Season 2 Archives - Page 3 of 5

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 13

March 18, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Beside the Dying Fire is the Season 2 season finale. The episode opens with a feasting horde. As they eat they hear the noise of a helicopter overhead. The noise attracts the undead. The Zombies slowly shuffle in the direction the helicopter is flying.

Unfortunately for Team Rick, the copter appears to be drawing the ever growing horde towards Hershel’s farm. A few fences aren’t going to stop them.

Zombies Vs Fences – Zombies Win

Even worse, the horde hears the shot that kills Shane. As Rick and Carl walk back to the farm we see the horde approaching in the dark.

Spoilers Below

Back in the house the anxiety grows. Shane and Rick haven’t come back yet, and no one appears to even realize that Carl’s missing. Lori is such a great mom! Come on people, keep track of your kids during the Apocalypse.

It’s not long before everyone realizes what is about to hit them. Rick and Carl hear the horde behind them as Daryl comes out onto the front porch. The horde is coming.

Rick and Carl don’t have an easy path to the house. The horde is too large and is between Rick, Carl, and the house. Just as Rick and Carl reach the barn, Lori realizes that Carl’s not in the main house with her.

The Horde

With not a lot of options Carl and Rick light the barn on fire to stage an escape. Meanwhile Daryl tries to lead the horde away from the house in a vehicle. Setting the barn on fire seems like a really questionable decision. Rick and Carl escape up to the 2nd floor after the RV shows up to save them. Sadly, the RV driver doesn’t survive his rescue mission. It does beg the question. What was the plan if the RV didn’t come to rescue them and the building is on fire?

It doesn’t take long for the majority of the survivors to realize they need to flee. Hershel tries to put up a fight but just ends up wasting shotgun shells. The horde was too large for a single old guy to defeat. (I could have done it however!)

People are dying as the survivors are overwhelmed by the horde.

Hershel almost gets bitten, but Rick is there to save him. It is a sad day for Hershel. The farm is lost. The Zombie horde is just too big. Everyone flees, stranding Andrea and Carol. Thankfully Daryll is there to save Carol after he hears her screaming.

The farm has been overrun.

They Morning After

As the sun rises, the survivors come to grips with what they have lost. Glen and Maggie are alone in a vehicle. Glen tells Maggie that he loves her as she breaks down in fear. She has no way of knowing if her father and sister are still alive.

As the survivors slowly regroup right back where everything started, on the highway where they lost Sophia.

As the now much smaller Team Rick drives off we cut over to Andrea, fleeing through the woods, pursued by Zombies as she runs through the trees.

Team Rick is forced to pull over so they can try and organize a resupply mission. As they are planning, Rick is forced to tell the other survivors that they all carry the virus. If you die, you turn. Rick then tells Lori that he was forced to kill Shane after Shane lured him out in the woods to ambush him. Lori, being Lori, reacts with anger, instead of compassion. It has to suck when your husband kills your baby daddy right?

Back in the woods, Andrea is out of ammo and exhausted, and is about to get bit. She is rescued by an epic newcomer, Michonne.

Team Rick is sitting by their fire when they hear something moving in the dark. People are panicking, afraid and unsure. The tension causes Rick to lose his cool. He rages. Angry that he killed his best friend to protect them all. Or least that is how he sees it.

Rick finishes his rant, bringing everyone back to reality. Then the camera slowly pans away until we see the Prison in the distance.

Beside the Dying Fire Score

Beside the Dying Fire was not just the Season 2 finale, but was also an amazingly powerful episode with tons of action. It also gave us a little taste of what is to come in Season 3 to keep us hooked. Beside the Dying Fire scores a 100/100, and is Worth Your Time.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 12

March 16, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Better Angels opens with Rick eulogizing Dale. He remembers their fallen friend as the team is out in the fields taking their rage out on some Zombies.

