The Walking Dead’ season 3 brings to life its sixth episode of the season, as Rick finds an unexpected presence on the other end of his mysterious phone call, while Michonne flees Merle and his Woodbury soldiers and unexpected reunions are held all around..

Last week’s ‘The Walking Dead’ episode “Say the Word” saw Rick reeling from the previous week’s shocking death and rampaging through the prison, while Daryl and Maggie undertook an mission to find baby formula, and the residents of Woodbury threw a party with a disturbing twist, so what will the latest episode bring?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘The Walking Dead’ season 3 episode 6, “Hounded!”

Out in the woods, Merle and his fellow Woodbury soldiers hunt for Michonne, stumbling upon a “Biter-Gram” of her design, telling the men to go back.  Merle laughs and calls out to the woman, before she drops from the trees, killing both Tim and Crawley!  Merle manages to land a shot through her leg, as she flees with the remaining soldiers in hot pursuit.

Back at the prison, Rick answers the phone to find a mysterious, young-sounding woman on the other end, who claims to have a group of others in a safe haven.  Rick pleads to be invited in with the rest of his group, though the voice hedges, and says she’ll call back in a few hours.  Rick cleans himself up, and returns to greet the others in the cell block, purporting to be find and perform the cell-block clean-up himself.  Glenn and Maggie meanwhile prepare for a run into town for baby formula and ammunition.

While Merle attempts to slap some sense into the remaining soldier Neil, Andrea mills about Woodbury, and relays to the Governor that she wishes to contribute, ideally by helping keep the wall safe.  Meanwhile back at the prison, Rick answers another call from the mysterious group, this time a male voice, who tries to vet him by asking what people he’s had to kill.  Rick lays out his kills, including Shane, but pauses when the man asks how he lost his wife.  Rick refuses to talk about it, causing the man on the line to hang up, pushing Rick further unhinged.

Stationed on the wall, Andrea converses with a young female guard about her bow and arrow, when a walker appears nearby.  The woman’s attempts to hit the walker fail ,and Andrea gleefully leaps off the wall to take down the creature herself, against the rules of the town.  Meanwhile out in the woods, Michonne attacks Merle and “Neil” once more, and when walkers get in the fray, Michonne accidentally spills one’s guts all over herself before running off.

Back at the prison, Hershel pays Rick a visit, thanking him for all he’s done and assuring him how sorry Lori was for everything that happened between them.  Rick explains about the people on the other end of the line, but refuses Hershel’s offer of sitting with him until the next call.  Elsewhere in the prison, Daryl, Carl and Oscar search the halls, noting a walker seemingly trapped behind a steel door, as Daryl explains to Carl how his own mother died as a means of sympathy.

Andrea explains her actions before the Governor, admitting that she enjoyed the fights out in the wild, while Merle and “Neil” recover out in the woods.  Believing Michonne to be wounded and heading into the “red zone,” Merle opts to head back to Woodbury and report her dead anyway.  His young companion refuses, opting to keep going or tell the Governor himself, and Merle coldly shoots him dead for his new-found bravery.  Meanwhile, Michonne limps along, preparing to take on some oncoming walkers, though they ignore her due to the spilled zombie guts from earlier.

Rick answers the phone once more, this time from a different-sounding woman, but still refuses to talk about his wife.  The voice uses his name while urging him to talk about it, as Rick realizes he’d never given it, and the figure hangs up.  Over at Woodbury, Andrea shares another drink with the Governor, reminiscing about the past and assuring one another of their mutual enjoyment of fighting, before the encounter erupts in a passionate kiss.

Out near a general store, Michonne wanders into a parking lot and spies Glenn and Maggie looking for baby formula, but chooses not to reveal herself.  After the pair gather their stock, Merle reveals himself at gunpoint, surprised to see Glenn.  Glenn confirms that Daryl remains alive, but refuses to take him to see his brother, rather to wait there while Daryl comes to him.  Incensed, Merle draws first on the pair, taking Maggie hostage and demanding that Glenn drive them back to Woodbury.  Too weak to intervene, Michonne watches the three drive off, and eyes the baby formula on the ground.

Continuing their search through the prison, Daryl, Carl and Oscar  put down a walker, one which Daryl observes to have Carol’s knife sticking out of its jaw.  On the other side of the complex, Rick picks up the phone to hear Lori’s voice, who explains that the three voices he’d heard earlier belong  to Andrea, Jim and Jacqui.  Breaking down at the sound of his dead wife’s voice, Rick pleads that he thought he’d have time to fix their relationship while keeping everyone safe, but Lori only asks him to take care of Carl and the baby.

Interrupted in the throes of passion with Andrea, the Governor answers a knock at his door to find Merle, who claims that everyone else (including Michonne) were killed in the excursion.  However, he offers up the consolation prize of Glenn and Maggie, who seemed put together enough to have a decent setup nearby.  Merle resolves to find out where, as the Governor orders him to keep quiet, lest Andrea find out about her former friend’s presence.

Rick returns to the group, taking hold of his baby for the very first time, as Daryl sits and stews outside of the ajar cell door from earlier.  Grabbing Carol’s knife, Daryl flings open the door expecting to find a walker, but instead finds a very-much living Carol, dazed and exhausted!  Daryl tenderly carries her out of the cell, while Rick and the others walk out into the prison courtyard.

Spying something in the distance, Rick hands off the baby and walks toward the exterior fence of the prison, finding a weakened Michonne wading through the walkers unharmed, carrying Glenn and Maggie’s basket of baby formula.

Finally!  'The Walking Dead' hadn't been lack for drama and action in its first five episodes, but we couldn't be more excited that Woodbury's more sinister intentions are finally out in the open, as are the two worlds colliding between Michonne, Glenn and Maggie.  We were also excited to see that Carol lived after all, and impressed with Andrew Lincoln's performance as Rick throughout the episode.  With only two episodes left in this half of the season, all the ducks are in a row for an extremely tense showdown, and we've never been bigger fans more excited to see how it plays out.

Did you get your fill of thrilling zombie killing?  What did you think about the episode? Check out all our other ‘Walking Dead’ season 3 coverage, and join us next week for an all-new episode recap of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 3 episode 7 “When the Dead Come Knocking” on AMC!

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