Giant Freakin Robot

As hit and miss as season three of AMC’s zombie drama The Walking Dead was, the impending Blu-ray release is going to arrive in one hell of a package. One of the most disturbing and enduring images of the season was the Governor’s (David Morrissey) aquarium wall full of severed heads. And that’s exactly what your shiny video discs will arrive in, a box fashioned to look like a tank full of disembodied heads.

The Walking Dead is no stranger to unique packaging. The first season arrived on my doorstep, unannounced, in an envelope with a big bloody boot print on it. I feel like that should have raised more eyebrows at the post office than it did. Season two came in a zombie head with a screwdriver sticking out of its eye.

This is somewhat more tasteful than an impaled undead eyeball, or at least much less likely to frighten any small children who may peruse your movie collection. Maybe. It’ll still scare the crap out of the ones with a keen eye for detail, but it isn’t as obvious as a full-sized head sitting on your shelf, staring them full on in the face.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is hands down the best character on AMC’s The Walking Dead, despite the fact that he doesn’t appear in the comics that serve as the zombie drama’s source material. In fact, he’s one of the few characters I don’t regularly root for to die, and even inspired the popular “If Daryl Dies, We Riot” meme. Folks love his grizzled-redneck-badass-with-a-heart-of-gold persona. But still, Daryl is one of the few survivors of the undead apocalypse not on the receiving end of some sweet, sweet loving so far. But perhaps that may change moving into season four.

Seriously, everyone but Daryl is hooking up. There’s Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Ghost Lori (still Sarah Wayne Callies). Even Shane (Jon Bernthal) and The Governor (David Morrissey) get laid left and right, and they’re dicks. Why can’t Daryl find somebody to love?

Before you all start yelling, “But what about Carol (Melissa McBride)?” that bit of weirdness doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. After nothing came of her throwing herself at him early on in season three, and after he saved her life, the two settled back into a more platonic, almost familial relationship. Also, we don’t know how much season four of The Walking Dead will pull from the comics, but if they keep one particular storyline, there could be a love connection between Carol and newcomer Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman).

SPOILERS IF YOU’RE NOT COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP ON THE WALKING DEAD!

Season three has wrapped up on The Walking Dead, and as we wait for season four to begin this October, we can say, for the most part, that last week’s season finale – “Welcome to the Tombs” — was overall weak, with a few bright flourishes. While the quality of the show’s writing has been lacking in recent weeks, the quality of the show’s blood, gore, and zombie kills has been at an all-time high.

The Walking Dead features some of the most brutal and dynamic kills on cable television. Even when the story is lacking, The Walking Dead is still worth watching because of the amazing job Stargate Studios has done with the show’s visual effects. Stargate Studios put together a sizzle reel highlighting the show’s best zombie kills, and how their talented visual effects artists put them together. It’s really surprising to see how small some of the prison location sets are when you compare them to how big and effective they are on the small screen.

SPOILERS IF YOU’RE NOT CAUGHT UP ON WALKING DEAD!

Now that The Walking Dead has wrapped up its season three with a disappointing finale, not much has changed in terms of location or motivation on AMC’s widely popular zombie series. While the Governor (David Morrissey) is still out there somewhere and the people at Woodbury are now at the prison with Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) group, it’s almost maddening to think of how little momentum the series has going into season four.

In an interview with IGN, Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd talked about what to expect from the next season of the show. Hurd contends that the Governor is still a threat, even with only two henchmen and a small arsenal of weapons. Hurd says:

The Governor is still out there with Shumpert and Martinez. They’ve still got significant firepower. If they go to Woodbury, at this point, Woodbury’s not as protected as it used to be. I think everyone was traumatized by what happened, and I think they feel safer in the prison.