Shane’s Shovel Kill

When we come back from the first commercial break Hershel has rethought his decision about the house. It will be safer and more defensible if everyone is together.

Carl finally does something smart (for a change) and gives the .45 he took from Daryl’s motorcycle to Shane.

Back at the house, Maggie invites Glen to put his stuff in her room. He declines, saying it is because of Hershel. Both Maggie and Glen look unhappy about it.

Out in the field Lori approaches Shane, and admits that the baby could be his or Rick’s. Sorry, if you screw around so much there could be multiple baby daddies, that’s not good. Sorry, I guess I’m old fashioned like that.

Lori then has an emotional moment with Shane, but why not screw with the unstable dudes head a little bit? Shane then goes back to the house and gives Rick a guilt trip over the prisoner drop versus talking to Carl about Dale’s death. It was effective though. Rick goes to comfort Carl.

Shane uses the distraction to go collect the prisoner and lead him off into the woods all so he can stage a fake jail break and claim the kid stole his gun. The plan works, as Daryl get’s exactly what he wants. Team Rick is now out for blood, not willing to let the kid go, especially if he’s armed.

I do love the fact that Daryl’s not buying what Shane is selling. He can smell the BS from a mile away.

Shane eventually loops back to the start of the trail and finds the dual tracks of Shane and the prisoner. Something isn’t quite making sense. The two of them then find the prisoner, or rather, the Zombie Prisoner finds them, and Daryl can tell the kid had his neck broken – and has no bites.

Just about when Daryl is realizing Shane might be up to something really bad, Shane and Rick are walking in the dark, and Shane is telling him to walk in front of him. Rick’s years as a cop are telling him something is off as they walk and talk. He knows that Shane is leading him out to ambush him.

Rick asks Shane why, and Shane tells him the truth. Did Rick really think they were just going to make friends after everything that happened? Rick is such an idiot here. Come on, the guy f*cked your wife, and is willing to kill you to keep doing it. Put a bullet in Shane and be done with it.

Rick finally does something right. After luring Shane into a sense of security by putting his gun down he puts a knife into Shane’s belly. Good for you Rick.

Then things get a little silly, as Carl somehow finds Rick over Shane’s body, just in time for Shane to reanimate and save Rick.

Unfortunately for everyone, the shot rings out through the woods, and we see lots of Zombies turning towards the noise, setting us up for the season finale.

Better Angels Scoring

Better Angels scored a 75/100, making it Worth Your Time. The last few minutes are intense and awesome, but the lead up is a little slow, which cost the episode some points.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 11

March 10, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

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.

Dale Arguing That They Can’t Put People To Death

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.

Daryl Showing His SMRTs

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.

Dale Falls

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 10

March 3, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Miles Out starts with a rush. Rick and Shane are being chased by Zombies. This distracts them from the wounded kid they rescued off the fence in Triggerfinger. The kid squirms his way across the ground to a machete. Can he reach the blade and free himself from his bonds? And who is he? How did he end up with Rick & Shane? I guess we are about to find out.

Spoilers Below

The next scene has Rick and Shane driving out of town with their prisoner. They are on a mission to drop him off far away from the farm. That is when Rick stops the car so he can talk to Shane.

Rick calls Shane out on what happened at the school to Otis. More importantly, he calls Shane out on what happened with Lori and how Shane has been undermining him. Shane keeps telling the other survivors that Rick is going to get them killed.

Shane Telling Rick Good Guys Don’t Survive

Rick tells Shane that he needs to make a decision. Rick tells Shane that if he wants to stay he needs to understand a few things. The first is that there is nothing, and will never be anything again, between him and Lori. Shane tells Rick he’s got it all wrong. He didn’t fall in love because he protected Lori and Carl. Shane fell in love because Lori and Carl saved him. For me, that should have been a red flag for Rick. Better to have put a bullet in Shane there. I never heard Shane actually say he was swearing off of Lori either. That should have been a huge issue for Rick.

