In the world of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic series, Shane was a one-note character who got killed off early on. Meanwhile– on the televised version of The Walking Dead– actor Jon Bernthal has turned that one-note bully into the show’s most compelling character. One imagines this must be a bit of a conundrum for the show’s writers: Shane’s supposed to be bad, but a whole bunch of viewers prefer him to the show’s lead. Last week, The Walking Dead‘s writers dealt “Team Shane” a blow by having Bernthal’s character do something really, really evil…but was it enough? And would tonight’s episode continue his descent into villainy? And would Rick get any more interesting? Find out after the jump, folks.
At the end of last week’s Walking Dead, the show’s writers finally got around to giving us a good reason to hate Jon Bernthal’s Shane: after tracking down some much-needed medical equipment with Otis (a dude who wasn’t all that bad whenever he wasn’t accidentally shooting children), Shane shot his fellow traveler in the leg and left him for dead. One might argue that Shane’s touchy-feely (OK, rapey) scene during the season one finale was the moment where we were all supposed to start hating Bernthal’s character, but…well, what can I say? Who among us hasn’t had too much wine in an underground bunker and tried to molest a cop’s wife?
If The Walking Dead really wanted us to hate Shane (or, at the very least, to pledge allegiance to “Team Rick”) the show needed to give us something a helluva lot more unforgivable than that scene with Rick’s wife, something that absolutely no one would be able to justify. Last week, I submitted to you that Shane’s betrayal of Otis was that unforgivable moment, and—judging from the conversations I’ve had with other fans of the show over the past week—it seems to have been only somewhat successful: most people I’ve spoken with reluctantly agree that last week’s finale marked the “beginning of the end” for Shane, but the majority of those people also think the show’s going to suffer without Jon Bernthal. I tend to agree.
Anyway, all of this is a very elaborate way of saying this: I was curious to see what would be done with Shane on tonight’s episode. Besides the “Well Zombie” that we glimpsed during the “Next Week On…” promo last week, this what I was most looking forward to tonight. The way I figure it, the more the writers pile on the “evil Shane” stuff, the quicker they’re looking to write him outta the show. If tonight’s episode featured very little “evil Shane”, well, that’d be good news for us Bernthal fans.
So, how’d it turn out?
Well, we’ll get to that. Before we get to the funeral that opened the episode, though, I need to get the following off my chest: these survivors are really, really stupid. They are so stupid, in fact, that one might be forgiven for wishing outright harm upon them from time to time. Over the course of the show’s run, we’ve seen our merry band of survivors do a variety of dumb things, but tonight’s “well debacle” might be their dumbest escapade yet.
See, it’s revealed that the Greene farm has a number of wells on the property—five of ‘em, actually—and early in the episode Dale and T-Dawg decide that they’re going to go investigate each well’s condition. Upon arriving at the first one, they’re in mid-conversation when Dale realizes that a fat, squirmy, gelatinous zombie has taken up residence in the bottom of the well. He stops T-Dawg from drinking a dipper full o’ well-water, calls a few of the other survivors over, and that’s when the dumb happens.
First, the group realizes that a zombie in the well probably means that the water’s contaminated…but not for certain (idiotic thought #1: it’s definitely contaminated, and even if it isn’t, how would you find out?). They then decide to kill the zombie in the well below, but not while it’s captured down there. Y’know, ‘cause that might contaminate the water (idiotic thought #2: use one of the four other wells, jackasses). So, they decide to lure the zombie into a loop of rope with a ham (!!!), but when that fails, they decide to use “live bait” (!!!) in the form of Glenn (idiotic thought #3: for obvious reasons). All of this shoots by in a matter of moments—I rewound the scene and watched it twice, trying to catch the logic here—going from “Hey, there’s a zombie down there!” to “Quick—let’s get an unarmed man as close to it as possible in order to save the water!” in record time.
It’s moments like these that I have to wonder how long these people might actually survive following a zombie apocalypse. I mean, really, folks: this is just ridiculous. Of course their plan goes totally awry (somehow, the inch-thick length of rope they decided to lower Glenn down the well with doesn’t hold), but eventually they manage to get the zombie up onto the rim of the well. At that point, it rips in half, spewing guts, viscera, and what might’ve been worms directly into the water below. T-Dawg gets a “Case of The Mondays” face, and that’s that. It is no exaggeration to say that if Glenn had been killed, he totally would’ve had it coming.
