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The Walking Dead: Secrets

I’m sorry this review is late, but I’ve been suffering with a nasty flu that I hope is not the precursor to zombisism. If I don’t post next week you might want to get out your survival gear. The fever was pretty high.

Carl: “Everything’s food for something else.”

So what is the big fuss about zombies? I think humans are just used to being at the top of the food chain. We really don’t like being “food for something else,” not like anything else is really happy about having that privilege. I think this statement was a very telling indicator of Carl’s growth and acceptance of his new life.

I think if Carl wants to shoot, it's a damn fine idea (and I'm an anti-gun pacifist). He seems to have a better handle on the reality they are facing than many of the adults. Children are really adaptable and they adjust to many circumstances that the adults around them can't handle. In Western North America, we have a very ethnocentric idea about what childhood should be like. It should be filled with happiness, comfort and care. Well, there are a lot of children who have a very different experience, even in the US and Canada.

Daryl is a great example of this. His life has been pretty difficult, but he still enjoys life and finds beauty in it. Maybe Lori should have asked him if her baby might have a life worth living. I sometimes find the western, middle-class expectations of life a bit annoying in this show. There are lots of people in the world already dealing with the dangers that our characters are experiencing. They don’t have food, water, or shelter and their lives are in danger every minute of the day. I wonder why there are no prime time dramas about that?

On the other hand, I was really happy that a woman’s right to choose was strongly upheld in this episode. Nobody should have a baby if they don’t want to, but I was a bit concerned with Lori’s reasoning. Yes, the world has gone down the crapper but see my above comments. Lots of people don’t have “wells” of pleasant memories and they do okay. And maybe those “memories” are making a whole lot of trouble. Look at Hershel steadfastly refusing to face the reality of what has happened to his loved ones. He is living in memories. That barn is not particularly secure and the zombies from the housing estate are only 10 miles away. How long do you think the farm house is going to stay serene, especially with all the shooting and horn honking that is going on?

On the character development side, I am liking Glenn more and more each week. When he blurted out the secrets he was holding I laughed out loud. He is awkward in that twenty-something guy way, but as Dale says, he has no guile. He is willing to put himself on the line because these people are his friends. He is smart and brave and a leader, but in his own way. Maggie’s freak-out just made it clear that the people on the farm have not really had to deal with the reality of “walkers.” I can’t say her responses endeared her to me, but a little part of me wondered if she had a point. Glenn does get overlooked.

I still don’t know what to make of Shane. Is he is as big a jerk as Dale says? I sure wouldn’t feel very comfortable if I was Dale. I have to give kudos to Dale though. He tried to protect Glenn by finding ways to let people know he had uncovered their secrets himself. He is also trying to get rid of Shane before the proverbial you-know-what hits the fan. He failed miserably on both counts.

We also got to see, one more time, that Rick is a stand-up guy. He knew about Lori and Shane. As soon as he said it I thought, of course he did, how could he miss it? But he didn’t make a fuss or lose it. He understood why it had happened. That must have been killing him all this time. Not to paint him in too good a light, but I did wonder if he intentionally put Andrea and Shane together, knowing what might happen. I just love this show’s complexity.

Bits and Pieces

So you can kill zombies by burning them? So the napalm in Atlanta was a good plan?

Breaking the chickens legs was just mean. Isn’t it bad enough that they are going to be torn apart by zombies?

Glenn is a terrible liar. I love him.

It is Hershel’s family in the barn. That does make it a bit more understandable, though not less dangerous.

Quotes

Carl: “You’re a housewife.”
Lori: “Ya punk, ya see my house around here?”

Glenn: “You trying to buy my silence with fruit.”
Maggie: “Of course not. There’s also jerky.”

Glenn: “You need vitamins, medicine, a nice pillow.”

Glenn: “You’re old, you know things.”

T-dog: “Oh come man, don’t give me that gangsta shit.”

