Of all the characters on this show, I like Rick the best. He's level headed, smart, knows what has to be done—everything important for a good leader. Yet unlike Shane, Rick also has basic human decency—he didn't abandon all his humility just because the zombie apocalypse occurred. No, Rick is a good man. Or at least that's what I thought until last week's episode, where he basically killed two men in cold blood with very little precedence. Yet here, he claims that they "drew" guns at them. Is Rick lying...or did I miss something here?
Anyways, this week's episode begins with Lori, still stuck under the car after her recent idiotic escapade, being harassed by a zombie. Sadly, no, she's not dead yet (much to the chagrin of fans). After the credits, the scene progresses back to Rick, Hershal, and Glenn starring upon the dead bodies of the men Rick just killed. The camera is titled vertically, one of the many visual touches this episode contains (another is the flashing of Lori's car light as the zombie tries to get at her in the first scene) Eventually, the pals of Dave and Tony come to the bar, looking for their now dead friends. They didn't take well to the news of their deaths, and start shooting the place up. Meanwhile, the rest of the survivors find out about Lori being an idiot again, which causes Shane to, of course, jump into action. He takes another one of the cars (which brings up the question of just how many FREAKING cars Hershal owns—what is he, a Southern Jay Leno?) and heads out to find her.
Anyways, back to Rick. He, Glenn, and Hershal manage to escape the bar, but shot one of the other men in the process. That attracts the Walkers, and the other men make their escape. Unfortunately, they left one behind; a kid who got his leg stuck in a metal bar after stupidly jumping off the roof of a building (why the hell didn't he just go down the way he went up? I'm sure he didn't jump up there). Rick, being the good guy, can't stand to leave the kid behind. These leads to a pretty cool scene in which him and Glenn defend against the Walkers as Hershal tries to amputate the kid's leg. Time eventually runs out though, and Rick has no choice but to tear the leg away from the pole. Ouch.
Rick and the gang bring the kid back to Hershal's farm, where they plan to fix the kids leg, give him a canteen, and then set him free. Like what John Lithgow did to Harry in Harry and the Henderson's...minus the punching, of course. Anyways, Shane doesn't exactly like that, which causes another riff in the twos relationship (or what's left of it, anyways). Lori (who, by the way, was saved by Shane; that sideplot was so pointless I didn't feel that it was necessary to even discuss it further) talks to Rick about Shane's recent behavior, pretty much stating that he's going crazy (something the audience has known about for a long time now).
Speaking of going crazy, Darryl has been killing squirrels. You know, like for fun. Carol is clearly trying to look out for Darryl, but Darryl won't have any of it; instead, he rails on her for worrying more about others than her own deceased daughter. Carol just takes it in stride. So far, I like what's going on here. Carol is stepping away from the stereotypical "mother in grief" role, instead acting as a quiting, disconcerting presence. Actually, Darryl is the one acting like the grieving mother here, literally yelling at everything around him and acting all PMS-ey. I'm curious to see where this subplot goes.
Overall, I liked this episode. It mostly acted as a building episode, for both the characters and the plot. It's pretty clear at this point that Shane and Rick are going to go head to head, and I honestly can't wait. I'm sick of that plot just festering—like almost every other plot on this show—and I want some payoff. Hopefully, we'll be getting some in the coming weeks.
Score: 8.0 out of 10
Loose Ends:
-Zombie wants to bite you—he doesn't care if glass is in his way
-Lori is the second female character (following Andrea) to stab a zombie in the eye—what is it with these girls and the eyes?
-Hershal's out of the house? Let's just raid his fine china and steal his food!
-Man, Andrew Lincoln REALLY loses his Southern accent when he's yelling. Then again, it's hardly there to begin with anyways.
-Guess Andrea stays loyal to her fuckbuddies, doesn't she?
-Finally, Hershal tells Shane to shut the hell up. Bought time he asserts his dominance over his houseguest.
-Also nice to see Hershal kick some ass this episode. I don't know why I think it's cool to see him murder a guy, though...am I a bad person?
-I loved the transition between Shane talking with Andrea and Lori talking with Rick. It's like both of their women are telling them what to do. Seriously...why are all the women in this show such manipulative bitches? They make Skylar from Breaking Bad look like a patron saint.
-Randall (the one kind who stabbed his leg through the fence) is the Fucking Stupid Character of the Week. Seriously, why did he freaking JUMP off the roof?! Why didn't he climb down?!
-Quick Note: Next week's review of The Walking Dead will probably be a little late, on account of TMP's Liveblog of the Oscars. Thanks for your patience.
-Matthew
