I agree with just about everything in this review: http://www.avclub.com/articles/triggerfinger,69549/
(basically that plot is driving character rather that character driving plot).

The one big thing I disagree with is what is said about Daryl. I think what is going on with him is more character driven than the reviewer suggests. I think he's reacting right now to losing Sophia. He put in more effort than anyone in searching for her and in trying to keep Carol hopeful. I think this is just his reaction to all of that from what I've seen.

2/22/2012 11:37:47 PM

The CDC guy told Rick that Shane is Carl's biological father.
At least that's what I've been hoping.

2/23/2012 8:50:58 AM

^^good breakdown.

2/23/2012 5:54:03 PM

Tonight's episode has been pretty damn good. By far the best one of the season

2/26/2012 9:51:04 PM

Agreed.

Best episode of season 2.

Felt like an entire different group of writers and a different director did that episode.

Odd episode though.

No sight of Dale, Darrell, Glenn, or Herschel.

[Edited on February 26, 2012 at 10:10 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2012 10:01:05 PM

The characters actually had a conversation about what was going on in the group and found some ways to deal with it.

That kind of stuff is way more interesting to me. The thoughts on planning for winter, long term survival, etc.

But I imagine you cant have to much in order to have a successful series.

2/26/2012 10:24:30 PM

^^or T-Dog. but that's not new

[Edited on February 26, 2012 at 10:26 PM. Reason : ^]

2/26/2012 10:25:15 PM

Don't forget that, in a show about Zombies, they decided to include some in this episode.

One of the best scenes I think was the lone walker just wandering in the field by itself.

Not a care in the world.

2/26/2012 10:26:14 PM

I am just glad that the zombies no longer show fine motor skills like in season 1

(i.e. picking up a rock to smash a window, turning a door knob, climbing over a fence)

2/26/2012 10:28:54 PM

Def. one of the best episode this season i think.

Next week also looks really good too.

2/26/2012 10:45:24 PM

I kinda wished it didn't keep cutting straight from the action to the girl that we barely know wanting to kill herself. I don't know about you guys but I didn't really care about that story line at all. The parts with Rick/Shane/dude and the zombies was great though.

On the topic of preparing for the winter though, was Rick really talking about snowmobiles? Is that really necessary in Georgia? I know it would probably get cold there but how often does it snow enough to the point where a snowmobile would be needed?

2/26/2012 10:53:29 PM

Yeah I heard that too.

Not to mention there is probably all of 2 snowmobiles in the entire state, if that lol.

2/26/2012 11:06:00 PM

what about this cutting your hand with the same knife you use to stab zombies in the head?

Can we go ahead and figure out how these zombies turn? Is it blood contact?

2/27/2012 12:03:22 AM

good episode. things are starting to pick up a bit.

the suicide bit was just to further ostracize andrea from the group i suppose. and you'd think they would grill the kid for more information about his group. maybe that'll be in the next episode.

2/27/2012 12:03:27 AM

So how come if you cut yourself with a knife you've swizzled around in walker blood, it's okay.

But you can't get bit by them??

Also, why are the women in this show so intolerable?

[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 12:12 AM. Reason : ]

2/27/2012 12:09:08 AM

I really thought Shane was gonna get infected by rubbing his hand in the blood after he cut himself and what not. Especially after they made such a big deal out of those cop zombies not having any bites.

2/27/2012 12:10:26 AM

Other than the dumb women, it was a good episode.

The knife blood thing did come up on the Talking Dead at the end...

[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 12:20 AM. Reason : ]

2/27/2012 12:19:40 AM

I'm glad Rick didn't 'Shane' Shane. Too bad Shane goes back to being a bitch and continues to talk shit about the guy that just saved his life.

2/27/2012 12:46:11 AM

I'm getting tired of Rick's shit. Should have either left Shane there or killed him.

2/27/2012 2:42:51 AM

For a second I kinda thought Rick might actually leave Shane behind, but that would kill certain aspects of ways the story could end up going on down the line...

2/27/2012 2:50:04 AM

Rick couldn't leave Shane behind or kill him in that circumstance because Shane was unarmed and swamped by zombies. He can't stick to Shane's level, so we we wait for the storm to brew again...

2/27/2012 7:42:03 AM

One of the best cold-opens in the history of the show. Like it said in the breakdown above, all of my qualms about character development and clunky dialogue go out the window when its man vs zombie, simply because you want to see what happens next.

Really entertaining episode for the most part, and some surprisingly decent dialogue between Rick and Shane. Defintiely agree on this though:

Quote :

"I kinda wished it didn't keep cutting straight from the action to the girl that we barely know wanting to kill herself. "

2/27/2012 10:23:11 AM

I'm still enjoying some of the moral/ethical arguments in the show.