Back at the farm Lori is telling Maggie that Glen came back, and that he’ll get over his anger/anxiety. Then Maggie’s sister, Beth, questions Lori about why she would get pregnant in their world. Lori’s answer is fairly blunt, but inaccurate. Lori says she didn’t have a choice. That seems super wrong. Couldn’t she have refrained from f*cking her husbands partner for a few more weeks?

Down the Road

With Rick apparently appeased that Shane knows his place, the car ride continues. A little way down the road they find an old school like building to drop off their prisoner. Rick uses the two lone walkers in sight to reinforce his point about using knives if they can. There is only so much ammunition left. Once inside, Rick finds a small burn pit with several bodies in it.

Meanwhile, Shane finds a bus that was clearly a camp site for someone. Shane also looks over the two cop walkers but doesn’t see any bites. What turned them? Rick settles on scratching his head.

Back at the farm Lori is starting to worry about Beth. The moment of concern turns into Lori feeling sad as well. Lori is struggling to see the point of surviving.

Back at the prisoner drop Rick and Shane come up against an obstacle. They thought they were dropping their prisoner off and their anonymity would protect them. At least until their prisoner admits that he knows Maggie. That means he knows where she lived – or could at least figure it out. Shane goes to off the kid, and Rick does something stupid by trying to stop him. Rick and Shane then duke it out. This reinforced my point that if Rick had just killed Shane, it would have cut down on so much drama. As Rick and Shane fight, the kid goes for a knife dropped on the ground. It is his second chance to cut himself free of his bonds.

The Horde

Unfortunately for everyone, Shane throws a bit of metal through a window and unleashes a small horde from inside the nearby building.

Bodyflauge From The Horde

Rick, having just killed the first one out the window, uses it body as cover. He hides as the small horde streams out of the building to focus on Shane. Shane runs, leading the horde away from Rick.

Back at the farm Maggie and Beth are fighting over Beth’s suicidal thoughts . Lori and Andrea disagree about whether suicide is a valid path forward when the world is full of Zombies. Lori and Andrea go at it, and Andrea cuts Lori deep. It is easier to have a reason to survive when you have a son, husband, and boyfriend. With her bombs dropped, Andrea goes upstairs to give Beth a pep talk. By the time Maggie and Lori come back upstairs, Beth has cut one of her wrists open in the bathroom.

Meanwhile. Rick is run down, and after Shane dropped a motorcycle on his leg, seems worse for wear. This leads to Rick being the bottom of the pile, but also doing an awesome triple kill.

Rick’s Triple Kill

Shane’s not so lucky. He get’s chased back to the bus where he gets trapped inside with apparently nothing but a knife. Rick then does something surprising, and decides to leave Shane to his fate. At least until he sees the two cop bodies. I guess his memories of time spent on the force changes his mind. He goes back to save Shane. Rick and the prisoner drive up to the bus guns blazing. Shane runs to the busses emergency exit so he can jump into the vehicle.

The Original Problem

Having survived the small Zombie horde, Rick and Shane are back to where they started. Do they kill the prisoner to keep the farm’s location hidden? As the two talk about what to do Rick once again tells Shane that Lori, Carl, and baby are his. Shane listens but doesn’t agree verbally. Come on Rick, just put a bullet in Shane and be done with it.

As the two are driving back to the farm, we are left to wonder. Did they kill the prisoner? I think they did based on Rick saying he wouldn’t be able to not think about it that night.

Miles Out Scoring

Miles Out scored a 90/100, mostly because of the decent amount of Zombie action, as well as Rick’s triple kill. That makes Miles Out Worth Your Time.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 9

February 25, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Triggerfinger starts with Lori, unconscious and hurt after her car rolled over. A walker is doing its best to get to her. She looks like an easy late night snack. At least until she wakes up starts to fight.

Rick, Glen, and Hershel are hiding in the bar where they were last seen at the end of Episode 8. More newcomers show up, looking for their friends, who Rick just put down last episode.

