This Sorrowful Life

"This Sorrowful Life"

"This Sorrowful Life" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which first aired on AMC in the United States on March 24, 2013. In the episode, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), unaware of The Governor (David Morrissey)'s plan to ambush the prison and whoever delivers Michonne, ponders whether or not he should hand over Michonne (Danai Gurira) to The Governor. Meanwhile, Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) takes matters into his own hands in an attempt to redeem himself.

Plot

Rick privately tells Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Hershel (Scott Wilson) about The Governor's offer and his intention to go ahead with it, to quietly capture Michonne and to not tell the rest of the group until afterwards. Hershel refuses to be a part of it and Daryl is reluctant, although he agrees to support Rick, so Rick goes to Merle for his help. Merle, who has been tearing through mattresses looking for drugs, is interested in this development but doesn't believe Rick has the spine for it.

Merle later tells Daryl that he finds hypocrisy in handing Michonne over to The Governor, since the group is already angry with Merle for doing the same with Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan). Rick is scavenging wire to tie up Michonne, when he has an hallucination of Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) in the sunlight and abandons the task and his intentions to hand over Michonne. However, Merle has already decided to do the group's dirty work, that this can be his role, as it was in Woodbury, and he blindsides Michonne. When they are discovered missing, Daryl tracks them on foot.

On the road, Merle and a wire-bound Michonne chat, with Merle trying to convince Michonne that as much as he's on the outside of the group Rick's deal proves that she is as well. They stop to hot-wire a car, and Merle accidentally sets off its alarm, immediately attracting walkers which they fight and escape. However, afterwards, Merle stops the car and lets Michonne go with her katana, telling her to get ready for what's next, that he has something to do on his own. Michonne crosses paths with Daryl and directs him on toward his brother.

Merle is next shown drinking outside a liquor store listening to Motörhead; he uses the music to attract a swarm of walkers to the car and drives toward the appointed meeting place in short intervals, ensuring that walkers follow him. He bails out alongside a barn, leaving the music-blasting car to continue on to the meeting site with a parade of walkers following. Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and others, who are waiting in ambush, watch from a firing line. After a moment of hesitation, Martinez sends scouts forward to investigate the car, while he and the others open fire on the walkers. While their attention is on the walkers, Merle begins shooting at the Woodbury soldiers, killing and wounding many of them in the process.

Merle sights The Governor with his rifle scope, but Ben (Tyler Chase), Allen's (Daniel Thomas May) son, walks into the bullet's path and is killed. Merle is subsequently distracted by a walker, which allows Martinez and The Governor to attack him viciously, in a thug-like manner. The Governor assaults a weakened Merle, biting off two of his fingers in the process. He then shoots Merle with his pistol, killing him.

Meanwhile, at the prison, Glenn asks Hershel for permission to marry Maggie and receives Hershel's blessing. Glenn recovers a diamond ring from a female walker at the prison fence and gives it to Maggie, who says, "Yes." Rick convenes a meeting and tells the group about The Governor's offer, confessing that he was going to go through with it but changed his mind, that Merle took Michonne on his own, and Daryl went to stop him. Rick admits it was wrong to not tell them and apologizes, that it wasn't his call to make alone. He says the group is the greater good, collectively the reason they're still alive, and he won't be their Governor. He says they will have to vote about staying and fighting or leaving the prison. Rick then leaves the group to make its decision.

As Rick goes to stand watch, he sees Michonne approaching the prison fence. Daryl arrives at the meeting place and finds walkers feeding on corpses. He then spots a walker eating Ben's body; he looks closely and recognizes that it is his brother Merle, reanimated. Merle approaches Daryl, who tearfully pushes Merle several times and then, in hysterics, repeatedly stabs his brother's head with a knife. After this, he falls to the ground by his brother's corpse and cries.

Production

This episode was directed by Greg Nicotero and written by Scott M. Gimple.

Laurie Holden (Andrea) is the only main cast member to not appear in "This Sorrowful Life". This episode marks the first death of a main cast member in Season 3 since that of Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) in "Killer Within".

The episode shares its name with the sixth volume of the comics.

External links

• "This Sorrowful Life" at AMC
• "This Sorrowful Life" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode