Deux Amours (Two Loves) has team Daryl floating down the river. Laurent is enjoying the travel from the bow of the boat. Daryl and Azlan are inside the cabin, having a deep conversation. This leads to Daryl having a flashback – which in turn explains how Daryl ended up in France.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The producers got this one right. Great story, awesome action, and lots of zombies. What is not to love about that?
Deux Amours Scoring
Deux Amours knocked it out of the park. It is the first perfect 100/100 for the series, and it was well earned.
Spoilers Below:
Deux Amours got me. I was enthralled by the story and action. I wasn’t ready for the cliff hanger ending. It left me partially stunned, then mad, then sad that I had to wait for the final episode to come out. It takes amazing writing and producing to make that happen.
The Good
I loved how Daryl comes in with a shit ton of Zombies for the harvesting group. It was also cool how he used sticks through their cheeks to “defang” them a little.
Laurent and Daryl have several touching moments. Clearly the kid is growing on Daryl.
When Daryl is remembering how he got to France on the boat. There is a scene where he plays wounded. I loved how the guards kicked him to try and make sure he was actually down. They didn’t just grab him and start to pull him out. Of course it didn’t save them.
Daryl Versus The Boat Guards
I’m not sure what was in the juice they are shooting into the walkers, but it sure looked cool!
The Juice
The Bad
It sucks that the kid at the Collection Camp didn’t make it.
Poor Azlan. I guess he got rammed into the spike on the pole?
I give detailed, blow by blow details as I review. If you want to skip the spoilers jump down to the Scoring!
If you have watched Endure and Survive let me know if you agree with my scoring below.
Freedom (Flashback)
Endure and Survive opens with a mob chanting “Freedom, Freedom” before the scene devolves into a violent mob. The Boss Lady is looking for her child. She is pissed at the Fedra loyalists. She wants them to tell her where Henry is. After telling her Soldier to kill the captives one of them chimes up. He knows where Hendry is. Or at least his general whereabouts.
As Bossy Lady leaves she tells her men to kills the captives and burn the bodies. It’s faster than a trial.
No Trials
We then jump to Henry, the doctor, and his guardian. They are in the attic we saw in Episode 4. We see Henry’s Guardian give him crayons to draw with.
Days pass. Henry and his Guardian are running out of supplies. When the food runs out Henry’s Guardian is forced to leave the attic. They need to find supplies.
They morning they decide to leave merges with the Joel and Ellie timeline. Henry and his Guardian are about to walk out onto the street when Joel’s truck crashes into the building and a gunfight erupts. The Guardian sees something in Joel. Henry’s Guardian can recognize a survivor when he sees one.
Meeting (Current TimeLine)
Ellie is calling for Joel. Henry and his Guardian have them at gunpoint. Henry and his Guardian are nervous. They don’t want trouble with Joel, but it is hard when you have someone at gunpoint.
Then the bomb drops.
I thought Henry was the kid and older guy was the Guardian. The older guy is HENRY!!!! The younger kid is Sam, Henry’s little brother. I thought Henry was the Bosses kid, but I was totally wrong.
The foursome reaches a truce and shares a meal by lantern light. After they break bed Joel is Joel. He wants everyone to go their way but Henry has something Joel wants. He knows the city and a potential way out. They make a deal. Henry will show the way as long as Joel will clear the way.
We also find out who the Boss lady is. Her name is Kathleen.
Escape
The four move to the bank to get to the initial entrance into the tunnels. The tension rises as the four make it into the underground. Deep underground they come across what looks like a daycare. The walls acre covered in drawings. The room is full of small furniture and toys. After the infection spread people moved underground in an attempt to survive.
Ellie asked where the people went. Joel says maybe they weren’t careful and got infected. Joel prowls as Sam and Ellie share a moment before they decide to wait out the day. It is safer to move in the shadows.
As Ellie and Sam play soccer Henry tells Joel his story. He gave up the leader of resistance to get Sam cancer medication. The leader of the resistance was also Kathleen’s brother.