Rick tries to defuse the situation, but the newcomers shoot out the windows in reply. Rick’s plan is to have Glen run for the car as Hershel covers him, and Rick holds the front entrance. We then get to see that Hershel may not like guns, but he does know how to use one. Glen is not dealing with the stress well and has frozen, but luckily for him the newcomers flee. They don’t know how many people are in the bar. But they do know they’ve already lost at least three of their own. Unfortunately for one of the newcomers, his buddies leave him behind when they flee. He jumps down off the roof and ends up speared on a cast iron fence.

This is one of those scenes that I just don’t get. This guy, or kid as Rick puts it, just tried to shoot them from a roof. Put a bullet in the kid’s head and get back to the farm! Instead, Rick convinces Hershel to amputate the leg. This leads to them being surrounded before Rick eventually just rips the dude’s leg up off the spike.

This Is Going To Hurt A Little

Out on the road Shane finds Lori, and lies to her that Rick has returned to the farm to get her into the car. When they show up Shane drops the pregnancy news publicly. Now Carl and everyone else knows. When Shane get’s her alone she tells him that Rick knows, that she told her husband what happened. Shane tries to convince her it was “okay”, that what they did was a good thing, but Lori isn’t buying it. If only she’d been so strong a week after she thought her husband was dead.

We then see a horribly emotional scene between Daryl and Carol as she tries to let him know he’s part of their group. He rages at her, saying horrible and cruel things. She just takes it, knowing he needs to vent. DId her previous life of abuse giving her the ability to take it? It’s sad, but also sweet that she cares enough about Daryl to take his pain.

With Rick, Hershel, and Glen missing, Shane, Daryl, and Andrea are about to go on a search mission. As soon as Maggie sees Glen she runs to him, bypassing her dead in a sad snub.

Ouch

Once inside Maggie pulls Glen aside and he tells her that her dad saved him, and then Rick saved them all, but that he froze. He froze because he was scared of losing her, and now he feels guilty.

Triggerfinger ends with Lori telling Rick that Shane believes her baby is his (it probably is) and that Shane is telling others that Rick is going to get them all killed with his bad decisions.

Triggerfinger Scoring

I’m giving Triggerfinger a 76/100, making it Worth Your Time. There isn’t a lot of Zombie action, which cost it some points.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 8

February 23, 2021May 7, 2023 1 Comment

Nebraska opens exactly where Pretty Much Dead Already ended. Rick has just put down Sophia, and Carol and the team are all stunned by what they just saw.

Hershel’s people are just as devastated, their family members have all been put down, or mostly put down? When Hershel’s daughter runs to her family, we find out that not all the walkers are completely dead, they were just mostly dead, but thankfully Andrea was there to finish the job.

The Secret is Out

With the secret out, Shane goes off on Hershel, who in turn demands that Team Rick moves off his land. Rick and Shane then go at it. Rick is pissed that Shane forced the issue, and Shane is pissed that Rick seems fine with the fact that there was a barn full of walkers.

Glen then proceeds to put his foot in his mouth, telling Maggie that now that they know what happened to Sophia they will move on. He doesn’t seem to see how Maggie is taking the “move on” bit. She wants him to stay.

As everyone is dealing with the fallout Andrea and several of the others clean up the Zombies, which leads to an arm getting free from the truck. I don’t know why, but I really liked this scene. It speaks to how messy The Walking Dead world is, and also to just how much we, as humans, can normalize just about anything.

Arm Pick Up

Meanwhile, Glen and Maggie are trying to deal with what happens next. Maggie clearly wants Glen to stay, and Glen isn’t picking up on what she’s laying down.

Falling Off The Wagon

When they go to find Hershel, they find he’s gone, and likely fallen off the wagon too boot. After finding an empty flask Rick decides he needs to go into town to get Hershel. Lori doesn’t understand why, not until Rick tells her they need Hershel – to deliver Shane’s baby. (He didn’t say that, but I’m pretty sure that’s Shane’s baby.)

