When we last talked, I concluded by saying "if we take another week to toy with this war that has been on the horizon for four or five episodes, we are getting ourselves into another Hershel's farm situation: a show that is stuck in the mud, trying to fill episode quotas with a much too short story arch." And what did we get? I mean really, does anyone want to argue that anything significant happened in this episode that couldn't have taken up 2 minutes of a much more exciting episode? And this is why I almost feel like "I Ain't a Judas" is my least favorite episode of The Walking Dead. Is it better than some of the mid second season episodes? Probably. But in the scheme of where this episode came in, it is even more disappointing. We are at war. This has been said over and over and over and over. Yet, somehow the writers of this show have been able to push back any sort of major conflict for another episode. Right as the fight seemed to break out, we are back in that mud. Trying to work our way out.
Because seriously, let's look at the state of things at the end of "Home" to the end of "I Ain't a Judas." Rick: slowly going insane, occasionally screaming at everyone, not giving up the leader role. The rest of the prison group: worried, not sure about the state of their group, not open to outsiders. The Governor: cruel, conniving, manipulative. No change. Andrea: living in Woodbury, doesn't trust The Governor anymore, skeptical of every option she has.
Nothing has changed. Literally everyone is exactly where they were when the episode began. Sure, Andrea comes to the prison and visits her old group, and we are reminded that Andrea didn't know that not only T-Dog and Lori died, but even Shane. But she goes back to Woodbury after her visit, sleeps with The Governor (even if it was just seduction), and doesn't have the guts to end the terror by killing The Governor when she held a knife over his throat as he slept. Her visit means nothing. It just warns both groups that the war that we know will happen is going to happen. Yay. Now we know.
The only set of characters that are at a different point are Tyrese and his group, who now reside in Woodbury under the watchful eye (singular get it ) of The Governor. What role will they play? Will they give The Governor all the information about Rick that they can and side with Woodbury, or when the fight starts, will they jump back on the prison groups side? Right now, we don't really know, but it is the only change that occurred in this episode. We literally could have skipped right to next week's episode, "Clear," and just been told that Tyrese and his three friends have joined the Woodbury group. Two minutes. That is all this episode provided.
To read the rest (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/the-walking-dead-3-11-i-aint-no-judas/
Because seriously, let's look at the state of things at the end of "Home" to the end of "I Ain't a Judas." Rick: slowly going insane, occasionally screaming at everyone, not giving up the leader role. The rest of the prison group: worried, not sure about the state of their group, not open to outsiders. The Governor: cruel, conniving, manipulative. No change. Andrea: living in Woodbury, doesn't trust The Governor anymore, skeptical of every option she has.
Nothing has changed. Literally everyone is exactly where they were when the episode began. Sure, Andrea comes to the prison and visits her old group, and we are reminded that Andrea didn't know that not only T-Dog and Lori died, but even Shane. But she goes back to Woodbury after her visit, sleeps with The Governor (even if it was just seduction), and doesn't have the guts to end the terror by killing The Governor when she held a knife over his throat as he slept. Her visit means nothing. It just warns both groups that the war that we know will happen is going to happen. Yay. Now we know.
The only set of characters that are at a different point are Tyrese and his group, who now reside in Woodbury under the watchful eye (singular get it ) of The Governor. What role will they play? Will they give The Governor all the information about Rick that they can and side with Woodbury, or when the fight starts, will they jump back on the prison groups side? Right now, we don't really know, but it is the only change that occurred in this episode. We literally could have skipped right to next week's episode, "Clear," and just been told that Tyrese and his three friends have joined the Woodbury group. Two minutes. That is all this episode provided.
To read the rest (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/the-walking-dead-3-11-i-aint-no-judas/