Through two-and-a-half seasons, despite the number of deaths that have been featured on the show, and despite the number of major characters that have been killed of, The Walking Dead has never achieved the level of anguish that it achieved last night. It was a belly-punching conclusion to an episode of television that’s going to stick with us all for a while.
Let’s get right to it, but before we do, one more reminder: Book spoilers go in the spoiler thread at the very bottom of the comments page. Thanks.
1. Oscar and Axel Just Want To Be Loved — Let’s start the recap small and slow: Oscar and Axel, the two surviving ex-convicts sequestered into their own part of the prison wanted to get into the Ricktocracy, but Rick and Daryl shut it down, wordlessly. These two are the ultimate zombie apocalypse bromance; they read each others’ minds.
Only T-Dog seemed to want to bring them into the fold because T-Dog is the only character with some goddamn compassion. The refusal to let them in, however, meant that for most of the episode, Axel stood around like a goddamn bumpkin and watched bad things happen. I don’t know why his name is not Cletus, but I can tell you right now, he’s going to annoy me. WHY DOES AXEL JUST STAND AROUND LIKE A GODDAMN DOOF? Do something, man. Pick up a rock and knock out a zombie.
Oscar, on the other hand … more on him later.
2. Hershel Can Get Around Now — The one triumphant moment in last night’s episode came when Hershel pulled himself out of his bunk and hobbled around using crutches. He’s a tough old man, and the sight of him heartened the rest of the gang, until …
3. Can’t We Have Just One Good Day? — Those were Glen’s words near the beginning of the episode, and goddamnit Glen, don’t you know that saying something like that is an omen for a tragic episode? Sure enough, as soon as we’d absorbed the warm feelings of watching Hershel walk about, the Walkers began arriving at the prison in droves. Confusion reigned. The Ricktocracy fell apart. Everyone was separated. What the hell is going on? Where are they coming from? Why is the prison alarm going off? Madness. Chaos. Oh, sh*t …
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poor rick…
Best episode of the season so far.
T-Dogg’s death was unexpected. I also loved Rick’s reaction when he realized that his son had to kill his own mother.
Yeah.
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO T-DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He wasn’t ready!!!!!!!!!!
I laughed when Lori was cut open and bleeding, but shed a single tear when Rick freaked out.
same
RIP TDawg woof woof
greatest.show.ever. Carl is quickly going from little shithead to badass….i like it.
I think “greatest show ever” is a bit of an overstatement, since it’s not even among the top 3 dramas on tv right now, but it is improving and could make its way into the top 10 shows on tv if it keeps it up.
I don’t know if it was mentioned already, but I just read something that blew my mind: What if they decided to go the Breaking Bad route and do a bit of foreshadowing. It seemed weird at the time that they would spend time showing that the door to the boiler room could not close when Carl tried. But what if Carl really didn’t shoot Lori, and she ended up escaping due to the fact that the door would just not stay shut? How fucked up would that be?
You need a gif of Carl walking out of that back room right after the business with Lori, looking like a fucking MAN.
I don’t think the mere act of shooting his mom automatically makes him a badass, but it’s an improvement.
It was an incidental moment surrounded by a lot of chaos and dying, but after Daryl slid down to grab his crossbow after holding the walkers on the other side of that door was a pretty sweet little move.
Perfect lead-up to the ‘sneaking Daryl’ GIF.
I’m so far behind, I’m catching up at a snail’s pace.
I didn’t cry when Lori died…….I giggled…….
Badges? We don’t need no fkng badges………
Sweet. The FUCKING DARYL Badge. Daryl should be top badge, not Rick. May just stop commenting now.
…Michonne is the top badge.
I want them all, now that im caught up. MOAR THREDS PLZ
Rewatched the episode last night with the wife who missed it Sunday.
I gotta say my new favorite part is when Andrea and the Governor finish eachothers sandwiches.
Rediculous episode. I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WERE BADGES FOR THIS. SHIT
I’ve been stuck on the Merle badge for a while now. I think the badges might be broke.
And, of course, that post got me the Shane badge. So clearly the badge algorithm gods are mocking me.
But now you have the Daryl badge! I’m stuck at Andrea (please tv gods, get me another flipping badge).
I’m at T-Dog, which probably means I’m about to get offed.