Meanwhile, Rick and Herschel are having a heart-to-heart over by the barn about how long Herschel wants these idiots hanging around his farm (I’d be saying the same thing). Rick is made to understand that– once Sofia is found and Carl has recuperated—the crew will need to hit the road. Later in the episode, he challenges Herschel on this, but in the beginning he just kinda goes along with it. Fans of the comic series probably know where this is headed (check out how prominently that barn is featured in this scene, or how…uhm…what we know from the comics fits with how the Greene family behaves on tonight’s episode), and I couldn’t be happier to assume that the show is moving this storyline in that direction. If they follow through on this subplot, it’ll be interesting (Sorry to be all cryptic about it, but I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free for those of you who haven’t read the books).
In other news: Shane and Lori have yet another conversation about whether or not Shane should stick around (Lori appears to have powered down the “Bitch Switch” of the second straight week in a row, and it’s a mood that suits her); Daryl spends a good amount of time traipsing through the forest in search of Sofia (he finds an abandoned house with what looks like a kid’s insta-camp inside a cupboard); Carol’s still sitting in the RV, whining; Andrea’s still acting kinda pissy, and has a conversation with Shane about killing (which seems to reveal just how screwed up Shane is over Otis’ murder); and Glenn and Maggie…well, let’s talk about Glenn and Maggie.
In a scene that begged for Daryl to come bursting through the door yelling, “Dr. Jones! No time for love!”, Glenn and Maggie final got it on (Side Note: generally, when I’m working on a recap, I’ll watch the show once, and then write the recap while watching the encore that AMC runs immediately afterwards. Because Hell on Wheels replaced the encore show this week, I was forced to take notes that were slightly more detailed than usual during tonight’s lone broadcast. My notes for this scene read: “Glenn/Maggie ride horses, go shopping, bone [Maggie = ho?]”) while on a shopping excursion. Fans of the comics know that these two are a couple, and that particular plotline kicked into gear during last week’s episode, but it was still somewhat shocking to see it in action tonight. Nice for Glenn, I suppose, but when the answer to “Why do you want to have sex with me?” is “Options are limited”, that’s not really cause for celebration.
Besides the need to get laid in a pharmacy, Glenn had another reason for being on this trip: to track down a “personal item” for Lori. At first, the way she requests this item (written on a separate sheet of paper, telling him it’s located in the “feminine hygiene section”) seems to indicate that Lori’s got some not-so-fresh issues going on—which, given the zombie apocalypse and the general state of hygiene amongst the survivors, is understandable. But it turns out that she’s sent Glenn to get a pregnancy test, and the episode wraps with Lori pissing on the device out in Greene’s field: turns out, she’s preggers. Ruh-roh!
Overall, I thought this was a decent episode. I wasn’t overjoyed with any one thing in particular, but I certainly wasn’t annoyed with the plot (maybe some of the characters’ decisions, but definitely not in the “this is just bad writing” way that the show’s annoyed me before). I wish the show were delivering a bit more on its awesome premise, but a lot of what I’d like to see these characters doing would be impossible with this particular set of characters. Overall, I think this season’s better than last season, but I’m still hoping against hope that an episode of The Walking Dead is gonna knock me on my ass at some point. Were I grading tonight’s episode—and I’m totally not—I’d give it a B+.
How will Lori’s pregnancy effect the rest of the survivors, the show, Rick, Shane? Whose baby is it, do ya think? Think the survivors are dumb, or do you think I was a little hard on ‘em over the “well debacle”? Didja notice Merle’s coming back (he was glimpsed in the “Next Week On…” promo), and are you excited about that? Sound off in the comments section below, folks, and stay tuned for our next recap, same Dead-time, same Dead-channel next Sunday.
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1. Why didn’t Daryl mention anything about the kid’s ‘insta-camp’?
2. We all knew (or safely assumed) the wife was preggers from the season finale.
3. I haven’t read the comic but I’m very very interested to hear what is inside the barn.
4. Did anyone else first think that the farmer people knew the zombie was in the well and they were trying to off them?
1)I Think Daryl is tired of false hope and didn’t want add to it.
2)yeah exactly they dragged this out for no reason.
3)The barn will be a reveal but it’s a spoiler so I won’t say it.
4)They may not have known about THAT zombie.
I’m wondering why Rick seems to have forgotten about Morgan and his son. They haven’t had him do his morning call since the season opener.
I had been thinking for a while about what kind of time frame we have seen on this show and its surprisingly not been all that long at all.
