Wow!

If I only had one word to sum up the mid-season start up of The Walking Dead last Sunday evening, it would be that.

Spoiler Alert! If you have yet to watch it, read no further. Instead, go HERE and watch it for free online.

If you remember last time, Shane tore open the barn and the group unloaded their firearms on the walkers contained within, much to the horror of Hershel and his family. Unfortunately, the last walker to come shuffling out of the barn was poor little Sophia.. the young girl they'd been searching for for so many days.

Shane, who up to that point had been beating his chest like a silverback and declaring himself the only one who was willing to do what needed to be done, stood there with his mouth open while Rick stepped forward and put little undead Sophia out of her misery.

Sunday's episode picked up right from there... And it was explosive. One of Hershel's family ran to the zombified remains of her mother and was attacked, as the zombie wasn't quite dead yet. Andrea took care of that in gloriously disgusting fashion using the closest weapon... a scythe.

Hershel ordered everyone off his land and beat a hasty retreat to the local bar, which apparently was his old stomping grounds years before.

Carl told his mom that Rick had done the right thing, and that he would have done the same. A harsh look at how cold this new world is forcing it's children to become.

As distant Darryl is emotionally, it's obvious he cares for Carol (Sophia's mother). Could we be witnessing a budding relationship that goes beyond mere fellow survivors?

Dale told Lori his theory about Shane and Otis' outing. Lori admits that Shane's a hothead, but doesn't believe he's capable of that. Dale disagrees and believes it's only a matter of time before he does it again. After Dale and Shane's exchange in the swamp, Dale should watch his back.

The family member that was attacked went almost catatonic..completely unresponsive, but eyes wide open. Could she have been scratched? Could she be about to turn? With no one else to help her, Rick rides off with Glen to bring Hershel back. Once at the bar, Hershel admits his thoughts of there being a cure... that the walkers were still alive... were way off base. He feels foolish and angry... and hopeless for the first time.

Before they can come back to the farm, they're surprised by two other survivors we've never seen before! That should be a good thing, right? Unfortunately, in the zombie apocalypse you don't just have walkers to worry about, but assholes, too. These were seriously shady guys and Rick's cop skills picked up on it. The world is now basically the lawless, wild west and Rick is it's only lawman, and when these guys went for their guns, Rick's quickdraw put them down right away.

Back at camp Lori asks Darryl to get Rick and Hershel and bring them back for the family member that they think might be in shock. But Darryl is still mourning Sophia in his own way and has retreated back into his shell, refusing to help anyone with anything. "Get them yourself" he tells her.... What he didn't realize is that Lori makes dumb decisions and takes a car into town (where she's never been) by herself. While reading a map she hits a walker and crashes. We don't know her fate, but we have to wonder about her unborn child. Will she miscarry? Will she be pinned and subject to walkers? She only brought a small pistol with about six bullets and she's not nearly the shot that Rick and Shane are.

So, going into next week we've got Rick, Hershel and Glen hiding out from the friends of the jerks Rick killed, Lori trapped in a car wreck that nobody knows about, Shane stomping around camp just seconds away from punching Dale square in the mouth, and a family member in the house that may or may not be turning undead.

Dang this is getting good!!

Aim high. Run fast.

Brett

B'hold Designs Store
B'hold Designs Website