Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: “Hounded”

The mid-season break is quickly approaching and things are coming to a crescendo for the survivors of this zombie apocalypse. The survivors in the Prison are about to collide with the townsfolk of Woodbury.

Head past the jump for this week’s reap of episode six of The Walking Dead titled “Hounded.” Beware there will be SPOILERS beyond this point.

It looks like this week that the two groups will finally begin to stumble onto each other, but I will leave that for the end of the recap. Again, I’ll break it into two segments of the prison and Woodbury.

The Prison

We follow-up on the cliffhanger from last episode, Rick is talking with a mysterious woman on the phone in the boiler room. The woman claims that she and her group are in a place where there have been no attacks and no dangers from anything else; a place where they have been safe for a while. Rick pleads with her to allow the survivors to join her group but she tells him that she will talk with the others and call him back in two hours.

Rick then heads back to the other survivors after cleaning himself up, but only to check in to see what they are doing before he goes back into the boiler room.

Maggie and Glenn plan to go out for another supply run for the baby. Daryl is planning to clear out any lurkers that they may have left behind.

When the phone rings again a man is on the other line instead of the woman. The man portrays the place they are located almost like paradise. He has Rick confess to deeds that may make him unable to join their group before asking Rick about Laurie. Rick is curious how this man knows about his dead wife and is hesitant to answer, so the man simply hangs up causing Rick to rage.

Hershel then comes down to check on Rick. Rick then reveals about the phone call. Hershel picks up the phone and listens for a dial tone but does not say anything. Hershel lets Rick know that he can take his time but he should rejoin the other survivors.

We then see Daryl with Oscar and Carl trying to clear out any remaining zombies in the prison. Daryl is trying to relate to Carl by telling a story of how his mother died by her cigarette catching fire while she was passed out drunk. Carl then confesses that he shot Laurie before she actually turned.

Rick is then called one more time, this time another woman calls him by his name even though he has not revealed that information.

Meanwhile, Daryl continues to go through the cell block with Oscar and Carl. Oscar stops and cherishes a pair of slippers to relax at the end of the day, showing that sometimes the simple things keep a person going. A walker sneaks up on them, all three turn and fire their respective weapons. Daryl inspects a knife sticking out of the zombie’s neck, noticing that it was Carol’s knife.

Rick’s phone rings one more time, he’s hesitant to answer. On the other line this time is the voice of Laurie. Rick breaks down to “Laurie” as she reveals that every voice he’s heard has been a past person of their group that is now dead. “Laurie” then tells Rick that he needs to take care of the kids.

Rick finally rejoins the other survivors and holds his baby for the first time. Elsewhere in the prison, Daryl is concerned that a banging door may be a zombie Carol and he does not want to face that outcome. After much reluctance, he forces his way into the cell to find that Carol is still alive.

Rick brings his kids out into the yard to appreciate the beautiful day but notices something.

I will reveal what Rick sees in the Woodbury recap.

Woodbury

Outside Woodbury, the “Research Team” is on the hunt for Michonne. They stumble upon a corpse that Michonne has arranged to tell them to “go back.” Merle laughingly calls it a “biter-gram.”

A new person to the team is hesitant and ready to head back to safety, but Merle sets his authority with Neil while giving him a pep walk. Michonne then jumps down from a tree, cutting down two of the four men before running off. Merle gets a shot off and hits Michonne in the leg. Neil is now in shock and Merle has to snap him out of it. He also tells Neil that they never allow their own to turn and proceeds to stab his bayonet into the eye of one of the dead men. Neil then takes his knife to the chopped off head of the guy next to him.

Back at Woodbury, Andrea and the Governor continue their discussion about the arena fights. Andrea then tells the Governor that she wants to contribute and work the wall. Andrea starts her duties under the direction of a young female archer. They exchange stories about their family members that they had to kill because they turned. A walker appears, moving towards the wall. The girl is unable to hit the target twice, causing Andrea to jump down from the wall and taking out the zombie with a knife even though she is not supposed to leave the wall.

Merle and Michonne face off against each other. Walkers interrupt the fight. As Michonne disembowels one zombie, the zombie guts spill over her. When Merle and Neil kill the other zombies, Michonne escapes.

Back at town, the Governor is writing in his notebook with his eyes closed. Andrea comes in so that the Governor can fire her from working the wall. Andrea confesses that she like the arena fight but does not like that she did.

Merle is ready to head back to Woodbury because Michonne is headed into the “red zone.” He wants to tell the Governor that she is dead. But Neil is anxious to go after her to avenger his friends and does not want to lie to the Governor about what has happened. Merle pulls his gun and shoots Neil in the head after learning his real name.

Michonne reclaims a hidden pack but then notices that the zombies are ignoring her because of the guts covering her. She heads into a small town, but hides as a car approaches. Out steps Glenn and Maggie, looking for baby formula which they are successful. Merle stumbles upon the pair and wants to find Daryl. Glenn and Maggie do not want to lead Merle back to the prison and tells him to stay here. They standoff with guns pointed at each other. Merle is able to grab a hold of Maggie and forces Glenn to put his gun down and have him drive them to Woodbury. All the while, Michonne watches on from her hiding place.

At Woodbury. the Governor and Andrea continue to flirt which leads to them having sex. Merle interrupts the couple with a knock on the door. He tells the Governor about Maggie and Glenn. The Governor does not want to tell Andrea but wants to know what the two survivors can tell him about the group. He goes back into the arms of Andrea.

Back at the prison, Rick notices something strange beyond the fence. He walks up to the fence to notice Michonne standing among several walkers, holding a basket filled with baby formula.