The Other Side
The band of four makes it out of the tunnels. They walk through a residential area in the dark, chatting as they walk. At least until someone takes a shot at them. Joel is going to circle around and take out the sniper. Whoever is shotting has bad aim. Joel can see the river and the bridge as he is about to attack the house. He finds an old man at the window and begs him to put is rifle down. The man tries to spin around to shoot Joel but he’s too slow.
As Joel is picking up the man’s rifle we here Kathleen on a radio. She is coming. Joel screams out the window, telling Ellie and the others to run.
Joel struggles with the rifle as the lead vehicle smashes through vehicles with its plow. Ellie desperately fires over her shoulder as the vehicle continues to barrel down on them.
Just as Ellie falls Joel makes the shot and the plow veers off. Ellie, Henry and Sam are stranded with Kathleen approaching as Joel is about to have his own position attacked. He is now in the old man’s position. Stuck with a rifle at the window as someone assaults his position.
Henry urges Ellie to take Sam and run. He is going to sacrifice himself so the kids can escape.
The Horde
Kathleen is about to put a bullet into Henry when the plow vehicle sinks into the ground. The sounds of infected drift upwards on the wind. The undead are about to swarm.
The Horde
As the horde tears into Kathleen’s soldiers Ellie, Henry, and Sam run for it, covered by Joel in the window. Ellie just barely makes it into an old SUV as the horde overruns the other survivors. Then, out of the pit comes a massive beast. Bullets don’t hurt it.
Joel desperately fires at a child infected as it climbs into the SUV with Ellie but he can’t make the shot. Ellie sees Henry and Sam being attacked under a truck and attacks. They are almost back to Joel when Kathleen corners them. The child infected that followed Ellie into the SUV chirps before it dives onto Kathleen, giving the group a chance to escape.
Abandoned Hotel Motel
The band of four made it out. They found an abandoned hotel. Ellie and Sam are reading comic books as Joel tells Henry he can come with them to Wyoming if they want. Henry agrees and says he will tell Sam in the morning.
Ellie and Sam bond as Sam asks her if she is ever scared. They pass his Magic Slate back and forth as Ellie admits that she is scared too. At least of scorpions. She then gets serious, telling Sam she doesn’t want to end up alone. She asks Sam what he’s afraid of. He tells her he wants to know if its still you inside if you turn. Right before showing Ellie his bite wound. Sam is infected.
Ellie tells Sam her blood is medicine. She slices open her hand and presses it to Sam’s wound. Sam begs her to stay awake with him. She promises.
Morning Comes
Ellie wakes up to find Sam staring out the window. He is very still and doesn’t respond when she says hey. But he’s deaf right? Or did he turn.
He turned.
Henry panics as Sam attacks. He shoots at the ground to keep Joel from attacking before shooting his own son. Henry is in shock, staring at his son. His life’s purpose is over. Henry puts the revolver to his head and pulls the trigger.
Joel and Ellie bury their two friends. Ellie’s last act is to put the Magic Slate on top of Sam’s grave. Her last words for Sam are an apology. She feels like she let him down.
Endure and Survive Scoring
Endure and Survive was powerful and amazing. The story is touching, heartfelt, and just all around mind blowing. This is the first time the fifth episode of a series has ever scored a 100/100. The infected horde was just so well done. It’s what I want from every horde!
White Horse picks up the tale of Spear. He’s out in the woods, hungry, hurt and cold. There are survivors about, but Spears hides from them, not sure if they are friend or foe. At least until we walks out of the trees an comes face to face with the man who has been slowly trailing him.
An Old Friend
The newcomer gives Spears some water, and says he knows him, but Spears doesn’t seem to remember Braithwaite when he introduces himself.
Braithwaite claims to forget Spears name, and Spears is positive he doesn’t know Braithwaite, regardless of what Braithwaite says. Braithwaite says something very telling. He believes that they will both laugh once they realize who each other are.
