I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s episode of The Walking Dead.
The “are we still civilized?” undercurrent really made me think, and I kept pausing to discuss what I would do in that situation. My husband totally hates it when I do that. I forced the issue though, and it turned out that he and I completely disagreed about how the situation should have been handled. He felt that Dale was right, and that they should basically keep Randall as a prisoner. I think that’s crap. I mean, sure he is being made out to seem like he could be a good guy, but if there is even the slightest chance (and there is!) that he could bring danger to the farm, the boy has got to go. Of course, if I were in charge instead of Rick, this wouldn’t even be an issue because I would have shot Randall (out of mercy, mind you,) when he was stuck to that fence.
Anyway, I was surprised that they ended up letting Randall live. I thought for sure that Shane or Jack Bauer Daryl would just go ahead and get it over with already. Again, I feel the need to say that I don’t dislike Randall, it’s a wrong place/wrong time kind of situation here. By the looks of next week’s promo, not killing him turns out to be a mistake. Although the promos always tend to mislead, so who knows..
Oh Dale, I am so sorry for all of the times during this episode that I felt so annoyed by you that I thought they should just go ahead and get rid of you, too. Because they did. This was another shocker. It’s amazing to me how this show can make you feel so attached to a character that, even if he annoys the hell out of you, you want to cry when he is inevitably ripped open by a zombie and shot by one of his own people. Oh, so we now know who was on the other side of that gun, by the way. I totally knew it couldn’t be Merle. I do wonder if Merle is part of this other group, though.
Carl, you little shit, what were you thinking in this episode?! Actually I kind of liked where they went with Carl because it was a bit of a reminder that he’s still a kid. He’s been so mature and well-behaved so far this season, and that’s just not realistic. A kid would totally sneak into places he’s not supposed to and say stupid things to adults that end up getting him in trouble. Whether a kid would steal a gun or throw rocks at a zombie, I can’t attest to. I wonder if Carl will fess up about leading the walker into camp? While we’re on the subject of Carl, I think it’s interesting that Shane still seems to have more of a fathering role with him than Rick does. What’s up with that?
Did anyone else think that Carol was really weird this episode? Kind of like they are trying to figure out what to do with her? On a related note, I have decided that I like T-Dog and his role in the group. You know, he doesn’t do or say much, but that’s cool with me. In a random group of people, I think it’s realistic to imagine that one or two of them would hang back and be a bit more reserved. T-Dog’s not interested in the drama that’s going on, but he steps up when he’s needed.
My least favorite thing about this episode was the realization that there are only two more left. Nooooooo!
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Carl IS a little shit. My husband seems to think throwing rocks at zombies is totally what a kid would do. But then, he was a deliquent back in the day. The Carol thing was WEIRD. Like they had to have her say something. I think I would rather have heard from T-Dog. Whatever, excellent episode.
I’m glad you agree about Carol. Her basic point seemed to be “I don’t want to be involved in any decision making, but don’t ignore me or act like my opinion doesn’t matter!!!”
Yeah, killing Randall is probably the best choice, but would you be the one to do it?
Nah, I would send Daryl. Just get it over with when the guy isn’t expecting it, you know, instead of asking him for his last words!
I was totally yelling at Carl through the tv last night. The person I’m most annoyed with right now is Lori. I made my husband pause it, too so I could go off on a rant. “Look, I’ve already accepted that during the zombie apocalypse I will never be able to poop in peace again. WTF is her problem that she just lets her 8 year old run around doing whatever the hell he wants? THERE WAS A BARN FULL OF ZOMBIES SO NOWHERE IS SAFE! THE FENCE GOT KNOCKED DOWN SO ANYTHING COULD HAVE COME IN! She for sure wins the shittiest mother of the apocalypse award.”
I know, why don’t they keep better tabs on that kid?! You would think after the Sophia thing, they would be a little more careful!
Glad to know I’m not the only one who pauses.
Yeah, ’cause after all, Lori prides herself on being the one who does the household chores like washing and cooking. Shouldn’t “watching your child so it won’t die” be on the top of her list? Dale’s blood is also on her hands.
I was just starting to really like Dale. Last season he got a little heavy-handed, but this season we saw him more for what he actually was–the voice of reason and humanity within the group.
This brings us to a very scary place, and I think it’s brilliant on the part of the writers. There is a convention within zombie movies that Romero taught us, and that’s that things always get worse. Striking down Dale goes perfectly towards that theme. It’s perverse and horrible and perfectly the right thing to do all at the same time.
Another moment that stands out is Carl standing in the doorway to the barn saying ‘Do it, dad.’ The cliched thing to do would have been to have him just standing there looking at his dad, or perhaps saying ‘Don’t do it, dad.’ I’m so glad they went the other way. If Carl represents the future Rick is looking at preserving by not shooting Randall, it still makes it a very scary place, and that’s good. Kudos to the writers.
I’m torn between the fact that Carl is acting just like a 10-year old boy would and the fact that I think he’s a little shit now because he is responsible for Dale’s death. Dale is worth a dozen Carls in my book.I hope the little twerp has to undergo massive psychic trauma as a result of his actions, and that somewhere along the line the rest of the group finds out what he did.
Finally, I’d like to say that the folks at AMC are loons for only giving us these few episodes to constitute a ‘season’, for driving out Frank Darabont, and for cutting the show’s budget by 40% as Sam Witwer revealed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCyjdBac6p4&feature=player_embedded
Still, they took the risk of bringing us a zombie series on televsion, and it’s a very good one, and I’m thankful for that. Too bad they don’t seem to know what they’ve got.
Good point about Carl and the “Do it, Dad” thing. Carl is really turning out to be heartless, but maybe that’s what any future generations would have to be.. I hope everyone finds out about Carl leading the walker back as well. I don’t doubt that Carl is already having, and will continue to have, massive psychic trauma!
Thanks for the comment!
Carl forever after will be known to me as ‘the litttle shit’ thanks to your blog. LOL
I am deeply honored. 😉