Dale then drops a few reality bombs on Lori, telling her that he’s pretty sure that Shane killed Otis, and that Shane is going to kill someone else. Lori looks perplexed, but I think she knows that Shane has a dark side.

Out on the road, Glen tells Rick about what has been going on with Maggie.

Glen isn’t sure if Maggie really cares about him, but Rick tells him that everyone else can see it. Maggie cares about him. Glen is still so innocent and sweet at this point. The only women he’s ever professed his love to were his mom and sisters.

The Bar

In town they find Hershel at the bar, and Rick tells him that Beth needs his help. While Rick is trying to convince Hershel to come back to the farm Lori has decided to go into town to tell Rick they need Hershel emergently, and in turn ends up hitting a walker while looking at a map, and then flipping her car.

While Rick is comforting Hershel, two newcomers walk into the bar. The newly enlarged group shares a drink, before the newcomers share how they made their way from Philadelphia to Georgia before dropping the bomb that Fort Benning has been overrun.

The newcomers start to set of Rick’s alarm bells when they get real interested in where Rick’s people are, and if they have someplace to hole up. Things get ugly after Rick tells the newcomers they can’t join up with them. This leads to Rick having to take care of business.

Rick Taking Care Of Business

I love how Rick puts a final bullet into the bigger guy – just to make sure, and never has any hesitation. This is the Rick that kicks butt.

Nebraska Scoring

Nebraska scored an 88/100, making it a solid, Worth Your Time episode. It is a ground breaking episode the reveals what happened to Sophia. Nebraska is one of those episodes that just sticks in your mind.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 7

February 18, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Pretty Much Dead Already opens with tension. Rick and Lori are dealing with the fallout of her unable to keep her legs closed for Shane, while Glen keeps looking over at Maggie who is standing on the porch. He’s decided he doesn’t have a choice, to keep the secret any longer, and drops the bomb on Team Rick that the barn is full of walkers.

The barn full of walker ignites the group. Shane wants to leave while Rick and Daryl want to stay and find Sophia.

With the secret out Glen begs Maggie to talk, but she just breaks an egg over his head, not ready to make nice. While Maggie is taking her anger out on Glen, Daryl is stubbornly trying to go back out, wounded, to search for Sophia. When Carol stops him, he loses it.

As everyone is dealing with their sh*t, Rick goes to talk to Hershel.

Rick wants to talk about the barn. Hershel just tells Rick he wants his group to move on by the end of the week. He doesn’t want to talk about the barn. Rick tells Hershel that forcing them to leave would mean putting everyone at risk, including his pregnant wife. Hershel doesn’t want to hear it.

A little later Hershel tells Maggie that he gave Rick the order to leave, and Maggie uses his faith to show him what the bible would have said. Hershel struggles with what Maggie is saying but he gets pulled away when he’s told “its happened again”.

Hershel bring Rick with him to the creek. The bottom of the stream is soft and silty, and walkers get stuck there. Maggie must have an impact on Hershel, even though they didn’t really finish their conversation. Hershel asks Rick if he can stop killing the walkers.

Rick asks Hershel what they are going to do when the Barn gets full but Hershel doesn’t answer as they wrangle the two Zombies away from the stream.

Back at the farm Glen confronts Maggie, telling her he never wants to see her in danger again, and the words made Maggie realize he does really care about her – and smooching commenced.

While Maggie and Glen are making up, Dale and Shane are having it out. Shane wants the guns that Dale is trying to stash, and it almost comes to blows.

Shane is pissed, and that anger overflows onto rick and Hershel when he sees them coming back with the two restrained Zombies. This leads to Shane screaming about how a sick person couldn’t take multiple gunshot wounds to the chest – before he finally puts the walker down with a headshot.