Black Summer, Season 2
While on the move Spears and Braithwaite hunker down and watch as a man on a Pale Horse trots by. Spears wanted Braithwaite to take the shot, but Braithwaite says it wouldn’t have mattered. If he had shot, the horse would have bolted anyway.
All the while Braithwaite keeps trying out names on Spears while saying things like “It’s a clean slate all around.” A little further along they find a woodsman, crushed under a fallen tree. While scavenging they find a bit of gear to start a fire as well as a pistol, which Braithwaite hands over to Spears. I think it was this act that bought Braithwaite some of Spears trust.
Spears and Braithwaite sit around the fire, drinking the dead woodsman bottle of booze, when Braithwaite pulls out a PayDay candy bar. He’s willing to share it but Spears is allergic to nuts. As they sit there Braithwaite drops more truth bombs. He knows Spears from back in teh day, and now Spears can’t deny it. Braithwaite knows him and his brother both. It’s at the end of this interaction that we first here them pledge that bygones are bygones.
When Braithwaite wants to see how badly hurt Spears is, Spears starts throwing punches and ends up getting his ass knocked out as repayment.
When Braithwaite wakes Spears up, its dark, pouring rain, and then we hear Zombies and a horse in the distance. As they are moving through woods Braithwaite tells Spears about his cabin. There is food, guns, and ammo, they just need to live long enough to get there.
As they are walking they find strange symbols in the trees and get a little spooked. It’s not long before they get run down by a small horde and are forced to shoot, which brings more Zombies. They rush through the woods until they find a cabin to shelter in. Great right? Well, maybe not so much. The place is covered in crazy scribbles.
Crazy Ramblings
When they see blood dripping from upstairs they draw their weapons and go to clear the 2nd floor only to find an old man surrounded by the bodies of what look like cult followers.
Spears then asks the old man something prophetic:
The next morning Braithwaite and Spears walk out to a mostly dry riverbed. As they are standing there talking Spears remembers Braithwaite. In another life Spears, or Little James, put two bullets in Braithwaite as he drank a lemonade. Braithwaite goes on to say he’s no longer a vengeful person, bygones after all.
Spears seems to struggle with the knowledge, thinking it means he may need to finish the job as the White Horse comes walking up the riverbed. We see Spears put the revolver to the back to Brathwaite’s head before the other man walks away, never looking back.
Watching White Horse for a second time it was very clear that Braithwaite knew who Spears was the whole time. What was his motivation? Wouldn’t he have known or guessed that Spears would see him as a threat? Was this his effort to get some form of internal closure? It sounds like he might not have been the nicest guy back in the day, or was it just that he was alone and Spears was that rare bit of throwback to the time before? Let me know what you think in the comments.
White Horse was an intense, well written, story that detailed how the world changed how two men saw each other. In the end Spears let Braithwaite walk away, and the two went their separate ways. White Horse earned every one of its 88 points, making it Worth Your Time.
What cost it a few points? Mostly the lack of more Zombies and the lack of explanation as to why Brathwaite played what was a very dangerous game of “Do you remember me?” with a man who was a known killer.
Love & Backetball opens with Liv and Major making out. Major wants to do more, but Liv is scared. She doesn’t want to turn Major into a Zombie again.
Make Out The Zombie
Major wakes up on the couch, still human. He makes it clear to Liv that he wants more butshe tells him they have to settle for being friends. She won’t risk him being a Zombie, and she won’t date him until there is a cure.
Our victim for this episode if Mike, a security guard. We see Mike get shot after he turns off the cameras that might have recorded his murder. Once in the morgue, Liv makes a nice omelet out of the security guards brains, yum…
Brains Omelet
We then learn that zombies who aren’t fed deteriorate into something horrifying, and the researchers at Max Rager want a fresh sample of Zombie blood to figure out what is going on.
