Season 2, Episode 5: Chupacabra

At last! Plot advancement! Miniscule though it may be, make no mistake, walkers and stumblers, the plot of Season 2 moved forward. Our group has been twiddling their thumbs at Hershel's ranch/farmhouse of doom for the past several episodes without anything moving along. Sure, Shane and Lori have shared intense glares, and Rick and Lori have shared intense (and out of place/character) conversations, but what's happened? Otis shot Carl, Shane killed Otis, and...? That's really it, besides more bad, awful, stupid decisions and great stuff from Daryl (he is this season's highlight, no doubts about it).

What I've realized is that at this point, Sophia is more of a Macguffin than a character. For those of you who don't know what a Macguffin is, it's a term associated with Alfred Hitchcock, and more recently, Indiana Jones. The Macguffin is the reason our characters do things—search, fight, move plot, develop as characters, etc., but it itself is not wholly important. That's Sophia, right? She's driving what little action there is, but do we, the audience (or even some of the characters) care about her? I don't, and either does my viewing party. That's a very bad thing. We're discussing a lost, formerly-abused 12-year-old. Someone's child, and potentially one of the few remaining children in this show. But the writers have done a terrible job of getting us to care. That can be said for every development, aside from moments with Daryl.

That boggles me, readers. Every time Daryl is on the screen, I'm paying attention. I'm invested. They've done a great job with Daryl since the start of the season. This week, we had to watch him battle his memory of Merle to survive after he took a nasty spill off Nervous Nelly, one of Hershel's horses. There were consequences to these moments—Daryl's life was at stake, which is not something we've seen yet this season for any of the characters. It was exciting to watch his struggle, but also had me worrying. Here's a character that's been given time to develop over each episode...If it can be done with Daryl, a likely racist-hillbilly-survivalist, why not with the other characters? Why do we get the same old with Lori, Rick, and Shane? Why revert Glenn to a middle schooler who has never interacted with women in his life? Why are all the women cooking, and why is Andrea such a dumbass? These are the questions that frustrate me while watching this show. Also, why are all the characters idiots? That's the big one, because there is no way I can justify the actions of these people this season. They very clearly aren't thinking, from the zombie-in-the-well incident from Cherokee Rose last week, to Glenn and Maggie not understanding the finer points of note-passing. I'm having difficulty relating to foolish decisions, and instead, am finding myself relating to characters like Daryl and Shane who understand the new world they're living in.

Shane was making great points while he and Rick were searching their grid. But there was no discussion about it. Rick acted offended and promptly complained to Lori about it. This, I think, was because everything Shane said made sense. While Shane's obsession with Lori and Carl may be his primary motivation, the man understands the world the walking dead are inhabiting. He especially drove this home when he brought up how much time a missing child had before the police search began looking for a body (72 hours), and that was in a world sans-zombies. Yeah, hard decisions need to be made. Because supplies are limited, food and ammo, too. While I'm glad we have a character saying these things, I'm less glad that Shane is being set up as crazy.

Speaking of crazy, Hershel. We've been getting undertones of control from Hershel since we met him, but they've really been turning it up the last two episodes. He does not appreciate Rick's group upsetting his status quo, which makes good sense. He's been running that ranch/farmhouse of doom his way and now little rebellions are popping up. Maggie's fooling about with some Asian, that 17-year-old is running off with Rick's group to search, and those confounded women are using his kitchen to cook dinner! Hershel has problems understanding how people interact with people, let alone when there aren't many people left in the world. Which makes his decision to house the dead in his barn all the more perplexing. Is he a "good" Christian, unwilling to re-kill them? Is he insane? I am looking forward to seeing this come to a head Sunday.

And how about that opening? I loved it. Every second of it. We saw what looked like the first meeting of Sophia, Carol, abusive husband and Shane, Lori, and Carl. We saw the world as it was ending. And that fascinates and intrigues me. They did right only giving us the brief glimpse of Atlanta being napalmed.

Zombie Kill of the Week: Daryl bashing the shoe-chomper in the face with the walking stick. Seriously, that first horizontal bash was sick.

Overall Verdict: 7 out of 10 Headshots. Slower than I'd like, the show is getting better. Everything with Daryl in this episode, from hallucinations with Merle to Carol thanking him, is good TV. We got to see two old group members, which was a nice way of reminding us the group used to be bigger. And the show was bookended with very good segments. For the first time in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to the next episode.

Season 2, Episode 4: Cherokee Rose

I had a feeling that this episode would be a bit of a pause in what's been going on lately. The past three episodes have all ended with our characters in some form of dire straits (Carl getting shot, Otis and Shane getting locked in the school, Shane killing Otis) I had a feeling that this episode would let them take a breath. There were some welcome moments of ease, and even comedy this episode, but overall this episode basically just felt like a pause. Nothing really wrong with that, it just won't go down on anyone's "Best Episodes of The Walking Dead" list.

First thing I want to point out. I thought I would have gotten used to the cheesy dialogue by now, but sometimes it's just a bit annoying. And I don't necessarily mean the actual dialogue is cheesy (though sometimes it is), I mean that the writers seem to make the all-too-easy, cliche choices. For instance, what was the point of having Shane give the eulogy at Otis' funeral. Would the mother really ask that of Shane? And what if Otis had died, not because of Rick, but because of solely the walkers? What is the point of this punishment of Shane from the writers? I haven't the faintest, thus this was an eye roll moment.

Another moment that bothered me was the God discussion between Hershel and Rick. Rick already told Hershel how he felt about God and spirituality. I understand that most religious people always tend to ask "why can't you just believe?" over and over again, but it get's annoying. And again, I didn't really see what the point of this scene, unless its to foreshadow just how much Hershel believes in the rules that he has on his farm and where exactly these rules came from. There were a few glances from both Maggie and Hershel that makes me think something rather interesting may indeed be in store for this story arc. I guess we will have to wait and see.

