Every ones favorite band of zombie apocalypse survivors returned last night after a brief mid-season hiatus. This episode didn’t have quite the forward movement I was looking for after the first half of the season, but it was decent.
This episode picks up right where things left off, with the gang having just shot, or otherwise killed, all the walkers from Hershel’s barn plus poor little zombie Sophia (honestly I could not remember her name until they said it in this episode, so thankfully that story is done with). Hershel is none to happy about this obviously, and orders Rick and Co. off of his farm oasis.
The group plans an impromptu burial ceremony for the walkers they do care about and afterward they begin disposing of the ones they don’t. Plus, Maggie is upset that Glenn might be leaving now that the search for Sophia is done for and asks him to stay.
Inside, blond farm girl goes into shock (Really? You are living in the zombie apocalypse nightmare and seeing your already dead zombie mom get shot sends you into shock?). This also leads them to discover that Hershel has disappeared, and Maggie suggests he’s gone off on a bender at the local bar to mourn his walker wife and step son who got shot in the barn massacre. Glenn knows the bar and offers to lead Rick there, upsetting both Maggie and Mrs. Rick who don’t want to see their men go off on the dangerous jaunt, but Rick promises they’ll return safe and sound.
Dale tells Lori about his theory that Shane killed/sacrificed Otis and warns her that eventually Shane will kill someone else because he is a crazy ass. However, Shane is also trying to prove to Carol that the rest of the group is wrong about him being too impulsive or harsh. In the truck Rick and Glenn talk about Maggie being in love with him- awww.
Back at the farm blond girl is getting worse and Mrs. Rick, after failing to convince Daryl to help, heads into town after Rick and Glenn. On the way there she is reading a map and then accidentally hits a walker in the middle of the road and impossibly manages to crash her car into a FREAKING ditch!
In town Rick and Glenn find Hershel a few drinks into a relapse at the bar. Rick and Hershel have an impossibly long conversation about hope. Seriously, I actually think the word “hope” is used about every other line in dialogue for a solid five minutes. Next is the most interesting part of the episode. Two new live people, Dave and Tony, stroll into the bar looking for survivors. They claim to be from up North and are looking for a place to settle down, also Philly Dave tells Rick that they talked to a soldier who told them Fort Benning has been overrun, uh oh. They are clearly interested in coming back to the farm with Rick, Glenn and Hershel; Rick doesn’t really seem convinced of their story though and he refuses saying it’s too crowded there. They have a bit of a tense stand off and after Philly Dave reaches for his gun Rick winds up shooting both of them!
There weren’t really a lot quotables in this episode, so some brief points instead:
-I’m assuming Philly Tony’s line about the Coast Guard plan was a nod to Dawn of the Dead, or maybe the Left4Dead games.
-Since I hail from the Northeast- way to shoot the only people to appear on the show who happen to be from north of the Mason-Dixon line. So much for that Southern hospitality huh Philly Dave.
-I almost put Carl’s line where he told his Mom he would have killed zombie Sophia too as a quotable- because Carl is like 9!!! But it’s also kinda cute because he is mini-Rick.
-Aside from Mrs. Rick being dumb the camera shot of her hitting the walker from inside the car and it flipping over was pretty cool, and some quality production work.
-Probably the only quotable necessary because it explains the title of the episode:
Glenn: “Why Nebraska?”
Philly Tony: “Low population, lots of guns.”
I would rate this episode an: 85 out of 100
I was hopeful after being stranded on the farm for most of the first half of this season that things would pick up a bit more quickly in this episode. That didn’t really happen, but it did set up some good plot points that might move us off the farm and into more interesting territory. Most of the minus points are for Mrs. Rick being a total dumb ass, and not enough Daryl for my liking. Also, what about Mrs. Rick and baby? Suspense!!!
