I know a lot of people loved Season 3 of THE WALKING DEAD, but aside from the amazing few couple of episodes, I found it disappointing. Season 4 looks like it’s going to rock, though. Looking forward to it!
Will, the Governor just didn’t do it for me as a character and in my opinion the story just got progressively boring, with several otherwise good characters going to waste. I know the series is based on a graphic novel, but the show itself doesn’t have to come across as a comic book.
What might have been interesting is if Woodbury were barely holding on. They keep getting overrun by zombies, and they find out a giant horde is coming. The Governor wants to save his people. They ask Rick if they can join him, but Rick and the Governor see each other as rivals, and they can’t trust each other to do a deal. The Governor sees the prison as his town’s only chance, so he attacks.
With that kind of story, there is genuine conflict other than “Rick is noble and the Governor is a psychopath,” which fell flat for me and robbed the story of real tension. You would care about both sides, and want them to work things out, but of course they can’t. The Governor would be a sympathetic character instead of a two-dimensional evil villain. Andrea’s connection between the two sides would have had more meaning instead of being an annoyance. In her hatred of the Governor, Michonne would be more of a troublemaker than the flat Ronin thing she’s doing now.
If you liked it, that’s cool. To each his own, right? But for me, it just fell flat.
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I haven’t taken the time to reflect on my feelings for season 3 before now. I definitely enjoyed the Rick and Shane dynamic of season 2.
I feel that you nicely summed up the pitfall for season 3. I never connected with the Governor. I enjoyed the actor, but never related to his motivations.
I also loved the Rick and Shane dynamic. Shane was a fantastic antagonist in that you could understand and sympathize with his motivations. The conflict between him and Rick felt natural. They simply had a different way of looking at survival. Shane saw survival as its own end. Rick thought survival didn’t have a point if you lost your humanity in the process. Great conflict, great drama.
What disappointed you about Season 3?
Will, the Governor just didn’t do it for me as a character and in my opinion the story just got progressively boring, with several otherwise good characters going to waste. I know the series is based on a graphic novel, but the show itself doesn’t have to come across as a comic book.
What might have been interesting is if Woodbury were barely holding on. They keep getting overrun by zombies, and they find out a giant horde is coming. The Governor wants to save his people. They ask Rick if they can join him, but Rick and the Governor see each other as rivals, and they can’t trust each other to do a deal. The Governor sees the prison as his town’s only chance, so he attacks.
With that kind of story, there is genuine conflict other than “Rick is noble and the Governor is a psychopath,” which fell flat for me and robbed the story of real tension. You would care about both sides, and want them to work things out, but of course they can’t. The Governor would be a sympathetic character instead of a two-dimensional evil villain. Andrea’s connection between the two sides would have had more meaning instead of being an annoyance. In her hatred of the Governor, Michonne would be more of a troublemaker than the flat Ronin thing she’s doing now.
If you liked it, that’s cool. To each his own, right? But for me, it just fell flat.
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I haven’t taken the time to reflect on my feelings for season 3 before now. I definitely enjoyed the Rick and Shane dynamic of season 2.
I feel that you nicely summed up the pitfall for season 3. I never connected with the Governor. I enjoyed the actor, but never related to his motivations.
I also loved the Rick and Shane dynamic. Shane was a fantastic antagonist in that you could understand and sympathize with his motivations. The conflict between him and Rick felt natural. They simply had a different way of looking at survival. Shane saw survival as its own end. Rick thought survival didn’t have a point if you lost your humanity in the process. Great conflict, great drama.