daryl, if he hadn't proved it already, really has adopted this group as his own -- something that Merle will probably not take well.

They come across a shack that is housing a member of the Tinfoil Hat Society, and Michonne kills him. This scene basically proved that Michonne will take care of any threat to the living, even if that includes killing one of the living.

The Governor can't really believe that a group of ten puny humans overtook an entire prison, so he expresses interest in throwing them a fancy dinner and asking them, "How did you do it? See, I run this whole town and stuff, but what I'm really hoping for is total world domination, millions of desperate people to control. Any hints? I'm just at a loss!" Or killing everyone. One of those things.

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: This week's The Walking Dead recap has sex, guts, and creepy phone calls in it! [SPOILERS]

One last warning about the new/old character...

Okay?...

Good. You've been warned. It's Tyreese! The former NFL player with the frisky daughter (and her boyfriend) who had joined Rick Grimes and Friends very early on in Robert Kirkman's comics will be played by Chad Coleman from The Wire. No word yet on when, exactly, Coleman's first appearance will be or if he'll be accompanied by the rest of his family. The news was first reported by TVOvermind, which also reported the upcoming return ("from a distance") of the character Morgan, played by Lennie James.

This is pretty exciting news, especially now that we know Carol is back and Michonne has found the prison. In the comics, Tyreese started a relationship with Carol, then made a little time for Michonne. Carol did not take it well, but in the comics, Carol also proposed a three-way marriage with Lori and Rick. That, clearly, will not be happening, unless it happens with Michonne and Tyreese, or Michonne and Daryl, or Daryl and Tyreese... but enough speculating about the hot, hot polygamy action. Tyreese is about to show up, and he is a pretty kickass guy!

Photo credit (Chad Coleman): Outside The Wire

Fan favorite Walking Dead character has been cast for the AMC series [The Mary Sue]

As usual, after the jump will be a plethora of plot spoilers.

Where do we even start? Last week, we were left with a grieving Rick, answering a phone that was suddenly ringing out of nowhere. Who was on the line? We don't know yet. Instead, we have Merle and a couple of redshirts finding Michonne's "biter-gram" with the message "Go back." I'm not gonna lie, it was a pretty clever use of zombie torsos! Pinterest-worthy! After coming out of hiding, Michonne swiftly kills all the disposable Woodburians except for Merle and a fellow named Neil. Don't worry about remembering Neil. He won't be around much longer.

Back to the phone call. It's a woman from a "safe," undisclosed location, perhaps the bunker Dick Cheney built himself in anticipation of the zombie apocalypse. Rick begs her to take him and his people in, but she hangs up. Probably because a desperate stranger in a prison wanted to come crash at her place.

In Woodbury, where we last saw Andrea acting deeply offended by the zombie fight, she is now volunteering to kill zombies. What self-respecting woman in this day and age sits around making sandwiches and watching zombies when she could be stabbing them herself? The Governor eventually lets her take a position at the wall, where a girl who completely sucks at archery delicately flings arrows at a zombie until Andrea takes initiative, jumps off the wall, and plants a knife in its head, proclaiming, "That is how it's done." So, shitty archery girl is all, "I'm telling!" and gets Andrea back in the Governor's office where he will tell her she's been a very bad girl, indeed.

Meanwhile, Rick is agonizing over this contact he's made and the phone rings again. It's a man this time, who asks Rick if he's killed anyone (yes), how many (four), and what happened to his wife. When he won't talk, the stranger hangs up. This sucks for Rick, because while we know he's in a pretty raw place right now, what reason would this stranger have to trust him given the information Rick just provided? Hershel later comes by, adorably describing his phantom limb to Rick in an attempt to lighten the mood. Rick remembers that he also is responsible for severing Hershel's leg, and realizes that yeah, that guy on the phone has every right to think he's untrustworthy.

Back in the woods, Michonne, Merle, and Neil are all attacked by walkers. One of those walkers is in desperate need of sharing his feelings with an understanding Michonne and spills his guts to her. I'm sorry. That's wrong. Michonne slices that zombie, and his guts spill all over her. In all the excitement, Michonne escapes. Neil decides that he's finally ready for a chase, having finally grown a spine, but Merle tells him Michonne isn't worth it. And then he shoots Neil in the head.