We’ve had Dumb Carl and Cowboy Carl. Looking forward to Dark Vengeful Carl…
Sssh, don’t let Carl hear you talking about him. He’ll straight-up cap every motherfucking last one of us.
When Carl walked out after shooting Lori in the head, I had a mental image of everyone from the interwebs standing in line for their turn, like the scene in Airplane.
Perfect.
Really? My mental image was the interwebs completely breaking down from the instantaneous and unanimous expressions of joy from everyone, everywhere. In these divisive times of electoral strife, on man has the courage to unite us. VOTE CARL IN 2012: HE’LL SHOOT LORI IN THE THE HEAD
That’s gonna get stuck in my head.
Michone a closet lesbian? that’d be about right. You finally meet a badass, katana wielding, zombie walking, Nubian princess and she’s a rug muncher. Typical.
Will have to stick with my Maggie crush.
Anybody else wonder why despite everyone looking a bit grubby, all the women have shaved pits? Plus why the fuck would you wear short sleeves in a zombie apocalypse? Id be wearing a leather jacket – permanently.
Carl is officially a badass now, merc’d his own mum with barely a tear.
Agreed. Leather everything if possible.
FZKilla, I’ve heard that about you.
What do you think Andrea and Michonne did with all that time alone together? You know
Dido on Maggie and the leather.
I felt nothing when Lori actually died, but I cried like a baby when Rick fell apart. Is Rick going to become the new Shane?
I had some nitpicks with how everything lead to Lori’s death. I mean, how the hell did that guy survive in the first place? And, the stupid horror movie way that everybody just split up when they got attacked. And, the baby deciding to come out at the perfect inappropriate moment. But, Carl’s “It’s my mom line” and the way that Rick just fucking broke down was handled beautifully. That was some fantastic acting.
This episode was amazing. From the death of Lori to the complete mental breaking of Rick.
Also i know that Maggie is our new internet goddess. I was watching Talking Dead and she has a killer Australian Accent which now levels her up a couple notches.
According to her interview on the Nerdist podcast, she was born in the states but raised in the UK. So her accent is more of a weird American/British hybrid.
wow..His reaction at the end was one of the best displays of acting I’ve seen on the show, and on any other show. That is how someone reacts when a loved one dies. If he doesn’t get a nomination for a Golden Globe or an Emmy I will be shocked.I am beautiful woman and I love good man…..inter racial romance is my dream… so I joined —blackwhitePlanet.С0M—–it’s where to- connect with beautiful and excellent people!They seemed to make a real point to draw attention to him watching her. I think it may be Tyreese. It would be an easy way to work him into the story. Thoughts?
Is there a rule in the writers’ room of this show that they have to have at least one female character that all the viewers are supposed to hate? Seriously, Andrea’s gotten incredibly annoying and stupid: “Hey, let me not pay attention to the warnings of the woman who has kept me alive for the past year because I’ve fallen head over heels over some guy I met two days ago.”
The idea I think, is more like she wants to believe that Woodbury is actually an oasis in the desert. I understand what you’re saying though.
yeah andrea’s always been annoying, but i can understand wanting to stay in Woodbury even if The Governor wasn’t eye-fucking her
I get that she wants to believe in the idea of Woodbury, and maybe it’s because of the huge time leap during the off season, but Andrea was becoming a pretty hardened person towards the end of Season 2. To all of a sudden, having pretty much no suspicion of the Governor even though Michonne is practically screaming at her that they have to leave just seems kind of weird. I know that the comic and TV show are two different things, but in the comic Andrea’s a pretty bad ass zombie slayer. I’m just not liking the sort of naive clueless that her character is heading towards.
I’m pretty sure it’s AMC’s rule to have a woman to hate on each show: Lori (maybe now Andrea) on TWD, fat ass betty fucking draper on Mad Men, and Skyler on Breaking Bad…..
if andrea’s gotta be a part of the show they could at least make her hilariously overconfident, like when she begged to have a gun then almost immediately accidentally shot Darryl. the hardest i’ve laughed at this show, which admittedly isn’t saying a lot.
For some reason – and believe me I feel really creepy admitting this – I’m dying to see if they continue the storyline with the Governors daughter. Doesn’t seem like something they would continue on TV.
Seriously, it’s my Fireworks Factory moment.
