Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 7 "Pretty Much Dead Already"

The barn's full of walkers

Remember how I said in my last post that Glenn couldn't keep a secret for very long?  Well, it took him all of 5 seconds into this episode to let out the most dangerous secret for the group.  Yup, the barn is full of walkers.  I loved the slow pan across the group eating breakfast calmly and then each individual reaction.  Now the big question is what do they do?  I'm on Shane's side of this issue.  Shoot them all down.  Crazy Hershel be damned.  He doesn't see the real danger that walkers pose.  Everyone, including Hershel and his family, is better off with all the walkers dead.  Rick wants to be respectful to Hershel (whose land they are currently residing on) but Hershel is out of touch with the zombiepocalypse.  Hershel also wants the group to leave.  Now that Carl is better he wants them on their way.  Rick is trying to broker a deal to stay on the farm where is it relatively safe.  Shane wants to leave.  Forget Sophia, forget crazy Hershel, let's head out to Fort Benning like originally planned.  You know Daryl wouldn't stand for abandoning Sophia.  He has spent all season looking for that girl and by golly he is going to stay until he finds her.




Last week Lori and Rick discussed the existing love triangle, now it was time to bring in the third party into that conversation. Rick tells Shane that Lori is pregnant. Instantly Shane believes it is his baby and goes into protective papa bear mode. He is willing to stay on the boring farm for the sake of Lori and the baby. But he still wants to kill the walkers because now they are an even bigger threat to him.

Dale vs. Shane round 2

After the barn announcement and the discussion on what to do about the walkers Dale decides to take matters into this own hands.  He takes the gun bag and decides to hide them in the woods.  He doesn't want anyone (read Shane) doing anything crazy with them.  Shane sees him and they have it out.  Dale full on accuses Shane of killing Otis.  Shane doesn't deny this.  Shane is the new breed of man for this world.  Dale points his rifle at Shane but doesn't shoot him.  He is not like Shane.  He still has morals and values human life.  You know if things were reversed Shane would have shot Dale just for getting in his way.  The old Shane is officially gone.

So that's where she was

Hershel agrees to let Rick and the gang stay if they will play by the rules.  This involves taking Rick with him to a nearby swamp to grab some walkers.  These two walkers have gotten stuck in the mud. 

Hershel uses dog catcher poles to grab them by the neck and lead them to the barn to join their friends.  He mentions that this used to be Otis's job.  Rick looks like he is pacifying a mentally unstable person when he agrees to do this with Hershel.  Like I've said before Hershel is not thinking clearly when it comes to the walkers.  Especially since he knows them.  The female walker stuck in the mud was a friend.  As they get close to the barn Shane spots them.  He grabs the guns and arms the gang and gets everybody amped up for a walker killing.  Shane kills the walker who was a friend of Hershel.  But first he shoots her in the chest several times to prove to Hershel that she is no longer human.  Then he opens the doors and the zombies start coming.  The gang lines up and shoots one zombie after another.  When the dust clears and all is quiet a noise is heard from inside the barn.  There is still one more walker inside.  Slowly a foot appears.  A very small foot attached to a tiny leg.  As the walker appears we get a clear view of it.  It is Sophia.  The look on the gang's faces says it all.  All those days Daryl spent looking for her.  She was in the barn the entire time.  Carol runs to her daughter but Daryl holds her back.  The first time he hasn't shunned human contact.  Rick emerges from behind the group of shooters, pulls out his gun, points it at Sophia's head and kills her.  For the second time since the show started he has killed a little girl.  I doubt this time it was any easier.  I find it interesting that Shane couldn't kill Sophia.  With all of his talk about how he is the right kind of man for this new world he couldn't kill one of their own when it was needed.  And with this scene the first half of the season is over.  Sophia has been found and a war is about to break out among the characters.  Rick vs Shane vs Dale vs Hershel.  Who will win?  Nobody.  In a zombiepocalypse nobody wins.