Michonne sees another group of walkers -- who totally ignore her! She soon realizes that the guts that are disgustingly all over her are like having invincibility in Super Mario Bros.! Rad! I can't wait until she finds Rick and Glen so they can share their mutual gut-invincibility stories! ("And I was like, 'You've got red on you,' and Rick was like, 'Word up, I've also got no zombies on me!' And then we laughed and laughed!") She gets that opportunity soon, when she comes across Glen and Maggie making a grocery run!

Andrea, still trying to put out the vibe with the Gov, admits that she liked the fights, and he knew it because as hard as she clutched her pearls, she stayed. They discuss how people have to stop getting all worked up about zombies and just treat them like vermin, and then they make out, and then they go bone each other. My, how pillow talk has changed in these trying times.

While Michonne watches Glen and Maggie to try to get a read on them, Merle shows up and ruins everything for everyone. Glen takes control at first... and then Merle, who is clearly physically stronger even with one arm (but also a lot crazier), overpowers them and forces Glen to drive them all back to Woodbury.

Speaking of the Dixons, Daryl also had really notable scenes in this episode. He, Oscar, and Carl are scouting for zombies in the tombs. In an attempt to bond with Carl, Daryl shares how his own mother died and how it didn't "seem real." Carl reminds Daryl that he shot Lori in the head himself, which felt totally real. Daryl acknowledges this, and they are forever bonded, with Carl having the upper hand forever and ever. Later, he finds Carol's knife in a zombie's face... and then he finds Carol! Yay!

Rick hears the phone ring one more time -- and it's Lori. Rick has officially gone bye-bye. But it's, honestly, one of the creepiest scenes of the whole series. Between the fact that the call itself is broken up and muddled, there's also the whole Lori is dead thing. But at least it gets him to finally hold his newborn -- right before Michonne shows up with the groceries. I hope she brought snacks!

Previously: This week's The Walking Dead recap is all about daughters - dead ones, living ones, living-dead ones [SPOILERS]

Photo credit: AMC

As always, plot spoilers are included after the jump.

This episode drew a lot from the Woodbury material from the comics, and while I agree with Chris Hardwick, who mentioned on The Talking Dead that the community still seemed a lot less "savage" than the comics, at least we're finally seeing why Michonne refuses to make herself at home.

Like Penny, for example. The Governor's zombie daughter, whom he's keeping in his home like she just has a more chronic, disgusting strain of chicken pox. Daddy is brushing her hair, some of which comes off with a chunk of her scalp. Then he throws a bag over her head and kisses it, saying he loves her. That, my friends, is about as unconditional as love can get.

Meanwhile, another father, Rick, is passing out cigars upon the birth of his newborn daughter. I'm sorry, not cigars. Axes to the head. Rick is running through the tombs of the prison, splitting zombies in the head with an ax. My mistake. But yes -- Rick is dealing with the death of Lori as much as he can right now, except that he has an ax and a firearm and a zombie apocalypse. He could really use a hug. But life goes on, and makeshift midwife Maggie and Daryl (and his poncho) go on a run for baby supplies.

Michonne has spent her entire time in Woodbury being suspicious and uncomfortable, so she takes it upon herself to get her katana back from the Governor's office so she can split. While she's there, she tries to find evidence that she's not just being paranoid and finds it in the Gov's diary. While it looks like this guy legitimately tried to create a safe community for his own band of survivors, he eventually just dissolves into a crazed bunch of lines. That's... not normal. Michonne is almost caught when the Gov, Dr. Stevens, and Merle come into the office, talking about some experiment and the night's planned "festivities," but she goes stealth until they leave.

She sneaks out of the office, finds a pen of captive walkers, kills all of them, smiles for the first time in, perhaps, a year, and then is brought directly back to the Gov's office when she's caught. While the Gov tries to reason with her, she re-swipes her katana, holds it to his throat, and leaves. Andrea, who cannot believe Michonne doesn't want to hang out and drink iced tea with the nice people, tries to convince her that Woodbury is where it's at! But Michonne has seen the Gov's diary, and it does not say, "Dear Diary: I have such a crush on Michonne. She's soooooo cool, I hope she likes me back!"

We get even more evidence that Michonne is on the mark when we see Merle, Dr. Stevens, and other Woodburians at a nearby zombie trap, where they purposefully catch and contain zombies so they can do things with them. Getting closer...

