Episode 2.12 of The Walking Dead could have begun, with a nod to Rod Serling, "Submitted for your approval ..."
But how, as Glenn says about Randall, can that be? As we saw last year, a bite by walker takes time to turn its victim into a walker.- Randall, who as far as we know has not been bitten by walkers, turns up staggering in the woods as a walker, after Shane has killed him by breaking his neck.
- Shane, who as far as we know has not been bitten by walkers, goes staggering as a walker towards Rick, after Rick has killed Shane (with a knife, as Shane was trying to kill Rick).
Best hypothesis - maybe the only viable hypothesis - is that is all the humans are now carrying around the walker virus, which they picked up without being bitten. Presumably there are no overt symptoms of this virus not introduced by a bite. (Though maybe that's what was afflicting Beth.) Unclear whether the virus introduced in this way can be beaten back by the human immune system, and, if not, how long would it take for a human infected in this way to turn into a walker?
What is clear, if this hypothesis is correct, is that if a human so infected is killed, he or she rises very shortly after as a walker. That would explain what happened tonight to Randall and Shane.
I generally am not thrilled about rabbits pulled out of hats, but this opens up some interesting possibilities, to say the least. Maybe Hirschel is right, after all, that a cure van be found, based on studying the antibodies of humans carrying the walker virus. Maybe that's what the scientist at the CDC told Rick at the end of the last season. More practically, is every human in our group now infected in this unbitten way?
I can't say I'm sorry to see Shane go, and, with what Lori told him about her not really knowing if he or Rick was the father of her baby - an uncertainty we already knew - it's not surprising that he pushed the envelope tonight. It was also good to see Carl save Rick's life by killing walker-Shane.
I have no idea what the sum total of fans are thinking about this year versus last year, but I'm liking this year of The Walking Dead just fine.
... The Walking Dead 2.3: Shane and Otis ... The Walking Dead 2.4: What Happened at the Pharmacy ... The Walking Dead 2.6: Secrets Told ... The Walking Dead 2.7: Rick's Way vs. Shane's Way ... The Walking Dead 2.8: The Farm, the Road, and the Town ... The Walking Dead 2.9: Worse than Walkers ... The Walking Dead 2.11: Young Calling the Shots
And see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3: Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season
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The Plot to Save Socrates
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
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5 comments:
I found Lori's comments to Shane perplexing. Nothing in her character seems sinister, but those couple of minutes absolutely led to the events in the rest of the episode and confrontation between Rick and Shane.
And you said last week, "I think Carl is definitely being revved up for a major role in Season 3, if not in the last episode of this season." - a hat tip to you, Sir. Nicely called. Predictions for the season finale?
I wonder if the walkers headed their way in mass means they will flee the farm and season 3 starts on the road again.
Thanks. I'm not sure about the season finale - one of things I've noticed about TV in general is that often the next-to-last episodes in a season are more remarkable than the final episodes. So we may see less extraordinary developments next week than we did this week.
But as to the farm, I can't see everybody leaving, even after the walker attack. Maggie & Glenn will stay together, and she'll go with our group. But maybe not Hirschel.
Will be fun to see!
This episode was outstanding, and probably the last chance to have a dramatic moment with Rick and Shane with what's approaching the farm now.
I like the virus idea, and I've heard rumors to that effect from the producers. Supposedly the "whisper" will be revealed next week.
But with Shane and Randall coming back and so quickly, that fully explains why this spread so fast and killed off so many in a short period of time. I have a picture of holes in empty graves where some of the dead dug their way out, and anyone that died before, during, and after the event coming back too fast for people to get their guard up. Only the lucky survived.
Would actually love to see a graveyard scene in a future episode, since that's something we haven't really seen yet. Until then, I'll take the "Night of the Living Dead" homage next week with a horde approaching a farmhouse full of survivors, hoping and praying that the dead return that way, or they blow as many of them away as they can.
The previous week's episode foreshadowed the "walkers without bites" thing. When they were going to leave Randall in the motor yard by the school bus, Shane and Rick killed two walkers with knives. At that point they commented on "no bites" and figured the walkers must have been scratched.
I like the idea of a virus infecting even the living. If Lori has it, then so must her unborn baby. It will be interesting to see how the producers work that. Hopefully, Lori does not have a miscarriage or the baby may decide to "eat its way out".
Tomm - whew, good chilling thought about Lori's baby ...
Looper - yeah, a graveyard scene would be nice, but it looks as if the virus takes over too quickly after death, for anyone to even be buried.
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