That was indeed, fucked up. I thought that’s what they were going to show last week when it zoomed in on a picture of his family before the Governor went in to that room.
I’m feeling they’re gonna mix somethings, like the Governor and the town of the later part in the comics.
This is also a sad day to earn the T-Dogg badge.
I understand. I earned my T-Dogg badge today as well.
Make it a sad, little threesome. Oh T-Dogg…
What the hell are they going to feed that baby?
thank you! I was asking that before they cut Lori open
My wife was asking the very same thing the whole time, and by the “next episode” advance, it’s going to be an issue.
Glenn got the kill of the night for me when he sliced one’s head in half.
And Carl get to see his Mom’s unkempt Bush, then his knife was used to slice her open/ Killer her to save the baby and then he got the final “You ain’t coming bacl” shot to her face. That is gonna be some therapy time for him. They better let him nail the blonde.
Yeah, I’m surprised Herschel himself didn’t shove his daughter at him.
I was joking with my wife about that. “Rrrriiiiight. Because the last two things he saw of her mom was her beaver and her brains all over the floor. Surely he’s gonna be fine.”
i got some malt liquor with your name on it t-dawg
Pour one for the homie
Make it two.
Ricks new daughter name game: My choice Zom-Betty.
Screw you I have a migraine.
Insult to injury I just got the T Dogg badge.
#NeverForget
Chalupa Batman is already taken. Enchilada Batgirl?
So when does Hershel get his leg gun?
I thought that last night as well.
I though he was going to be a peg-legged pirate now?
I’m pretty sure it’s in the next episode.
Now that I cancelled my cable and won’t be watching the show until next season I gotta say it’s nice being able to read these without worrying about knowing what happens when I watch the show later that night.
I don’t watch this show, but I’m sort of intrigued. From what I can tell, it really picked up towards the end of last season. Should I just start there? Beginning of this season?
Watch it from the beginning. If I had to suffer through that shit you should have to also. But really watch it from the beginning. It can drag a bit (especially season 2) but you should watch it in it’s entirety or not at all.
Watch the pilot, episodes 2, 3, 5, and maybe 6. Then the first episode or two of season 2, the episode with the Rooker cameo, the last episode of the first half, and then the backhalf of s2 and all of s3 (so far). There are a few duds I listed, but there’s some kinda important stuff in there. Or just watch all of it.
Season 1 & 2 are on Netflix, watch it all.
carl finally gave lori that mom of the year award we all wanted to give her!!!!!
HAHA
Not a word, or better yet, a GIF of Glenn’s head slice? I thought it was awesome.
I poured one out for T-Dog. No shit. That shit hurt my heart.
I think the reason Axel did nothing is because he’s played by Lew Temple, who gets FUCKING MURDERED on screen almost as much as Sean Bean. So maybe if he stands there quietly, the zombies wont notice him.
They’re doing a shit job with Axel’s character.
Anyone else kind of wished Carl would’ve slapped Rick and said there’s a new sheriff in town and became the new group leader because he’s 1000000% badass?
I feel a little let down with Lori’s death. We all deserved more than what we got. I feel so let down with her death I kind of hope that Carl purposely missed her and is going to let her recover as a zombie in that area. Maybe he’ll try and keep her as a pet?
Either way, I hope TWD will show us a ceremony or something to confirm Lori’s death. The fact that they didn’t show Lori’s ultimate demise makes me wonder if Carl is being a kid and pretending he did something he didn’t, which could bring in extra ramifications and consequences later on in the season.
Great episode. Can’t wait for next week. So happy Lori’s dead.
Did anyone else notice the large black guy in the background of a couple of Michonne’s scenes? They seemed to make a real point to draw attention to him watching her. I think it may be Tyreese. It would be an easy way to work him into the story. Thoughts?
I get the feeling Oscar is going to be Tyreese with a different name.
Yeah I could see that too.
Same with Oscar is Tyreese. I think the dude watching Michonne is just the dude the Gov told to keep an eye on her.
Thought for sure the baby was gonna go for a nipple bite.
This season is epic, and only halfway done?
I think this is just gonna get better and better. All bets are off for me.
TWD has officially made me forget about the shit-tacular season 2. If they can maintain this level for the entire season Ill never complain again, Lori’s dead, Carl isn’t a whiny bitch anymore, the plot’s actually moving forward. Looking really solid so far.
