The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season
Blu-Ray Reviews | Aug 26th, 2013
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Michael Rooker, David Morrissey, Melissa McBride, IronE Singleton, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, Dallas Roberts, Chad Coleman
Created By: Robert Kirkman
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Buy On Amazon.com
The Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows on TV. The third season picks up the threat level on all accounts and is perhaps the best season to date. With any shows though, there are some flaws and slow-parts but for the most part, this was a great season!
The end of Season 2 of Walking Dead, Hershel’s farm was overrun with walkers, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) killed Shane and Andrea (Laurie Holden) got rescued from walkers by a mysterious hooded woman. Months later, Rick’s group is on the move, never staying in one spot for too long. Andrea has been moving along separately in Georgia wilderness and towns with the sword-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira). With Lori really pregnant, Rick and the group stumble upon an overrun prison that looks like a stable place to live, once cleared. Everything seems fine in the beginning, until the nearby town of Woodbury, lead by “The Governor” (David Morrissey), starts to feel threatened by the group. It’s one thing to deal with the dead but its another to deal with both the living and the dead at the same time.
The beginning of the season started excellent! The first 20 minutes of the season there was barely any dialogue. Just everyone focused at surviving and killing walkers. Clearing out the prison was intense and a great way to begin the season. The prison arc was always my favorite part of the comics (that I have read so far). The episode with the prisoners was a favorite of mine. Episode 4 was a bit of shocking with what happened and what character perished. This season was filled with surprises and who came and went. Just as old characters left, new ones showed up to take the place. Though I’d imagine the day Daryl gets killed a bunch of fans will riot. He’s certainly the Sawyer of this show but I’d expect him to go this upcoming season. With Tyrese and potentially Abraham coming on board, there’s only so many Lieutenants Rick needs to have.
I was never a fan of Rick losing it in the comics and wasn’t a fan on the TV series either. It was a bit boring to me to see him acting crazy for a few episodes but it did give other characters a chance in the spotlight like Glenn, Hershel and Daryl. I loved the addition of Michonne, while some hated her. I didn’t like her in the beginning just because she barely spoke. She finally came into her own when she took on the Governor and also the episode that just had Rick, Carl and Michonne in it. That episode gave her character some depth and a chance to fit into the group.
I absolutely hated anything to do with Andrea this season. They just made her whiny, annoying and really stupid. The TV Andrea and Comic Andrea are polar opposites. So many times I felt like screaming at the TV, “what the hell are doing…kill him!” Oh he’s a handsome guy that has a zombie daughter and heads in a fishtank, let’s stick around and see if he’s a keeper. Stupid! I’m happy with the way things ended with her at the end of the season. She deserved that. Everytime she came on screen, I just wanted to fast-forward. I did during the Blu-Ray watching but the only downside to that is missing stuff with the Governor.
I was skeptical with David Morrissey as the Governor since I was expecting someone like Danny Trejo to play the Governor. I was happy with what they did with him and showed us his path down the darkside. I was also not surprised how the season ended with his character. Curious how he will pick up new recruits or just attack the prison with 2 other guys ninja-style. Another performance I loved this season was from Michael Rooker, who finally came back as Merle for an entire season! Only Rooker could pull off an asshole racist and make him likable in the end. The way he finished his arc was brilliant and I still crack up watching him in the car and pretending to give walkers a drink. I’m wondering how Daryl will take everything after that episode. The group seemed fine the next episode; I don’t even think he was mentioned in the finale.
Speaking of the finale, I was a bit diappointed with it. While it started off well, it just turned into a non-event with the Governor vs. the prison. Although, that showdown will probably be mid-Season 4. I just wished we got something…else? Something for fans to theorize or talk about on what happened at the end. Like a glimpse of the Governor or something? Instead we just get this fluff happy/somber ending.
If you buy the Blu-Ray, you can watch a bunch of deleted scenes, small featurettes, and listen to some audio commentaries on select episodes. The deleted scenes weren’t bad but didn’t offer up anything really that great like they have in the past. There was a scene with Rick who was talking to Ghost Lori and she ended up being a Walker. There’s more of an extended scene with Rick and Morgan talking, which was great though. It’s always awesome to see Lennie James on the show. Other than that, I can’t even remember the other deleted scenes. The featurettes are a little bit more in-depth than the video featurettes you can watch after each episode on YouTube and the official site.
If you’re a hardcore fan like me, you’ll want to get the Blu-Ray for Walking Dead because you’ll want to binge watch before the new season premieres in October. This season was the best season so far but some storylines or characters bogged down the plot.
Features
Featurettes
-Rising Son
-Evil Eye
-Gone, But Not Forgotten
-Heart Of A Warrior
-Michonne vs. The Governor
-Safety Behind Bars
-Making The Dead
-Guts And Glory
Audio Commentaries on Episodes 4, 5, 8, 9 and 15
Deleted Scenes
-Walk With Me
-Say The Word
-Hounded
-Home
-I Ain’t No Judas
-Clear
Video
Widescreen 1.78:1 Color
Audio
French Dolby Digital Stereo
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Bottom Line: The best season of The Walking Dead to date!
Running Time: 688 mins
Rating: NR
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
