The Walking Dead: Recap of and an Inside Look at Episode 3.06 – Hounded

Steve Barton |

Nov 19, 2012

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When we left off in last week’s episode, Rick was awoken from his zombie-killing stupor by a phone call. So he did what any human being would do in the vicinity of a ringing phone, he answered it. Tonight’s episode entitled “Hounded” was written by Scott M. Gimple and directed by Dan Attias.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read any further if you haven’t watched the episode yet. This is a recap, not a review. Continue only if you have watched it.

Merle led his band of merry men through the woods and came across some body parts that were arranged into a message,”Go Back,” deciphered by the scaredy cat with a slightly difficult last name but Merle kept calling him “Neil” anyway. When Merle taunted Michonne, she jumped down from above, decapitated one and stabbed another, all with her little “pig sticker”. Merle started shooting and clipped Michonne’s leg. “Are we having fun yet?”

After the opening credits, we’re back in the mechanical room with Rick talking on a phone that still works. There’s a woman on the other line who refuses to reveal her location. She was surprised someone was on this line. We all were surprised that a phone carrier survived the zombie apocalypse! Rick begged the woman to let him, his newborn baby and his group join them. She had to talk to her group first and would call back in two hours. “We’re dying here,” cried Rick while she hung up. How rude!

Rick was all cleaned up when he rejoined the group. Rick had cleared out the boiler block and was going back there by himself to clear out the bodies. Everyone gave Rick a status report. It was like when your manager returned to the office and you had to report what you did during their absence. Rick gave his approval and left the area.

Back in the woods, scaredy cat Neil was hyperventilating over his dead buddies when Merle made him get ready to chase after a shot Michonne. The shooting noise would bring the biters their way soon. Merle and Neil had to kill the dead again to keep them from turning. Can you preemptively kill them before they turn?

The Governor and Andrea were kinda flirting again. She thought the zombie fight club was too brutal but still wanted to be in Woodbury. She wanted to work the wall and would learn archery, which was the hottest skill in 2012.

Rick answered the phone at the assigned time and was sold a rosy picture of the other side. The man on the other line quizzed Rick about his kills and Lori’s death. When Rick refused to talk about Lori, the man hung up and Rick freaked out.

Andrea and 2012’s cliche of the year, a chick archer, sat on top of the wall. Andrea would start her archery lessons the next day. The chick archer had to kill family with her arrows after they turned and Andrea commiserated about putting down her sister, Amy. When the archer missed the single walker twice, Andrea jumped over the wall and went mano-a-mano to put it down. Before she could even enjoy her kill, she was chided by the pretty bad archer.

While Rick was pacing by the phone, Hershel hobbled in on his crutches. Hershel tried to put Rick’s mind at ease and told him to take his time getting over Lori’s death. Rick spewed all he knew about the phone calls and was waiting for more. Rick could not keep a secret, it seemed like!

Chasing through the woods, Merle and Neil got ambushed by Michonne. During the tussle, they all were attacked by some walkers. Grossest results of a kill? Being rained on by zombie intestines! While Merle and Neil got rid of the walkers, Michonne disappeared.

While Oscar, Daryl and Carl were sweeping the lower levels of another block, Daryl told his backstory of when his mom burned to death in their house. “Sorry about your mom,” retorted Carl who HAD to shoot his own mom!

The Recap CONTINUES on the NEXT PAGE

The Governor admonished Andrea for going over the wall when she admitted that she enjoyed the zombie fight club. The Governor was growing on Andrea. Hook up already, you two, and spare us the flirty talks!

Since Michonne went into the red zone, Merle wasn’t going to follow her in there. When Neil refused to go along with lying to the Governor, Merle shot him.

Retrieving her pack, Michonne stumbled into a small pack of walkers. Readying for a fight, those walkers totally ignored her. She learned what we knew since the first season, zombie guts made for good camouflage.

Picking up the phone again, Rick was scolded by the woman on the other line for not talking about his wife’s death. “You should talk about it, Rick,” urged the woman. Is she manning a grief counseling hotline or a mysterious safe haven? How did she know his name? Another hang up. Man, where does the phone carrier send their bills nowadays?

As Michonne limped into a deserted town, Maggie and Glenn parked nearby looking for supplies. They stole a kiss before starting their looting like a zombie-apocalyptic Bonnie and Clyde while Michonne watched them creepily from nearby.

In a back garden, the Governor and Andrea were enjoying their alcohol again. “How long has it been?” asked the Governor about the whiskey but we were all thinking Shane and the car episode. More flirting ensues. The Governor, Phillip, admitted to loving the zombie fight club. They got close and Shane became a flitting memory.

Merle stumbled into Maggie and Glenn. At gunpoint, Merle asked about Daryl and even showed off his knife-hand. Distracting them, Merle got the better of the two, held Maggie hostage at gunpoint and made Glenn drive them somewhere. A hurt Michonne continued watching.

Oscar, Daryl and Carl found some slippers for relaxing when a single zombie attacked them. All three of them dispatched of it together. Upon closer look, Daryl found Carol’s knife in the walker’s face.

Back on the phone, the woman on the phone taunted Rick some more. Turned out that Rick had talked to Amy, Jim, Jacqui earlier. It’s Lori’s turn now. What is this? An episode of “The Twilight Zone”? Rick finally realized his hallucination and hung up the phone.

The Governor and Andrea were interrupted in bed by a knock on the door. Merle brought news of Michonne killing his band of merry men before he killed her. Merle didn’t bring back Michonne’s head and sword because he was ambushed by a zombie horde. But Merle brought back Maggie and Glenn instead and he’ll find out where the others were. Back in the room, the Governor and Andrea returned to their carnal activities.

Finally himself again, Rick joined the group and held his baby for the first time. Down in the lower levels, Daryl found Carol still alive and carried her to safety. Out in the open courtyard, Rick spotted something at the fence. Walking out to investigate, he saw Michonne at the fence amidst some walkers and carrying a red basket. Is it the same red basket carried by Maggie earlier?