NOTE: Let’s be mindful of all the new viewers participating in this conversation and try not to spoil plot points taking place deep into the run of the comic series. Mild speculation is fine and encouraged, as well as talking about things that have happened in the comic up until the point they are at in the show, but don’t get too explicit with regard to future surprises. They will be deleted. Thanks!
“Pretty Much Dead Already”
or
“Shane is a Dick”
Day breaks and the barn is still there… still full of zombies. Everyone is a little tense around camp, which is not helped by the sound of Carol sharpening her knife. With a nod from Dale, Glenn tells Rick and the gang that the barn is full of zombies. Breakfast has now been ruined. Thanks, Glenn. They go to investigate and yep, it’s a barn full of zombies. Shane wants to bail out now but they can’t leave because GODDAMN SOPHIA IS STILL MISSING. I’m telling you, she’s with the Russian guy from The Sopranos. Anyway, everyone argues with everyone else outside of the barn about what to do next and the noise of the bickering is like ringing a zombie dinner bell and they start pushing on the padlocked barn door.
Roll credits!
Shane, now alone, inspects the barn and the various locks and chains that secure it. Seems sturdy but they’ve never done “Securing a Zombie Barn” on DIY Network, so what do I know? Glenn tries to talk to Maggie while she gathers eggs but she’s not having it. She will only talk to him long enough to crack an egg over his head for revealing the secret of the barn.
Over in the horse stable, Daryl tries to saddle a horse despite his injuries. Carol tells him that he needs to stay and rest up and heal. In trying to get Daryl to stay, Carol finally admits that they might never find her daughter. Carol also says she doesn’t want to lose Daryl too. Daryl, not used to this kind of treatment from other human beings (especially ladies), throws a fit and storms off.
Out at the RV, Andrea loads herself up with weapons. She’s joining Rick to go look for Sophia! She finally gets to be one of the tough guys! Dale uses this opportunity to warn Andrea about Shane. But Andrea is not having any of his old man advice because for once in the zombie post-apocalypse she doesn’t feel like a victim. It seems that Andrea’s gonna have to learn the hard way about Shane. But Dale is not giving up! He sends Glenn (who is standing sentry up on top of the RV) to go get water because he’s got Secret Old Man Plans and Secret Old Man Plans do not require witnesses but they do probably involve guns.
Rick confronts Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man about the barn and its contents. Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man does not want to talk about the barn. What he does want is for Rick and the gang to leave his property by the end of the week. Rick tries to plead with Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man: don’t protect the dead people and send the alive people out into the zombie-infested wilderness. It’s a logically sound argument but it doesn’t work. So Rick reveals that Lori is pregnant. Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man still wants them gone. Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man is stubborn.
Rick finds Shane and tells him that despite the previous scene, he hasn’t given up on staying just yet. Shane wants to get their guns and start shooting up the barn. He wants to do something because it’s not safe to sleep just a few hundred feet from a barn full of zombies. You know what? As much as it pains me to say it, Shane’s right on this one. Rick drops the pregnancy bomb on Shane and he’s a bit shocked because he, like we, knows that it’s possible that it’s his baby.
Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man tells Maggie that Carl is recovered enough from his gunshot wound and that Rick and the gang will be moving on, posthaste. Maggie isn’t too happy about it partially because she likes Glenn. Also, there’s the sex. Also, there’s the fact that she’s seen the truth about the zombies. She likes these people and doesn’t want them sent out into the zombie world. Jimmy comes running in to tell Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man that “it” has happened again. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean that BOB has struck again.
Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man finds Rick and Andrea, who are busy planning their search for Sophia. He tells him that he needs help and Andrea practically starts singing “Centerfield” because she’s ready to play, coach. No dice, Andrea! He just needs Rick. Andrea slumps her shoulders and slinks away, kicking a can and muttering about stupid boys.
Lori prepares food and Shane comes up to bother her… again. He explains to Lori that Rick isn’t built for this harsh new world and Shane is and thus he’s the better choice for a mate. (Okay, so that last part is implied.) Shane thinks that the baby is his but Lori is adamant that the baby is Rick’s and even if, you know, the possibility exists that it is Shane’s baby, biologically, it will always be Rick’s and there’s nothing he can do to change that. With a very ominous “I don’t need to,” Shane stomps off.
