Michonne finally gets her episode and it was incredible

Now that the season has started again, who is going to survive the fall of the prison?

Last night's Walking Dead episode called "After" took us into Michonne's mind, and I absolutely loved it. It's been a couple of months since the mid-season finale, and we knew that life wasn't going to be the same following the destruction of the safe haven that was "the prison" at the hands of "The Governor" and his new lackeys. But I had no idea they were going to give us what the show probably needed most right now through the eyes of a brilliant character like Michonne.

Michonne having to revert to her most basic form of surviving the world of
zombies is a fate and a road she never wanted to walk again. The weight and
emotion of her having to make these tough choices really struck a chord
with me and I sympathized so much with her. I'm glad she made the most
courageous choice by accepting her vulnerability and drawing strength from it.

Michonne for me is the touchstone for the entire concept of humanity in a world full of zombies and the survivors (who you may not be able to trust). She is so incredibly scarred (post traumatic stress disorder comes to mind) but somehow finds the strength to still remain human. In one of the best scenes in the episode, she looks around at the other zombies in a herd she's traveling with and you can see that she's choosing not to be one of them (which she is in a real danger of becoming because of her state of mind). That's when she whips out her sword and starts killing them by the dozen. And when it's over, she screams, returns to the tracks in the mud that she found, and tracks down the people that she'd grown to care about.

This is more than just Carl leading zombies. It's Carl proving to himself that he
can survive this world without anyone's help. But what does that prove in the end
other than "You're alone."

I loved that the Walking Dead also gave us a glimpse of her past. We got to meet Mike (her boyfriend) and his best friend who were seated at the breakfast table. And we even saw their little boy, and it brings to mind the question of "what happened to him?" I suppose not knowing his fate is preferable to actually seeing a child grow to adulthood in this world. We're seeing that in Carl, who said to his unconscious dad, "I would be okay if you died." Sure, there's some father/teenager angst going on there. But the coldness in which Carl utters it sent chills down my spine because it means he truly views himself as being alone in this world (with no one to count on), and he's okay with that.

Apathy, not caring, and loneliness are the things that make people into zombies, not whatever the disease is that actually causes the plague. In this episode both Carl and Michonne manage to wrestle and overcome those demons and show us that humanity is worth fighting for. "After" was probably the best episode of the season. Did any of you get to watch it? If so, what did you think?

Also, I'm kind of glad we are away from the prison. That was starting to get old. Huzzah for the return of The Walking Dead!