‘The Walking Dead’ season 3, episode 9 review: Is Daryl gone for good?

On tonight’s episode of “The Walking Dead” season 3, Maggie and Rick went back to Woodbury save Daryl after leaving him behind during Glenn and Maggie’s rescue.  As the Governor tried to pit Merle and Daryl against each other in a fight to the death Maggie and Rick come busting into Woodbury and save the Dixon brothers. Once safe Rick, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn are not sure if they should bring Merle and Michonne back to the prison, but Daryl says that if Merle doesn’t come back to the prison he’s not coming back either.  Daryl packs his bag and leaves with Merle, leaving Rick  in a precarious position now that he’s attacked Woodbury twice and he knows that the Governor will be coming after them next.  Glenn is not dealing well with what the Governor did to Maggie and is furious that Daryl left the group after everything they did to save him at Woodbury to then just leave them behind with all the Governor to deal with.  Glenn’s anger about what happened at Woodbury is driving a wedge between him and Maggie as she wants to move on and he wants revenge.

Back at the prison Tyreese and his group are starting to get to know Rick’s people that were left behind while Rick went off to save Daryl. Unfortunately two of Tyreese’s people are debating on overtaking the prison (killing Carol and Carl) while Rick is gone and Tyreese wants to find a way to work with them, not kill them. Luckily Rick, Maggie and Glenn get back to the prison before anything actually goes down, but Carol is disappointed to learn that Daryl left the group.  The group is scared that the Governor will retaliate and Herschel says that they need reinforcements to help stack the numbers in their favor now that they don’t have Daryl.  Rick decides to talk to Tyreese’s group and see if there are any fighters in their group what can stand with them and Tyreese tells them that they will do whatever they need to unite their groups. Unfortunately Rick can’t seem to make a decision because he’s still in the midst of a nervous breakdown and is seeing ghosts (Lori).  Rick completely freaks out and his break down causes Tyreese and his group to flee the prison.

At Woodbury the town is in disarray and the townsfolk want to leave, but Andrea is trying to stop the mob from freaking out and get the group to unify.  Unfortunately walkers have invaded the town and the Governor is holed up in his house and won’t come out. Andrea goes to his house to confront him about everything and he tells her everything about Rick and company, and she’s upset that he kept that from her.  The townsfolk are riled up and want answers, but because the Governor won’t come out Andrea talks to the group giving them a pep talk and telling them that they are going to rebuild the community as the Governor watches on from his home.

Were you upset to see Daryl choose Merle over Rick after everything that Rick has done for him or was it no surprise that he wants to be with his family?  Are you still hoping that Daryl and Carol will be together at some point?  And what about Tyreese and his group – are they gone for good now that they’ve realized that Rick is going a little crazy? Leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of tonight’s episode of “The Walking Dead” season 3?

Photo: AMC