Vatos opens with Amy and Andrea in a canoe, talking about their father and how he taught them to fish. Amy and Andrea have a twelve year age gap and as they chat they realize that their father taught them each differently. He gave them each what they needed though. This leads them to another of their Dad’s rules, “No crying in the boat.”
Up at camp Dale is on over watch, keeping an eye on everyone from atop his RV. As Dale sees Jim in the distance digging the camera zooms in for just a moment. Jim is digging what looks like graves. Dale goes over to check on him but Jim isn’t in a talkative mood and just keeps digging.
Merle’s Rescue
Meanwhile Merle’s rescue team is coming to grips with what happened on the roof. Daryl has a brief moment of murderous rage before he switches back to tracker mode. It is time to follow his brother’s blood trail. The trail leads them to two dead walkers, one with a bloody wrench near it. Daryl comments that his brother is the toughest *sshole he ever met.
Rick reminds Daryl that anyone can pass out from blood lose, no matter how tough they are. They continue the search until they come to a kitchen area where they find lit sterno candles and burnt skin. Merle cauterized his stump.
Daryl wants to keep searching, but Atlanta is huge. They agree to look around a few blocks, but only after they get the guns that Rick dropped by the tank.
Camp
Back at the camp Amy and Andrea have returned from their fishing trip as victorious heroes. Because of their fishing skills the camp gets to have a real meal. The survivors are celebrating their good fortune when Dale comes back and lets them know they have a problem. Dale points up to the hill where Jim is still digging.
Dale leads the camp group up to talk to Jim, but Jim doesn’t want to hear any feedback. He refuses to stop until Shane takes the shovel from him and handcuffs him. Shane tells him he’s going to be okay but Jim says he doesn’t believe it. It’s the same thing Jim told his family right before they were torn out of his grasp and eaten. The survivors tie Jim to a tree. After some rest he tries to bargain for his freedom. He tries to sound normal, but there is still crazy in his eyes.
Get The Guns
In Atlanta Glenn is laying out his plan to grab the guns. He wants the team to split up on either side of the bag so once he grabs it he’s go someplace to run in either direction. Daryl asks Glenn what he did before the apocalypse. I think Daryl was expecting something more than “Pizza Delivery” as Glenn’s old profession.
While Glenn is grabbing the bag of guns (and Rick’s hat) Daryl finds himself face to face with another survivor. The kid Daryl finds is screaming for someone, which leads to a brief scuffle before two others show up. Daryl is outnumbered and gets a beat down. As Daryl is getting the snot kicked out of him Glenn comes around the corner, which leads the newcomers to focus on Glenn.
Glenn gets beat but Daryl saves the bags of guns with a well placed crossbow shot. They aren’t able to save Glenn though. The newcomers show up in a car and kidnap Glenn before speeding away, leaving one of their own behind in the rush.
Rick, T-Dog and Daryl interrogate their prisoner. Daryl wants to know if they also took Merle like they took Glenn, which leads to Daryl trying to kick the kids face in. I love this Daryl. It is the angry, impulsive, raw metal that the apocalypse hammers into a smart, deadly survivor in coming years. Going back and re-watching these old episodes really makes me appreciate the character development of my favorite survivors.
The Prisoner
The kids not speaking, which forces Daryl to use psychological warfare. He throws Merle’s hand at the kid and tell him it was from the last person who didn’t speak when told to. The kid freaks out and falls off his chair as Daryl bears down on him. Daryl tells him they are going to start with the feet this time. Not surprisingly, the kid breaks, and leads the group back to where his friends took Glenn.
Rick and team approach the Vatos and we are introduced to Guillermo, the leader of the gang. Guillermo drops some truth, calling out Rick for saying they just want to talk. From Guillermo’s perspective his guys were jumped and defended themselves. Guillermo wants the bag of guns in exchange for the damage done to his people. Then he’ll agree to the prisoner exchange.
Things are about to get very ugly. Guillermo tells Rick that if he doesn’t do what he wants Glenn is getting fed to his three man eating dogs. Rick and the Vatos are about to thrown down when the violence is interrupted by an old lady. It’s hard to understand what she’s saying, but someone needs their medicine.
The old lady takes Rick by the hand and leads him to “the Asian boy”. On the way Rick realizes that the Vatos aren’t bad people. They’ve been protecting an old folks home. Better still, we get to see Guillermo’s three, man eating dogs.
Compromise
Rick pulls Guillermo aside, angry that they almost came to blows. Rick does the right thing and splits the gun stash with Guillermo. When Team Rick heads back to the van, it has been stolen, presumably by Merle, who is going to want revenge.
Back at the camp Andrea is looking for something to wrap Amy’s birthday present in. Meanwhile Shane checks on Jim before cutting him loose.
As the camp enjoys their fish fry, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn are running back. They are afraid that Merle is going to hurt their friends and loved ones.
As the camp is enjoying there fish fry Morales asks Dale why he still winds his watch every day. Dale quotes Faulkner about time.
I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father’s before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.
― William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
As Amy goes to the restroom Ed hears noises just outside his tent. When he gets up to punish whomever is there comes face to face with a walker. Ed is swarmed in his tent as Amy steps out of the RV to complain about toilette paper. She steps directly into the grasp of a walker. Andrea looks up just in time to see her sister get bitten.
The camp is swarming with walkers as Shane tries to rally the survivors, yelling for everyone to make for the high ground by the RV. Rick’s small group shows up with their new firepower just in time to save the camp from being completely overwhelmed.
We then get the first of many punches to the balls that is to come as Andrea holds Amy in her arms as her sister dies.
The episode ends with Jim saying he now remembers the dream, and why he dug the graves as the camera scans the bodies on the ground around camp.
Vatos Scoring
Vatos was an excellent episode with good character development, tension and action. It is what every Zombies Series should strive to be! Vatos is Worth Your Time and scored a 94/100.
| Season | Episode | Episode Name | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Days Gone Bye | 100 |
| 1 | 2 | Guts | 100 |
| 1 | 3 | Tell It To The Frogs | 95 |
| 1 | 4 | Vatos | 94 |
| 1 | 5 | Wildfire | 95 |
| 1 | 6 | TS-19 | 99 |
| 2 | 1 | What Lies Ahead | 95 |
| 2 | 2 | Bloodletting | 91 |
| 2 | 3 | Save The Last One | 83 |
| 2 | 4 | Cherokee Rose | 94 |
| 2 | 5 | Chupacabra | 97 |
| 2 | 6 | Secrets | 85 |
| 2 | 7 | Pretty Much Dead Already | 100 |
| 2 | 8 | Nebraska | 88 |
| 2 | 9 | Triggerfinger | 76 |
| 2 | 10 | Miles Out | 90 |
| 2 | 11 | Judge, Jury, Executioner | 70 |
| 2 | 12 | Better Angels | 75 |
| 2 | 13 | Beside the Dying Fire | 100 |
