Contributor: Bronzethumb
Written by Robert Kirkman
Directed by Billy Gierhart
The midseason finale certainly has all the build-up of a big conclusion to this year’s run of episodes, and the production itself seems bigger, more laboured, all designed to end with a bang and leave the audience on a big cliffhanger for next year. Yet when all’s said and done, “Made to Suffer” doesn’t distinguish itself too much from the average episode of “The Walking Dead”. It’s excellent, yes, but other than a few isolated moments, it doesn’t make the final push into true brilliance.
The chain gang have reached Woodbury and now face the problem of how to rescue Glen and Maggie from a town full of armed survivors. Things soon devolve into a pitched battle between the two sides, and friendships and old scores threaten to reveal the Governor’s secrets and destroy the town. Meanwhile, the domestic situation at the prison is disrupted by a group of new arrivals, including Tyreese, and Carl is forced to step up and take his father’s role as leader.
For all that we’ve come to care about our main group of heroes, the chain gang’s rescue mission amounted to little more than a series of gunfights and running action scenes. There was little emphasis on character beats, and though this episode was crowded with action and plot development, that lack of characterisation is keenly felt. Of course, that made the few exceptions all the more interesting: Glen continues to become a darker, more dangerous character as evidenced by his choice of makeshift weapons, and Rick’s smoke hallucination continues to suggest a man going out of his mind.
The interplay between Michonne, Andrea and the Governor was far more interesting. “Made to Suffer” reinforced some of the reasons why the Governor is a more villainous character than the heroes, yet by the end of the episode, it feels like he’s kicked it up a notch and become even more dangerous, more of a villain than we’ve seen easily — it’s one of the few “tune in next year!” moments in the episode. Michonne also got more chances to prove she’s a compassionate human under the katana-wielding hardass persona she’s conjured, and it’s sad to see that compassion backfire on her. The weak link is Andrea, whose increasing blindness is starting to wear thin.
From a character perspective, the most interesting plotline took place at the prison and saw Carl very much stepping into Rick’s shoes as not just the leader, but the dark whatever-it-takes heroic figure. The plotline’s not just a brilliant way to introduce Tyreese, who is presented as a very alpha-male post-apocalyptic hero within his own group, but it uses the dynamic between Tyreese and Carl to show just how much the latter character has changed. When Tyreese acknowledges Carl as an equal, we believe it, and struggle to remember the bratty kid who never stayed in the house.
The ending of the episode has a direct cliffhanger that’s obvious in its non-threat, and a few subtler cliffhangers that suggest interesting things for the rest of season three, but it’s not a knockout punch of an episode. It’s certainly no “Killer Within”, not coming close to that level of raw emotion, but there are enough plot movements, and little character beats or moments of absolute shock (Michonne’s showdown with the Governor comes to mind) that “Made to Suffer” is still a fantastic episode and a great way to tide us over until the second half of the season premieres.
Score: 9/10