At the prison, the survivors are still dealing with their grief. While searching for supplies in an abandoned daycare center, Daryl sees a child's cut-out hand with the name "Sofie" on it, which immediately makes him think about Carol. It had seemed like Carol was lost along with Lori and T-Dogg, though we never saw her get attacked, nor did we see her body. And let's remember, Andrew was seemingly left for dead too, only to return to be shot by his fellow prisoner, Oscar. (The previews for next week also mention finding Carol's knife.) But Daryl believes that she's gone, and places a Cherokee rose on a grave meant for her. Before that, we also see Daryl feeding Lori's baby, so such displays probably made a million pairs of ovaries explode.

Back in Woodbury, Michonne has peaced out and Andrea arrives at the night's "festivities" arm-in-arm with the Governor. And then she discovers that the lovely community that's been making her iced tea has been watching the menfolk fight each other while surrounded by tethered zombies. The Gov defends it as entertainment and a way to teach everyone to not fear the zombies (and exploit them instead!). Andrea thinks this is pretty fucked up, but judging by the scene shown on The Talking Dead which has her making out with the Governor, she gets over this pretty quickly.

Rick eventually finds where Lori died, including the bullet that Carl put in her head -- but no Lori. Just her guts. A tired, bloated zombie nearby indicates that he's eaten her (plus the familiar brown hair in his teeth). Great. He couldn't even prevent his dead wife from being eaten by a zombie. Rick shoots the zombie, stabs it, and if he could have set him on fire and poured acid on him, he would have. And then -- the phone rings. Cut to black.

The Walking Dead is having a great season. Once the survivors got to the prison, the show kicked into seriously high gear with a lot of sick zombie-killing action, sad deaths for established characters, and new hope (or fears) in new characters... That prison turned The Walking Dead into a glass case of emotion. And "Say the Word" didn't disappoint.

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: This week's The Walking Dead recap reminds us all that this "isn't kid stuff" [SPOILERS]

Photo credit: Hero Complex, LA Times

Once again, this recap contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead, so proceed with caution.

Judging by the reactions on social media (where I hope you weren't spoiled due to some people having a total lack of self-control), this episode, called "The Killer Within," is one that caused any waning interest to return with full force. It's been a strong season so far, but this hour was positively gut-wrenching and proved, once again, that no one is safe from Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse.

We begin back at the prison, where some routine zombie maintenance was taking place. The inmates are getting restless and believe that they've paid their dues. But they also don't want to be left alone in a prison full of zombies (or ghosts). Some discussion takes place, but an alarm suddenly goes off, and the zombies come a-running. Everyone is separated -- a be-crutched Hershel stays safe with his younger daughter after some of the most successful physical therapy ever (known as "suck it up, or be eaten by the undead"). Lori, Carl, and Maggie head off in one direction. T-Dog and Carol head in another, and Rick, Daryl, and Glen try to find the generator to turn off the alarm.

But first, let's go back to Woodbury and the Governor to see what's going on there. Here is all we need to know: Michonne still doesn't trust the Governor (for good reason), Andrea is ready to leave, but might change her mind, Merle is getting curious about finding his brother (and also why he and Andrea never hooked up, I'm guessing that him being a racist hothead might have something to do with it), and the Gov continues to tell beautiful lies. And his name is Phillip, but we know he's a liar who keeps heads in jars.

Back at the prison, T-Dog is bitten by a zombie. On the shoulder. As we learned two weeks ago, you cannot just cut off a shoulder to stop the zombie virus (which they all have anyway), so it looks like the end for Mr. Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas. But not before he and Carol head back into the prison and he sacrifices himself by flinging himself into a gaggle of zombies to let Carol escape. Good night, sweet T-Dog.

Meanwhile, Lori has gone into labor. She, Maggie, and Carl find a zombie-free shady spot, but Lori knows what's really going on here. She wasn't able to have a natural birth with Carl, so the only way this baby is coming out is if it's cut out of her. And that probably means the end of Lori.

Rick, Daryl, and Glen -- and the inmates -- eventually make it to the room with the generator, where Andrew suddenly pops out of nowhere! Last we saw that guy, Rick had chased him through the tombs of the prison and left him for dead in a pen of zombies. But he's back -- until Oscar shoots him, proving that he's an ally. So, that's good!

