Minicap: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead

By Saint Clare of Assisi | Monday, February 13, 2012 | 2:58 pm | 25 Comments

Hey, TWD-fans! Welcome to the second half of Season Two. When we last left the show in early December, Rick and his tribe of survivors had found their way to a secluded farm owned by the Greene family. After many episodes of dicking around, finally it came to light that Herschel Greene was hiding a bunch of his zombiefied family members in his barn in the hopes that a cure for the Wildfire virus would be discovered. Shane responded by going apeshit and instigating a Great Zombie Massacre.

The Second Half of Season Two (or “TSHOST” as it’s not being called), aka Season Two Episode 8, begins immediately after the massacre. Rick is still holding his gun over the body of Zombie Sophia, whom he’s just blown away.

So everyone has a lot of freaking out to do. Herschel and his family are appalled and Herschel orders Rick and his people off their farm, effective immediately. But it seems like Herschel’s just blowing off steam because Team Rick doesn’t really take the order seriously. Instead, everyone sets about cleaning up the mess they’ve made. It’s decided that they will bury the bodies of the zombies they knew (Sophia, Mrs. Herschel, and some guy named Shawn), and burn the ones of those they don’t. They hold a short service at the burial site, but Carol stays in the RV because she refuses to mourn a zombie.

Aside from the burials, Team Rick has to adjust to the changing power dynamic. By instigating the massacre, Shane usurped Rick’s authority–Herschel AND Rick tried to stop him. So what now? It’s complicated. Just about everyone agrees with what Shane did, since, you know, having a barn full of zombies 100 yards from where you sleep is pretty dangerous. And Shane refuses to apologize, flat-out telling Rick that he’s had problems with Rick’s leadership for a while now, specifically Rick’s inability to make tough decisions. But nothing officially changes and the issue is left hanging there.

So Dale tries to put his thumb on the scale. In the first half of this season, when Shane returned from the FEMA camp without Otis, Dale suspected Shane murdered him. Then when Dale confronted Shane, Shane never denied it. He just said he “did what had to be done”. (Which is the recurring theme with Shane). And now Dale tells Lori what he suspects. He can’t prove any of it, but he’s planted the seed in Lori’s mind. In Dale’s mind Shane is dangerous and threatens the group.

Meanwhile, Herschel’s response to the massacre is altogether different. He’s disappeared. Maggie thinks he might have gone into town to drink at his favorite bar, which his a big deal because Herschel swore off alcohol the day she was born. So clearly he’s pretty upset. To make matters worse, Herschel’s other daughter Beth collapses and falls into some kind of PTSD trance, and it’s shaping up to be yet another medical emergency on the farm. They need Herschel’s medical skills and they need them now. So Rick and Glen venture into town to look for him.

They do in fact find him at the bar, and he’s been getting plastered. Partly Herschel feels like a total failure to the people under his responsibility: his refusal to accept that zombies are not people kept the zombies nearby and put his family in danger (I bet Rick can identify with those feelings right about now). But more than that, the massacre totally shattered Herschel’s own hope of survival. He now believes Wildfire is the end of the world. So he’s tying one off.

Rick trots out his reliable speech about humanity’s responsibility to persevere even in the face of certain doom. It’s worked two or three times before and this time is no different. More interestingly, back at the farm Lori has grown impatient waiting for Rick to come back, so she gets in a car and drives to town herself. And sure enough, the moment she takes her eyes off the road to look at a map, a zombie crosses in her way. She hits it at full speed, loses control, and flips the car. Looks like Team Rick will have to stick around the farm for a few more episodes while she recovers.

Back at the bar, Rick, Glen, and Herschel are visited by a couple strangers: Dave and Tony, from Philly. Right away Rick smells trouble. Dave is a little too slick. He tells them all he and Tony have been through, but keeps things really vague. And he tells Rick how he heard Fort Benning has been overrun, which, if true, totally screws up Rick’s plan to get everyone to safety. Eventually Dave gets to the point: he takes a keen interest in where Rick and co. are staying, and what kinds of provisions they have. Rick volunteers nothing, but Dave correctly guesses they have a nearby farm and asks if he and Tony can join them. And it’s clear from his demeanor and body language that “No” is not an answer.

So, when Rick tells them “No”, a gunfight ensues. It’s pretty one-sided as Rick goes all Dirty Harry on their asses. Zombie killing is one thing, but Rick seems to have no qualms about putting down a couple healthy guys if they threaten his family. There might not be hope for them now that the Fort Benning plan is scratched, but at least Rick is proving he can get shit done when he has to.

Full recap tomorrow!

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Saint Clare of Assisi attended Boston University and has written for The Onion.  He took his name from the patron saint of television, who was a virgin and saved a boy from a wolf one time.

25 Comments

  1. 1
    CattyFan cattyfan
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    OMG, I missed this show!

    What this episode really needed, though, was more Daryl.

  2. 2
    plockeness monster
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    I have missed it too!! I re-watched the first season. Gah. It was good.