While stomping, Shane runs into Carl, who is pulling off Rick’s deputy hat quite nicely. Carl says that they can’t give up the search for Sophia like Shane wants to. Shane actually agrees because it’s hard to say no to Carl in his big boy hat.
Shane continues to stomp, this time to the RV. He rummages around the inside but can’t find what he’s looking for. Angry, he asks Glenn where Dale went. Oh, did the old man take all your guns, Shane?
Rick, Jimmy, and Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man walk through the woods. They come upon the thing that happened again: there are two zombies stuck in the mud. Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man identifies one of the zombie as Lou, a local farmer and part time bartender. He give this history to Rick, not to provide delightful small town local color, but to explain to Rick that he sees the zombies as people and not monsters. If Rick and the gang want to stay on his land they are going to have to come around to his way of thinking about the zombies.
Oh Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man. Someday your wake-up call is going to be rough.
Out in the woods, Daryl takes Carol to look at some wild Cherokee roses and explains that he’s not going to give up on finding her daughter Sophia.
Rick and Jimmy and Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man struggle mightily to subdue the wayward zombies, which used to be Otis’ job but… well, Shane. This is how they’ve managed to stay relatively zombie free — they just coral the zombies and put ‘em in the barn! Easy, right?
Glenn tries to talk to Maggie, again. She still doesn’t want to talk to him but this time Glenn’s not taking no for an answer. He tells Maggie that he told Rick about the barn because her near death in the pharmacy reminded him that this isn’t a game and that zombies are dangerous and he doesn’t want to see Maggie in any danger, like ever. Maggie calls Glenn “Walker Bait” and then kisses him. It’s kind of totally adorable.
Shane tracks down Dale. He wants his bag of guns back! Dale wonders if Shane will shoot him too, just like he shot Otis. Burn! Shane has had enough of his backtalk and demands Dale give his guns back. Dale badassly chambers a round in his rifle and tells Shane that he will shoot him. Shane walks right up to Dale and puts the barrel of the rifle against his chest, daring Dale to pull the trigger. Dale concedes defeat and gives Shane his guns back. At least he isn’t letting this zombie apocalypse turn him into a monster like Shane has.
Everyone has gathered back at the house and no one knows where Rick is. No matter, because Shane appears with his bag of guns and hands them out like Halloween candy. It’s time to man up and protect themselves. Lori, Carl and Maggie protest but Shane isn’t hearing it. There’s no time to argue this in committee because Rick, Jimmy, and Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man appear out of the woods, pulling their captured zombies to the barn. Everyone from the house runs up to investigate, lead by Shane who unleashes a fierce and angry diatribe towards Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man. These are nigh-unstoppable killing machines, not people! He proves his point by putting three bullets in the chest of Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man’s zombie friend, Lou. But Lou is still hungry for brains. So he puts two in the heart but still Lou hungers. People tend to stop worrying about food with five bullets in their thorax. Rick tries to stop Shane but it’s no use. Shane walks up to Lou the Zombie and casually puts a bullet in her brain. Shane tells everyone that it’s time to stop wasting time looking for Sophia and time to stop wasting time protecting zombies and it’s time to start fighting.
So he busts open then barn door and lets out the zombies!
While Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man and Maggie look on, horrified, Rick and the gang unload a torrent of bullets and cut down the zombies as they amble out of the barn. One by one they fall and even though they are zombies it’s a little hard to watch.
Dale arrives from the woods just as the shooting stops. All the barn zombies are dead. Or are they? Nope, there’s one left. Stumbling out into the light–it’s Sophia! Everyone is a little shocked–Even Shane! Even me! (I gasped a little.)–and no one moves as she shuffles forward looking for sweet man flesh. No one, that is, except for Rick. He squares his shoulders and steps forward, lifts his revolver, hesitates for just a moment and puts a bullet in Sophia’s head.
Tonight’s episode concludes the first half of season two, as most of the networks take the holiday time off. The next episode airs February 12, 2012.
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I don’t consider Shane a villain at all, let alone one of the best villains on TV. Especially when, ultimately, the show keeps showing people that he’s RIGHT.
Even if he was one, he wouldn’t even be the best villain on AMC this year.