Back to the shady spot: After Lori tells Maggie that it's up to her to deliver the baby and let her die, she tries to conjure up all the maternal wisdom she can for Carl in her remaining minutes. It's a truly sad scene, and even sadder when you remember that Rick never really made things right with her. They exchanged a sweet glance across the prison yard right before the day's chaos, but that was all the time they'd get.

We get a flashback to Rick giving a similar, but less urgent speech to his son, telling him that the "kid stuff is over," then handing him a pistol. When the baby is out and Lori is still, Carl knows what he has to do -- prevent his mother from "turning." Maggie, who accepted her grave task and performed, still can't quite wrap her head around the situation and tries to leave the room, but there are zombies outside. The moment she comes back in, she hears a gunshot, and a stoic Carl briskly walks past her. Yup. That happened. (Though we didn't actually see it, did we?)

With the zombie situation under control, everyone starts to come together. Except for T-Dog, whose partially-eaten remains are found by Rick et al, and Carol, who has disappeared. Back outside, Rick waits for his son and his wife. He sees Maggie, holding a baby, and Carl, holding a gun. He puts it together and loses it. Loses. It.

Look, everyone had their problems with Lori. She wasn't always written very well, but no one can deny how heartbreaking a scene like this is. But more importantly, this was another stark reminder that not even the most established and crucial characters on The Walking Dead are safe.

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: This week's recap of The Walking Dead finally catches up with Andrea and Michonne -- and the Governor [SPOILERS]

In the first episode of the show to not feature Rick Grimes at all, "Walk With Me" provided us a needed cutaway to Andrea and Michonne's side story featuring one of the most fearsome characters in the series. But the Governor, played by David Morrissey, is looking a lot different than he did in the comics and, therefore, a lot less threatening. And for the vast majority of the episode, it's easy to wonder if this is going to be a different Governor completely.

In the first moments of the show, we (briefly) meet three military-looking types in a helicopter that soon crashes. Two out of three of them die -- one of them graphically. Michonne and Andrea follow the smoke trail, but the Governor and his men find the wreck first, taking the survivor with them. In an attempt to draw less attention to themselves, Michonne beheads her hungry, armless pets while Andrea tries to limit her hacking cough to a more Southern, ladylike volume.

But they are soon found by Merle, who is now sporting a makeshift bayonet attachment as a replacement for the hand he cut off when he was abandoned by Rick and the survivors (a great name for a '50s cover band, by the way), and both women are blindfolded and put in a vehicle. For some reason, we see this from the perspective of the nearly unconscious woman and not the suspicious and alert one. When we rejoin a lucid, medicated Andrea, the two are in a cozy little house with a real live doctor (who has the first real hairdo I think we've ever seen on this show) -- but to Michonne's dismay, their weapons have been taken away. That rubs her the wrong way, and she's immediately mistrusting everything in this town down to the green, green grass. (It's a little too green...)

Meanwhile, there is a scientific operation going on, where someone who probably isn't qualified to do this kind of stuff is looking into how zombies work. This includes keeping the heads of Michonne's pets alive, which immediately made me think of the movie The Brain That Wouldn't Die, and if any of you have seen that movie, even a semi-living, disembodied head can cause a lot of problems. This will become relevant by the end of the episode.

But let's talk about the Governor again. He seems perfectly polite, welcoming, friendly, maybe a little bit aloof when it comes to talking about himself. And everyone in Woodbury is wearing ModCloth dresses and boots from their own secret Zappos, and they're happy and healthy and take hot showers! Andrea is totally into this, but Michonne is giving everyone in this town the stink-eye until she gets her weapons back, which isn't going to be easy because it was noted that she was more than happy to behead these pets of hers for the sake of her own survival. She also won't divulge who they were before they became zombies. So, everyone is suspicious of everyone, except for Andrea, who's so happy to see pancakes and coffee, so these people must be totally nice!

This is a good example of a "slow-burn" episode of The Walking Dead. By three-quarters of the way through, it looks like the Governor is not going to be the monster he was in the comics. And then, we find out he definitely is. Earlier, the survivor of the helicopter crash told the Governor that there are still people at his camp; the latter promised to bring the men back to Woodbury. Instead, he guns them all down and steals their weapons and supplies. Oh. Okay, then.