The one exchange that should have, but for some reason did not bother me was when Darryl found the cherokee rose and gave it to Carol. It seemed a bit easy that he would know this story about this flower  he found that so matched Carol's exact experiences at this moment, yet I'm willing to forgive it for a specific reason, character development. Darryl is becoming, if hasn't already my favorite character on the show. He's compassionate, he's hilarious, and he knows how to kill a zombie. But while I was watching the episode I couldn't help but wonder why is he so fixated on finding Sophia. And then it hit me. What if he isn't just looking for Sophia. What if he is looking for his brother, Merle, as well.

I have a feeling we are in for a very interesting next couple of episodes.

Some stray observations:

-How awesome was it to see that fat, pruned-up walker get ripped in two. Easily one of the shows gnarliest (hilarious) moments.

-I'm glad Glen is finally getting more screen time. He is one of my favorite characters in the comics and he's  been criminally underused in the show. Glad he's finally getting some action. (Sorry guys that was just too easy.)

-The tension in the scene when Glen is lowered, and then almost dropped into the well with the fat zombie was great stuff. For a moment there I really thought Glen was a goner.

-Anybody curious about how that zombie not only managed to get in the well, but survived the fall as well?

-Damn I hope Lori goes on some sort of talk show and has the paternity test done. What? There is a zombie apocalypse and all trashy talk shows have been cancelled? Shame... 

Zombie Kill of the Week: Do you need to ask?

Final Verdict: 6.5 out of 10 Headshots. Like I said, I had a few problems with the choices the writers made in this episode. I loved the Glen and Maggie stuff. I loved the Darryl and Carol bit. Everything else was sort of "meh." Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for the show. Unless we get to see more zombies ripped in half. They can show that exact scene in every episode for all I care.

Season 2, Episode 3: Save The Last One

So why is it that we watch zombie films? Why are we so interested in the stories? Sure, the first answer is obvious. HEADSHOTS! But really, it's about people losing their humanity. Or trying to hang on to it. Isn't it? Zombie films work because we like to see what people turn into when thrown into a state of nature. When the world hits the reset button and everything is reverted back to just simple survival. What are the first things that go? Usually, it's morals. And what does that do to people. How does that affect their psyche? Well, ladies and gents, we finally got to see it in it's full glory with this week's episode of The Walking Dead.

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. Rick and Lori talking about whether or not Carl should live in this world was great, up until it got cheesy. I didn't really buy the whole "He should live because he talked about the deer," bit. Not only was it cheesy, but it felt contrived. I understand what Rick was trying to say, that Carl seeing things in the world that are beautiful to him is important. That the world's beauty, while now difficult to see, is still there. It just seemed like it could have been done a bit, well, better.

But let's talk about what the real focus of this week's episode was. Shane Walsh. Shane is our most conflicted character in the show. Rick is great, don't get me wrong, but the issues that Rick is wrestling with are tiny compared to what is going on in Shane's head. He wants to leave the group. He's in love with Lori and obviously loves Carl as well. But in this world the only way to be around them is to watch them be with Rick and it is killing him (both figuratively and a little bit literally). He had a taste of something in the beginning of the first season that was new to him. Family. And once that was stripped from him he slowly began to lose it (also the fact that the dead have come back to life to feast on the living didn't help either).

At the end of the episode Shane commits a shocking act. But is it really that shocking? I mean, yes, it was the most selfish thing someone can do. But it made sense didn't it? It was the only way to get away. Wasn't it? It looked like it. Shane made a choice. He didn't know if he was going to be able to make it back to the farm with the zombies chasing both him and Otis. And remember in the episode "What Lies Ahead" we learned that the zombies don't tire out. He knew that Carl's life depended on him getting back to the farm with the supplies. So, in the end, Carl's life was more important to him than Otis'. Sorry Otis, at least you got a rad death.

But this is what zombie cinema is about. People being forced to make choices like this. This is why we love zombie movies, books, shows, and comics. They hold a mirror up to us and force us to take a good hard look at ourselves. What would you do in this situation? Would you be ok with having someone's blood on your hands if it meant a child would have a better chance of surviving? Shane wasn't even sure that the supplies would save Carl's life, he just knew that it would give him a better shot. Sure we love the blood and guts. I'm not saying this was the best episode yet. It wasn't, it had it's fair share of problems. But what I think we are witnessing is a show getting a grip on what it wants to be about. Let's hope it stays on track.

Some stray observations:

-Wouldn't Rick and Lori yelling at each other attract zombies? I mean they are pretty loud. Or maybe the zombies hear it and are just like Damn, they sound annoying, I dont want them for dinner.

-Darryl and Andrea had a really brilliant scene with the guy who hung himself and then had his legs gnawed on by a zombie (gnarly!). I really dig their relationship and think that it adds an interesting contrast to her and Dale's.

-Also, Darryl is funny as shit.

-I hadn't been that impressed with CArl's acting skills (let's face it he didnt have much to do besides "look scared" and "look happy") but damn I thought he really was having a seizure on that bed. That was really gripping stuff. Especially when Hershel told Rick and Lori that they just had to watch it. Being a parent in a zombie apocalypse sucks balls.

Zombie Kill of the Week: I'm gonna cheat here and give this honor to a human. Otis. Watching him be torn apart by zombies was pretty epic stuff.

Final Verdict: 8.3 out of 10 Headshots. This episode had it's bumps in the road. But the good outweighed the bad. The stuff with Darryl and Andrea, while I didn't mention it much in my review was an excellent bit of character development. And of course the stuff with Shane and Otis was excellent. I can't wait to see what Shane's guilt does to him in addition to a haircut.