I think Shane will get killed in the 2nd half. He’s flying too close to the sun with the crazy. Rick will defend his family i think….or y’know that other thing will happen.
Word. He’s a dick, especially when it comes to the relationship stuff with Lori & Carl, but he’s (mostly) the only one acting sensible.
I hope “that other thing” happens. That would be interesting.
I enjoyed this episode. Fun and tense.
He wasn’t right when he tried to rape Lori.
He wasn’t right to kill Otis and cover it up.
He wasn’t right to sow seeds of dissent among the group and try to undermine Rick’s leadership out of petty jealousy.
He wasn’t right to endanger the group by releasing the zombies from the barn.
He’s a monster and he’s a villain and an awesome one for so many reasons.
I think Connor hit it on the button, In this episode Rick’s group became the like invasive group whom have settled into the farm, and now you can pretty much say they have taken over the farm. They won’t leave, they won’t follow Dr. Hershel’s rules for his farm( even if they don’t like it), Shane has shifted to the ” I run this group mentality, and I chose what we do”, There aren’t that many AMC villains who have been shown to do as much as him off the top of my head because of the amount of air time he gets. We are literally watching him shift and legitimize his actions.
If he isn’t a villain, he’s at least a hypocrite. Hershel refused to kill any of the zombies because he once knew them and still thought of them as people who were sick. Shane went on and on about how they weren’t people, and to him, the zombies in the barn weren’t, because he never knew them as living people. But the second he finds out that Sophia was in the barn? Finger off trigger, thumb up the ass like everyone else.
Shane is full on Walking Dead. He’s losing the battle for his soul. (Damn, that sounds more cliche and dramatic than it should). He’ll do anything, and stands for nothing. But he’s a great character to have around.
he wasn’t right when he claimed Rick wasn’t meant for “this world” and rick gave hum a big F-YOU when he walked up and shot Sophia square between the eyes.
Don’t you think that TV Shane is basically the same as comic Rick is now? He does questionable things, even reprehensible things, in the defense of his group and/or family. Shane got there a lot quicker, but–apart from trying to force himself on Lori–I just don’t see him as a villain at all.
He’s not undermining Rick out of jealousy, he’s undermining Rick because he’s done nothing but make poor leadership decisions this season.
Shooting Otis was not the morally correct choice, but it was the strategically correct one.
He wasn’t placing the group in any undue danger by opening the barn, there were 10 people standing there with guns.
With hesitating to shoot Sophia, he started moving like he was going to shoot her, too, Rick just jumped out there in front.
No, TV Rick is comic Rick. Shane is crazy, he acts out of impulse and does things that are dangerous, unwise, unethical and all manner of other un’s because of his desire to take care of Lori and Carl that has just run completely rampant. He may have been responsible before, but after Rick came back and he lost his little family it didn’t take long for him to lose his mind a little. I think he *believes* he’s doing what’s right, but in reality he’s definitely not.
TV Rick, like comic Rick, wants to take the safest path of least resistance, but will save his people at any cost. The Sophia scene secured that place for him, just like Andrea’s finally come into her own with the guns. The show is a little slower with character progression is all.
I also super hope the “other thing” happens. It was a great moment in the book and the character involved in it is super interesting to me.
I predicted Sophia in the barn like 4 episodes ago!!
Yes, g-dammit, I want a cookie.
lmao.
My unedited comment is here from November 8:
https://ifanboy.com/articles/recap-%E2%80%98the-walking-dead%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-s02e04-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Ccherokee-rose/#comment-367016
Yeah, I thought so as well, it may have been better to leave her unfound with the tension so high at the farm after the shooting of all the walkers, but the show just wrapped up a story point to move forward.
@OliverTwist: No no no!! If you leave her unfound, you lose that brilliant moment where our group, who has been firmly “no sympathy for the walkers in the barn”, is forced to confront that directly. They spent 3 minutes blasting away Hershel’s family and friends, who they didn’t know, with great ease. When Sophia comes out, they all stop. Only Rick, who didn’t want this confrontation forced, steps up.
Now we have conflict with what Herschel knew, with Shane’s way vs Rick’s way, and what to do next.
