Say the Word tries to say a lot, but doesn’t really deliver on most of its plot points; the major one being Michonne versus the Governor. Ever since Walk with Me these two have been at odds, mainly due to her. In my past reviews, I’ve called Michonne “grouchy” and I’ll have to continue that here. Seeing her sulk disapprovingly as the townspeople celebrate in what looks to be a fun Fourth of July party was annoying to watch. Neither Woodbury nor the Governor have done anything to deserve so much contempt.
As the viewer we know she’s right due to the soldier shootout and the very creepy hairbrush scene from this episode, but there still needs to be an actual reason why Michonne doesn’t like it there and wants not only her to leave, but also Andrea to follow her. I don’t blame Andrea one bit for wanting to stay since Michonne only has a hunch that they should leave. If Andrea did listen, then the most likely outcomes would be them starving to death, getting bitten, and even their old plan of going to one of Georgia’s islands still sounds pretty bad, since the very best outcome would be them growing old together alone, which does not sound pleasant.
It seems as if the show wants us on Michonne's side, but the scene with her letting the zombies out of the cage and killing them, which featured pretty bad CG in some spots, made her seem like she wants to get out because she thinks killing zombies is fun. That’s really the first time we’ve ever seen any emotion out of her, which was a big smile after dismembering the walkers. Hey, I can’t blame her for that even though it is a little weird, but she has no moral high ground over Merle who was having fun removing the teeth of a zombie or Woodbury itself as they watched Mad Max mixed with the WWE and zombies. That’s one of the few instances where I thought “this feel like a comic book moment” while watching this show. Overall, it makes no sense to waste that amount of resources and put people in danger just so they can be entertained. Have they never heard of theater? Can no one there sing? Hell, a Roman orgy seems like a better idea than zombie boxing.
The symmetry between the prison and Woodbury can be very interesting at times. As our main gang is barely surviving in the prison and on a desperate search for baby food, the people of Woodbury are doing ridiculous things to be entertained and enjoying nice cold drinks in their evening wear. In that regard, Woodbury can seem a little silly, but it is human nature to get overly comfortable and do silly, dangerous, and perhaps immoral things for fun. While Rick barely said a word and his reaction seemed somewhat overkill, it is interesting to look at him as a prelude to the Governor. Are they on the same path? Did traumatic events like his wife dying cause him to do crazy things like keep his zombie daughter around and brush her hair? I hope “crazy Rick” doesn’t spill into the next episode much. On the bright side, he does have a daughter now… well, it’s probably Shane’s, but knowing Rick he’ll treat her like his own.
The pairing of Maggie and Daryl, who was sporting a pretty badass poncho, was an unlikely paring. Glenn’s words about them all being a family definitely rings true through their actions this season. The entire group had no problem looking after the baby and risking their lives while Rick was going apeshit a few hundred yards away. I was a little surprised that no hints of Carol still being alive were dropped this episode. I still think there's a 99% chance she's still alive, which is why she wasn't mentioned much in the last review. However, seeing Daryl visiting her grave was still a nice touch. Andrea and Michonne separating also seemed to be very hard on both them even though they handled it in different ways.
As I said before, Michonne never really gave Andrea a reason to leave. I’m not sure what this version of Michonne did for a living, but in the comics she was a lawyer. I hope they change her profession because I don’t buy it for one second regarding this version of her. It seems like a lawyer would be articulate and smart enough to explain their opinion rather than just alternating between “Give me my sword back!!!” and “We have to go right now!!” as if that’s the only thing she can say. This week’s cliffhanger came out of the blue and felt unsatisfying. However, the idea that the Governor and Woodbury are finally showing their dark side to Andrea and a possible confrontation between the two women against the town bodes well for next week. I do hope that the inevitable collision of Woodbury and Rick’s group isn’t held until the season finale or even the penultimate episode, the sooner they meet the better.