But then it gets even more twisted. At the very end of the episode, when it seems like everyone has calmed down and made themselves at home, we meet up with the Gov again. After it appears that he's had himself some sex, we see him gaze at a photograph of his family -- a wife and a daughter, then walk into a different room and close the door. He sits down with his drink and gazes again -- at a wall of severed heads in tanks, including those of Michonne's pets and the helicopter survivor who, I guess, didn't survive for very long.

So, in case there was any doubt, the Governor is, indeed, a total bloody psycho. Or a seriously misguided fan of Futurama.

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: The Walking Dead heads into "Sick" territory in this season's second episode [SPOILERS]

Hey, so, what really went on with those plucky survivors during the months we didn't see them? It's understandable that a few months spent in a zombie apocalypse may cause a shift in priorities. But let's just say it: Rick has gone off the deep end, albeit in a very entertaining fashion. When we last left everyone at the end of the season premiere, one of our zombie-fighting friends suffered a bit of a flesh wound, and we met five more possible friends... or living human obstacles.

Spoilers after the jump, so consider yourself warned!

If there was one reigning theme throughout this episode, which was entitled "Sick" (or, as I liked to refer to it, "I Shit a Rick"), it was this: alpha dogs vs. alpha puppies. When we start talking to these five prisoners, they're preciously asking to use a cell phone to call their loved ones. Apparently, the prison guards shoved these gentlemen into the cafeteria and locked the door, and they never conjured up the wherewithal to leave the room for a full ten months. These guys have no clue that the world has been overtaken by a zombie apocalypse. That's adorable! The prisoners are now the most innocent people in the story, even whimsically making a reference to He-Man.

Speaking of He-Man, one of these prisoners, Tomas, has suddenly decided, by the power of Grayskull, that he is in charge of this prison and will defend his turf. This means that Rick will come face-to-face with something he doesn't like: a person who probably won't listen to him. Alpha Dog Rick, meet Alpha Puppy Tomas. At least Rick has Lori's blessing to kill whomever he wishes if it means safety for their group. Lori, I really hope you're serious about that. Though by the end of the episode, he won't really care what you think anyway.

Another person who doesn't care what Lori thinks is her own son, Carl, who believes he has successfully audited puberty, college, and war in the past couple of months and doesn't have to listen to his mom anymore. He doesn't get a whole lot of screen time in this one, except to show that he's got 99 problems and Mom ain't one.

Meanwhile, Hershel is getting everyone seriously upset over maybe turning into a zombie, maybe surviving, but still being short one leg. His older surviving daughter Maggie is ready to let him go and weeps for her father, telling him he can "stop fighting" if he wants. Younger daughter Beth is in another room altering single pant legs. Carol has taken initiative while everyone else frets, doing her best to apply the medical knowledge Hershel provided her up until the point when he stupidly went zombie hunting and ended up one-legged. Because it will be up to her to help Lori deliver her baby, she has stepped up -- big, huge steps -- and taken it upon herself to find zombies on which to practice a C-section, noting "We have tons of cadavers around here." They just have to kill them first, something which she probably chuckled about right before crying in private.

After spending some time in Zombie Killing 101 with Daryl -- which must be so fun! -- the prisoners are taught how to kill zombies by destroying their brains. They must not have realized that brains are found in heads, because Tomas & Crew just pointlessly beat the zombies about the torso. Amateurs.

Rick eventually comes to an agreement with the prisoners, allowing them to claim their own cell block, away from everyone else, but they need to clear the zombies out of it first. Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl accompany them. But then, Big Tiny gets scratched by a walker. On his shoulder, which cannot easily be cut off like a leg. Do they lock him up? Do they take their chances? Tomas steps in, and the Alpha Puppy beats Big Tiny's head to a pulp, establishing that he is on the same callously violent page as Rick. Rick is probably thinking, "Man, that was crazy. I'd never just kill a living person by inflicting a gruesome and sudden head injury. At least I'm better than that."

Later, in another zomb-frontation, Alpha Puppy actually tries to get away with nearly beheading Alpha Dog Rick, then throwing a chompy zombie on him. Rick responds thusly -- by inserting a machete into Tomas' skull. Andrew, another prisoner, runs away to... tell... someone? That Rick killed a guy? Pssssssht, that's, like, Rick's thing now. Rick then chases Andrew through the prison because... he's a witness? Rather than apply swift justice to Andrew, Rick locks him in a pen with zombies, letting them do the dirty work.

