Pajiba

Perhaps it’s my knowledge of the comics that’s motivating my sudden aggravation, but this constant influx of kindly, helpful people in the aftermath of a world gone mad?

That's an interesting point, since, from what I recall, Carl's shooting and the subsequent run to Herschel's farm that is filled with kindly, helpful people is pretty much directly taken from the comic, no? Perhaps the events don't unfold exactly as they did, but I do recall Carl getting shot and then Rick finding Herschel's farm and Herschel takes him in to try and heal and Herschel's group is pretty friendly.

In fact, from my recollection from the comics, the other people the group tends to run into tend to be pretty helpful and normal, save some very VERY LARGE exceptions.

Overall, I wasn't as down on this episode as our man, TK.

Lori definitely has her issues. She's not totally pleasant even under the best of circumstances. But I guess that's something they've been developing over time. There's been that tension between what Lori wants in a husdand and who Rick is. Lori seems to desperately want someone passionate and completely devoted to her in every way. While Rick is devoted to her, he's definitely not a passionate guy and based on conversations in the past and his actions in the show, he's someone who while devoted to Lori in his way, is always trying to do everything for everyone, which makes Lori feel neglected or regulated to a secondary status. So, I can sort of see why she is the way she is, especially when it comes to her family.

I wasn't too sure about Shane and Otis' plan. The flares as a distraction was a good idea, but even as they were heading into the trailer I was questioning their escape plan. Hoping that the flares would keep the zombies distracted long enough was really wishful thinking on their part. They were very desperate, but I think the right idea might have been to distract them the way Glenn did with a car. Ideally it would have been one of the police cars, assuming they had keys in the ignition. If not, maybe Shane could have driven around in the pick-up, honked the horn and drawn the zombies away while Otis snuck in and got the stuff and waited for Shane to hightail it back to pick him up. Ideally big Otis would have been the one driving, but he was the only one of the two who knew what they needed.

That ending scene was awesome and terrifying.

Darryl just keeps getting better with every episode.

I like that they haven't found Sophia yet. It helps build the tension. I thought she'd be at the farm, but now that she's not...

I agree 100%. With such an intense and game-changing episode as the season premier, it was disappointing to watch them almost completely forgo any of that atmosphere and development in this episode. I was very much hoping to see more of a focus on Shane and perhaps his internal struggle to leave the group in the aftermath of the Carl situation. I really appreciated the way the writers eased him out of that villainous role into which he was being pigeon-holed in the previous season. All I can say is I hope you're right and we can get back on track with this fascinating character development to which we have been treated thus far. Walking Dead hooked me for the exact same reasons Lost did and that was the beautiful character arcs created for every player...well that, and my love for all things Zombie.

Also felt let down by this episode. But Walking Dead is nothing if not uneven. Still, I am wondering how everyone but Daryl is gonna survive one more day, given how fucking STUPID they all seem to act. Let's use all our flares up to distract them, without thinking about how we're gonna get out of the trailer once we have our supplies. Let's just open the door wide when we come out so the zombies all see their dinner and stand there gaping while they all come running for us.

I hope "Save the Last One" means what I think it does.

Also disappointed here, but mostly frustrated at the lack of explanation.
If there's a horde of zombies 5 miles away, why is the farm so pristine and safe? There wasn't even anybody on look out.
The farm has open windows: no boarding up or any protective stuff at all.
There are zombies wandering all over those woods and they never stumbled upon the farm?
Why are they all so clean? Surely by now water services have broken down: how are they keeping their septic tank working?
Why do they still have a live horse?
Where did they get orange juice from?
It just didn't make sense.

The "Orange Juice" could've easily been Tang. As far as the pristine condition of the house--those zombie herds seem to keep to the highways and cities, the zombies we see in the woods are loners, which makes sense if they have some vestigial memory of their old habits, a la the zombies at the mall in Dawn of the Dead.

The orange juice wasn't Tang: completely wrong color and (from what I could see) consistency.

Whoops, refresh before you comment, Stevens.

@Wednesday, the school scene seemed realistic to me. When I get the chance to pick up my kids from school, I have to park and walk to the school. Generally there are several parents outside chit-chatting while waiting for the kids to get out. As for Shane, if it was time for Carl to get out of school, logic would tell him that Lori was at the school getting him. Or he could've already tried home and school was his second guess. Point being, that was the most realistic part of the whole episode.

I didn't hate the episode, it just wasn't as gripping as the others.

@sarah, my kids' schools are the same--plenty of parents walking to get kids and standing around talking.

I'm really shaking my head on the whole orange juice debacle. How about milk in a tinted glass?

You folks are really that stumped about the OJ?

Maybe it was warm orange juice out of a bottle. They sell bottled orange juice just like they sell bottled water. Maybe Herschel loved him some bottled OJ and had a stash in the cellar and felt like it it was time to crack open a bottle and offer it to Rick, since he needed the extra nutrients after giving blood.

