Minicap: The Walking Dead

Hi there, expats, and welcome to TVgasm-in-Exile’s minicap of The Walking Dead Season Two Episode 11. On this week’s episode, our characters spend an entire hour debating whether to kill Randall the Interloper or not. Somehow it manages to be a pretty exciting hour regardless, particularly because of the DEATH of one of the MAJOR CHARACTERS at the end of it. You read that right. Let’s get to it!

This week is one big battle for the soul of the group, all brought on by the Randall situation. Most of the group wants to kill him. Randall had been running with a larger group of survivors who don’t seem to have any compunction when it comes to getting what they want. The rationale is, if they let Randall go, he might bring his whole group to Herschel’s farm for a mass-pillaging. On the other hand, Dale doesn’t feel right in killing a person who only might theoretically harm them. To Dale, pre-emptive murder spells the end of civilization. (I guess Dale didn’t pay too close attention to what Dubya or Obama have been up to the past 12 years, but whatever).

But before they make their final decision, they want to know just how dangerous Randall’s group really is (which I’ll refer to as “marauders” from now on). Daryl is chosen to extract the information by whatever means necessary, so he pummels Randall into talking. (Torture? Already a bad sign for Dale). Randall finally tells him some disturbing news: the marauders are numerous, armed with automatic weapons, AND he personally witnessed them rape some teenagers. Randall claims he only joined the marauders for protection, but his words are hollow. It’s pretty cut and dry: the marauders are a real threat.

So that about settles it, but before they kill Randall, Dale pleads for and is given one last day to speak with everyone in the group individually to see if they really want to kill Randall, or if they’re just moving with the herd. First he talks to Andrea. It turns out Andrea used to be a civil rights attorney before the zombiepocalypse, so he convinces her pretty easily. Then he talks to Daryl. Like we saw a couple episodes ago, Daryl is distancing himself from the group. Now we learn it’s because he’s decided the group is fundamentally broken, so he doesn’t want to be part of the decision-making. Then, Herschel. Surprisingly, Herschel wants to abstain—he used to be a man with convictions, but all the recent mistakes he’s made have left him pretty depressed. Dale even tries to persuade Shane, and that goes about as well as you’d expect.

Meanwhile, Rick and Shane separately prepare themselves for the coming execution. Lori checks in to see if Rick is onboard with it, and he claims he is. He’s even decided he’ll be the one to pull the trigger. (But is this because he actually believes they should kill Randall, or because he wants to prove to Shane he really is capable of protecting Lori and Carl? My guess is, option deux). Shane, on the other hand, tells Andrea that if Rick doesn’t kill Randall, he’ll start a full-blown mutiny. Uh-oh.

Now it’s time for the final decision. If you’re keeping score, it’s Dale and Andrea in favor of mercy, and everyone else in favor of murder. Dale can’t convince anyone else to change their minds, so it’s decided: Randall dies tonight, from a bullet to the head.

We’ll come back to that. This week, Carl gets a story of his own. (Aw, he’s growing up!) Basically, the story concerns Carl misbehaving in every possible way. First, the adults don’t want to expose him to the Randall situation, but he still sneaks into the shed where Randall is chained up. Randall tries to convince him to help him escape, but luckily Shane intervenes before that goes anywhere. Then, after Carl insults Carol, he wanders off into the woods instead of apologizing to her. He finds a gun at Daryl’s campsite, then makes his way to the creek, where he finds…a zombie. (A ginger zombie, actually.) Carl can’t work up the nerve to shoot it and only barely manages to escape.

And last but not least, Carl sneaks into the barn where Rick, Shane, and Daryl are about to execute Randall, even though he’s been forbidden. And it turns out Carl is in full support of killing Randall! Holy shit! Carl has officially lost his innocence, and Rick is so flattened he can’t pull the trigger. Randall’s execution will be postponed indefinitely.

And that’s it for this week, except for one last scene…Dale walks through the field at night and is set upon by a zombie. He can’t fight it off, and the group doesn’t arrive in time to save him. RIP. There goes group’s conscience, yet another sign we’re headed for a big showdown between Rick and Shane. Even worse, it’s the same zombie Carl found in the woods earlier.

Hey Carl. Maybe if you had some sack Dale wouldn’t be dead right now.

Full recap will most likely be up tomorrow, that is if we manage to wrest control of our home-site from the occupying hacker army. Stay strong, TVgasm Resistance! And see you Tuesday.