@wednesdayware Herschel didn’t know Sophia was in the barn. All the stuff with Carl happened and no one mentioned a missing girl until after Shane sac’ed Otis to the walkers. Kirkman said on Talking Dead (and they confirm it with Herschel guessing as much) in the next episode that, as it was Otis’ job to put the walkers in the barn, if he had lived when they brought up the subject of Sophia, he could have broken the news to them sooner that their searching was in vain.
In those few moments between when the last (adult) walker went down in front of the barn and then the “noises of something else in there” started, did anyone else have a “Ah, of course…it’s going to be Sophia!” moments, before she actually appeared on screen?
of course
Yeah, my wife called it, like, 3 episodes ago! lol
I realized what was happening just seconds before. I totally stood up from the couch and watched the rest of the episode standing.
I still don’t understand what dale was doing with the guns in the swamp. I mean he’s putting everyone in danger by destroying them (garbage bag would not have worked). I dunno, that was a weird sequence.
I dunno about Shane. He’s going crazy…i was kinda surprised that no one shot him.
Sophia in the barn. Damn. I expected her to be a zombie at this point, and i expected her mom to go running to her and get eaten. But yeah that was a good scene. Didn’t expect it to play out that way. Now the drama of “Herschel knew she was a zombie the whole time!!!” ….which is why he stopped talking about finding her a few episodes ago.
i wish the show had more of an SFX budget…i wanted more zombie head explosions. A 12 gauge or .357 to the head…that close…its like exploding target practice watermelons and pumpkins.
I thought about that too, that Herschel knew the whole time that Sophia was in the barn but didn’t say anything. It was said in the swamp and then later on Talking Dead that before he died, Otis was the designated “walker wrangler”. It was suggested that Otis found Sophia, put her in the barn before Rick’s group showed up and of course Carl’s gunshot wound trumped all other conversation. Herschel probably didn’t know she was in there and obviously Otis wasn’t around anymore to tell them she was in the barn.
i don’t watch the Talking Dead’s…(are they any good?) and that’s certainly an explanation, but its reaching a bit don’t you think? Its possible, but i dunno. Herschel was all about “you can stay till the boy gets better, and you find your little girl” at first, and then he stopped singing that tune. I dunno..i think he knew on some level.
I think with the garbage bag, Dale was probably going to hide them. Figuring the bag would keep the mud and water out of the bag to protect the guns.
well yeah i get what he was doing, but it most probably would not have worked out very well. =)
I really didn’t understand his intention. So shane is kinda dangerous, but the group needs the guns for protection. One man above everyone else. Shoulda gone to Rick or found some keys to lock the RV.
you would think someone would have noticed a little girl zombin the barn when they go in to do their regular zombie feeding rounds (like we saw last ep). The Otis thing is a reasonable explanation but i don’t think it covers all the bases
@wally-I have enjoyed the Talking Deads that I have watched, but I have only watched three of them. And I have only watched the ones that air after episodes that I have really enjoyed. They normally have pretty entertaining guests come on.
As far as the explanation reaching, well Kirkman said that was how they plotted it out from the beginning, and he blamed Shane for the fact that the information did not get passed to others (on account of him being a murderer and all). And how would Herschel recognize her? Its not like they were passing photos of her around and he could come to the realization. And it also makes sense that Herschel stopped talking about finding Sophia because he wanted Rick’s gang to leave.
As to the SFX budget, on last nights episode of Talking Dead, Nicotero (sp) said they purposely did not want to go over the top with the gore to more humanize them, and make the audience ‘feel’ their ‘death’ more. I dunno if I buy into that, but it’s a rational ‘in story’ explanation.
If your friends are searching for a little girl and you notice that there’s suddenly a new little girl zombie in your zombie barn, i don’t think you’d need to see a picture of said girl to assume that, just maybe, this is the same girl that your friends are looking for.
@mike-Maybe. Are you looking at the zombies or are you just feeding them and getting the hell out of there before an accident happens and you become the food? Are you going to tell the hostile newcomers about the secret of the barn? If you are, why haven’t you already? Wouldn’t that make the newcomers go in one of two directions, either kill those people that you are trying to ‘cure’ or stick around so that they can ‘cure’ their missing girl. Either direction is not one that you want.
