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Monday, March 18, 2013

The Walking Dead 3.14: Inescapable Parable

The Walking Dead 3.14 brings home a point we already pretty much knew: the Governor is not to be denied.  Before the night is over, he fights off a factory-load of walkers - mostly off camera - and still manages to capture and subdue Andrea, who makes a pretty good run for it.

The one-on-one between the Governor and Andrea raises a question that has yet to be answered: is there any one person who can best the Governor, or at least get away from him?   Andrea's failure, after getting within waving distance of Rick on the prison tower, suggests there aren't many.  Maybe Michonne or Daryl, but they're not that much better - more crafty, lethal - than Andrea, and the Governor's triumph suggests that any one of our heroes would have a tough time against him, one on one.

Which in turn suggests that the only road to success for our people over the Governor comes in the aggregate intelligence and top-notch fighting power of our people versus the Governor.   Woodbury is short of high-level people the Governor can rely upon.  Obviously no longer Andrea, and increasingly no longer Milton, who, at this point in the story, is the most interesting character in Woodbury.  He sees the Governor for what he now is, and will do what he can to obstruct him. But he won't outright oppose him because he still respects the best of what the Governor was trying to do - still believes, in fact, that there's recoverable human life in the walkers/biters.   He's bound to play some pivotal role in the concluding two episodes - though with the Governor now on to him, he could be snuffed out in an instant.

So on whom can the Governor rely on a second-in-command level?  It comes down to Caesar, but he's not crazy, and could change loyalties if something the Governor did pushed one of his buttons.   Tyreese now seems back in support of the Governor, but his decency makes him also unreliable as a steadfast ally.

So the nearly omnipotent Governor has no one fully reliable or anyone near his level of prowess below him.  Whereas Rick has a group of nearly equals in intelligence, fighting commitment, and overall loyalty.  We have a battle of dictatorship or rule by force and guile versus old-fashioned democracy coming up, which makes The Walking Dead a real parable for our history and current time.

See also The Walking Dead 3.3 meets Meadowlands ... The Walking Dead 3.4: Going to the Limit ... The Walking Dead 3.9: Making Crazy Sense ... The Walking Dead 3.10: Reinforcements ... The Walking Dead 3.11: The Patch ... The Walking Dead 3.12: The Lesson of Morgan ... The Walking Dead 3.13: The Deal




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