I did my catching up on Season 3 and I just have to say Rick and Andrea are turning into real idiots. Especially Rick. I thought he'd see through that "deal" with Michonne. I initially thought he did when he addressed the group inside the prison right after his little meeting with the Governor. But in the next scene, we learn that he actually bought the Governor's lies. Remember back in Season 2 when Daryl told Dale the group was "broken" and how Rick ain't a fool about what Shane was up to? He certainly was a fool here, much like Andrea. I expected more from him.
As for Andrea, I did actually like her in Season 2, and her development from a grieving sister to a gritty husk of her former self was a fair indication that she just might be one of the last men standing in this whole series. But she's horribly written in Season 3. She went from being independent, willing to take her own life and let others decide on theirs (Beth) to practically being a gushing housewife and errand girl to the not-so-secretly-crazy-as-f** Governor. Despite the many warnings from Michonne, the crazy arena fights in Woodbury, the head aquariums in the Governor's office, Maggie's semi-rape, and the full disclosure late in the season of the fact that the Governor sent Merle to kill Michonne, she goes back, sleeps with him, yet still couldn't muster the strength to kill him while he sleeps soundly after one big orgasm, effectively putting everyone's lives at the prison at risk. She also carried little ass-kicker earlier, too. You'd think that would be motivation enough for her.
It's too bad. The show is gradually turning into one big soap opera populated with cliche characters thanks to some poor writing.
Surprisingly, Merle was well-written this season. He stuck to his principles - that is, being just the trigger-happy, crystal-meth-sniffing henchman of whoever's in charge at the moment, effectively grounding him, and being the central point of contention between the other main characters (Glenn, Rick, Daryl). And in my opinion, he had the best death this season (next is Lori's).