    Can’t wait for the full recap! So much to discuss.

  3. 3
    Kammie
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    Looks like they’ll be staying on the farm for a while. I guess I’m just going to have to accept it but I am hoping we get a LOT more action than the first half of the season. And more zombies. That’s why we’re here, right?

  4. 4
    CattyFan cattyfan
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    I’m here for the drama. The Zombies are a bonus.

  5. 5
    maryedith
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Hi Guys! I was thinking of you all as I watched, especially itchy and Lindaw (are you watching Justified, Linda?) and wondering how the episode was going down with the Gasmi. I thought it was better but still sloooow.

  6. 6
    Saint Clare of Assisi
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    Dude I am obsessed with Justified and am making multiple references to it in the full recap.

  7. 7
    maryedith
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    St Clare! Now I love you even more! In a totally respectful way, of course.

  8. 8
    maryedith
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 8:24 pm

    Is it just me, or did Lori “grow impatient with waiting for Rick” about two seconds after he left? And after that speech about Carl needing him it seemed a little selfish and just … weird of her to take off after him like that.

  9. 9
    itchy
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    I haven’t watched the episode yet… is it worth the bother? If they’re still on that goddamned farm, I’m guessing it’s going to continue the same turgid pace as the beginning of the season?

    Way to waste a great concept. It’s the Glee of the Zombie Apocalypse genre.

  10. 10
    Mimo
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 6:37 am

    Will this give them an excuse for Lori to lose the baby?

  11. 11
    lindaw205
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 7:36 am

    I actually enjoyed the episode and was glad to see the return of bad ass and in charge Rick. And I almost didn’t watch it after that waste of the first part of the season. Here’s hoping it continues to get better and that maybe, just maybe, Lori is dead. :)

    And yes, I am definitely watching Justified! What a great show!!

  12. 12
    shantigal
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 7:49 am

    It’s worth watching Itchy. Slow-ish, but looks to be picking up steam. Can’t wait for the full recap recap SC.

    I’ll have to check out Justified, cuz you gasmii have impeccable taste, don’tcha know.

  13. 13
    maryedith
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 7:53 am

    @Mimo, that’s what I’m thinking. All that ANGST for NOTHING! But I can’t say I wouldn’t be relieved myself.

  14. 14
    plockeness monster
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 8:05 am

    Linda – I am with you, I am kind of hoping Lori is dead.

    Itchy – stop whining and watch the damn episode! You know you want to come here and chat about it :)

  15. 15
    CattyFan cattyfan
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 8:41 am

    maryedith…you make an excellent point. Lori is all worried about Carl not having a father. He could well end up with no parents with her running about.

    She’s an idiot.

  16. 16
    Muppet
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 9:58 am

    I don’t believe those guys for a second about Ft. Benning, I don’t think they were ever there. I think they just said that to discourage Rick and Co. from going there in the hopes they could stay with them on the farm. Pretty sure Dave and Tony were criminals too. They took a gun off a dead cop, in prison is my guess. The way they positioned Rick between them was calculated, not an accident. Good episode, but needs more Daryl!

  17. 17
    plockeness monster
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 11:52 am

    Also, when Shane was talking shit to Dale, I wanted to donkey kick him in the nuts. LEAVE DALE ALOOOOOOOONE!!!!!!

  18. 18
    itchy
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Oh I’ll watch the damn thing, all right, sure. But first: the Bachelor…

  19. 19
    thatdariamom1332
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 6:50 am

    Since I can’t comment on the actual recap….

    Did anyone else feel like the space/time continuum of Horror shows blur in this episode regarding Rick, et al in the bar? And then poof! Rick owned that bar. Man I hope Part 2 of season is better than the first.

  20. 20
    lindaw205
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 7:04 am

    How come the comments are closed on The Walking Dead full recap?

  21. 21
    lindaw205
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 7:37 am

    Well, since the comments are closed on the full recap I’ll have to say this here. Glen DID volunteer to go for Hershel with Rick….when they mentioned the bar in town Glen said “I know where that is, I’ll show you.”, or something to that effect.

  22. 22
    itchy
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 9:28 am

    All right, I’ll say this episode is a slight improvement over the previous seven — a lot less endless yammering, a lot more confronting the actual fallout of the zombie plague.

    Although I rolled my eyes at Lori’s stupid decision to go off driving after Rick and Glen. What the hell? Here’s hoping they did it to kill off the fetus growing inside her, because a pregnancy will destroy the little momentum this show has left.

    Not sure why the hillbilly got his knickers in a twist though. They ought to allow him to emerge as the true hero of the show.

    And the black guy speaks! He does shit! Well, okay, he was basically the episode’s janitor, but still…

  23. 23
    plockeness monster
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Why are the comments closed on the full recap?? FLIPIT?!?!?

  24. 24
    Flipit
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 11:58 am

    hell if i know. it’s fixed now. there’s a little checkbox to allow comments and it wasn’t checked. SOWWY!

  25. 25
    plockeness monster
    Posted February 15, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    Thanks Flippy.

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