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Braaaaiiiinnnnns

What Did You Miss On The Walking Dead This Week?

by Sarah Devlin | 2:46 pm, March 12th, 2012


Last week we brought you a new type of recap for AMC’s The Walking Dead. Sarah, as usual, talked about how she thought the episode went but we also added a second commentary from our own Jill Pantozzi as someone who’s read the comic (and is particular about the differences between the two). Read on for spoiler-filled discussion about this week’s equally explosive happenings from both ladies! 

First, our regular recap from Sarah!

Oh boy, oh boy. This episode was comparatively action-packed! The dullest part of the hour was at the beginning, when the denizens of the farm held a funeral for Dale, scored by a ponderous speech from Rick about Dale’s fundamental human decency. At one point he intoned “I’d look at Dale; he’d be looking back at me with that look he had,” which made absolutely no sense, but everyone at the funeral seemed very affected.

Everyone seemed to agree that life could not continue as usual on the farm, but rather than LEAVING THE FARM the group ran around making mini-bunkers all over the property, which doesn’t seem like much of an improvement. Maggie offered her room to Glenn to store his stuff, but he refused and acted very weird in doing so, all shifty-eyed and “isn’t your dad going to be around?” I thought Herschel’s watch was basically Maggie’s dowry last week! Wouldn’t he be totally cool with this?

This week the consensus was to take Randall out into the woods and let him go, but before anyone could do that Shane freed him and took him into the forest himself. They had a conversation that suggested that Shane was going to defect and join Randall’s band of not-so-merry men, but instead Shane seemingly clocked him in the head (this action was obscured by a tree, which was very coy for a program that routinely shows us zombies taking pitchforks to the face) and left him for dead, stopping to make out with a tree so it looked like Randall got the drop on him. Shane went back to the group and told them this story, and they were suspicious but joined him in the woods anyway to hunt down Randall, who is a walker now! Oh no! Glen and Daryl brought him down but noted that there were no zombie bites on his body, that a broken neck was his initial cause of death. “How is that possible?” Glen asked. Goood question. I’ve only been around for a few weeks and already I can’t keep any of the zombie mythology straight.

So. Why did Shane melt down so intensely? It may have had something to do with a conversation he had with Lori, during which she thanked him for protecting her and then told him that she doesn’t know if she’s pregnant with his baby or Rick’s. Lori! What good did this do? Zero good, because Shane turned instantly crazy. Carl confessed last week’s encounter with a walker to him, and Shane immediately tattled on him to Rick. Rick took his son aside and had a talk with him about how everyone will die — including his mother and father — and that he should start preparing himself for that.

While everyone else was hunting down zombie Randall, Shane and Rick had a standoff in an open field, when Shane drew his gun and aimed it at Rick. He told him that he doesn’t think Rick can protect his “broken woman” (buuuurn) or his “weak boy,” and therefore he must die. Again. Rick drew his own weapon and then begged Shane to lower his, pleading with him to end the standoff and go back to the farm now, while “nothing’s happened yet.” Shane seemed receptive to this idea and Rick drew him in for what looked like a manly embrace, except it wasn’t not an embrace at all! It was a trap! He stabbed him in the chest, weeping all the while, screaming “Damn you for making me do this…this was you, not me! Not me!”

As always, Carl was drawn to the sounds of death and destruction and showed up in the field while his father was kneeling over Shane’s dead body. They both hung out for a bit, perhaps anticipating what happened next, and when Shane popped up, walker-ified (has this always happened? Do people not have to be bitten by walkers anymore to turn into them?), CARL shoots him. So father and son both got to take turns killing Shane. Adorable. I hope possibly-Shane’s baby doesn’t grow up with a taste for revenge.

So — now that all dead people seem to automatically turn into walkers, what does this mean for the survivors? We’ll have to wait until next week’s season finale to have that question answered (hopefully). See you then!

Grossest Moment: Probably watching Andrea put a pitch fork through a zombie’s face, although I would have to say that watching Lori stir the pot with Shane was almost as yucky to watch.

My Anxiety Level In This Episode: 10. I never thought Rick would actually kill Shane, because come on, it’s Rick, and then he TOTALLY DID! I was alone in my living room and I still yelled.

And now, a note from Jill, who’s read the comic.

I thought I was angry last week. That was nothing! This weeks diversion from the source material got me even more riled up. I’ll actually quote Sarah here, “I never thought Rick would actually kill Shane, because come on, it’s Rick.”

EXACTLY! I know some people aren’t bothered by the change, but to me, this is huge and horrible. In the comic, there’s a confrontation between Rick and Shane in which Shane points his gun at Rick. That’s when Carl, who had followed them and realized Shane was about to kill his father, shot Shane in the neck, killing him. Shane. Not Zombie Shane. Human, alive, Shane.

Yes, it was shocking, yes, it was brutal, but that’s what The Walking Dead is at its core. To take away that moment really waters the story down for me and it honestly feels like a cop out on the network’s part. (Topless Robot named it one of the moments they didn’t believe would make it to television.) Which, believe me, I completely understand. Having a child murder someone is huge but having a child kill a walker is just lame. And having Rick bear this new burden is a wrong turn in my book.