So, we are back in the same place, not telling them. If you want to say that they knew Sophia was in there, sure, that’s a possibility, but nothing was going to change regardless of whether or not Herschel’s crew had that knowledge.
@mike I just think Otis during his daily chores of rounding up zombies also had the task of hunting for food so it’s not unpossible for him to have put Sophia in the barn not mentioned it to anybody and went out hunting and that’s when he accidently shoot Carl. With that he probably just forgot.
I don’t remember the scene exactly but when the woman went in the barn to feed zombies last episode, didn’t she just drop the chickens from the loft and then watched them feed? I could totally be wrong here, but i remember her watching them.
Anyway, right now its kind of pointless to speculate on this because there could totally be a scene in the next episode where Hershal and his family explain how sophia ended up in the barn. Although if they just ignore this point and move onto something else without addressing it, it will annoy the hell out of me
@mike Yeah man I think she just threw the chickens in and got the hell out of there and the scene just had a close up of the zombies feeding. It’s all good man sometime the little things can drive a man crazy lol
i’m with Mikegraham6 on this. Herschel seems to have a pretty solid grasp on what happens on his property, and his people tend to come to him with everything. I have a hard time believing that he wasn’t aware that a little girl was brought to the barn. That’s something he’d want to know about. We’ll find out next week for sure.
@MisterJ–i can see both sides. If you start going towards the gore style, then it turns into a low budget, blood coming out of fire hoses, late night straight to cable kinda flick and this show is above that.
The tension between Dale and Shane jumped out of nowhere. Other than the writers having put it in the script, is there any reason Dale should be suspicious?
cuz he’s an old man and is nosey?…he’s like that old guy who peers through the blinds every time a car parks in front of his house, or some teenagers walk by… “i don’t like the looks of them” =)
I get the impression that Dale had first-hand experience with someone very much like Shane in his past.
Dale spends most of his time watching everyone. It’s who he is and why he appointed himself the sentry–he watches. And he sees Shane for who he really is.
i think we’re reaching for an explanation here. I think it just came out of nowhere and was handled poorly by the writers, is all. Tthey could’ve easily snuck in some scenes early on this season showing Dale’s suspicion of Shane growing slowly, but they didn’t. It came off as lazy writing
@mikegraham6: I don’t agree. I could just as easily say that some are reaching for criticism.
It seems the focal point of the tension is Dale’s jealousy at what might be going on between Shane and Andrea. Being predisposed to dislike Shane, it’s not hard to distrust him either. It’s not like Shane’s playing Mr. Nice Guy.
@NaveenM: Agreed.
@naveen that’s a good point that I hope they bring up in later episodes. During talking dead Mr. Kirkman pretty much said what Conor pointed out. Dale pretty much spends his whole day on top of his trailer ease dropping on everyone and he’s just trying to past on his wisdom that pretty much falls on deaf ears. I really thought Shane was going to beat him up or kill him but damn it was a real intense scene.
Remember that in the first season, Dale caught Shane briefly pointing his gun to Rick’s back, presumably so he can get Lori back. There might be a little bit of jealousy on Dale’s part over Andrea briefly riding him like a pony, but Dale knows that Shane is genuinely not a very nice guy at all.
@DarkKnightJared that is an EXCELLENT point sir! i had completely forgotten about that scene…
I agree with Gobo, I got the impression that pre-zombie apocalypse Dale had known a man similar to Shane and from that based on impression on how cutthroat Shane could possibly get. Also there is the Andrea thing. When Shane shot Otis in order to get the medical supplies Carl needed I ruthlessly defended his actions and thought that in the grand scheme of things it was for the greater good.
What he did in this last episode however necessary it might have been. He went about doing it the wrong way and now I think he’s a C#NT. As for Sophia, my sister predicted she’d be in there, I was shocked when she was. I was hoping they would later introduce Tyrese and his family as the people who found her and took care of her. All in all this season has been amazing. The first season was just okay, but this one has been excellent.
I remember a few episodes back, Herschel commented to Rick something to the effect of “I don’t know how you people have survived this long.”
So he thinks they’re a bunch of gun-toting, reckless, risk-taking dumb asses, meanwhile, the farmhands are wrangling zombies with catch poles and building a collection of flesh eaters in the barn.
