The Walking Dead - S02-E07 - Pretty Much Dead Already

Everyday We Shufflin'

Welcome to week 6 of B-S Reviews; The Walking Dead.
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That must have been an epic barn dance.
-After so many slow episodes where nothing happens, it was startling for the episode to start off when Glenn’s announcement riling the group up. And…we’re off!
-I enjoyed the positioning of Maggie and Dale in relation to Glenn. They appear on either side of him, giving the old Angle and Devil on the shoulders illusion.


-Some kind of relationship is developing between Daryl and Carol.
-To what extent though? And why is Daryl going through all the trouble to find Sophia? Does he have something to prove or is he that much different from his brother? Maybe a bit of both?


-Nothing like a good man argument to fire everyone up for the episode. Gave the episode a good shot of testosterone that really set the mood of the episode.


-Good conversation between Rick and Herschel in the house. My question now is, did Herschel suspect that the little girl in the barn might be the one they were looking for? Is that part of why he was so anxious to get them to leave?
-Did he mention at some point that there was a little girl in there? I may have missed that.


-Poor Carl, studying during an apocalypse? Lame. 
You are being chase by 20 walkers. Shane
 shoots 6, Rick shoots 4, Daryl crossbows 3 
and you shoot 1, how many are left?


-The whole episode basically worked really hard through conversations and confrontations to ratchet up the tension so the last scene could blow the top off. This is a good thing. Keep doing this, writers!
-There were a lot of great conversations. Carl standing up to Shane about staying. Glenn laying it down for Maggie, Shane and Lori, Rick and Shane. It was all well done to build it the pressure.


-While the situation between Dale and Shane seemed slightly contrived, their confrontation was good.
-It put some insight into Shane and how he is taking charge more as the situation suits him more than Rick, for now.


-And Shane loses his shit. Wow. EVERYBODY TAKE A GUN! YOU ALL GET GUNS! It’s like Oprah’s Favourite Things but with Shane and his favourite guns.
-IT'S A BRRAAANNNNNDDDD NNEEEEWWWWW GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNN!!
-I loved this scene, Shane opened up some eyes here. He came in, said what had to be said. When he shoots the walker that Herschel has 5 times in the chest and asks if a sick person could handle that, awesome! Then Rick comes in, "Shane, that's enough!" "Ya, it is enough" Walks up, pops the walker in the head and keeps walking past her. God damn that made me jump out of my seat cheering.


-BARNMAGEDDON! The Walker Massacre!


-I would prefer that they call them zombies instead of walkers.
-This is a sans Romaro world though, the idea of "zombies" isn't around. I believe that is the reason, heard/read that somewhere I think.


-Nice touch of having Glenn look to Maggie for permission before blowing away her undead family.
-Her eyes are open now, she is going with them for sure.


-Herschel looks devastated as his zombie friends and family get mowed down. Great job by Scott Wilson in this scene.
-Those eyes were powerful, it was a combo of pain, loss, misunderstanding, maybe a hint of anger towards the end.


-Now, I did not expect to see Sophia emerge from the barn at all. It totally makes sense and having it be a fall finale and the episode building up to it makes me think I should have seen it coming before I did. I actually thought it might be Herschel’s wife coming out but when I saw the tiny shoes shuffle out it was like “Nooooooo”(because that is sad) and “YESSS!” (because I was glad that the show knew what they were doing with Sophia’s disappearance and are capable of producing moments like this). I was really expecting an anticlimax to the Sophia storyline but they knocked it out of the park with this one. The only way this could have been better was if Sophia had been a more important, fleshed out character. Replace Sophia with Carl and it would have had more emotional weight.
-Did not see it at all. It was the ONLY way they could finish that story arc with out pissing everyone off. Again, did Herschel know that was the girl?


-Of course Rick has to shoot her. Poor Rick.
-It had to be Rick, I think it is a huge turning point in Rick's character. As soon as I saw her my bets were on  Rick or Carl shooting her. Rick, as the leader, knew he had to do it. The reason I thought Carl is because he has grown up fast, already wanting to shoot, and standing up to Shane shows he has matured. However, as you see him crying on the ground, perhaps he still has some growing to go.


-What is the fallout of all this? I was hoping they would leave the farm by the end of the episode. There isn’t really much story left to mine from the farm now. The only reason to stay is Lori’s pregnancy but they’ve pretty much shit on Herschel’s coats now. Time to go!
-Curious for sure as to what will be coming next year. Again they set things up for a very climactic opener.


-I hope this episode didn’t seem more awesome than it was just because it is contrasted with the other slow, mediocre episodes. The character stuff still needs work overall, but it was a bit better this time.
-That crossed my mind too. But I think it was a powerful episode regardless. That is a stand alone episode that you show to someone to convince them to watch the Walking Dead. Other than the huge spoiler they would see if that is the only one you show them.


-Only real clunker of a scene: Dale and Andrea’s little chat.
-I don't get them....


-I feel like the show missed a great opportunity to have an epic dance number with the zombies coming out of the barn. Picture it: Big group zombie dance number and then Sophia emerges…”Everyday I’m shufflin’…” (I’m beating this joke to death, I know)
-This is not Glee, not Thriller


-BOTTOM LINE: I was entertaining thoughts of not watching this show anymore before tonight’s episode. I’m not a huge zombie fan to begin with and I wouldn’t watch a show that was always episodes 2-6 of this season. This episode reminded me why I watch it. The second half of the season (starting in February) needs to be better overall.
-I'm a zombie fan boy to the core, but this being a show more about the characters and what they would have to face there are not as much zombie action as a fan would like. This episode changed that. 


-“All the walkers in the barn, tonight…everybody just have a good time.”





Blair’s Episode MVP: Sophia  (She went from being a punchline to the centrepiece of the best scene the show has ever done)


Steve’s Episode MVP: Shane (I enjoyed everything he did this episode)


Blair’s Grade: A (I initially had reservations about giving this a top grade because I didn’t think it earned it after all the crappy episodes this year. Then I thought about how awesome the ending was and that I’m probably over thinking it.)


Steve’s Grade: A


Blair’s Deadpool Pick (next to die): Carol


Steve’s Deadpool Pick: Dale (If he keeps pushing Shane who knows what could happen, "accidentally")