There, I have solved the mystery.

1. Otis is a trained first responder, but he went into a situation where he is using a firearm without a trauma kit? I don't think so. That becomes reflex for those guys, not something set aside just because society has ended. Even if he is only a volunteer.

Maybe Otis doesn't have a trauma kit. Maybe he already used his up. It can't "become reflex" for every one of "those guys." That's quite the statement, unless you've met every single trained first responder ever. That said, I don't think I know any, so it's entirely possible.

2. Otis didn't do a damned thing to triage Carl in the woods?! BULLSHIT. This was FINE until Otis claimed to be an EMT. That was just poor writing.

He didn't seem to have much with him and neither Rick nor Shane seemed all that inclined to let the man who just shot Carl touch the boy. They were pissed, scared, panicked.

3. Herschel simply dismissed the one individual trained in treating human emergencies and trauma to fetch him equipment he needed? Again, I don't think so. Paper, pen, list. Give it to Shane, let Shane and one of the women, who seem to know the area extremely well and have more brains about fighting the walkers than most everyone else int he show, go with him.

Even with a list of what was needed, I am not sure that someone who didn't know what they were looking for would necessarily be able to find it. You could give me a list of that stuff and the odds of me being able to identify any of it, unless is was exactly labeled would be quite remote. Also, Otis felt like he had to be the one who went and risked his life because he felt responsible for Carl's condition. It was sort of an honor thing for Otis.

I *know* part of the show is exposing the characters to zombies. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE start finding reasonable ways in which to do it. These folks have lasted a month, at least. You don't make it that long in this type of scenario if you're absolutely unaware of what's going on around you.

1. Someone already made the point of how stupid it was to go tromping into the woods as a search party only to walk in a single file line. Worthless.

Yes. The search party was not well organized. They had lost focus.

2. NO ONE seems to be observing their surroundings! They just stomp along and then suddely they're attacked. Just eat Andrea already, dammit. There is no plausible way, outside of tight camera work, for someone to simply not see the walker who took her by surprise.

They did drop their guard. I don't think the fact that the walker suprised Andrea was all that implausible. She dropped her guard, foolishly, and probably thought it was just someone else in the group at her side until she glanced up and... Oh shi...

3. "Hey, let's throw ALL the flares over there to distract them. We probably won't need the rest when we leave that trailer."

As I noted above. Their plan wasn't a good one. They had no escape plan. I don't think the flare trick would have worked a second time, since they would have had to lit them and throw them from door of the trailer, as opposed to doing so hidden behind a cop car. The zombies would have been attracted to the flares, saw the fresh meat and that would have been that. I think Shane and Otis were desperate and felt like they had to do something. Sadly, it wasn't very well thought through.

4. "Hey, don't bother looking in the ambulance that's four feet away from us. There's probably NOTHING in there we can use. Certainly nothing that a trained EMT can use."

They had enough problems getting exactly what they needed and it seemed to be a heavy load. With Carl's life in the balance, I don't think it was time to go on a scavanger hunt for other supplies. As a first responder, Otis likely knew that the supplies they needed would not be found in the ambulance. Searching there would have been an unnecessary frolick and detour.

5. "Hey, Otis, we don't need an escape plan, right?"

I guess they hoped the flares would keep them distracted... Yeah. Their plan wasn't very solid.

I couldn't understand why nothing was boarded up or secured or why there wasn't SOME effort to fortify the place...

I totally agree. I would have liked a little more explanation as to why the farm house looked so clean and pristine. In the comic, I believe they make mention of a fence around the place that holds up well. Even something like that.

Hopefully, if Daryl or Glenn make it to the farm house in the next episode they can ask someone why the hell is everyone so relaxed and the house so weakly defended.

Hmm... I guess I disagree. I really liked a lot about the episode, although it did move a little too slowly, and the "get medical supplies oh toss some flares oh shit" was NOT smart, especially with Shane being a deputy and all.

Things I liked: Shane, Rick and even irritating Lori's acting. I thought it was first rate. I liked the deepening of the Shane-Rick dynamic. We know Shane has the inclination to leave, because of Lori. But Rick is his friend and partner for we don't know how many years. And he loves Carl too, even before the zombie apocalypse. So he doesn't *really* want to leave. Serious push-pull.

The gore in the baby seat when T-Dog was looking in the cars. Eeek!

The flashback - I actually didn't think the particulars of the flashback were particularly interesting (although, btw, moms surely stand around talking when picking up kids, and of course Shane knew where to find Lori - Rick is his partner, they are close). However, I'd love to see more flashbacks to the time as the world was slipping into apocalypse. Not to open a HUGE can of worms, but regardless of how one feels about Lost, I thought the flashbacks of each character always made that show better. Also, flashbacks that show the beginning of zombie-fu would be interesting in light of the fact that we know that Rick missed out on all that stuff, being in a coma. So he doesn't know how it was for all these other characters watching things get worse and worse.