Hello? Pot calling kettle?
I think Herschel made some realistic logic leaps, considering how old fashioned and sheltered his farm lifestyle is. Like Rick said, he never saw it firsthand…he just saw the TV reports which prob reported it as a plague of some sort. I dunno, crazy times like that, people make up their own logic to keep going. Look at what bad things average people are capable of during during natural disasters…or Black Friday! =p
@wally yeah what Rick said and of course Maggie pretty much changed Herschel view of not letting them stay but of course with his rules of not harming zombies and that shit hit the fan.
I really don’t see Shane as the villian. He has been mostly right, what he did at the end had to be done. Awesome episode.
Remind me not to be in a group of survivors with you…
🙂
Huh? Isn’t this a guy who considered shooting his best friend?
It seems Shane thinks everyone is expendable but Lori and Carl. Indeed, I wonder if Shane probably doesn’t just wish everyone else was gone and that it was just him, Lori, and Carl.
I don’t think Shane is a villian but damn he is as Gray a character as you can get. In the real world I think Shane would be a Hero but now that everything has gone too shit he’s losing his hold of humanity. If Rick never returned he would be the leader and backbone of the group. I be crazy too if I found out the women I care for is back with her husband and potentially caring my baby while zombies are lurking behind every corner. Jon Bernthal is doing a amazing job-I can’t believe a character I hated from the comic is now the most compelling to me.
Dudes, Shane is a bad guy through and through.
Even Daryl called him on his shit. Did you catch the line he yelled out at Shane in this episode: “You’re a BAD cop!”
You said it Daryl
@ghost so Daryl at this point is a good guy? He hears voices from his brother who keeps pushing him to destroy the group per what was done to him and he has a shit fit anytime someone gets too close. At this point Daryl as a character is way to Shady to be consider a good guy esp with his brother still out there. Too me he is a survivalist with a soft spot for kids. I like that on Talking Dead Mr Reedus wanted Daryl to be added to the comis. It be funny as shit if Kirkman added him just to have him killed of in two issues.
@drdeeeznuts: No no no, I am saying that even Daryl, a not so good guy, is calling Shane a bad person.
You know things are rotten when even a racist hillbilly is calling you a bad guy. =)
I don’t think Shane is a “Villain” per say, but i think he’s an incredibly dangerous person who’s trying to take control. His decision making is impulsive, emotional and is based in fear, jealousy and good old fashioned “yee haw cowboy guns blazing” testosterone. And we see he has no problem killing another human to get out of a jam easily. If you look at it like a military or survival situation, he’s the leader that storms into danger and gets people killed, instead of thinking of an actual solution. Seems like he’d be a shit cop.
Also i get the feeling Shane thinks Rick stole his family away, and is acting like the stalker ex boyfriend that can’t get over it, and is capable of doing crazy shit.
@ghost HAHAH great point man I never viewed it that way-I don’t think Daryl is being rascist because everyone is kinda rascist in one form or another but you point that Daryl can point out flaws because of his life is very interesting.
of all the episodes this season, this has been the strongest one, though i wasn’t a fan of sophia being in the barn the entire time. I think there could have been other ways to get the effect that the writers were looking for and have sophia show up as a walker earlier. To that, i thought this episode would have been better placed earlier in the season, say episode three or four, or if it was for the mid season finale, then maybe been better to have carl shot say episode three.
These past two episode have seem like they have had more of a purpose than the earlier episodes did, and hope the series continues to get stronger in the new year.
Also, Shane is my favorite character. don’t know what that says about me.
Awesome way to end mid-season. I think Shane is one of the best characters on the show. He’s more of an antihero. Much like Jason Todd/Red Hood in the current Batman world. I sure hope he continues on this path in the show. He adds a lot of the tension that drives the series.
Great episode overall.
My only problem is if this was hbo or showtime we wouldn’t have to wait to get to the end of the season , but wait we would only get 12 episodes, never mind
One thing I’ll say is that all of the deviations from the comic have been excellent. So far, this is a perfect adaptation of a work from another medium.
Agreed. The veering off from the comic keeps comic fans guessing same as the rest of the viewing audience.