Mike was a basketball coach, and he clearly loved basketball, because Liv is not an expert on B-ball. We then find out that one of Mike’s kids father’s is abusive and violent. Clive, bless his heart, goes back later that night to make sure the abusive father knows he better not touch his kid again, and then beats his face down nicely.
Liv then plays coach match maker before dropping the bomb on Rita Du Clark that she was recently kissing major. This gives Rita the opportunity to stab Liv with a skewer and get that sample of Zombie blood she was looking for.
Rita is also pushing Major to continue to do his job but when he goes to meet his next target his doubts continue to grow when his business man target’s family, including his young son run to him for hugs.
With another body found, Clive and Liv are led to an expensive attorney’s office where they find the baseball bat he likely used to kill the 2nd victim, as well as blood on the blinds. Live and Clive have found their man.
Major then goes back to Max Rager and tells Rita that none of the people on her list are Zombies. She doesn’t believe him, but for the moment all she can is tell him the odds are low.
Major tells Rita they can’t continue to do whatever they were doing, and later in the evening tells Liv that he doesn’t care if she’s a Zombie, he wants to be with her.
Love & Backetball ends with Lieutenant Suzuki’s widow coming to Clive and bringing him a plastic container that has a chunk of blains in it. Why would his old boss have had brains in his beer fridge?
Love & Basketball Scoring
Love & Backetball scored an 81/100. It was fast paced and had lots of twists and turns and is Worth Your Time.
Chupacabra starts with a flashback to just before everything fell completely apart. Lori and Shane are in in a column of other survivors, stopped on a highway. When they hear helicopters in the distance Shane and Lori go to look through the trees. They see the military dropping napalm on the streets.
Napalm Vs Zombies
When we come back from the first commercial break Lori has just woke up. She slept in. She doesn’t feel so good, but she’s not going to tell anyone why just yet.
On the porch, Glenn is strumming a guitar when Maggie comes out to destroy his hopes and dream. This one hurt.
Eleven Condoms = Eleven Lost Minutes
While Lori and Carol plan a meal for Hershel to show their appreciation of his hospitality, Rick and the boys are heading out early to search for Sophia. While out on the trail Shane uses an all in one Multi-Tool to hammer a flag into a tree. If your interested, I think this is the the Multi-Tool.
While out on the search Shane and Rick have a tough conversation about what they are really doing, and whether Sophia could realistically still be alive. Daryl on the other hand gets thrown off his horse after it gets spooked by a snake. In the fall Daryl ends up spiked on one of his own crossbow bolts. Ouch..
Daryl On An Arrow
Things do not get any better for Daryl as he tries to get out of the ravine he’s fallen into. After taking a tumble while trying to climb out he loses consciousness and wakes up to a walker about to take a bite. This leads to one of Daryl’s many epic Zombie kills.
Daryl Being Awesome
With a few walkers dead, Daryl is forced to climb out of the ravine in pain, and hallucinating about his brother taunting him. But he does make it out.
Back at the farm Hershel isn’t happy with all the mixing between the groups. Especially if the mixing is between Maggie and Glen.
We then get to see Dale sharing some very important knowledge with Glen about woman and their cycles.
Andrea gets excited when she sees a walker approaching in the distance. She takes aim with her rifle, even though Dale is telling her not too shoot.
Walker In The Distance?
Rick and Shane just reach Daryl and realize he’s not a walker when Andrea takes the shot…and thankfully only grazes him. Daryl has made it back to the farm, and the doll he found while searching is Sophia’s.
Inside the house, the planned meal is mildly tense. But Maggie does pass Glen a note, it sounds like he’s about to be down to 10 condoms. Hopefully it costs Maggie more than just a minute of her life. So after initiating, why does Maggie look so scared when she reads Glen’s reply?
Ever Done It In A Hayloft?
Maggie runs to the barn, but it’s too late, Glen is looking down at Hershel’s secret.