Tomas was clearly a direct threat. But Andrew? What the hell did Andrew do to deserve a death sentence? Tattle? To whom? Rick Grimes, I don't even know you anymore! But it's going to be a trip watching your continued descent into madness and murder!

Completely absent from this episode were Andrea and Michonne, but we will be catching up with them next week -- when we also meet the Governor. Shudder.

Photo credit: AMC

Previously: The Walking Dead returns, now with increased moral abandon! [SPOILERS]

Since I'm going to be discussing things that happened in this episode, please assume that I'm, well, going to be talking about things that happened in this episode. And that means there are spoilers from this point on.

This summer, I started reading the Walking Dead comics and have read just beyond where the show is taking place (thank you, The Walking Dead: Compendium One). What have I learned from this? That once the survivors reach the prison, things take a very gritty, nutty, and disturbing turn. Yes, the show is quite a bit different from the comics. But there would obviously be plenty of opportunities for the show to follow the same insane events, albeit with different characters. (I'm looking at you, Carol.)

For starters, Carl has been promoted from the role of "inconveniently absent son" to "fellow killing machine." He would be in elementary school if not for the zombie apocalypse, and now he's one of his father's trusted gunmen. This both devastating and fantastic. The killing of zombies has become nothing more than a daily chore, and Rick seems to find the process satisfying enough to smile about, as if he just raked a ton of leaves and found a lush, green lawn underneath. As a group, they've developed their reflexes and devised a series of effective methods for zombie extermination that give them enough time to squat in an abandoned residence and eat owls. If civilization was still around, they could probably open up a pretty competitive zombie extermination business with a staff of skilled employees.

Eventually, they all come across the prison we saw at the end of Season Two and clear it out to check out the digs. Rick, leader of the Ricktatorship, is hopeful that this will make a reliably safe home, what with its purpose of keeping people confined.

Our merry group of friends is now living in a world in which killing their decaying brethren is as commonplace as flushing the toilet, and a stark, stone fortress designed to house the worst of society looks like a cozy dwelling. We've seen everyone struggle to adjust, fight and weep for what they've lost. But now, they've reached acceptance, looking ahead rather than back. This was bound to happen, but it's amazing to see this sharp of a turn from last season, when everyone still seemed ruled by the chaos.

Not that everything is all hunky-dory. One of my favorite parts of this episode was Lori's creepy zombaby thoughts. Significantly more pregnant than she was at the end of last season, she and Rick are past the whole "Rick's or Shane's" thing, and Mommy is having much darker and terrifying thoughts about her unborn child. She can't feel any movement, so if her baby is dead, is it a zombie, and will it tear her apart from the inside? Or, will the baby kill her during childbirth, turn her into a zombie, and then she'll kill the baby and everyone else? They're extremely valid thoughts to have, no matter what opinions everyone has formed about Lori. Personally, I find this element of the Walking Dead story to be incredibly interesting: bringing a baby into this world in the first place, attempting to rescue a healthy human race amongst the ruins or sparing a child from the horror, but then considering these very real complications.

In addition to Lori's zombaby and the casual "whack-a-mole" approach to zombies, we also have Andrea and Michonne. We get a better introduction to Michonne's badassery with some hot machete action, and we find out that Andrea isn't doing so well after a long winter of zombie fighting. It's not a lot of information, but it was enough to point us in the direction of a storyline that will be leading up to the Governor, the character who bothered me the most in the comics. (So far.)

But the most spoilery takeaway from "Seed" took place in the final moments: While trying to clear zombies from the various parts of the prison, Hershel (now bearded and ready for this new lifestyle, dreaming of tomato and cucumber crops) gets a portion of his leg torn off by a zombie. And then, because Rick wants to save him by stopping the infection (if that's how that works), Rick chops off the remaining portion of Hershel's leg with an ax. Which makes sense in the situation, but now Rick is a man who will chop off a man's -- an ally's -- leg without dwelling on it for more than ten seconds. The look on his face says he is begging his mind and soul to believe that he did the right thing, but he still just cut off a guy's leg without a second thought.

We are in a new era for the survivors, kids. A crazy one. This season is going to be nuts.

Photo credit: AMC

We have talked about an ending that we’d do if we ever got to that point, right before our joint suicide, but with the popularity of the comic, and now the show, I don’t see an end anytime soon.

So, that's a "No" on the end of the comic, right? Good to know.