I heard that Kirkman kicked himself for not including the Centre for Disease Control in the comic – that’s pretty funny and shows just how he’s willing to work with the show to do create something different.
@meta-Yeah Kirkman is just a cool guy all around with no big ego.
The Walking Dead’ – S02E07 – Bullet Points
* It occurred to me last night that I am watching a soap opera. You know, like Day’s of Our Un-Dead Lives – or All My Zombiefied Children.
* I love the fact that the story here is deviating so much from the comic book. It keeps us readers on our toes and allows for unexpected moments like Sophia coming out of the barn.
* The writing in this episode was some of the strongest so far this season.
* It was nice to see Rick step up and take charge again after being such a gimp for the last few episodes.
* If Shane keeps this up he could over take Daryl as my favorite character on this show. He is the dick you love to hate.
* Speaking of Daryl – he should leave the group and then get his own spin-off show on AMC. Or least a comic book.
* whatta we gonna watch on Sundays now till February?
I’m really enjoying the show, but every time something different happens relative to the book it stabs me in the heart.
So long as Michonne shows up, I’m cool with things!
On a side note: my wife is not generally a fan of zombie-related stuff… but loves this show. And she has great taste (after all, she married me!)
Man I look at it as a different entity than the book, by the fact that some characters living and new ones have changed the course of the events and dynamics which played out in the comic series. I like the fact that the comic series remains it’s own thing with loose plot points touched upon in the t.v. series.
@blkassassin: your heart must be FULL of holes then.
😉
@metamorphic: it’s because like I said above, this a soap opera not a horror show.
@ghostmann – not sure I entirely agree with the soap opera comparison. (Though I heard a rumour that Rick’s long-lost twin brother might show up soon….)
I agree there are “soapy” elements. But there’s a lot more depth than your average soap opera.
That’s the appeal of any zombie-related show to me: scary as the zombies might be, it’s the people who often turn out to be more terrifying.
@ghostmann you can make the argument that any drama is a soap opera but i don’t believe this is a befitting title to this show. This show goes deeper than the simple facade and bickering that a soap would portray. This show portrays the truth about human behavior and irrationality in the face of extinction. In what other universe could so many of us see Shane as both a villain and savior. He is truly coming unhinged but in doing so he is the only one that has finally started taking action to ensure the survival of the group. Shane is a guy you love to hate, but I for one would want him around when the zombie shit starts hitting the fan.
Love Triangle? CHECK
Some one is pregnant but keeping it a secret? CHECK
A young woman falls for the wrong guy, doesn’t want her dad to know about it? CHECK
A bad guy turns out to have a heart of gold? CHECK
A good guy turns out to be a sinister guy? CHECK
S.O.A.P.O.P.E.R.A
😉
oh and just for shits and giggles, read this Days of Our Lives Re-Cap.
http://soapcentral.com/days/recaps.php
the only thing missing is where they shoot the zombies in the head.
we do have a guy who was in a coma, but no evil twin. You need the evil twin to hold it all together.
And add guy seeing the ghost of a loved one to the list.
Most drama’s these days have soap opera elements in them. I think it’s part of how all scripted shows have become so serialized.
This show has made me into a ghoul, because all I could do was laugh as Shane battered that door down while fifteen people armed with shotguns stood there impotently yelling at him. “He is endangering us all, a full twenty feet from here! If only we had some way to stop him!” I am not as good a person as Dale.
totally! i was really surprised Shane didn’t get shot in the back at that point. Rick totally wussed out.
Haha I would of shot him too I think. No killed him just shot him like in the leg or something. Then again he’s a really good aim and could of shot me back. I have a feeling he would of aimed for a vital organ.
I think Rick used the zombie he was holding as an excuse to not kill his friend (Even if his friend is going crazy.) I think if he would’ve been free, or if someone had taken it from he, he probably would have killed him.
I liked this episode, if at times it felt unevenly paced (a lot of hurry up and wait, ie in the first five minute Glenn telling about the Barn and then it sort of gets a bit lost in the subplots until the very end. It seems like Glenn letting people know piecemeal and then everyone figuring out would have suited the way the episode was paced more than what we had. There was quite a bit of recapping studded through the episode that felt like spinning gears. Herschel’s scenes were awesome.
