Blog-o-ween: The Walking Dead - The Morning After

Can I just say OMG!!! Have I mentioned how much I love this show?  This won't be in chronological order but bear with me.  I'm kind of going off my notes but also going off how most people seemed to be paired up in this episode: Shane and Otis, Rick and Lori, Daryl and Andrea, etc.

We open episode 3, "Save the Last One" on Shane shaving his head.  When he was done and staring at himself in the mirror I half expected him to show us his Travis Bickle impression.  Seriously.  And that was an incredibly effective use of voice over as Rick recounts a high school tale of Shane stealing his principals car while we watch current Shane and Otis trying to outrun a hoarde of zombies.  Every time we check in on them I think to myself, "They're completely effed. How are they going to get out of this?"  Well I'll get back to that later.

Next up we catch up with the folks who stayed behind in the RV.  Carol is sobbing over her lost daughter, Sophia. Andrea is loading a magazine with bullets.  Daryl is lying on the floor having to listen to both and decides to go out for a midnight stroll.  Andrea decides to go with him and I would too.  I feel badly for Carol but I couldn't listen to that crying all night.  Carol gets the hint, pulls herself together and joins Dale for lookout duty on the roof. 

A quick aside, have y'all noticed how great the editing and camera work are on this show?  Truly the production value is movie quality.  I'm still bummed at Darabont's ouster but they're doing just fine so far.

Glen and T-Dog make it to the house and adorable Glen wonders if they should knock. Heh.  T-Dog points out that they're probably beyond that by now..  Glenn and Maggie get a look at each other and I'm desperate for the storyline from the first book.  I see hints of it in this episode so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  As T-Dog is getting patched up Maggie kind of sneaks up on Glen who is taking his first shot at praying.  They have a great but quick conversation about belief in God and considering what's going on you can't blame them.  I like what Maggie says which is something along the lines of whether or not you believe, you still have to make the best of your current situation. Too true, girl.

Speaking of making the best of your situation, Daryl and Andrea stumble around in the darkness and across a chap who didn't quite know the best way to handle his situation.  They've found a very hungry and flailing zombie (can't really call him a walker because he wasn't going anywhere) who had hung himself after being bit.  He left a quirky little poem on the tree though and it went like this:

Got bit

Fever hit

World gone to shit

Might as well quit

Daryl, who I'm not getting tired of saying how much I love, says, "Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head." He later quips, "Hangin' up there like a big pinata."  Hee!  I love that he was just going to leave him swinging from that branch.  Andrea felt he deserved to be put out of his misery and in exchange for Daryl to do so she had to answer his one question: Does she still want to die?  Understandably she just doesn't know if she wants to be dead or alive and that living is just a habit. People need to stop asking her though. 

So while all this other stuff is going on, Rick, Lori and Hershel are waiting for the medical supplies so Hershel can operate properly on Carl.  If Shane and Otis don't make it back soon Rick and Lori will have to decide if they want to go ahead with the surgery even though it's incredibly risky.  Lori understandably is stressed about her ailing son but also if they should be taking heroic measures to ensure his life in a world that downright sucks.  Why force a child to grow up in a world where survival is all there is?  Meanwhile little Carl wakes up, asks where he is and then proceeds to tell his mom about the pretty deer he saw.  Carl stops talking mid-sentence, starts convulsing and TEARS. OUT. MY. HEART.  This kid is good, y'all.  Anywhoodle Rick later notes to a stressed out Lori that instead of his son waking up and complaining about being shot the only thing on his mind was that deer.  It's moments like that which validate their hope for some kind of survival.  There have got to be more deer out there they can gawk at.  Maybe they should take a lesson from the kid in American Beauty and notice the beauty in grocery bags blowing around.

*****SPOILERY BITS*****SPOILERY BITS****SPOILERY BITS****SPOILERY BITS*******
Luckily for Carl Shane shows up just in time but wait, where's Otis?  Shane glumly shakes his head and we know Otis didn't make it out.  We end the episode back on that first scene of Shane in the bathroom and we now see a suspicious cut on his head.  Interspersed with his shower and head shaving are the details of his escape.  It's not so much that Otis didn't make it out, it's more that Shane ENSURED Otis wasn't going to make it out.  I blame Otis for putting this idea in his head earlier on.  The walkers are steps behind them and Shane shoots Otis.  I repeat SHANE SHOOTS OTIS!  It wasn't a fatal shot because Otis gets a grasp on Shane and Shane proceeds to stab or cut or hack Otis until he lets go.  Shane takes off and we actually get to see the walkers Tear. Otis. To. Bits.  Uh, one palate cleansing show, please? Mama needs her sleep.  Ok, sure, both of them probably were not going to get away otherwise but dang! I was kinda hoping Otis would be around a bit longer. 
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Next week we get back to searching for Sophia.  Hershel doesn't want the group to be hanging around past them finding her 'cause he's got his own people to protect.  DUDE. I TOTALLY hope we see just how many people he's protecting.  Wow, I really shouldn't have read the first book.