Judge, Jury, Executioner opens with Daryl playing hardball, beating the snot out of a prisoner. Daryl wants to know details about the other man’s group. How many are there? What types of weapons do they have? Daryl wants details that will give Team Rick a chance to survive. For some reason the prisoner decides to tell Daryl about what his group did to the two girls. They were raped while their father was forced to watch. Daryl, rightfully, kicks the snot out of the guy.
When Daryl goes to report to the group, Rick does something logical, and says they have to kill the kid. Dale, being the moral compass of the group, disagrees.
This is one of those times when Rick makes a solid decision. While I love Dale’s morality, the world they live in is one that would require some harsh responses to survive.
As Dale tries to rally support to his view of the world, Andrea agrees to watch the prisoner. She actually agrees with Rick’s viewpoint, but she agrees to help Dale for the short term. Shane then goes right back to questioning Rick’s decision. Even though I think Rick is doing what Shane would have done here, right?
Inside the barn we then see Carl being an idiot. He decides to go have a chat with the prisoner. Of course he gets way to close. Shane saves Carl before anything bad could happen, but still.
Dale then goes to find Daryl, hoping to sway him to his side. Instead Dale gets a shock when Daryl shows him just how smart he is. Daryl already knew that Shane killed Otis.
Carl then shows what a d*ck he can be when he tells Carol that heaven doesn’t’ exist. Rick tries to talk to Carl, telling him to apologize and make things right with Carol. Instead of going to find Carol, Carl makes another questionable decision, and steals a 45 from Daryl’s motorcycle. Carl then goes into the woods and almost gets bit. The kid has no luck. He almost sits on a Zombie stuck in the mud.
Back at the farm we see a touching scene between Hershel and Beth. This leads to Hershel sharing a few bits of wisdom with Glen. He also gives Glen two gifts. The first is Hershel’s family heirloom watch. The second is his blessing to the relationship he has with Maggie.
The group then has a meeting about the death penalty, which basically turns into Dale vs everyone else. At least until Andrea chimes in to support Dale a little bit. With the decision, made Rick, Shane, and Daryl take the prisoner out to the barn.
Rick is just about to pull the trigger when Carl shows up and tells Rick to do it. The cold bloodedness makes Rick falter, unable to do it after hearing Carl’s words. Isn’t Carl the reason that Rick is doing this? To keep his son safe? On another note – is the kid just free range? Does anyone actually watch the kid? Lori banged her husband’s partner while his body wasn’t cold, and she let’s the kid just wander around in the post apocalyptic world? Rick’s to blame too, but at least in his case he had a priority task, which is why I’m wondering what Lori was thinking?
While Rick is chickening out, Dale has gone for a walk to clear his head, and finds a wounded cow, and then a Zombie that surprises him, taking him to the ground and ripping open his chest in the process.
First of all, this sucks. Dale was one of my favorite characters. Secondly, this really highlights why basic survival rules are so important. No one goes out alone. Always go out in groups! It also highlights just how strong the Zombies are. Tearing someone’s chest open takes a lot of strength.
Judge, Jury, Executioner ends with Daryl being forced to put Dale, who is mortally injured and in excruciating pain, down. Thus, the story of Dale comes to an end. Dale, you will be missed.
Judge, Jury, Executioner Scoring
I’m giving Judge, Jury, Executioner a 70/100, mostly due to its focus on the death penalty drama, and because they killed of Dale, who I really liked.
Carl’s Questionable Decisions
- Season 2, Episode 1, What Lies Ahead (29:15) – Carl scavenges a bag of edged weapons from a car without any adult supervision. Sure it turned out to be someone who was dead dead, but he had no idea.
- Season 2, Episode 6, Secrets(7:45) – Carl gets caught with a revolver he stole from the RV. I get the motivation, but he should have asked first.
- Season 2, Episode 11, Judge, Jury, Executioner(10:35) – Carl decides he should approach the prisoner in the barn and chat with him.
- Season 2, Episode 11, Judge, Jury, Executioner(19:35) – Carl steels a 45 from Daryl’s motorcycle. Haven’t we been down this gun path before?
| 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 |