Rick and Shane's differing views on what makes an action right. Lori and blondie's ( ) opinions on suicide and survival. It's cool to tell a gripping story about zombies, but I love adding in the differing ways of coping and the evolving morality. I don't care as much about the relationship drama.

Also, it was hilarious that injured-leg-guy (ILG) was strapped to the driver's seat via duct tape during the exciting rescue.

2/27/2012 11:07:13 AM

Quote :

"One of the best cold-opens in the history of the show."

i got really excited for a moment when i thought that the opening was a fake. i thought they showed that sequence to demonstrate what Rick and Shane would tell the others happened because they each looked like they got their shit kicked in after their fight. they also didn't really show how the kid knew that he had been taken to Maggie's house since he was blindfolded initially. that means that between this episode and the last (added to the sister coming out of it) it had to have been a few weeks. i'm guessing Hershel's care for his leg (now healed completely somehow) let him know where he was but did he really say nothing and if so that actually would make me want to kill him too. He knew where he was and he said nothing until after he was let go, kinda sketch if you ask me.

there's been 4 or 5 times this half-season already where what they've put on the screen could have turned into some of the best tv and they've just squandered it. but i'm hooked to see future characters like the governor so i'm not going anywhere.

2/27/2012 11:38:41 AM

^ is that more reference to the book or did I miss someone named 'the governor'?

2/27/2012 1:33:31 PM

gave up on this show after the second episode of season two, has the writing acting or character development gotten any better?

2/27/2012 1:41:16 PM

I thought that fight scene between Rick and Shane was going to end up being a remake of the one from They Live

2/27/2012 2:01:16 PM

Quote :

"i got really excited for a moment when i thought that the opening was a fake. i thought they showed that sequence to demonstrate what Rick and Shane would tell the others happened because they each looked like they got their shit kicked in after their fight. "

Jesus Christ. Seriously?

This is how some of you think?

They aren't gonna show all that as a "fake" scene.

2/27/2012 2:20:34 PM

so a 5 minute fight that would have woken an entire neighborhood right next to a building full of walkers requires a broken window (that they just walk through afterwards) to introduce zombies into the show is realistic...

but my thought that shane and rick would return and just feign that they had a zombie attack is not? hell it would have been more awesome in my mind if they had come to an agreement that that is what their story would be and THEN they actually encounter zombies. win win.

2/27/2012 2:41:05 PM

Quote :

"^ is that more reference to the book or did I miss someone named 'the governor'?"

it's from the novel, but also amc announced a few days ago the actor who is going to play that part, so not a full on spoiler but sorta almost kinda ish.

2/27/2012 2:45:19 PM

yes i thought it was fair to post since the casting was announced without indication of story effect, i have not read the comics so i only know as much as that there is a character named "the governor" and that people are looking forward to it

2/27/2012 2:48:31 PM

^yeah, the story arch with the governor is the absolute best from the books...still have to introduce that black chick too.

Whoever said it earlier was right, all the women in this show are absolutely worthless and intolerable. I find myself getting angry when they get screen time.

Maybe the guy at the CDC told Rick that if you die, you come back which is how those 2 cops were walkers with "no bites" and why when Rick said they must have been scratched he looked like he was hiding something.

Best episode so far, but that's because it was filled with action and not their shitty writing.

2/27/2012 3:29:05 PM

Now I want to see who this Governor guy is! How far down the story line should we expect his appearance?

2/27/2012 3:32:43 PM

^it's hard to say because they've strayed from the source material (neither good nor bad it just is)

Obviously they can't stay at the farm forever, the show would stagnate. So once they move to their new location, you can expect him. I'd imagine season 3 and maybe even 4 will be governor heavy.

2/27/2012 3:35:06 PM

Quote :

"so a 5 minute fight that would have woken an entire neighborhood right next to a building full of walkers requires a broken window (that they just walk through afterwards) to introduce zombies into the show is realistic..."

It's a show about zombies. Nothing for the most part is realistic. You are probably one of those people that hated Transformers because there were a few unrealistic things in it that bothered you, but cars, and planes and stuff turning into robots was no big deal.

Quote :

"but my thought that shane and rick would return and just feign that they had a zombie attack is not? hell it would have been more awesome in my mind if they had come to an agreement that that is what their story would be and THEN they actually encounter zombies. win win."

I'm not saying it's not realistic that they could return and say that there was a zombie attack and thats how they got beat up. I was saying the creators of the show aren't gonna show an entire scene, the one at the very beginning, as part of that excuse if it never happened. A dream maybe, but they aren't gonna show all that as the "fake reason" as to how Rick and Shane got beat up.

