With Season four just over one month away (still that long?!) I wanted to take a look back at the season that was – Season three, of The Walking Dead and offer some of my own musings from the season and season finale.

Season Three as a whole:  What a clanger of a season!  It’s great to see the show step it up a notch by increasing the action, bringing back old and bringing in new characters and upping drama and tension created between two sides of survivors and the internal turmoil the characters find themselves experiencing.

Rick’s downward spiral into ghostly visions of Lori were annoying to watch (Can Lori just disappear already?), but we couldn’t expect him to just brush Lori’s death off and move on – no matter how much tension there was between the two before she died.  The introduction of new characters were dynamic – The Governor and Michonne were welcome additions to the season and when their paths crossed, created for some amazing scenes to watch.  It was also good to see Merle back after a long absence – at least we finally got to see what happened to him after he hacked his hand off!

Carl is also one more zombie kill away from turning complete emo.  He’s almost at that age where brooding, back chat and apparently killing innocent survivors is to be expected.  He’ll be exchanging the sheriff’s hat for a black hoodie before we know it.

The Death of Merle:  Yes it was a shock that Merle found himself all zombie like and yes, when his little brother Daryl had to kill him, all we wanted to do was take Daryl in our arms and tell him everything would be ok.  Merle’s death was inevitable.  He needed to pay for his actions against Michonne, Glen and Maggie, and we knew he knew that too, it was just a case of when, where and how.

You didn’t love to hate Merle, you just hated him, but wanted to see more of him and we almost felt sorry for him and the situation he was in after taking refuge with the Governor only to be found by members of his old survivor group and the way he was able to divide Rick and his group (simply just but being in the room) was a feat only Merle could achieve.  His brotherly hold over Daryl was painful and saw Daryl flit between his alliances to the group and his brother.  In the end, it was Merle’s zombie apocalyptic life choices that led to his death, and I for one will miss him.

Why Is Beth Still Around? I can’t help but feel as though Beth’s only purpose in season three was to hold baby Judith, sing joyful songs of praise and make inappropriate sex eyes at Carl.  Beth had no real story-line, no real impact, no real anything this season, and i’m surprised she’s actually lasted this long when compared to her sister Maggie who has been an integral player this season.

I think the writers may have missed a big opportunity with Beth this season.  It would have been interesting to see a sort of sibling rivalry between Beth and Maggie, not for anyone’s affections, but just to prove each others worth to the group – which Maggie has done effortlessly in season three.  Let’s just see how true the rumors are that Beth is due to be bumped up in season four.

Andrea, Andrea, Andrea:   I want to say “Girl can’t see what’s in front of her” when it comes to discussing Andrea in season three.  Perhaps it was all the sexy-times Andrea was having with the Governor that blinded her to all the very clear warning signs (about his insanity) that were being flashed her way.  A zombie daughter, a room full of severed heads in water tanks, zombie’s used for tests, Michonne walking out, Merle being a trusted part of the team…seriously, Andrea needed to take the blinders off and see what was going on around her.

Add in her constant need to ‘save everyone’ and stop the killing and it’s no wonder Andrea found herself swallowing a bullet in the season three finale.  I felt like Andrea was ‘maimed’ during season three.  Gone was the ballsy blonde who wouldn’t take any crap and in her place was a mumsy do-gooder who could not see evil even when it was sticking its tongue down her throat.

While I found myself questioning my fondness of her, I always hoped that Andrea, in the end, would find her way back to Rick and the group.  Guess not.

Other Bits and Pieces:

*I loved how, towards the end of this third season, Daryl somehow managed to find time to color his hair a deep chocolate brown.  It hit me, smack bang in the face…Daryl’s gorgeous face framed by newly colored locks.

*Zombies or no zombies, Glenn and Maggie, it seems, will have sex anywhere.  Sure they’re at that early stage of their relationship and keeping hands to oneself is hard, but, apparently, the threat of death is an aphrodisiac.

*Will they or won’t they?  You know i’m referring to Carol and Daryl right.

The Walking Dead season 4 premiere’s Monday October 14th on FX channel on Foxtel.