Zombie Barn
Chupacabra ends with Maggie telling Glen he wasn’t supposed to see inside the shed. I guess we have to wait for Episode 6 to see how Maggie is going to keep Glen quiet? I think she’s got eleven options?
Chupacabra Scoring
Chupacabra scored a 97/100. It was a strong, well done episode with an awesome focus on Daryl. Yes, Daryl will get you bonus points when it comes to screen time. It’s just the way it is.
Little Red and the Wolfz begins with 10K. After jumping into the river to escape Murphy’s Minions, he’s been carried downstream, away from his pursuers. Even wounded and cold, 10K was able to keep his grip on the bag of Zombie Cure.
10K Down – Stream
Tasty Brains
While 10K is struggling to survive out on the river bank we cut over to Murphy. Murphy is sad and maudlin at the loss of Dr. Merch. He wishes he understood why she did it. As he’s walking around her corpse, he is pulled in by the look and smell of her delicious brains.
Temptation
Murphy is resisting but the more he ponders why she did it the more agitated he becomes.
10K might have escaped Murphy’s compound, but he’s bleeding. He’s also out in the wild and still has one of Murphy’s henchmen on his trail. 10K flees into the water, climbing onto what’s left of a wooden picnic table to drift downstream. He might be wounded, but when he comes across a man on a motorcycle, he still has enough in him to steal the bike and race away. This lead2 to a bit of motorcycle handgun practice. (Highly dangerous – don’t try it.) He makes it to a nearby farm before getting knocked off the bike by a drag line. At least he had a good dream while he was out cold, imagining Red kissing him.
Dreaming Of Red
Chained to a Car
When 10K wakes up he’s not in quite as happy a place. He’s been chained to a car and there are multiple Zombies approaching. He takes down several, but his wound is slowing him down and sapping his strength. Which leads to an awesome Zombie Kill.
Hubcap of Death
10K is kicking butt, but he’s getting tired, and the Zombies just keep coming. It’s looking bad for 10K until Murphy’s henchman shows up and saves him just in time. He doesn’t really care about 10K. The henchman wants to get back the bag 10k stole because he knows Murphy needs it. 10K doesn’t want to go back to being a Murphy puppet however. 10k takes the first chance he gets to bash his captor in the face with a rock and make a run for it. He doesn’t get far however before he’s caught and given a bit of pain in return for his efforts.
Out on the back roads we see the couple who stole the bike from 10K. There is a pack of something in the woods. Something that is fast, and finds people delicious.
Murphy’s Compound
Back at the compound Murphy realizes he’s got a problem. He looks at his arm and realizes he has patches of pale, healthy, human flesh. He needs to make more Zombie booster. That’s just about when he picks up a fork and looks over at Dr. Merch’s lovely brains. They are just waiting to be eaten.
10K and his captor track down the motorbike in hopes of finding the bag of Zombie Meds. Before they can find it they are chased off by whatever else is in the woods with them. 10K uses the brief moment of confusion to fake his death. As soon as he gets his chance runs, following his imaginary Red. She urges him to run, at least at first. She ends up telling him he has to go back and save 5K.
This leads to a nice, if choppy fight scene. 10K takes down multiple beasties, thinking he is saving 5K. It is really the woman who stole the bike, and the meds, from him. It’s too late to save her, but he does recover the bag of meds. Feeling Murphy’s pull on him, 10K takes another shot and falls into another dream. He’s lost in happy daydreams of Red and 5K.
10K’s Happy Place
Little Red and the Wolfz ends with Murphy chowing down on Dr. Merch’s brains, now able to read her journal and understand it. Murphy’s henchman comes back and tells Murphy that 10K is dead, but Murphy doesn’t believe it. He knows that 10K is a tough kid, and if he escaped, that means 10K will be heading for Warren, and then coming for him. Murphy’s final command of the episode is to tell his team to get ready for an attack.
