This week’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead was emotionally intense, and had a lot going on and a lot of groundwork being set for next week’s finale. So it’s easy to understand if you–like we did–missed these two clever little nods to the history of the show and the genre on your first time through.Merle ain’t gonna begMerle Dixon’s last words, at least as far as any of us know, were “I ain’t gonna beg.” That’s what he said just before the Governor pulled the trigger, and the next time we saw him, he was all about snarling and eating brains.Well, that’s actually a variation on a theme. Handcuffed to the roof way back in the first season episode “Tell it to the Frogs” (you know–the same one where he got the name “Officer Friendly” for Rick?), Merle Dixon began to pray for guidance and then, catching himself, muttered the following:”That’s okay. Never you mind, silly Christ boy. I ain’t begged you before. I ain’t gonna start begging now. I ain’t gonna beg you now! Don’t you worry about me begging you ever! I’ll never beg you! I ain’t gonna beg you! I never begged you before. Oh s–t. No!”Apparently that remark is his way of asserting control in a situation where he knows that he has little or none.
