Prey

Prey is the fourteenth episode of Season 3 of AMC's The Walking Dead. It originally aired on March 17, 2013 at 9/8c on AMC.

Plot Synopsis
In a flashback, Andrea and Michonne warm themselves by a campfire. Andrea asks Michonne about her pet walkers. "They deserved what they got," Michonne says. "They weren't human to begin with."

In present-day Woodbury, The Governor bolts the pets' chains to the wall of the interrogation room, smiling to himself as he tests their reach.

Meanwhile, Andrea and Milton watch as Martinez loads a stockpile of guns onto a truck. "I thought there was a deal on the table," Andrea says. "I'm sure it's just a precaution," Milton replies.

Back in the interrogation room, The Governor lays out tools on a table beside an old dentist chair. Milton urges him to reconsider his plans for Michonne, but The Governor insists on avenging Penny. "It's all that matters," says The Governor.

Later, Milton divulges to Andrea that The Governor will kill everyone at the prison whether or not he gets Michonne. He takes Andrea to the second level of the interrogation building and shows her The Governor's torture chamber through a grate in the wall.

The Governor then enters the chamber. Andrea aims her gun at him, but Milton wrenches it away. "I knew Philip before he became The Governor," Milton says later. "That man still exists." Andrea declares she's leaving to warn Rick.

On the street, Martinez orders Andrea to relinquish her gun per The Governor's orders. The Governor approaches and explains he wants to protect Andrea from the violence. He asks her to accompany him to the rendezvous with Rick the next day, and she agrees.

Afterward, Andrea approaches Tyreese and Sasha as they're guarding the wall, and tries to lure them away. When they refuse, she confesses that she's leaving Woodbury. "The Governor is not what he seems to be," she warns before fleeing.

The Governor interrogates Tyreese and Sasha about Andrea's escape. "This isn't a prison camp, is it?" Tyreese asks. The Governor reassures them he's merely concerned for Andrea's safety.

After the meeting, Milton implores The Governor to let Andrea go. The Governor realizes that Milton disclosed the ambush plan to Andrea and slams Milton against a wall.

Meanwhile, Andrea sprints down the road to the prison.

Back in Woodbury, Allen yells at Tyreese for jeopardizing their standing with The Governor. They argue over the past: Allen blames Tyreese for emasculating him in front of his family. Martinez rounds them up for a task.

Andrea ducks into the forest as The Governor's truck approaches. While she hides, a group of walkers attack, but she manages to kill them with her knife.

Martinez brings Tyreese's group to the walker pit and asks for help rounding up the dead. Tyreese refuses to participate in a plan that involves feeding people to biters. He offers to leave Woodbury, but Allen intervenes and they fight.

He claims that Tyreese always made him look weak, in front of his wife, Donna and son, Ben. Tyreese is able to easily pin him to the ground and hold him over the walker pit. Allen yells "Come on! Do it!", and Tyreese pulls him away from the walkers.

Meanwhile, The Governor tracks down Andrea in his truck and chases her across a field. She flees to an abandoned warehouse.

The Governor finds the warehouse and stalks Andrea inside. "Come back to Woodbury," he says. "We need you." Eventually, he corners her at the door to a stairwell. She opens the door and slips behind it, releasing a herd of walkers on The Governor. She escapes as The Governor's screams echo behind her.

In the middle of the night, an unknown person douses the pit walkers in gasoline and lights them on fire.

Andrea reaches the prison perimeter and waves to the guard tower. Rick sees them in the corner of his eye, but The Governor tackles Andrea to the ground, putting his hand over her mouth to silence her. When Rick looks through his scope, they are already out of sight.

The next morning, Shumpert arrives at the pit and finds the scorched walkers.

The Governor returns to Woodbury in his truck and tells Martinez that Andrea is still on the loose. Martinez reports on the burned walkers, and his suspicion that Tyreese is responsible.

The Governor tells Tyreese and Sasha that the pit walkers were just a scare tactic and were never intended to kill people. Tyreese apologizes for being difficult. The Governor asks where Tyreese found the gasoline. "Come again?" Tyreese asks, confused. The Governor tells them to forget about it.

Later, The Governor runs into Milton on the street. "It's a real shame about the pits," says Milton. "I hope you find out who did it."

"Already have," The Governor replies, eyeing Milton.

Meanwhile, in The Governor's torture chamber, a gagged and bound Andrea sits strapped to the dentist chair, the Pet Walkers' chains dangling behind her.

Co-Stars

 * Travis Love as Shumpert
 * Daniel Thomas May as Allen
 * Tyler Chase as Ben

Uncredited

 * Randy Woods as Mr. Jacobson
 * Keith Andrew Gostel as Eric
 * Moses J. Moseley as Mike
 * Theshay West as Terry
 * Dango Nguyen as "Mean Guard"
 * Abigail Jackson as "Woodbury Refugee"
 * Abigail Jackson, William Tokarsky, Joseph Setticase and Can Trember as "Woodbury Citizens"
 * Demetrice Jackson, Frederick Carpenter, Coleman Youmans, Alyssa V. Mullan and Lauren Henneberg as Walkers

Deaths

 * None

Ratings
The original broadcast, on March 17, 2013, was watched by an estimated 10.84 million viewers, a decrease in viewership from the previous episode.

Critical Response
Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, rated the episode B+ on an A to F scale, commenting it "isn’t an amazing hour of television, but it’s fundamentally sound in a way this show often struggles with" and stating it has "a definite sense of purpose, and a main storyline with a beginning, a middle, and an unsettling end." Eric Goldman at IGN gave the episode 8.4 out of 10, calling it an "effective" episode, and wrote he enjoyed the scenes in which The Governor hunts Andrea, that play out "like a horror/thriller story". He also enjoyed the fact that several supporting characters were fleshed out more, such as Tyreese, Sasha and Milton, but he felt the flashback at the beginning of the episode was oddly placed.

Trivia

 * The title refers to Andrea being The Governor's prey.
 * This episode was originally titled "Killer Within, Part II," but was later changed to "Prey."
 * Rick and Michonne are the only prison group members that make appearances in this episode.
 * This is the first episode where Rick appears but does not speak.
 * Michonne's appearance is a flashback, where she and Andrea were camping out before they came to Woodbury.
 * The song that plays during the closing scenes is "You are the Wilderness" by Voxhaul Broadcast.
 * If you look closely at the unknown person setting the walkers alight, you can see that the gloves belong to Milton.
 * When The Governor whistles in the warehouse, he whistles the tune of the song that he sung to Penny.

Goofs/Errors

 * Right before Phillip shoves Milton against the small fence, his eyepatch is below his eyebrow, however in the next camera angle, it is covering his eyebrow.