Little Red and the Wolfz Scoring
Little Red and the Wolfz was a tough episode to rate. I loved all the Zombie violence, but the Zombie Meds stuff was a little confusing. The shot is a booster for Murphy but it saves 10K from Murphy’s powers? Maybe I’m just missing something. Overall it was still a fun, action packed episode and scored a 79/100.
Flight of the Living Dead tells the tale of a group of adrenaline junkies working for “Max Rager”. Energy drink makers love to pitch their products to adrenaline junkies. The team takes a shot of some expensive alcohol before leaping from the plane.
Terminal Velocity
The Victom
After the team jumps we cut to Liv on the ground. She is having an irreverent conversation about food on sticks with Ravi.
Impaled On A Tree
It’s not long before Liv finds out that she has a personal connection with the dead jumper, Holly. They were briefly in the same sorority in college.
With Holly’s brains on board Liv finds a newfound joy in riding bicycles and racing around the city. As Liv is working on who and what killed Holly we find out that the corporate team who runs Max Rager may be hiding something. Just before Holly died she was copied on a corporate communication that had information about Max Rager fans going violently insane.
In the pursuit of Holly’s killer, Liv finds another Zombie. One of the Max Rager adrenaline junkies just happens to be one of the undead. This makes Liv wonder if her life has to be so empty of physical contact. What it might be like to share intimacy with someone she doesn’t have to worry about turning?
Spicy Drinks
Just before the episode ends, with no conclusion (yet) on who killed Holly – we see Major recognize an article of clothing. One of Blaine’s Zombie henchman is wearing clothing that Major believe’s came from one of his missing kids.
Major Down
Flight of the Living Dead Scoring
Flight of the Living Dead introduced a near character and gave us a peak into Clive’s boss not being interested in a lot of missing teens. Major also gets a taste of Zombie Rage, and Liv finds a potential love interest. There were some fun segments and interesting scenes, which earned Flight of the Living Dead a 71/100, making it Worth Your Time.
Wildfire opens at the break of dawn. Rick calls out to Morgan on the radio, warning him that Atlanta is overrun. Thankfully he did find his family though.
Catching Morgan Up
While Rick is trying to catch up with Morgan the rest of the crew is busy. They are cleaning up the dead from the zombie attack. I really appreciate the fact that Daryl is spiking heads with a pick axe. Because you don’t want to be picking up a zombie to find out its only mostly dead, know what I mean?
The clean up is mostly done when the survivors turn to focus on Andrea. She refuses to leave her sister’s side. Even going so far as to pull a gun on Rick and reminding him she now knows how the safety works. Daryl wants to put a bullet in Amy’s head from a distance. He stalks away in disgust when the others disagree.
Bitten
As the clean up crew is working Jacqui sees blood on Jim’s shirt and panics. He starts yelling out to the others that Jim was bit. T-Dog grabs Jim’s arms so Daryl can lift up Jim’s shirt as he begs that he’s okay.
Jim’s Been Bitten
Daryl is proposing direct action. Pick axe blows to heads, and Dale regretfully agrees. Rick hasn’t lived through people turning from bites yet. He naively thinks there is maybe help to be had at the CDC. Shane would rather go to Fort Benning. He believes the military would be their best hope of finding other survivors and safety. Fort Benning is a lot further away than the CDC in Atlanta though.
After Rick takes Jim someplace safe Dale goes to talk to Andrea. He tells her about his wife, and how mad he was when his wife died of cancer. He tells Andrea that her and her sister were the first people that he dared to care about. Andrea pulls out Amy’s birthday present, feeling guilty for all the missed birthdays in the past. Glenn leaves her to her mourning as Andrea puts the mermaid necklace around her sister’s neck.
We then get to see Carol take out years of abuse on her husbands corpse. She swings Daryl’s pick axe with enough fervor to make even Daryl raise an eyebrow.
Letting Go
Andrea is still beside Amy when she turns. Amy’s eyes twitch slowly before her eyes open, slowly turning to stare at her sister. Andrea apologizes as Amy lifts her head, trying to take a bite of her sister. The others turn, realizing what’s happening, afraid Andrea isn’t going to be strong enough to do what is needed.