As always, Daryl. "Am I the only one Zen here?" "Merle got the clap on occasion."

Things I didn't like: Dropping the Sophia ball in favor of the Carl ball. Also, I am *not* at all a "that's so unrealistic it would never happen" viewer. Most of the time I lose the word "disbelief" at the door, seriously. But I did find myself wondering, if this farm is only two miles off the main road, five miles from a school, why is it apparently so safe from zombies? And the orange juice literally threw me out of my chair. (And, again, I am not like that AT ALL.) But I immediately said, "How on Earth do they have orange juice?"

I guess I just like the show and (most of) the characters, so I'm willing to put up with some unevenness. It's not perfect, but it's more engaging than most of the stupid shit on TV, plus... zombies!

Look, I just want to know what the fuck the guy at the CDC whispered to Rick. Everyone is starting to piss me off, except for Daryl, and that's because he's a Boondock Saint. And Carl because it's not his fault he got shot, and he seems to be more perceptive than the adults give him credit for. I, too, want more rise-of-the-zombies backstory. I suppose I could read the comics (but we all know reading is for people who can't afford cable and nerds).

And before anyone gets crazy, I'm kidding about reading being for the cable-less nerds. That's what Netflix is for.

I, too, want more rise-of-the-zombies backstory. I suppose I could read the comics (but we all know reading is for people who can't afford cable and nerds).

I will save you the time and a descent into furhter nerdom: the comics don't really give more "rise-of-the-zombies backstory." There is very little, if any, of that in the comics.

The first episode of the season wasn't all that different, as far as nothing happening/filler goes. Hell first season was only held together by them having a goal in mind. Finding that cdc or whatever it's called. This season it doesn't have much to hold it together. It seems it wants to be episodic but still have a continuing arc that really doesn't matter.

I don't think it needs a plot other than survival. That's what a post-zombie apocalypse is all about.
That's why the farmhouse set up bothers me so much. Why is it so easy for them when clearly everybody else is struggling so much?
That's my only problem with the show. I don't care that half of them are stupid. The likelihood of finding oneself at a Mensa convention when the zombie outbreak happens are low and even then I think most of us would prefer to find ourselves in the company of survival-savvy Daryl rather than Stephen Hawking. But I want to follow these people as they make it through the day with all services broken down and no clean clothes and no reliable transportation and no knowing where they'll sleep tonight. If I want to see the house on Walton's Mountain, then I'll watch The Waltons.

The farmhouse is possibly an allusion to Night of the Living Dead, so maybe the boarding up the house scene comes next week. They've got the requisite ONE black guy afterall.

And what was the deal with Rick having to prove how much of a hero he is? When he can barely stand, he's going to try and leave the house to save the day? Why do the writers feel like we need this much effort to accept him as the hero? It makes him look like a moron, not a hero.

You can easily do an episodic series. I mean Mushishi was always stand alone episodes with just the protagonist being the constant. Hell even Hell Girl managed to do stand alone with an ever so often nudge forward in a continuing story arc.

The problem with the show isn't it has nothing tying it together, it's that it desperately wants to have something tying it together.

Again the MST3K guys always brought up how the studio wanted them to have a continuing arc in their show because they felt an audience wouldn't tune in if they didn't have that. I don't know if that is the case here, but the show suffers from not knowing what it wants to be. As every episode they seem to just be stuck. Not wandering through a dying world, just stuck.

ps.....I'm pretty sure there's orange trees in that part of Georgia

Nope, no orange trees to speak of in the Atlanta area. Peach trees though. Maybe it was peach juice?

if you know the comics, then you know things with the farmers family are about to get really weird.

This was honestly a pathetic episode of "The Walking Dead" and has driven me to decide to stop watching it (after the sub-par opener which had 3 monologues so bad you could imagine the actors saying, "Really? There are going to be TWO monologues to Jesus in a Church during a Zombie Apocolypse in this episode alone?!!!")

You can tell when a show is going downhill and it's best to lave before you get caught-up in a mess of "Lost"-like proportions.I was smart enough to stop watching Lost in the beginning of Season 2, so I know when the ship is sinking and heed my warning - Walking Dead is going down fast. Can't believe it made the "Top 10" shows list this week, it was absolutely terrible on every level, from the dialogue, to the scenes, to the character development.

This is what happens when a show loses it's creator/executive producer who was the driving force behind it and the budget is sliced up.

@PaddyDog--your questions about the farm shall be answered.

I thought this a pretty decent epidsode, but I did not like the ending. the medical supplies bit did indeed feel like a video game sidequest. Now we'll have part of a whole nother ep dedicated to Otis and Shane in peril. People need to start getting eaten real quick, just something to jolt the story. What makes the comics a good, tense read is the realization that NOBODY is safe.

OJ? Buy it by the pallet at Sam's or Costco, store it in a deep freeze in the basement. Seriously, am I the only person that lives in "fly-over" country?