Rick: “We’ll figure it out. Shouldn’t we at least try to figure it out?”

Rick: “I know. Of course I know.”

10 comments:

  1. So far, not a single bad episode in the season. Or the series, for that matter. I also thought that Carl should learn to shoot, and I feel the same way about guns that you do, Doc. This secret in the barn thing -- it won't turn out well.

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  2. Great review, Doc. I've been finding this season hard going due to all the bad stuff happening to kids, but these past two weeks have really clicked for me. I'm totally loving Maggie and Glenn's weird little relationship. One thing though: I recorded the episode and it cut out before the closing credits. Was the last thing that Rick said something about Lori only sleeping with Shane because she thought he was dead, and Lori giving him a tearful nod, or was there dialogue after that?

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  3. Hey Paul,
    You missed a bit of an Uh-hun from Lori and a pan away from them but that was it. I hate when that happens.

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  4. Hey Doc, great review. Sorry you haven't been feeling well.

    I loved Dale in this episode for exactly the reason you gave: he didn't betray Glenn as the source of his knowledge and found clever ways to confront the people who needed to be confronted (it was funny that Lori knew right away Glenn had told -- these people really seem to know each other well). I did not like Shane threatening Dale, and I'm starting to worry that those Shane considers his "people" don't include everyone in the group.

    And, yes, the chicken leg-breaking was just awful. I'd wondered if they were feeding the walkers in the barn, and how often. How much live food can they actually spare? Do they have a plan for when the food runs out? They really haven't thought this situation through at all.

    KAM

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  5. Do walkers even need to eat? Presumably the one hung up in the tree and the one in the well went without eating for days, maybe weeks without any problem.
    I too protested the leg breaking. Do Walkers ignore dead bodies? Don't think so because i've seen them eating bodies that were just lying there. So she could have just broken it's neck.
    lastly, you're an anti-gun pacifist, which is fine under present circumstances but would you be in that world? I'm betting not.

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  6. Shane worries me whenever I see him now. He pretty much admitted to Dale that he has lost it. And poor Dale always trying to do the right thing and hitting walls every time. I can't really tell if his feelings for Andrea are paternal or romantic, maybe just true concern.

    All of the scenes with Shane and Andrea were great. From the jarring moving target scene, to the second jarring moving target scene, and even the sex scene. It did leave a bad taste in my mouth when they got back and were still all cutesy...while telling Carol they didn't find Sophia.

    I'm glad they haven't made Hershel and his people out into total villains. Their plight is sympathetic and somewhat noble if not very naive. Although, that hobbled chicken breakfast scene might be one of the most messed up things I've seen.

    I also thought it was reasonable that Rick knew about Shane and Lori all along. Even though his idealism can be somewhat annoying, Rick has consistently proven to be one of my favorite characters on the show.

    Loved all of the quotes. "You're old, you know things." haha

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  7. Yes, Rick knew about Shane and Lori from the beginning when they were first reunited. I was watching the first season from the start to the end. Rick is in Lori's tent when he sees and recognizes Shane's laceless sneakers. The camera is very specific about it.

    Roidy

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  8. They’re dragging the plots out and it’s starting to bring the show down for me.

    If the season was 22 or 24 episodes, then I'd be ok with it. But we're only getting half that. The show is too decompressed.

    Sophia should have been found – dead or alive - three episodes ago. It's clear they're saving her being found for the cliffhanger tomorrow, in which case she should have gone missing an episode or two ago, not six.

    That scene when Marita Covarrubias grabbed Shane’s junk – whoosh!!! I wish I was her!

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  9. I wish Glen would stop saying that he always gets away...

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  10. One thing really bugs me in this otherwise stellar episode (I also love Glenn =) ), and that is that Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B prevents conception after sex in cases where the conception hasn't occurred yet. It will have no effect on an already pregnant woman. Sorry for the rant. Things like that annoy me because it's so careless and easy to fix.

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