The Walking Dead 2x08 Review

Nebraska

Since everyone and their zombifyed mother is doing reviews for The Walking Dead I thought I would just talk about something I noticed, or particularly thought were important to talk about. Since I don't have a DVR and also review Once Upon a Time I plan on watching The Walking Dead at 11 every week, and then watching Talking Dead with Chris Hardwick. I think this will help me figure out my thoughts and see what everyone is talking about. If everyone is talking about something, I probably will discuss it a little less since I won't waste people's time with stuff they can find anywhere. 

Another things I'll try to avoid doing is talking about the comic book. I've read a good portion of them, and while knowing what happens in the book doesn't spoil things I think if I was constantly comparing them I would be disappointed with the show. Worse still, I could spoil the comic book for people, and that would be a true crime. Discussing the events of the show without talking about the comic book will be very difficult, so we'll see how long I last with that.

So the episode starts off right the massacre at the barn. Hershell then orders them to leave, and focuses most of his anger on Shane. While later we are told he has lost all hope I really could not side with Hershell on this one. I mean first, keeping the walkers in the barn was a bad move, and then Shane takes care of them. It's clear to me that everyone is starting to finally lose it, and Shane is probably the furthest off the deep end at the moment. Getting shit from Hershell is the last thing he needs. 

On Talking Dead they discussed the hand washing scene with Shane and Carol. I noticed that too as a very strange scene. It starts out with Shane being caring and trying to make her feel a little bit better. Then he goes into a big speech about how no one trusts him, and that he tried to find Sophia. He really would make a great leader if he wasn't so nuts. He has so much on his plate, that I don't know how he's going to continue. There's the baby, there's Rick, there's all the guilt, and now Sophia. Dale is making things even more difficult on Shane, and now that he suspects(correctly) that he shot Otis I really think we will have a lot more inner-group violence in the future. 

As Rick and Glenn drove off to find Hershell all I could think about was that these two really never talk. Glenn usually speaks with Dale, or one of the girls. It was nice seeing these guys have a moment since it was Glenn who saved Ricks life back in the pilot. Things have changed so much and I was really hoping we would get some kind of acknowledgement from these two about that. They talk about Maggie, and Lori though, and that was nice too. Glenn is now the 2nd youngest in the group, after Carl, and I think he almost looks up to Rick as a father figure. They sure were talking like they have that relationship. 

The scene in the bar with Hershell and Rick was just amazing. As he talked about his total loss of hope, and how it's all his fault. He doesn't even want to be there for his family because he feels there's no reason to hold on to anything. It was a heartbreaking scene and we know that Rick is close to feeling the same way. Rick still has Lori, Carl, and a baby on the way to think about. What kind of a man would Rick be if he lost that? Would he sit in a bar and drink? Would he put a gun in his mouth and just end it? That's pretty much where Hershell is. Everything that was holding him together is almost gone. That holds for most of the group too. Sophia was that hope. Now that she's gone things are really starting to fall apart. Darryl, Dale, Carol, and Shane all seem totally lost. Carl is the one to watch. Sophia and he were so close, and now she's gone. Carl still has his parents, but with what happened to Lori in this episode, who knows what Carl will do.

Speaking of Lori...what the hell man! Am I the only one who thinks she's dumb as a bag of hammers? Like twenty minutes after yelling at Glenn and Rick for going after Hershell, she asks Darryl to go after them. When he refuses she goes herself, and decides to look at a friggin map while speeding along. She just doesn't operate with any logic seemingly ever. 

Last thing I'll talk about are the Philly Guys. The dudes show up, and start making trouble. While they clearly were dangerous and Rick did what was needed, would he really behave any differently? He's pretty much demanding that they be allowed to stay at the farm even after Hershell has asked them to leave. What exactly is the difference? The difference is that we know Rick and his group, and we don't know this other group. That my friends is the point I think. They were not villains, or criminals. They were more dangerous than that. They were unknowns, and in this world unknowns are more dangerous than any zombie ever could be. Plus, the dude peed right there on the floor. That may fly in Philly, but not in a dank bar during a zombie Apocalypse.  

This was a good mid-season premiere I think. Maybe a little slow at parts, but I have high hopes that this half of the season will be totally insane. Plus, if things that I think are going to happen happen, then people will  be on the edge of their seats almost constantly.