Rick Wakes up in the hospital, meets the man and his son in the pilot. He spends the night with them and then leaves for his trek into Atlanta. So we are at 2 maybe 3 days.
Rick gets rescued from the tank, meets the others handcuffs Merle Smears himself in geek guts hightales it out of Atlanta with the others. This is all in the same day, so we are towards the end Day 2 or 3.
He gets reunited with Lori (In more ways than one) and Carl. He talks about what it is like to wake up in that hospital that night. The next morning he goes back into the city to get the guns and walkie talkies and merle I guess. Glenn gets kidnapped, they might have spent another night in the city trying to figure stuff out, i am doing this from memory, but then they rescue Glenn but not Merle and they get back to camp just as the geeks attack the camp and the people get bit. so we are at day 4 or 6.
They decide to leave for the CDC the next day, the guy is in the middle of transforming into a geek, so I know it is the next day. They might have spent an extra night traveling to the CDC, but I dont think that they did so we are at either day 5 or 8.
They spend one night maybe 2 nights which i dont think is right in the CDC before it goes all nuclear on everybodies asses. So we are at either day 6 or 10.
Then season 2 begins. Not sure exactly how long they spend between the CDC going nuclear and departing Atlanta. I doubt it was a day, maybe it was 2 so we are at day 7 or 12.
Assuming that they were only on the road for a single day before hitting the traffic jam/ grave yard and then sofia runing off we would be at either day 8 or day 14.
Then I don’t remember everything from the past season (but I remember season 1 WTF to that) but this episode, Rick said that Sofia has been gone from 3 days, so we are either at day 11 or 17.
That was being extremely generous with the days getting handed out. If you read them all, you probably realized that every episode rolled directly into the next and that it probably wasn’t even 11 days that this entire season has spanded so far.
The first reason that I am pointing this out would be for the point of saying Holy frick, its only been that long? and the second being for as you saw earlier noted, Rick reunited with Lori in more ways than one was mentioned. Now that was after the first maybe two days. So really it was only nine days ago, and probably even less. Now I might know geeks, but I can assure you that I don’t know Women, but is it even possible for A positive Pregnancy test in such a small time frame? Cuz if not thats gonna lead to some awkward, how did you get pregnant so fast, Ive only been back for a single weekish.
DRAMA!!!
I was always under the assumption that it was Shane’s baby. We found out she was pregnant in the CDC at the end of last season. That was just a few days or so after Rick came back.
I’m pretty confident that it is Shane’s baby. I have a feeling she is going to find a way to terminate the pregnancy which will just give her more of a reason to look haunted and act like a itch with a B.
There is no surprise or question as to who is the father of Lori’s baby. As Leo mapped out, it simply cannot be Rick’s.
On a related note, I don’t think this is what Jenner whispered to Rick. Otherwise, it would have been natural, made sense for Rick to act suspicious toward Lori and Shane after the CDC incident. But he hasn’t behaved anything like this toward the two.
It actually depends on the time between Rick slipping into the coma and the start of the zombie apocalypse… It usually takes at least 3 weeks to a month to get a positive result on a pregnancy test, and even that’s early (keep in mind I said usually)… I know that at the beginning of the series Rick and Lori were having problems but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t “bumping uglies”, and if Rick was only in the coma for about two weeks (based on the timeline above, a ton can happen in a week or two) then it could very well be ricks child…
My notes for this scene read: “Glenn/Maggie ride horses, go shopping, bone [Maggie = ho?]”)
^ LMAO bro i fell out my chair and died. that was the most hilarious thing i ever read on Collide. well done
Hersel & the rest of em are cannibals and ate Sophia. All the bones and bodies are in the barn
OR
Hersel is keeping a walker inside his barn that was once a family member (wife?) and keeping it alive by feeding it live humans.
i have too much of an imagination lol
Both of these things happen in the comics. But I won’t say if you’re right about either. But those 2 themes are explored.
Feeding a zombie would keep it alive?? Don’t they stay alive regardless if they are feeding? What about the one hanging in the tree or even the well “swimmer” ? Do zombies die of starvation in the series? I have not read the comics so I don’t know.
I did consider the keeping the family zombie in the barn (ie. Shaun of the Dead) but when Glenn and Maggie are riding into town and he was asking about her reaction to well zombie, I was expecting her to say she knew them.