That’s Enough

It’s still not enough for Shane though, and he lets loose the barn zombies in a fit of rage, which leads to one of the iconic moments of The Walking Dead universe. After the team puts down the other zombies, the last walker out the gate is revealed. The team has found Sophia.

Pretty Much Dead Already Scoring

Pretty Much Dead Already is one of those episodes that you will remember for years to come. I still remember this episode when it was on the air the first time. I remember sitting on the couch with my older boys, and we all gasped when we saw Sophia. Pretty Much Dead Already scores a 100/100. It is a master class in suspense and character development.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 6

February 16, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

After how Chupacabra ended with Glen finding the walkers in Hershel’s barn, I guess Secrets is the perfect name for Episode 6.

Secrets opens with Carl back on his feet, feeding the chickens with Lori. Which leads to one of Hershel’s daughters collecting some of those chickens to feed to the walkers in the barn.

Which leads to Maggie bribing Glen to be quiet. Apparently she doesn’t know how to bribe a guy? Food?

Bribery

After Maggie gives Glen his basket of food, we get to see Andrea apologize to Daryl for winging him with a rifle. Daryl is cool with it though, he knows she thought he was a Zombie. Such a good guy.

Glen then gets into Lori’s business in an unwelcome way, telling her she has a medical condition because she’s preggo. Needless to say Lori hasn’t told anyone, and Glenn doesn’t understand why it might be an issue because he doesn’t know she’s a few weeks in – a few weeks longer than Rick has been back maybe?

We then get one of those silly moments. Carl wants to learn to shoot, and Lori is against it. It’s the Zombie Apocalypse for god’s sake, give your kid the tools to survive woman!!!

Glen then does exactly what Maggie asked him not to do, and tells Dale about the walkers, and about Lori’s pregnancy. Dale covers for Glen and tells Hershel he discovered the barn while out for a walk.

We then get our second dose of silliness in the season. Hershel is keeping the walkers because he believes they are still people. His wife and stepson are in there.

While talking to Hershel Lori finds out that the invitation to stay on the farm has an expiration date, and then realizes that her secret is out when Dale tries to comfort her after she gets nauseous when he’s cooking. Lori is not happy to have her secret out, which leads Lori to ask Glen to make another pharmacy run.

This in turn shows us Maggie’s mad face.

She is pissed, and her attitude doesn’t get much better when Glen hands her his shopping list. He might not know what the meds are, but I think she does.

Unfortunately for Maggie, there is a walker in the pharmacy. Luckily for her Glen is there to take care of business, which also exposes her to just how dangerous walkers are.

Maggie Almost Gets Eaten

While saving Maggie may have put Glen back in her Maggie’s good graces, Maggie is still pissed, she’s just mad at Lori now for making Glen go into town for the morning after pill. This also leads to Maggie telling Glen that she does see who he is, and that she does care for him, she just can’t bear the thought of losing anyone else she cares about.

We then cut over to Shane and Andrea making a run into a nearby housing development to look for Sophia, but all they find is a neighborhood full of walkers. This leads to Shane showing off his shooting skills:

While also giving Andrea the moment she needs to find her shooting mojo against walker targets. Shane forces her to clear her weapon and take care of the walker coming at her, which does seem to help her.

Maggie Clears A Jam

Andrea in turn thanks Shane for teaching her by grabbing his crotch on the way back to the farm. The camera pulls back to the car stopped on the road. We hear a horn and then cut away as Shane and Andrea get busy.

Back at the farm, Lori decides to take the morning after pill, then sticks her finger down her throat, unable to do it.

Dale is there when Shane comes back with Andrea, and he is very perceptive. He knows that something happened between Shane and Andrea and Dale basically tells Shane to get in his car and leave. Dale saw Shane aim at Rick in the woods, and he doesn’t trust him. Dale shares a bit too much with Shane though, and gets threatened in return.

