Hounded (The Walking Dead)

"Hounded" is the sixth episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was directed by Dan Attias and written by Scott M. Gimple, and originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 18, 2012.

This episode marks the final appearance for Emma Bell (Amy), Andrew Rothenberg (Jim) and Jeryl Prescott Sales (Jacqui).

Plot
Rick (Andrew Lincoln), still trying to cope with the death of his wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) after childbirth, is alone in the prison boiler room where she had died when the phone rings. He answers it to hear the voice of Amy (Emma Bell) telling him she is in a safe place and will call back later. Later, a second call from Jim (Andrew Rothenberg) asks him to explain his justification for killing other people and berates him for refusing to talk about Lori's death before dropping the call. A third call from Jacqui (Jeryl Prescott Sales) draws Rick to try to explain his refusal to talk about Lori's death. Finally, the last call is from Lori; realization dawns on him that these calls have come from those that have died, and all imagined as part of his grief. He leaves the boiler room, cleans himself up, and goes to join the rest of the group, seeing his daughter for the first time since he saw Maggie carry her into the yard after she was born.

In Woodbury, Andrea (Laurie Holden) volunteers for sentry duty and is trained to use a bow and arrow by one of the town guards, Haley (Alexa Nikolas). When a walker approaches and their arrows fail to fell it, Andrea jumps over the wall and kills the walker with a knife. She is chastised by Haley for breaking the rules and called to The Governor (David Morrissey). Andrea says that seeing the fight between Merle (Michael Rooker) and Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo) the night before had envigorated her. Andrea spends the night with The Governor and they have sex.

Meanwhile, Merle and three others from Woodbury have been tasked by The Governor to locate Michonne (Danai Gurira), who had left the town. She ambushes them, killing two of Merle's men. Merle shoots Michonne in the leg, she then runs off. Merle is left with the inexperienced Gargulio (Dave Davis) to track her. Merle continues the pursuit, and eventually the two of them engage in a fight. The fight draws walkers which pin them down. Michonne escapes by slicing open one, spilling its entrails on her and allowing her to flee unnoticed, while Gargulio helps Merle to break free. Recognizing Michonne is heading for the dangerous Red Zone, Merle calls off the hunt and returns to Woodbury, with the intent to say that he killed Michonne. Gargulio refuses to lie to The Governor, forcing Merle to kill him. Merle and Michonne both separately converge on a shopping mall where Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) are gathering supplies for the newborn. Michonne stays hidden as Merle approaches the two having recognized Glenn as part of Rick's group that had left him to die in Atlanta. He forces the two to drive him back to Woodbury. Michonne, overhearing the conversation, gathers the supplies Glenn and Maggie obtained and makes her way to the prison. In Woodbury, as Glenn and Maggie are locked into separate rooms for later interrogation, Merle explains how he had killed Michonne.

At the prison, Rick spots Michonne waiting patiently outside with supplies for the newborn, the walker guts she was covered in masking her presence from the walkers that surround the prison. Inside, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Oscar (Vincent Ward) are clearing out walkers when they spot one with Carol's (Melissa McBride) knife in it, who they thought had died in the previous walker infestation. Seeing a secured door nearby, they open it and discover Carol inside, exhausted but alive.

Critical response
Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, rated the episode an A&minus; on an A to F scale. Of the multiple storylines weaved in this episode, he felt that Rick's was the strongest and Andrea's the weakest, but also noted that Andrea has become "more interesting" with her confession about enjoying the fights from the previous episode.

Ratings
Upon its initial broadcast on November 18, 2012, "Hounded" was watched by an estimated 9.21 million viewers, decreasing in roughly a million viewers from the previous episode.