Slow episode tonight
While I appreciate the effort to make a tense smoldering face-off between Rick and McGovernor, it didn't carry enough dread.
Ah. You see, I read it differently - with a much more nuance to structure than that. While you assume the nominal focus is on Rick and the Governor, the episode is structured to contrast pairings of negotiations. Rick-Governor. Herschel-Milton. Maggie-Glenn. Mearle-AnyoneWithABrain.
Was Merle's idea to hit the Governor at the silo place a bad idea?
Yep. Bad idea.
The Governor's the kind of guy to go ahead of time, and do things like strap guns in strategic places so he can look unarmed, but be ready to kill you. The chance that he, with his numerically superior forces, didn't have more than sufficient backup is not credible, IMHO. Also, the idea that Mearle wouldn't use that opportunity to turn coat and say, "Look, Gov, they tried to kill you and I stopped them! I've proved my loyalty, take me back!" is also not credible.
Really, if you're trusting Mearle farther than you can throw him at this point, more the fool you.![]()
Merle knows the Gov as well as anyone, but he has his own blinders.
I mean, notice how late the Gov's men were to the scene? Minutes after Daryl & Herschel were on scene and had done a sweep, they arrive. While he didn't do it, no reason why that sole vehicle couldn't have been part of a larger force.