Andrea Saying Goodbye To Amy
In the end Andrea does the needful and puts a bullet into her sister’s head. If you watch the shot closely it looks like she would have put a bullet through her other hand in the process though. That would have 100% infected hers in the process.
As Shane and Rick are burying the dead Shane blames Rick for taking half their manpower to go look for Merle. Rick pushes back that without the guns they would have been in even more trouble. While they are arguing Daryl piles in saying they need a leader. That the camp needs to know the rules. This is when Lori chimes in, telling Daryl they need to bury their dead, because its what people do.
Not far off Jim is suffering from a fever. He’s seeing flashes of walkers as the virus eats away at his brain. Rick comes to talk to Jim, but Jim’s in a fever dream, not fully aware of where he is. While Rick is talking to Jim, Lori and Shane are talking outside. This almost leads to Rick finding out just how well Shane was taking care of his wife while he was almost dying in the hospital bed. Shane short circuits the conversation after Lori chimes in to support Rick’s CDC plan. This leads the two old friends to head out into the woods to do their security sweep.
In Shane’s Sights
Rick And Shane Alone In The Woods
This leads to a very nerve wracking moment where Shane is clearly tempted to kill his old partner.
Shane Views Rick From Behind Is Shotgun
When Shane lowers the weapon, Dale is there, having seen the whole thing.
Dale Takes The Lord’s Name In Shane
Shane tries to play it off, pretending he thought Rick was a walker. Shane comments that they might have to start wearing reflective vests, but Dale’s face says it all. He doesn’t believe Shane any further than he could throw him.
When they get back to camp everyone groups around the fire. Shane says that he thinks they should all stay together. That means agreeing with Rick’s plan to head for the CDC. Rick shares the news with Morgan on the following dawn, telling him he left a map behind if he wants to follow.
Not Safe
The caravan has formed up, and everyone except for Morales and his family are going to head for the CDC. Rick and Shane gives Morales a revolver and half a box of shells as a farewell present.
Roll Out
The caravan rolls out, on their way to the CDC as Jim burns with fever in the back of the RV. They don’t get far before the RV blows its radiator hose. Shane goes to find parts when Jacqui comes out to get Rick, Jim isn’t doing well. Jim has a moment of clarity, and begs Rick to leave him behind. He’s in pain and every bump in the road is an agony.
In the end the group agrees to let Jim make the decision and leave him propped up against a tree as they roll away.
Dr. Jenner
We are then introduced to Jenner, the sole survivor at the CDC facility. He is alone and his affect seems off.
Dr. Jenner
Jenner is recording his updates and we learn that he’s concerned about saving power. Jenner is also having trouble sleeping due to being underground. We then see him working in a biohazard lab in a space suite when there is a small accident. This shows us how any breach in protocol leads to his experiments being burnt in a decontamination cycle.
This leads to Jenner voicing his loneliness and desperation, which ends in him admitting he’s considering suicide.
Jenner Admitting He’s Suicidal
Back on the surface the survivors have made it to the CDC. There is evidence of a fierce, last ditch effort to defend the installation outside its walls.
CDC Battleground
There are bodies everywhere, as well as what’s left of defensive positions. As the group approaches Jenner is pulled to monitors by motion alarms. We see the team get to the doors of the CDC. The doors are closed and sealed with protective shutters.
The CDC Is Shuttered
The team is just about to flee in a panic when the camera moves. They can’t be in the city when night falls. Rick bangs on the shutters and begs to be let in, they are out of gas and supplies. Jenner watches as Rick begs, and opens the doors just before the team is forced to flee the city before nightfall.
CDC Doors Open
The episode ends with the survivors looking into the CDC as the doors open, flooding light out into the coming darkness.
Wildfire Scoring
Wildfire is Worth Your Time and scored a 95/100. There is so much depth to every scene and the acting and writing is just top notch. The only thing that would have pushed this amazing episode up to a 100/100 would have been getting to see some flashbacks or security footage of the CDC compound being overrun.
