this past episode was very refreshing and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season now. If any of you don't watch talking dead after the show, I highly recommend it.
I can't stand Hardwick's hosting style for this material (although I liked him on Web Soup and when he guested on AOTS). I much prefer Kurt Sutter's approach with his Sons of Anarchy after-show on the web. Then again, he's the show runner and not just a paid talking parrot, so you're always going to get more fascinating discussion that way. I
am happy Hardwick ahs fuond a good gig following the demise of G4, which had been bad for a long time anyway.
As for this season, I've found myself really enjoying it. It's still not the best show I've ever seen, and I still prefer the comic, but I have really enjoyed the story, the narrative elements and the pacing. Some thing it's slow, but I'm digging it.
I don't know that I needed an entire episode on the Governor, and I'd disagree that they redeemed him (being reborn is not the same as paying for your crimes), but I am very curious to see where they go with it and will watch it to see how it plays out.
I personally would welcome a drastically different difection from the comic here. Rather than there being a massive gunfight at the prison gate, it'd be neat to see the Governor's rebirth as a metaphor for humanity emerging in a hopeless world. It's a common theme of the best zombie stories, and rarely do we see it told from this point fo view.
Normally, the antagonists of these types of stories just spiral further and further into madness, and it's up to the protagonists to choose humanity over survival. So it's interesting that the spiritual reformation of a villain is another form of expressnig this narrative device.
My guess: The Governor dies doing something good to help the three girls survive, and probably join Rick's group before it's all said and done.
Wonder if we'll ever see Carol again, or if getting rid of the actress was a symbolic 'wiping the slate clean' of all of Darabont's choices for secondary cast. They're all gone now except for Rick and Carl.
I like this version of Michonne a lot more than the one in the comic, too.