The Walking Dead: Recap of Episode 3.16 – Welcome to the Tombs
Steve Barton
|
/stock/twdlogo.jpg
In tonight’s “The Walking Dead” season finale, the two factions went to war. Did your favorite character survive? Were you devastated at the end of the episode? We already knew how many would die tonight. Keep your tissues handy for the recap.
“Welcome to the Tombs” was written by Glen Mazzara and directed by Ernest Dickerson.
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read any further if you haven’t watched the episode yet. This is a recap with specific details from this episode. Continue only if you have already watched it.
We open with the governor brutally beating Milton for torching his zombies. He then demands that Milton kill a still tied up Andrea, but he can’t do it, trying to turn on the Governor instead. But the Governor fatally stabs him and leaves Milton locked in the room with Andrea so that when he turns, he’ll have no choice but to kill her.
When we return from the opening, while everyone at the prison was getting ready, Carl put together a bag for baby Judith, filling it with keepsakes like the framed picture of his family that he retrieved from the bar, but he kept Rick’s old sheriff badge in his pocket instead. Leaving his cell with his bag, Carl seemed so much older than his age now.
They were all packing up their vehicles when Glenn commented to Rick that he had never seen Carl this mad. As Rick got into his car, he paused to take stock of the prison and saw a pregnant Lori looking down from a walkway above. He just shrugged and got in. Carol approached Daryl as he reminisced that Merle had never ever done what he just did. “He gave us a chance,” returned Carol gratefully as she helped Daryl up.
Michonne informed Rick that they were ready. She told Rick that she understood Rick’s position about giving her up to the Governor. He apologized. She then thanked Rick for taking her in back when she came to the prison with the baby formula. Rick even got to joke about the baby formula being the deciding factor, but then he attributed her staying to Carl. When Rick finally told Michonne that she was one of them now, she let out a knowing but barely-there smile.
Talking to the now-armed Woodbury soldiers, the Governor vilified Rick and the group at the prison, saying that they already killed 8 men and now won’t stop until they kill everyone at Woodbury and take everything for themselves. The Governor wanted to end this war, once and for all.
Tyreese and Sasha interrupted the Governor and begged off the fight, saying that they would not fight other people. Tyreese even volunteered to stay at Woodbury to defend the children and said that they would leave if when the Governor returns he wanted them gone. The Governor handed Tyreese a gun and thanked him before leading the army.
Outside the prison, the armed Woodbury convoy arrived and took out the watch towers from afar, as well as the wandering walkers near them. When an enforced truck rammed through the gate of the prison, armed Woodbury soldiers followed in, but there were no signs of Rick and the group. When the truck pulled off the inner metal gate, Allen and Martinez led the charge and pulled the metal door open.
Martinez led the group into the now-empty prison block formerly occupied by Rick and the group. After searching around, the Governor realized that the prison block had emptied out and found Hershel’s bible with a highlighted passage about evil and damnation. The Governor was furious. Then he heard noises down a dark passage and went inside with a group.
Andrea called out to a bloodied Milton, who instructed her to retrieved the pair of pliers that he dropped for her earlier. While trying to get the pliers, Andrea promised to get them both out, but Milton demanded that she kill him instead.
Martinez and the Governor, in two separate groups, wandered through the prison’s dark hallways looking for any signs of life and got closer to the noises.
Back at Woodbury, Tyreese reported that everything was quiet during his watch. Sasha asked what they would have to do when the Governor returned and Tyreese suggested that they try to slip out the way Andrea did. When Sasha commented about how going to the prison would not have done Andrea any good, Tyreese insisted that he go another another watch instead of Sasha.
Andrea was still trying to retrieve the pliers when Milton got quiet. Afraid that he had died, she braced herself but Milton wasn’t dead yet. He asked her why she stayed at Woodbury after she found out about Rick and the prison. She replied that she wanted to save everyone including the Governor. She even confessed that she had a chance to kill the Governor once but she didn’t because she wanted to save everyone. She paused for a moment when Milton got quiet again. But he still wasn’t dead… yet. He implored her to hurry.
As the Governor and his troops continued with their search, they got interrupted by some flashbombs that started bringing walkers to them, causing mayhem and walker killing. The Woodbury army ran outside into the open right into Glenn’s and Maggie’s firing range. They were both fully decked out in riot gear. Hershel, Beth and Carl were observing the fight from the woods. Carl insisted that he should be there fighting. Maggie and Glenn continue to attack from above, forcing the Woodbury army to retreat and drive away. After they were gone, Maggie and Glenn stopped shooting and went down.
In the woods, a young Woodbury fighter (Ben?) ran into Hershel, Beth and Carl. When he implored them not to shoot, Carl calmly aimed his gun at the kid and shot him in cold blood.
Rick and the group surveyed the prison after the army left. They had driven the army away. Daryl insisted that they go after the army and bring the fight to Woodbury. Before making any decision, Rick wanted to check on everyone first. Returning to their prison block, they started to reclaim their space. Carl told Rick that he would go to Woodbury with the group. Carl had even taken out a soldier earlier, a soldier that Hershel clarified was only a kid. Carl was adamant about going. After he walked off, Hershel told Rick what Carl did and how Carl did not have to shoot the kid, since he was about to surrender to Carl. Rick did not want to believe, but he knew Hershel was telling the truth.
The Governor stopped the convoy to yell at his army for retreating. When they protested, the Governor started shooting and killing his people instead. While some tried to run off, Allen aimed his gun at the Governor. When Allen paused, the Governor just him in the head while Martinez looked on helplessly. The Governor went to inspect his kills and shot them in the head again. A woman lying under another body was still alive but he didn’t see her. The Governor went back into his car and quietly motioned his last two henchmen to climb on.
Andrea still struggled with her escape by pliers and tried to calm herself that Milton was still alive, but she could sense he was turning. She tried to work faster as Milton started moving.
Rick and the group were preparing to leave when Rick confronted Carl about his shooting earlier. He asked Carl directly if the kid was surrendering. Carl insisted that he couldn’t take a chance at letting the kid live. Carl didn’t kill the walker that killed Dale. Rick didn’t kill Andrew and Andrew returned to kill Lori. Rick was in the same room as the Governor but didn’t kill him and the Governor killed Merle. Carl said he did what he had to do and told Rick to go, so that Woodbury wouldn’t kill any more of them. Rick picked up his sheriff badge that Carl dropped.
Glenn and Maggie tell Rick they are staying in case the Governor returned. Daryl led the charge as Rick and Michonne drove behind them. Closing the gate behind them, both Beth and Carol got to take out some walkers.
Rick, Daryl and Michonne came up to where the Woodbury vehicles had stopped and dispatched of the former Woodbury fighters now turned walkers. They found the woman who was still alive, now hiding inside a truck.
Andrea was still working on her bindings when she realized Milton had turned. She struggled faster and walker Milton got up and headed towards her, snarling. The camera panned away and we heard her screaming and yelling and some thudding noises.
Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Karen came close to Woodbury’s wall when they got pinned down by Tyreese and Sasha’s gunfire. Karen yelled out to Tyreese but was pulled back down by Rick. She yelled back that the Governor killed all of the other Woodbury fighters and that Rick, Daryl and Michonne saved her. Rick and his group came out of hiding to talk to Tyreese. He was coming to Woodbury to finish the fight but that was before he found out what the Governor did. He also said that Andrea never made it back to the prison.
Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Tyreese found the Governor’s torture shack with a pool of blood flowing out. When they opened the door, they saw walker Milton dead near the torture chair and Andrea next to the door. Andrea was burning up, said Michonne, and Andrea showed them her bite wound. Andrea asked if everyone was still alive. Directed at Michonne, Andrea was happy that she found Rick’s group. “No one can make it alone now,” said Andrea as Michonne cried. Andrea just didn’t want anyone to die.
Andrea insisted that she had to kill herself while she still could. They handed her a gun. Michonne told Andrea she would stay with her. Daryl and Rick left Andrea with Michonne. Andrea looked at Michone one last time as Rick, Daryl and Tyreese waited outside the door when a gunshot rang out.
Daryl and Rick returned to the prison with a school bus. As they greeted their friends at the prison, former Woodbury residents descended from the bus. When Carl asked, Rick said that they would be joining them now. Carl did not like it and ran off. Rick took another look at the overpass, but this time he didn’t see Lori anymore. Outside, the walkers continue their wandering.
What did you think of the ending? Did you need that box of tissues and a visit to the therapist’s office? Meanwhile the Governor’s still out there so go to the comments section below and tell us what you’ll be doing to wait for Season 4.
To stay up-to-the-minute on all things walker related, follow @WalkingDead_AMC on Twitter and visit “The Walking Dead” on Facebook. For more be sure to hit up the official “The Walking Dead” page on AMC.com.
Got news? Click here to submit it!
“Like” us on the Dread Central Facebook Fan Page!
Discuss “The Walking Dead” in the comments section below!
Categorized:Uncategorized