Back in the Grimes tent Rick finds the morning after pill which leads him to go and confront Lori. She tells him she’s pregnant, and he asks if she still is, and she admits to puking up the pills. Rick is pissed that she was keeping it secret, but he is also convinced they can make it work.

This leads to Rick asking Lori if there is anything else he needs to know, and Lori admits that she and Shane were bang buddies. Of course she puts it in less graphic terms.

Rick takes this way to well in my opinion. He basically puts words in her mouth about how she thought he was dead. Am I just nuts or would he be a little more pissed – especially since she’s preggo? Can he be sure its his? He couldn’t have survived for long on that hospital bed with no care, which means she had to jump into the sack with Shane pretty quick – and or was already in the sack with Shane. Shane is a ladies man, he was even banging a teacher in highs chool, and Rick and Lori were having issues. Is it so hard to believe they were playing tag long before the apocalypse?

I’m giving Secrets an 85/100. The points are coming off because of the silly, counter intuitive logic used in several of the situations. Still Worth Your Time, but there are times when Secrets left me scratching my head.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 5

February 11, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

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.

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..

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.

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?

Maggie runs to the barn, but it’s too late, Glen is looking down at Hershel’s secret.

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.

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

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 4

February 9, 2021May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

Cherokee Rose opens with Carl waking up. He’s survived the surgery and his fever has gone down. Sadly, his first question when he wakes up is about Sophia. Just after Carl falls back asleep the rest of Team Rick pulls up on Hershel’s front lawn.

Shortly after, Hershel holds a service for Otis, and they ask Shane to say a few words. Otis’s wife twists the knife, begging Shane to tell her what happened, that Otis’s death had meaning.

In the next scene Maggie provides maps, and the team is figuring out how to search for Sophia when Hershel asks Rick and his people not to carry guns. Hershel doesn’t think they are necessary. Come on! Its the Zombie Apocalypse!

When then get to see Rick playing matchmaker when Maggie says she wants to make a supply run. Glen should go with her – to keep her safe. I love how Glen can barely talk to Maggie. He then watches her coming down the road, clearly appreciating what he’s seeing.

Glen’s interrupted by Lori, coming over to ask him to get something discreetly, something form the feminine hygiene section.

Just before Maggie and Glenn head into town Dale and T-Dog find a bloated Zombie in the well. They have no choice but to try and get it out so it doesn’t contaminate the water supply.

Glen almost gets bit on their first attempt to get the Zombie out of the well before they are able to use a horse to get it out of the well, or at least halfway out of the well.

Blob Zombie With Split Personality

With the well taken care of, Maggie and Glen head into town.

This leads to an awesome interaction between Maggie and Glen. Glen is trying to get Lori her secret pregnancy test when Maggie comes over and Glen fumbles to hide it. He’s standing there holding a box of condoms when she asks him what’s going on.

Glen Is About To Get Lucky

I love how Glen is so shook by Maggie. He’s clearly infatuated, and is about to be shocked at how forward Maggie can be. I also loved his reaction when she takes her shirt off and he’s just like “Wow”.

On the way back to town Glen is glowing, at least until Maggie tells him not to spoil it, it was a one time thing. Except we all know that now that she’s enjoyed some time with Glen she’s not going to be able to resist.

When Daryl gets back from searching for Sophia, we hear the story of the Cherokee Rose, and we get to see Daryl’s emotional side as he gives Carol just what she needed.

Back inside the house Rick and Carl bond over both having survived gunshots, which spurs Rick to give Carl his cowboy hat.

Cherokee Rose ends with Lori and Rick having a quiet moment before Lori heads outside to use the pregnancy test that Glen retrieved for her.

I also appreciate how thorough the closed captions are.

Cherokee Rose ends with Lori looking down at the positive pregnancy test with a sob, crouching in the dark.

Cherokee Rose scored a 94/100. It was a powerful episode and is Worth Your Time.

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