'The Walking Dead' Season 3, Episode 6 Recap - 'Hounded'

What a difference a season makes. Where season two had us laboring through monotonous conversations and telling Carl to get in the damn house around this time, season three still manages to provide some action and carnage even on a down week.

After last week's bloodbath (and the departure of two main characters), a down week would be expected. But we still got some suspense!

Woodbury

Andrea was pretty quick to forgive the Governor for his "arena," and as it turns out she maybe wasn't so horrified by it as she made herself out to be. She applies for a position up on the wall and breaks the rules by running out and stabbing a zombie in the eye, which leads the Gov to believe that maybe she enjoys the carnage more than she lets on.

So, naturally, they totally bone.

Meanwhile, Merle is out in the woods with a pack of dudes hunting down Michonne, who leaves them a pun-tastic message made out of zombie body parts. As they're working that one out, Michonne jumps out like a ninja and quickly dispatches two of the henchmen, leaving just Merle and his buddy Neil (it's actually Gargulio, but Neil works fine). Merle just manages to get a shot into her leg, but a later encounter has them facing down some walkers, and Michonne escapes again. And Merle shoots Gargulio. Good to know Merle hasn't changed too much.

Unfortunately, their little spat leads Merle straight to Glenn and Maggie, out on a run for more formula. There's a tense stand-off between the three, but when Merle learns that Darryl is alive and that Glenn isn't going to take Merle back with them, it turns into a hostage situation. Merle captures the two and brings them back to Woodbury, while Michonne is left to watch, powerless to help them.

The Prison

Wondering who Rick was talking to on the phone? Well, so is Rick: he spends the episode waiting for the mystery callers to give him a ring, and he speaks to three anonymous callers with increasingly detailed information about his life. They claim that they're somewhere safe, but Rick has to prove that he's not dangerous. They ask him how many people he's killed, and ask him to talk about his wife, and when he refuses they hang up.

As it turns out, though, this was all in Rick's head. The final caller reveals all: it's actually Lori, and Rick has been talking to Amy, Jim and Jackie before that. Rick seems to get some closure from the conversation with Lori, and finally goes to hold his newborn baby.

Meanwhile, Darryl has a bonding moment with Carl, so if Rick still ends up going off the deep end, at least Carl has another non-insane father figure. Things are looking up for Darryl too, as he discovers that Carol is still alive, and was just wounded and trapped in a cell this whole time. Darryl/Carol 'shippers (what should we call them? Darol? Doesn't quite work), you didn't get the make-out you were probably hoping for, but just wait for it.

So, what of Glenn and Maggie? Well, the Governor has given Merle the go-ahead to find out where their camp is, which is bad. But on the plus side, Michonne managed to make her way to the prison, having inadvertently learned the zombie guts trick. Wouldn't Andrea have known that? Also, why are people not just doing that all the time? Too gross? I mean, you could at least try to sleep in zombie guts. And wouldn't Michonne have figured that smell was a factor, considering her walker pets? Or were they just pack mules?

Anyway, it looks as though Rick and the gang might be making war with Woodbury soon. With Darryl in the mix, things are going to get complicated.