Season 3, Episode 9, The Suicide King

Blood is thicker than water… so they say.

That is the tension in this episode. Family, or values—which is it? Daryl is caught in the middle of a dilemma, feeling the need to make a choice between his brother Merle, with his questionable ethics, and his new group of friends.

As Season 3 continues to unfold, our perception of the Governor is probably beginning to cement. Even Merle is probably wondering at this point, “Why was I following this guy?” But luckily for Merle, Daryl’s new friends had his back, and after a small skirmish, the brothers were freed.

But once Rick, Daryl and Merle join the rest of the group… everything hits the fan. Glenn is ready to kill Merle but Daryl expects Glenn and the rest of the group to show grace, because “Merle’s blood.”

The key discussion begins about 11:50ish:

Rick: It won’t work.

Daryl: It’s gotta.

Rick: He’ll stir things up.

Daryl: Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle.

Maggie: I’m not having him at the prison.

Glenn: He had a gun to our heads. Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth?

Daryl: He ain’t a rapist.

Glenn: Well, his buddy is.

Daryl: They ain’t buddies no more. Not after last night.

Rick: There’s no way Merle’s gonna live there without putting everyone at each other’s throats.

Daryl: So you’re gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us? (They dialogue a bit about Michonne) We don’t know who she is. But Merle, Merle’s blood.

Glenn: No, Merle is your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison.

Rick: And you’re part of that family. But he’s not. He’s not.

Daryl: Man, y’all don’t know. Fine. We’ll fend for ourselves.

Glenn: That’s not what I was saying.

Daryl: No him, no me.

Maggie: Daryl, you don’t have to do that.

Daryl: It was always Merle and I before this.

Maggie: Don’t.

Glenn: You serious? You’re just gonna leave like that?

Daryl: You’d do the same thing.

SEASON 3, EPISODE 9 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Who’s right?
2. What would you do if you were Daryl?
3. What would you do if you were Rick?
4. If Merle pursues a dark path, should Daryl stay with him? Where is that line?
5. What is more important, family, or what is right?

Read the following passage:

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!’
“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)

6. What do you think Jesus meant when he said, “I have come to set a man against his father…”
7. Why is Jesus saying such extreme statements here?
8. What are ways people might “love their father or mother more than they love Jesus”?
9. What does Jesus mean by “take up your cross and follow me?” How serious would someone have to be to be about their faith to do this?”
10. How serious are you about your faith?
11. What are ways you could take up your cross and follow Jesus?
12. What is something you can do this week?