Writer of the comic, Robert Kirkman, once again spoke to the Hollywood Reporter after the episode and explained the plot choices. “In the writers’ room, we felt Rick was passive at times and wasn’t handling things himself. So to end this season with Carl killing Shane for Rick would have been a misstep,” he said. “It was very important to us in the development of Carl as a character to have him have a hand in it. That’s how we came upon the idea of, in a sense, both of them killing Shane.”

I feel like a jerk for saying this but, who’s fault is it Rick became so passive during the series so far? That was the writers’ decision. Kirkman also addressed the comic differences.

“Staying true to the comic and adapting things as closely as we can when it fits and when it feels necessary is something that’s very important to me. I talk a lot about the different changes in the show and how I like and I support them and how some are actually my suggestion,” he said. “That does sometimes scare fans and they’re like, ‘What are they doing, he’s changing too much.’ But it is something of a balancing act. When we can stick a little closer to the comics it is something I’m very supportive of. I think this is a scene that kind of straddles the line in a cool way.”

Well, I for one, don’t think it was cool. I said last night on Twitter, sometimes it sucks to love stuff. I’m extremely attached and passionate about The Walking Dead comics and while I understand the need to liven things up and make a few different choices as far as story beats go, this particular change almost makes me want to stop watching the show. And for the most part, I have really, really enjoyed the show so that’s saying a lot. I’ll watch the finale and contemplate things after that but with this change I’m questioning other major things in the story. Because when you think about it, Carl shooting Shane in the comic was a big deal but there are far worse things coming up in the story. So if they shied away from this, they’re going to likely do the same with the others later. Will they even go to the prison? We know they’ve cast the Governor, are they going to skip right to that part of the books and then cut out all the really juicy bits? We shall have to wait and see. All I know is, they better not screw with Michonne…

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  • http://www.facebook.com/shelleybear Shelley Adrienne Mimi Belsky

    Simple and sweet.
    Karl is the youngest butt head I have seen in modern fiction in years, and I kept hoping someone would go over to him and say:
    Yeah, you fucked up. Dale is dead not only because you were a chickenshit, but because you couldn’t own up to being a chickenshit and warn the rest of the folks.
    It’s your damned fault.
    LIVE WITH IT! 

  • http://twitter.com/HanSQL Wil Sisney

    Even though I was furious that Carl didn’t kill Shane (as he did in the comic) I still think this episode was the best of the season so far.  I’d like to say I could separate the show from the comic, but I have read 7 year’s worth of comic and there’s no way I can forget that.  I do wish they’d stop messing with the formula – the comic works for a reason.  And I completely agree – if Michonne is anything but a complete badass, they’ll lose me.

  • http://twitter.com/HanSQL Wil Sisney

    Oh yeah, and I REALLY hope they don’t skip the stuff that happens between the farm and the prison.  Wiltshire Estates was important in the comic, and is important in the book TWD: The Rise of the Govenor. And on the road they meet Tyrese and his group. There’s so much good story material there that they’d be nuts to gloss over that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sean-Griffin/1368451727 Sean Griffin

    you got one thing wrong Jill, in the comics Carl shot and killed Shane but not in the head, I’m pretty sure he hit him in the throat and he bled out. Rick went back to where they buried Shane later and finished off zombie Shane after realizing that people who died with being bitten become zombies also

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dan-Brooks/1021351814 Dan Brooks

    One of the things I enjoy most about this show is how it diverges from the source material – it makes it fresh for readers of the comic, and as long as it creates and maintains its own tone, even better. Rick killing Shane was not out of character for TV Rick. He killed two men in the bar. When there’s a clear threat to him, he will kill to survive. And ultimately, it was all true to the comic thematically: Shane is driven by jealousy, paranoia and rage to the point where he wants to murder Rick. The same thing happens in the comic. So Carl didn’t do the killing? Big deal. He killed Zombie Shane, completing a nice arc for his character, going from frightened kid to something more hardened.

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    You are correct, I always just sort of include the neck in the head area. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Amanda-LaPergola/81300432 Amanda LaPergola

    …sometimes it sucks to love stuff.
    That about sums it up.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, this episode established something comic readers already knew. A person dying in any way (that isn’t a brain injury) results in the person coming back as a zombie. Broken neck, stab wound, whatever. That’s a thing that becomes a plot point later in a couple of cases.

    Carl killing Shane, was one of the major character defining moments in the comic so yeah, it’s a bit bad they missed that out. And to rectify a mistake that the writers themselves caused by making Rick too passive…sigh. One of the points that crops up again later is that Carl IS capable of killing humans.That even as a kid he has to do these things. Long term for the comics it means that Carl isn’t dependant on Rick which in turn gives the reader the feeling that Rick himself *could* die.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R7GVNIKWG3S2UTHEQOMSZXT4M4 Anna B

    I’m at least intrigued to find out why Killed people rise as zombies even without being bitten ( I haven’t read the comics).