Am sure she not going to say nothing…for now. But when Hersel looked at Maggie when Rick had the map out speaking about “the truth” he looked at Maggie like she knew. And assuming (of course) she does but isn’t going to tell until Glenn life is in danger like wander into the barn or something….. Then Shane is going to blow Hersel’s head off
I think the show is finally picking up. It’s been kinda slow in the first couple of episodes but I think this season is settling in, finally.
And I’m still not seeing this “Team Shane” thing. It’s one thing to like a “villainous” character or an actors performance, but I don’t get this push for Shane being the real hero and not Rick. It certainly isn’t being written that way. He is basically a lying murderer who is also coveting his best friends wife and son.
I like the Shane character but I’m not saying this dude should be the real lead.
Hey
Really, really wish you wouldn’t do the whole “Team Shane” or “Team Rick” thing…I know you think it’s clever, and I know you really, really want to create your own internet meme… but it’s incredibly stupid, and it’s not ever going to catch on.
Walking Dead just isn’t that kind of show, and it’s fairly hilarious that you’d think it merited such a thing. Go back to being snarky if you must, but please don’t associate this brand – even the lesser television one – with that sub-human garbage. Plus, if your nonsense ever DID catch on, than that would be just one more thing we’d have to remind us that yes, Twilight at one point did exist. You want to be responsible for keeping that shit past its sell-by date?
@ Scott: Though this is a review of the TV series, I think you should have put a spoiler alert on that 1st sentence of yours.
Shane gave Otis the chance to leave him behind knowing only one of them could make it back. I don’t think what Shane did made him any more evil but shooting him in the leg and not the head was horrible. I also hate Lori so I really don’t blame Shane for everything. She is very manipulative and whats worse is that she is passive aggressive and underhanded with everything she does. She is my most hated character and I really hope they follow the comics when it comes to her.
Daryl was my favorite part of this episode. His presence and actions were subtle, under-stated and probably the most important apart from Shane. He is the only one risking his life to find Sophia at this point…and his reaction to Rick telling him “its ok for you to take off on your own now” was priceless.
Daryl can never be the leader of the group, but watching him as the lone wolf bad ass is a true delight.
….I didn’t notice Merle in the preview.. Was he the zombie at the end of the preview?
I didn’t notice him in the previews either, but I’m am excited for his return. I think this will be a good way for Daryl to show his growth as a character.
Don’t get too excited I think it’s just a dream sequence or something judging from the previews they’ve shown.
Why does it have to be either the Rick or Shane show? Keeping both characters gives the writers a broader canvas, especially as both characters can have their own extended followers on the show to provide more plot variables. Same with Rick asking to stay on the farm…why can’t he simply co-opt the next empty farmhouse down the road he can maintain as he wants and simply be neighbors? Then we can see how two versions of the same farm-coin interact with the zombies. As for blaming the writers for characters’ stupid choices…these folks are making it up as they go and can’t be expected to be super-heroes or zombie specialists but can be tired, desperate, reactionary, making bad choices.
The zombie well situation isn’t foolish. That water is still usable if boiled. that is if it doesn’t have chunks of zombie flesh in it. i thought that scene was great.
Scott Wampler, please get off of Shane’s nuts. You’re like the guy who always talks about his ex-girlfriend, but acts like she doesn’t matter that much once he realizes no one is paying attention. i.e. Shane, Shane, Shane, blah, blah, but this is just a review, “how did it turn out?” Even though Shane has taken up half the review. He’s a character on the show. Period. Talk about the show. Stop talking about your predictions with what’s going to happen with him. You’re never even marginally correct about what you think is going to happen anyways. Team Shane vs. Team Rick doesn’t exist with the people I talk to the show about. Because we talk about the SHOW AND WHAT HAPPENS. We don’t watch Twilight and turn this thing into a back and forth that has no relevance, considering none of us WRITE THE SHOW. Thanks. Outside of that, I think you do a fine job reviewing. Not like my opinion matters in the first place, I’d just like to read the review (which is suitable) sans the three paragraphs of Shane predictions.
Collider has the most whiniest commenters in the world. i swear everyday u ppl complain about something
No shit!! I’ve never seen more people pick shit apart before in my life. Can’t something just be enjoyed and not have every scene scrutinized? It’s fucking fiction! Does it matter if what they are doing seems stupid to you or you don’t agree what direction they are taking this character or that character? Can’t you just smoke a bowl or have a drink and try to enjoy the show.
Nitpickers to every damn detail need to be hung with barbed wire.