Zombaby finds Team Murphy moving through a small town in Wisconsin. The Zombie apocalypse must have hit during their cheese festival, because the town is decked out with everything from a massive cheese wheel, to people in cheesy costumes. This reminds Warren about how they turned the Liberty bell in Philadelphia into a weapon back in Season 1, Philly Feast. Thus we get an epic rolling cheese wheel of death:
Cheese Wheel – Of Death
After escaping the horde in Cheesy Town, Murphy’s baby Momma, Serena, continues to suffer with horrible nausea.
Serena Spewing
Baby On Board
Team Murphy is trying to help with Serena when they are ambushed. This leads to Serena’s awesome rage killing spree as she opens up with an M4, screaming that there is a baby on board. Good times.
Serena is about to pop, so Team Murphy heads for a local Mennonite community, hoping to find friendlies and supplies. This introduces us to another great moment in Zombie Television history, the Zombie Sheep!!!
Zombie Sheep
As if Zombie Sheep wasn’t bad enough, the local zombies spew white powder when they are killed. That white powder just happens to be Anthrax spores, which takes 10K down for the count. The Mennonites have some cipro, but not enough for everyone.
The Search For Antiobiotics
This leads to the next two acts of Zombaby. Addy leads a small group to a local town to find more antibiotics as Doc and Murphy stay back to help Serena give birth.
Unfortunately for 10K, Addy isn’t able to find any antibiotics, and when she makes it back to the farm, 10K looks bad, and Addy collapses. Warren, Doc, and the bounty hunter are all ex military, so they have been vaccinated against Anthrax, but 10K and Addy didn’t serve, so they are suffering.
Warren comes to a difficult decision. The Mennonites have enough antibiotics to save 10K and Addy, but only if they take what they need, which will leave the Mennonites to die. The Mennonites don’t resist because its against their beliefs, they just let Warren take all the meds.
Back in the barn, Serena gives birth to a very Murphy-esque baby. I died laughing when the zombie wise men showed up.
Zombie Wise Men
While everyone was focused on the new baby, a horde of zombies showed up to great the baby, leading to Serena making the ultimate sacrifice so Murphy and their baby can escape.
After escaping the farm, we also get to see Addy giving 10K a box of condoms, and giving him the “don’t be stupid” talk. FYI, I did look for Billy Brand condoms for fun, but they appear to be made up for the show. It was very touching that Addy cares enough about 10K to give him the talk. We also learn that apparently 10K is a virgin, but Addy assures him there are girls out there for him.
10K Getting the Talk
Zombaby ends with Murphy naming his little girl Lucy. The episode ends with the giant wheel of cheese rolling along, taking out a cow before the credits roll.
Zombaby Scoring
Zombaby scored an 85/100 and earned every one of those points.
William and Sun are trapped inside the Diner. The biters circle around the outside of the building, slamming into the windows whenever the biters sees a survivor inside.
The Diner has become a pressure cooker. William and Sun are inside with the same people who just ran them off the road. Tensions are high and William is ready to throw down.
Tension
William has a horrible decision to make. Do you sacrifice the person who saved you or do you stand up for the people who have helped you survive?
Diner is also the convergence episode. Team William and Team Rose meet at the Diner.
Diner Scoring
The episode is psychologically and emotionally intense. There isn’t a lot of actual violence or zombie hordes, but we do hear that the biters can cross rivers, “like ants” and we learn that a horde is coming, but it is still an episode Worth Your Time that scores an 86/100.
The points are in large part due to how well the tension builds, but it is also in good part due to Sal Velez Jr.’s acting as William. He is just a powerhouse in terms of emotional and physical believability.
Black Summer is everything I’m looking for in a Zombie Series. Fight me if you disagree.
If you are looking for another intense, gritty series, I highly recommend The Last of Us!
