Bloodletting begins with a short flashback. Lori is remembering the day that Shane came to tell her that Rick has been shot in the line of duty. Just before Shane arrived she’s telling a girlfriend that her and Rick had a fight, and she was not being reasonable. Rick responds to her anger with coolness, and that makes her even madder. The way Lori responds when Shane pulls up is just heartbreaking. How does a police wife respond when her husbands partner shows up without him?
Spoilers Below
Shane tells Lori that its his fault. The call said there were two men in the car, but there was a third. The third man got the drop on them. Lori has to tell Carl that his dad has been shot.
When we come back from the first break, Rick, Shane, and Otis (the man who shoots Carl while hunting deer) are running for the farm. Otis told them that Hershel will be able to help them. This does raise some interesting questions about how well supplied Hershel’s camp is, because, well, Otis is a big boy – which is slowing them down a bit.
We are then to meet a newcomer. This newcomer will become one of the major characters for multiple seasons. Please let me introduce Maggie. Maggie sees Rick running, and alerts her father, Hershel. When Rick gets to the porch the first thing Hershel asks is whether Carl was bit. Once they confirm Carl was shot, not bit, the Hershel Emergency medical team goes into action.
Back in the woods, Team Daryl is leading the rest of the group on their continued search for Sophia. They heard the shot in the distance that hit Carl, but have no idea what actually happened – yet.
Back at Hershel’s house, we see Carl struggling, screaming as Hershel removes the bullet fragments. At least until he passes out from the pain. Lucky for Carl, him and his father have the same blood type.
How To Save Carl
Hershel has stabilized Carl, but he needs to open his belly to stop a bleeder. The local hospital burnt down, but FEMA opened a shelter at the local high school and there are medical supplies there. Rick can’t leave, he has to be there to give Carl blood. This leaves the medical supply mission up to Shane and Otis, while Maggie goes to get Lori, on a f*cking horse!!!
Back at Hershel’s farm, Rick and Hershel are having a heart to heart, at least until Maggie returns with Lori and she’s faced with seeing her son on the brink of death, pale and unresponsive from his wounds.
We then get an awesome back and forth between Lori and Hershel as he tells her he’s a vet, and not a combat vet, a vet as in a veterinarian.
The High School
Meanwhile Shane and Otis have reached the FEMA site at the local high school, and things do not look so great. There are a lot of Zombies about.
With so many Zombies about, Shane is forced to wait until nightfall when he can use road flares liberated from one of the cop cars to create a distraction to get the Zombies away from the FEMA trailer.
The distraction gives Shane and Otis the time they need to collect the medical supplies, but the horde is hot on their trail as they leave the trailer. This is one of the reasons that The Walking Dead is so awesome, the Zombie hordes are just so well done:
With hordes coming at them from every side, Shane and Otis are forced to take shelter inside the school, at least as long as the gate will hold.
Bloodletting Scoring
Bloodletting was another episode of The Walking Dead that kept me glued to the screen. It scored a 91/100, and is Worth Your Time. What cost it 9 points? Mostly very minor things. The first is that a lot of time bullet fragments are left in patients unless they are causing issues. So while the surgery is still necessary for the bleeder, going after the fragments is just asking for trouble. The other minor thing is the Zombies are heavy in the last few minutes, but you can never have enough Zombie kills, and there was really just one good kill when Daryl kills the Zombie that was menacing Andrea before Maggie shows up on her stead to save her.
| 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 |