I am a regular reader of the comic book, and I don’t think one should discuss plot developments from the comic book when reviewing the TV series. Most people watching the TV show aren’t familiar with the comic, and may not be interested at all in picking up the books. That’s fine — the TV series needs to stand on its own.
That said… *spoiler regarding Shane*…
Although Shane died in the comic book, I could see the character living on indefinitely in the TV series, and I’m cool with that so long as it works. As I said, the TV series needs to stand on its own.
Thought the well scene would have been idiotic if someone suggested it in real life, but for a chance to watch Glen almost get eaten by the Well Zombie and then seeing it burst apart? Classic!
I’m more interested to see how Daryl reacts to his brother showing up (if it’s real) and see where his allegiances really lie.
Sorry, Shane is not all that interesting. Hes a douche who can’t keep it in his pants.
I will give you he is more interesting that Rick, Rick is about as interesting as a pile of bricks.
However Daryl has become the most interesting character BY FAR, especially in this season. First of all, he is the only one out of all of them that doesn’t make STUPID decisions, he is the most well learned of them (at least, that seems to be the case), the most forgiving of them all, and the most level-headed.
Daryl is the only one out of that group that I would trust to have my back. On top of that, he definitely has a mysterious and leadership side to him we haven’t seen yet. Can’t wait to see how Daryl gets fleshed out, I hope it gets even better.
Also fact checking: See, it’s revealed that the Greene farm has a number of wells on the property—five of ‘em, actually—and early in the episode Dale and T-Dawg decide that they’re going to go investigate each well’s condition.
Dale and T-Dog don’t go to investigate the wells, they are told to go use the well out in the field away from the house and so are supplying themselves with water for their eventually leave, to drink, shower, etc. Then Dale happens to notice the zombie down in the well (since they are using the spicket to pull up water).
They aren’t checking the wells for contamination, that would be too smart.
Yes. Daryl automatically ends the Team Shane / Team Rick B.S. Easily the most compelling character that’s part of the central group of survivors. That veterinarian old guy is pretty solid too, I might add. Granted, he’s a new addition.
Shane’s always been a shady character since the beginning of the show, but that he uses necessity evil for ends meet makes it hard to pin point him as a villain at this point don’t you think?
The way he left Otis there made him out to be a complete asshole, but if he hadn’t done that, neither of them would have made it out alive. He could have volunteered himself as dinner, but we know Shane values his life too much to sacrifice himself. Still, all that he did during that medical run was for someone else. Originally, he volunteered to travel there alone without Otis. He had nothing to gain from that trip if he was completely evil. Thanks to Shane really that Carl lives.
Yeah, I’d never have Shane as my back up partner in a fight for sure though. That guy will abandon you the minute he thinks your chance of failure exceeds success.
It must have been that I missed the shane/rick discussions online before now, because this is actually the first time I’m concidering the possibility of shane as the lead character. And after thinking about it i’d have to say, no. I’m in ricks camp appearantly. Shane is a great character. He’s whole, all flaws and perks included, and a great part of the show. The dark side of his character make him very human. This is the appocalypse afterall, and when given the choice between your own life or that of a guy that seems nice, but has afterall been in your life for less then two days, I think shane’s action isn’t that suprising. Especially since, if in doubt, he’ll have the excuse to convince himself with that, this nice guy got him there in the first place by shooting the son of one of shane’s relations from the pre-apocalyptic world. It’s that very human side that makes shane a great character, but it is also the reason I want shane to die at some point in the series, because I think the writers can create a great story around that event. Come to think of it, I guess that makes me the basterd, wanting him to die to please my viewing experience.
As to the rest of the story. The zombie fishing was horrid! Beyond the obvious ‘i’m not drinking from that well, ever!’ thought, I kept muttering to myself about how dumb this event was while watching. They have loads of time to just try and get a loop around the zombie from up top. The zombie isn’t leaving his hole. The moment they opted for glenn to descent I saw it for a very cheap trick to get some action into the episode. The outcome was no suprise.
Once maggie was told about the zombie in the well, there was in my eyes an ever so slight expression in her face and answer it triggered my ‘she knows more then she admits’ sensor. Same as when she rode into town with glenn, and glenn was bragging about how mabye he’s become dulled to zombies because of what hes been through. Another ‘she’s not telling something’ feeling. With that in mind, my thought during the show is that the well zombie might have been someone she knew. Unfortunatly, reading the other comments here about the shed changed my opinion there. Too bad. I think those comments might have been a bit too much of a spoiler for me.