‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: Andrea Escapes The Governor… Or Does She?

The end is nigh for The Walking Dead’s third season, and tensions grow even greater between Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) prison group and the Governor (David Morrissey). To make matters worse, Andrea (Laurie Holden), who has flip-flopped for most of the season between her loyalty to the Governor and to Rick, finally makes the valiant effort to escape Woodbury’s tyrant and return home.

“Prey” begins with a flashback to Andrea and Michonne’s (Danai Gurira) time together during the winter. Andrea asks about Michonne’s jawless and armless walker boyfriend and best friend, who groan and pull uselessly at the chains that bind them. “They deserved what they got. They weren’t human to begin with,” she responds tersely. The chains attached to the zombies fade into chains being tugged at and tightened presently by a breathless Governor in his own personal torture chamber. Uh-oh.

The Governor’s right-hand man Milton (Dallas Roberts) happens upon the room and reminds him about their good intentions for Woodbury. After a failed attempt to keep the peace, Milton reveals the Governor’s villainous plans for Michonne and the rest of the group to Andrea in a hide-out above the torture chamber. He advises her to leave and warn the prison to move on before the Governor takes further action. Andrea contemplates shooting the Governor and ending all impending miseries, but Milton, who still has a soft spot for his leader, tells her it won’t do them any good. After trying unsuccessfully to sway Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman), Andrea jumps Woodbury’s fence and heads out to the prison.

Her escape doesn’t go unnoticed, however, as the Governor takes off after her and pursues her all over the countryside. The episode wouldn’t be complete without some impromptu walker attacks – Andrea encounters some walkers early on in the woods and again in a fit-for-a-slasher-film warehouse she hides in from the Governor. How he locates her is uncertain, as she loses him quite a few times throughout the episode. In what we think is a nail-biting showdown at the warehouse, the Governor stalks Andrea like a horror movie villain, dragging a shovel behind him and whistling a decidedly creepy tune. She finally unleashes a horde of walkers she finds in a stairway and watches for a while as they advance on the Governor. Do they kill him? In a later scene, Andrea breaks from the woods to find the prison. She smiles, raises her arms to flag Rick, who is on watch. She’s safe, she’s home – but then the Governor pops up to take her down.

Back at Woodbury, Tyreese is horrified to find a pit full of walkers designated for the sole purpose of attacking the prison. He wants nothing to do with the war against the prison and gets into a fist-fight with fellow survivor Allen (Daniel Thomas May). Later that night, a hooded figure pours gasoline over the walkers and sets them aflame, sabotaging one of the Governor’s plans. The Governor returns the next day and assesses the damage – but where’s Andrea? Milton, not without a hint of a smile, hopes the Governor finds the culprit.

In an ending shot, the camera pans away to the Governor’s torture chamber, where Andrea waits, bound and gagged. –Jill Wronski

Check out a preview for the season’s second to last episode, which will air next Sunday: