# The Walking Dead; 3.14 "Prey" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212 "2013-03-18T00:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/21 "2013-03-18T13:39:20Z")
No way the Gov survives that zombie attack. That’s what ruined the episode for me. I knew he wasn’t dead, because if he dies, they’ll show it for sure. So it’s almost as if the writers thought they were pulling one over on us. Really getting bored with this Prison Vs. Woodbury thing - I want less dramatic silences and more zombie killings. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/22 "2013-03-18T13:40:49Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Continue to be annoyed at the ever nerfing of the zombies. Really is there any reason to be afraid of them? > > Though their secret power to appear en masse just feet away remains amusing. Since they can’t do anything useful once they take off their cloaks of invisibility it seems kind of useless. I was assuming they teleport rather than using invisibility. If they used invisibility, you’d still hear them. Also, the opening scene that was a flashback drove me crazy because it made me realize that the two chained up zombies would make it impossible to hear other zombies approaching or people sneaking up on you. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/23 "2013-03-18T13:44:55Z")
When Andrea was running running running, my brain dredged up the mournful, whistling “Lassie” theme song. Other than that, I got nothin’ to add. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/24 "2013-03-18T13:58:51Z")
Just so I’m not totally negative, I did like the scenes with Tyreese. The tension between him and his former compatriot, plus the scenes with him interacting with the Woodbury soldiers and Governor. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/25 "2013-03-18T14:03:52Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Continue to be annoyed at the ever nerfing of the zombies. Really is there any reason to be afraid of them? No, there is not. When a woman in her 40s, armed only with a folding pocket knife, can jog over miles and miles of open country through the “Red Zone”, the zombies are officially a nuisance. > [@SykoSkotty](#): > > No way the Gov survives that zombie attack. All he had to do at any point was just turn and briskly stroll away. There was only one zombie behind him, and they top out at about 1 mph. Unless you’re cornered, you can always just just and gambol away, and he wasn’t corner. The only reason he was trying to fight his way through them was to get to Andrea, and because he’s a fool; he’d be much better served by returning the way he’d come and trying to catch up to her outside. > [@montag01](#): > > Biggest dislike with the episode was how it’s suddenly became a homage to Hostel, complete with the laying out of torture instruments and the antagonist’s casual whistling. Yes, we’re getting into an even trashier, lower-brow kind of horror now. > [@theR](#): > > Also, the opening scene that was a flashback drove me crazy because it made me realize that the two chained up zombies would make it impossible to hear other zombies approaching or people sneaking up on you. But, they seemingly allow you to camp out in the open with no shelter and be safe from zombie attacks, so there is a benefit. > [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > From the standpoint of advancing the plot, everything ended up in almost the same spot as the beginning, except that Andrea is now in the dentist’s chair. Meh. Agreed, not a very efficient use of time in this episode. Andrea is off the fence about the Governor, but was too inept to evade him; Tyreese is suspicious; someone burned the captive zombie herd. That took 42 minutes? > [@theR](#): > > Just so I’m not totally negative, I did like the scenes with Tyreese. The tension between him and his former compatriot, plus the scenes with him interacting with the Woodbury soldiers and Governor. Agreed, the Tyreese stuff was the best this episode had to offer. He and his sister seem to be the closest thing we have to good-hearted people making the best of awful situations; they are written in a fairly naturalistic way, don’t ham it up, and haven’t been made into morons by the needs of the plot…yet. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/26 "2013-03-18T15:10:32Z")
One perplexing thing about the zombies – a slight tap to the head destroys the brain, but evidently being burned in a gasoline fire has no effect? I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/27 "2013-03-18T15:21:53Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > One perplexing thing about the zombies – a slight tap to the head destroys the brain, but evidently being burned in a gasoline fire has no effect? I dunno… The gasoline didn’t burn long enough to destroy their brains. People can make fun of Andrea’s knife all they want, but the blade was a few inches long. That’s more then long enough to make it through their skulls. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/28 "2013-03-18T15:35:53Z")
> [@theR](#): > > He didn’t just find her. He found her three separate times and none of them were on the road. Once in the field, then at the building, and finally at the prison. The writing for this show makes a mockery of good writing. As someone else said, we also had a whole episode and it barely advanced the plot. > > I can’t stop watching, mostly because it’s so clearly bad now. For a while I was waffling and hoping it would end up being really good. Not just the finding, but taking Andrea back to Woodbury and getting her out of the truck and into the torture room without anyone seeing. I think there are two audiences for this show: People who watch for the gore and violence and people who are interested in societal breakdown and survival. The gorehounds are getting what they want. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/29 "2013-03-18T15:38:29Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The gasoline didn’t burn long enough to destroy their brains. People can make fun of Andrea’s knife all they want, but the blade was a few inches long. That’s more then long enough to make it through their skulls. Especially when zombie skulls apparently have the consistency of jack-o-lanterns in December. A sharpened popsicle stick should be a sufficient weapon. However, while skulls turn to near liquified mush, teeth apparently can still rip through leather and jeans as well as skin, and the bones of the limbs are not only strong enough to support the zombies own body weight, but can be ripped free and used as piercing weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/30 "2013-03-18T16:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=Tarwater] There’s no way Andrea doesn’t know how to hotwire a vehicle. She’s been wandering a post-apocalyptic hellscape for a year or more and hotwiring cars is something they teach you in the first semester. [/QUOTE] But if she knew how to hotwire a car they’d have to explain why she passed by dozens of them en route to the Little Abandoned Zombie Factory in the Big Woods but chose to walk briskly instead. > [@gytalf2000](#): > > One perplexing thing about the zombies – a slight tap to the head destroys the brain, but evidently being burned in a gasoline fire has no effect? I dunno… Also weird how it chars their faces but their eyeballs are fine. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/31 "2013-03-18T16:20:15Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > There’s no way Andrea doesn’t know how to hotwire a vehicle. She’s been wandering a post-apocalyptic hellscape for a year or more and hotwiring cars is something they teach you in the first semester. Seems unlikely. Who would have taught her? Michonne appeared to favor travel on foot with her zombie pets, and camping out in the open. > [@Sampiro](#): > > But if she knew how to hotwire a car they’d have to explain why she passed by dozens of them en route to the Little Abandoned Zombie Factory in the Big Woods but chose to walk briskly instead. After a year, those cars would have flat batteries and stale (oxidized) gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/32 "2013-03-18T18:13:17Z")
For what it’s worth, on Talking Dead they talked about Milton being the firebug as if it was just a given. From how the Gov was talking to him about it, and some good nervous actiing by the guy playing him, I have to agree. No way it was anyone else. I did expect Andrea to take the truck, but didn’t expect her to have to hotwire it. I just figured the Gov would’ve left the keys in it. People on TV seem to do that a lot, at least compared to real life. It is kinda weird that she didn’t even slash the tires or something if she wasn’t gonna take it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/33 "2013-03-18T18:33:20Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Not just the finding, but taking Andrea back to Woodbury and getting her out of the truck and into the torture room without anyone seeing. **Acting!** ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/34 "2013-03-18T18:49:19Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I did expect Andrea to take the truck, but didn’t expect her to have to hotwire it. I just figured the Gov would’ve left the keys in it. People on TV seem to do that a lot, at least compared to real life. It is kinda weird that she didn’t even slash the tires or something if she wasn’t gonna take it. Yeah, I’d normally leave the keys in the truck/car - much easier than dropping them pulling them out of your pocket while strolling briskly away from zombies. But why would she slash the tires? She obviously thought the Gov was dead - if she didn’t know how to hotwire the vehicle (and I think that’s possible), why disable a vehicle her group could go back and retrieve. On an unrelated note - how far apart are the prison and Woodbury? The raid to rescue Maggie and Glen seemed to be a pretty long drive - but Andrea jogged it in 12 hours or so? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/35 "2013-03-18T19:05:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Acting!** **Brilliant!** ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/36 "2013-03-18T19:10:50Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > On an unrelated note - how far apart are the prison and Woodbury? The raid to rescue Maggie and Glen seemed to be a pretty long drive - but Andrea jogged it in 12 hours or so? Michonne made the same trip on foot with a gunshot wound to her leg, so it can’t be that far. 5 or 6 miles, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/37 "2013-03-18T19:21:17Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > What was the point of shattering all the glass, with a strong focus on the tiny bits of glass all over the floor? Nothing ever came of that. I was thinking of Hans Gruber in Die Hard, but it was all just apparently for the fun of showing some magical kind of window glass that shatters into little candy pieces all over the floor. I think the idea was that he’d be able to hear Andrea walking on it; unclear to what extent the sound mixers/editors paid it off. They did a similarly awful job with the zombie-Penny sounds a few episodes back, when Michonne discovered Penny. > [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I also felt like everything that I did enjoy about the episode was undone in the second that the Governor appeared at the last moment to take Andrea down. So not only do the walker’s have a stealth mode that makes them undetectable until they pounce at you, but apparently some people do as well. Alan Sepinwall had the idea in his [review](http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-the-walking-dead-prey-open-pit-barbecue) that: > [@](#): > > The conclusion would have been even stronger if the Governor had just killed her then — imagine Rick or Carol walking the prison’s perimeter and suddenly realizing that one of the walkers lunging against the fence is Andrea — but the writers clearly have plans for her in the season’s final two episodes. Another road not taken: Andrea is overcome by zombies and killed a few miles into her jog. Zombies are actually dangerous again; Andrea’s persistent overestimation of her own abilities pays off by getting her killed; it’s a cruel and random world again, instead of one driven by melodrama. She dies because she was of divided loyalties, “on the fence”, and she dies literally between Woodbury and the prison. In the apocalypse, strong conviction and will trumps indecision and equivocating. The Governor assumes Andrea made it to the prison; the prison folks assume Andrea’s still loyal to the Gov. She still affects the ultimate outcome, even in death. ---
**Author:** ![EMCEE\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@EMCEE\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMCEE_98)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/38 "2013-03-18T19:27:36Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > No way the Gov survives that zombie attack. That’s what ruined the episode for me. I knew he wasn’t dead, because if he dies, they’ll show it for sure. So it’s almost as if the writers thought they were pulling one over on us. > > Really getting bored with this Prison Vs. Woodbury thing - I want less dramatic silences and more zombie killings. Totally agree. That really pissed me off. He’d better have a couple giant chunks taken out of him, at the very least. From the overwhelming number of zombies he found himself up against, with no bullets, there’s no freaking way he should’ve survived. Talk about _diabolus ex machina_. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/39 "2013-03-18T20:01:12Z")
Re: the Fire. I don’t think it is even a question it was Milton. You were supposed to assume it was Tyreese until the Governor questioned him. The scene after with Milton made it pretty clear he, Milton, did it. He was obviously poorly lying. ETA: I also think it is silly for them to fight each other when they have a world full of danger and resources but then again I always did sympathize with Dale 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212/40 "2013-03-18T20:14:03Z")
> [@EMCEE\_98](#): > > Totally agree. That really pissed me off. He’d better have a couple giant chunks taken out of him, at the very least. From the overwhelming number of zombies he found himself up against, with no bullets, there’s no freaking way he should’ve survived. Talk about _diabolus ex machina_. But everyone should have known he was still alive as soon as they cut away from that scene. When have they ever actually killed someone without showing it? Lori was the only one that may not have been shown clearly dying though I don’t remember for sure. They have used the trope of implying someone left for dead then the person surviving at least a few times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-3-14-prey-open-spoilers/653212.md?page=3)