I, for one, don’t think Shane is a villain in so many words. He’s a terrible human being. But he’s a terrible human being whose survival instinct has been more or less accurate the whole time. I was pretty sure he was gonna get ala the comic in the barn scene though. But to get back to the villain thing. All we need do is look at Darryl, who was a black hat all season 1 but has turned into quirky, loveable survivalist. I don’t know that we ever saw a change in Darryl like we see with Shane, which is why I think saying Shane is a villain is a bit of a cheat. That’s the easy way to comfort ourselves at night that when the shit hits the fan we’ll be Ricks. But the majority of us would be Shanes. Self-centered assholes only looking out ourselves.
One thing I will say is that I watch the show with someone who never read the comics and I find they respond better to the “direct from the book” material than the deviations. On the whole, the deviations this season have been better constructed than last (The less said about the CDC the better.) but I find that funny. I really don’t tip my hand about it either way, so it’s been an interesting viewing experience.
Did anyone else feel that the Pilot’s establishing scene took a bit out of the final scene here? We know Rick has done it before, so there’s really no quandary. And he’s dealt with a number of people with attachments to their Zombie-kin in just 12 episodes, so I wasn’t as shocked or put off by it as so many on my twitter feed seemed to be. That said, I was dead certain Young Master Carl was going to get in one some action at the Barn. My money was on him closing out the episode instead of his father.
Yeah I’m sorry but I can’t help notice the love of the final shot on twitter and I have to say…..Does anyone not remember the very first shot of the first episode in the first season? Rick shot a little girl, who was a zombie, and that had an impact because you knew:
A) This show isn’t going to be like other dramas
B) With a new, terrible world; Rick has no choice to but do something he doesn’t want to do.
I’m just saying that when I hear Rick shoots a little girl because she turns into a zombie, that does nothing for me wanting to return to the show. Because the show already did it so they’re already retreading on ideas.
my takeaway was Shane is all “we need to take action and do what needs to be done now!” but when it really came down to it, with Sophia, when there are real human emotions involved with someone he knows…..He was paralyzed with shock and fear. Rick stepped up to do the hard work that no one else could. Kinda took the leadership hatchet back.
I’d say they’re not so much retreading ideas as they are taking something the viewer felt one way about and saying, “It’s different when it’s a kid you know.” Which has been Herschel’s point for much of this season.
@Jimski: That makes sense….Just as an outside observer though, at this point, it just feels like retreading. That and some awesome zombie thing happened which seems to delegate the fans perspective on the show then the actual technique qualities (or lack of) about it.
I hope I wouldn’t be a Rick in a Walking Dead scenario. Rick makes the worst decisions, consistently. Shane may be an ass, but, apart from interpersonal issues, his leadership skills are pretty much dead-on.
Sophie was in the barn? Damn. That’s the one place she could’a been that makes perfect narrative sense. Good job, writers.
Good episode.
I know it is a TV show, but Dr. Hershel, Medicine Man does not follow the 1st rule of medicine. Do no harm. The zombies were not hurting anyone in the mud. Why mess with them?
Dr. Hershel always messed with his zits in high school and made them worse.
I guess vets don’t follow the 1st rule of medicine. maybe that is why vets always give the pet pepcid and then charge you big bucks.
Amazing episode. I made some horrid noise like.. nooo…gurgle…. when Sofia came out of the barn. Can we all agree that knowing what happened in the comics means nothing anymore? This is all new ground.
No more Walking Dead until February?! Amazing episode, brilliant ending (totally called it, because I’m amazing).
Now, if I read for an hour every Sunday can I get through 91 back issues before the season starts again?
I’m amazed at all the people who think Shane is a good leader and/or decision maker. We can bicker about whether villain is an appropriate term to use or not, but dude has clearly lost his mind. He’s not making decisions for the good of the group. He’s making decisions for the sole purpose of maintaining his importance to Carl and Lori, with an end goal of making them a family again. From the moment he pointed that gun at Rick, his mind has been rotting inside his skull. On borrowed time.
I don’t see it as so amazing that some view Shane as a good leader. It seems to me that a recurring theme in any post apocalyptic/man-in-the-wild story is that of feral man vs. civilized.