2/27/2012 3:47:58 PM

sorry, i will be more clear that i meant more realistic to you the viewer or the writers, not the characters

it sounds like you're arguing that it would be unrealistic for the writers to put dreams and fakes in a tv show and im not sure what possible reason you have for that, they can put anything they want and as i argue it would additionally make the story more realistic to have done so instead of the "bottling up" that all characters in this show do until it absolutely has to explode out

2/27/2012 4:07:44 PM

Wow.

I don't see how people like you can even enjoy watching any TV show.

2/27/2012 4:45:13 PM

you don't see how people who expect anything and everything to enjoy television? im sorry im just so confused by what you're trying to say

sopranos used the whole "its a dream" concept...although for too long i think
lost was basically an entire "is it a dream?" concept

if you could use the "dream" or "fake action" concept well why wouldn't you?

2/27/2012 5:12:34 PM

Quote :

"Now I want to see who this Governor guy is! How far down the story line should we expect his appearance?"

Season 3

2/27/2012 5:23:48 PM

Quote :

"It's a show about zombies. Nothing for the most part is realistic. You are probably one of those people that hated Transformers because there were a few unrealistic things in it that bothered you, but cars, and planes and stuff turning into robots was no big deal. "

There is a difference between realistic meaning things that happen in real life and realistic meaning within the universe created by the show. In this show it is strange how the walkers didn't care about any of the commotion before the wrench went through the window. In the world that the writers have created with rules for how the walkers function it was not realistic.

2/27/2012 6:00:03 PM

I don't like how in movies and tv shows when people need to cut themselves to leave a blood trail of some sort, they always cut their finger

Really, the tip of their finger? Can't they think of a more comfortable place to cut themselves that won't be pissing them off all the time? Also, cut your finger, then later jab it into a zombie's eye when trying to fight them off and you're zombiefied!

2/27/2012 6:12:12 PM

Great episode, though I am so tired of Andrea and the other women in this show, I could've done without that whole suicide scene

I'm loving the Rick/Shane dynamic going on

2/27/2012 8:51:58 PM

Quote :

"Maybe the guy at the CDC told Rick that if you die, you come back which is how those 2 cops were walkers with "no bites" and why when Rick said they must have been scratched he looked like he was hiding something."

i guess no one has died of 'natural causes' (non-zombie) yet? if so, i could see a character getting shot or killed by accident or something and turning at the end of the season.

who knows.

2/27/2012 8:56:43 PM

I also noticed that we haven't seen any deaths from "natural causes", meaning not from a zombie bite and not from being shot in the head, which would kill a zombie anyway. It seemed like Rick and Shane were both suspicious in the case of the two cops/security guards/whatever, but Rick wanted to end the conversation quickly. Maybe a bit of foreshadowing?

2/27/2012 9:23:02 PM

i have been really critical of this show

but that was a GREAT episode

read some of the rest of the thread, i agree there are still some minor plot holes and the women are still not compelling but busting them to a B story w/ a great A story that dominated helps keep your mind off of that

Quote :

"It's a show about zombies. Nothing for the most part is realistic."

this is an idiotic comment. fiction creates a universe and needs to follow its own rules.

[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 10:00 PM. Reason : a]

2/27/2012 9:55:42 PM

Just goes to show, they need to killed like 50% of the cast. Except for Daryl, they need more non-emo Daryl.

2/27/2012 9:59:16 PM

Quote :

"I also noticed that we haven't seen any deaths from "natural causes", meaning not from a zombie bite and not from being shot in the head, which would kill a zombie anyway. It seemed like Rick and Shane were both suspicious in the case of the two cops/security guards/whatever, but Rick wanted to end the conversation quickly. Maybe a bit of foreshadowing?"

Does that mean we may see more of those two guys they shot in the bar? I don't think they were shot in the head

2/27/2012 10:05:33 PM

I thought Rick shot the guy behind the bar in the head. They showed the spray on the mirror behind him. I know Rick shot the second guy three times, the last time specifically in the head.

2/27/2012 10:10:22 PM

Quote :

"this is an idiotic comment. fiction creates a universe and needs to follow its own rules."

I see what you mean there. I never really thought of it that way. Yeah I kinda agree that the wrench awakening the zombies was a little far fetch when you consider that.

2/27/2012 10:16:17 PM

you can argue one way or another whether something is a plot hole, but you gave a really dumb reason for why it isnt

if a wizard popped up, you would prob say "oh that is just as realistic as zombies!"

2/27/2012 10:42:36 PM