They starting getting much better at the end of season 2. The zombie attack on the farm seemed to be the turning point in the series. Since then it’s been a gory thing of awesomeness.
If only they made season 2 6 episodes shorter and the 1st 4 episodes of this season couldve wrapped up last season, the show would be pretty flawless to me. Still cant forgive them for that waste of time that was last season.
Agree completely. Season 2 is forgiven. Carl can go wherever he wants now.
It seems likely to me that the next episode will end with people from Woodbury running into the convoy of Daryl and whoever else (Maggie?) heading out of the prison to a local town for formula of some kind. Merle will probably be there too, somehow. But that’s how I imagine the two groups meeting initially here, not with Carol running out of the prison yard and bumping into them or something weird.
By the way, what happened to Carol?
The real lesson is here: don’t assume the prisoner armed with a baseball bat was eaten alive by zombies.
Hey, he dropped the baseball bat when Rick karate kicked him. From somewhere he found an axe, and then he managed to hunt and kill a deer armed only with that axe. Kind of badass.
Fair enough. Though the lesson of ‘don’t leave him alive’ is still relevant.
^ Exactly. Leaving him alive was such a S2 Rick move. At least he didn’t give the guy a gun and some ammo to fight his way out.
Should’ve given him the Tomas treatment.
The real reason that Lori had to have a C-section is because Maggie couldn’t hack through that bush Lori had grown in the eight months since they had left the farmhouse. Carl probably though his new sibling was a 70s basketball player.
Congratulations on winning the interwebs
Outstanding
Slow clap.
Bravo sir, bravo.
You sick bas… nah, love you man.
The first thing I thought was the “well, one token black guy for another.” Then, of course, the episode reached into my chest and pulled out my guts.
Rick. Wow. His reaction at the end was one of the best displays of acting I’ve seen on the show, and on any other show. That is how someone reacts when a loved one dies. If he doesn’t get a nomination for a Golden Globe or an Emmy I will be shocked.
You can go ahead and start preparing yourself now for that eventuality.
The Emmys now exist solely to disappoint those who actually believe in rewarding quality.
Actually that they don’t reward quality is ol ‘Grimey’s only chance.
That was pretty heavy stuff. I agree.
I dont think they give out emmy noms based on 30 second clips of acting.
If the Emmy’s really gave a shit about decent acting, Jon Hamm & Nick Offerman would be rolling in Emmy gold.
Also, Carl is now 100% Full-Metal-Jacket-style born-again hard core. You do not fuck with Carl.
I’ll wait until it’s confirmed he REALLY did it. I’m suspicious.
The only thing I didn’t like about Rick’s break-down at the end of the episode was the way he kind of fell over onto his side like a kid. If he had dropped to his knees, sobbed and slammed his fists on the ground at least his emotional collapse would have still made him look like a badass.
That’s what bad 80′s action heroes do. His reaction was real.
i agree 100%. i hated how he fell to the floor. come on man. act like a man.
I like that Oscar is sort of in the group now, but I’d be totally okay with him dying if the “one black guy at a time rule” meant that Morgan could come back.
Is Morgan the guy with the kid? If so, I agree.
I do miss me some Morgan.
He may come back, and we’ll know if him and the kid pop up in a “last time on the walking dead” recap…
Fuck no, zombie-kill-of-the-week goes to Glen’s side-swing cutting that motherfucking zombie’s skull in half.
I feel like that was too close to two weeks ago when that same type of kill was awarded Kill of the Week.
I can second this kill as completely Metal
am I the only one that loved Daryl’s “jump up and dive bomb knife a zombie in the skull” kill?
I think zombie kill of the week belongs to Carl, for shooting Lori. Even if it was a preventitive measure, how come we’re not hoisting him on our shoulders this week?
I’m with dirty on the jump-stab. And I’m not counting Lori as dead until we get a corpse or a funeral.
glen straight up murked that zombie. shit was kill of the week
Indeed
Guy named Philip who likes keeping heads in jars…I bet his real name is actually Lars instead.
That hillbilly prisoner is going to end up killing someone. I know it. Also I like this Governor fellow. He’s my kind of crazy.
This Governor is actually more mysterious and cunning than the comic counterpart. In the comics is a psychotic weasel. And filthy looking.