  • John Wao

    I agree with you Jill the way they handled Shane’s departure sucked. I’ve really been disappointed with this season. Hopefully with Shane out of the way and the additions of the Governor and Michonne (who oddly hasn’t been mentioned at all by anyone connected to the show as far as I know) the show will improve next season.

  • http://twitter.com/A_DEPUTY Al

    I get where most people are coming from but you kind of have to treat the book and tv show as separate entities. I’m a fan of the comic series but it has deviated well off course to become it’s own thing which is what I believe was their original intention from a panel they had at NYCC a while back. 

    While yes it was a major moment in the book, that really cemented the new world and changed how the characters would live in it. In the tv show, this was clearly something that was coming and would only feel right if Rick took this burden as he’s pretty much responsible for Shane’s spiral out of control. 

    Side note: Where the heck did Carl come from? I mean why does no one ever notice this kid running out of the house all the time. Story wise it fit but logically its annoying 

  • Anonymous

    How has no one yet mentioned that the barn massacre and all the shooting practice and all the crashing about through the woods didn’t bring about a single walker but two shots from Shane & Carl brought on a freaking horde of zombies.  Also, I think all zombies in this world are ninjas!  Dale didn’t hear the one lumbering behind him and Rick didn’t hear Shane’s club footed walk or heavy breathing (also in the scene from next week apparently no one in this world has peripheral vision)

    I’m getting increasingly frustrated each week.and I don’t like doing that while watching a show.   Next week promises to be fairly eventful and less talky at least.

    Also I totally wrote this in the comments last week:  ”Also I’ve already decided that Carl won’t be the one to kill Shane.  They’re going to have someone else to do it just to be all “take that!  You thought you knew cause of the comics but you don’t know anything! mwha ha ha!”And I am proud and saddened that I was half right (also called Shane staging the attack)

  • Anonymous

    I would argue that Watchmen was lifeless not because of being true to the original, but because Snyder didn’t get the subtle nuances and just went for the big show. Where a director like Ridley Scott or Kubrick, or even Arnofsky would have really brought out the magic that was in the comic- especially Dr. Manhattan. Everything about him in the comic was very quiet and subtle. He didn’t glow, his teleportation was quiet with no ridiculous flash of light- the citadel on Mars was created elegantly and silently by melting the sand right on the surface and growing from that. The whole film was two dimensional with all of the heart of a made-for-tv movie. It needed an old master filmmaker to make it work.Snyder was way out of his league. He should stick to things like 300 and Suckerpunch for the frat boys and leave the masterworks to the professionals.

  • http://www.facebook.com/maxwell.lachance Maxwell LaChance

    The show isn’t the comic.  It doesn’t have to be anymore than children must be their parents. 

  • Anonymous

    I really wish this show was on HBO and had the kid shoot him.  Finally more people are starting to realize that the writing on this show is just not that great. The cracks are showing more and more. I want it to be good so badly, but I just get disappointed with every episode. 

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    There may be another reason other than noise that the horde is heading their way.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sean-Griffin/1368451727 Sean Griffin

    I’m ok with how they handled the Rick/Shane/Carl thing overall. One thing that was done in the show that I am not is the killing of Sophia. Some of the nicest moments, happy and comical were the interactions between her and Carl in the comics. Now Carl is the only young one, they also didn’t bother to bring in the younger girls at the farmhouse like in the comics, so you just have this one kid with no one his age around to interact with, with all this crazy stuff happening and no one else to talk to or show how they as young kids are dealing.

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    Yeah I’m really bummed about that one too.

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    Yeah I’m really bummed about that one too.

  • Anonymous

    It’s been a while but most of the hypotheses from what I remember is that whatever turns people into zombies has already infected everyone on the planet but only activates upon death. The bites from zombies kill, but don’t transfer the virus themselves.

    The actual cause of the zombie ‘virus’ has never been revealed so…

  • Anonymous

    For the record I like it when it deviates from the comics. I thought Shane surviving longer was an interesting ‘what-if’. And I’m incredibly sympathetic to the fact that TV is a very different medium from comics so changes are a necessity.

    It’s not that it differs that I dislike, it’s that it sometimes differs in ways which are inferior to the comics.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1137739425 Seth Chabot

    I don’t know, I think you’re taking it all too seriously.  I’ve read all the comics and half the reason I’m able to have fun with the show is because I can’t ever be sure that what I think is going to happen is what’s going to happen.  You have to create a mental divide and accept them as separate but familiar stories, you’ll enjoy things alot more that way.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1137739425 Seth Chabot

    That’s answered in the episode in that the creek bed/pond used to act as a natural barrier on the back end of the property, but that has since dried up.  Also Rick is a little focused on what he thinks is Carl pointing a gun at him to pay attention to what’s behind him, I write that one off to a simple high stress situation.

    Wayyy too much evalution going on :P

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R7GVNIKWG3S2UTHEQOMSZXT4M4 Anna B

    I don’t know. I think that’s a personal preference. You can’t expect people to mind or not mind deviations. I mean, I thought I was pretty loose about deviations from the source material, but then I’ve found myself irked here and there in some of my other fandoms. I haven’t read the comics to the Walking Dead, and I personally would not have minded extending Shane’s life, but I might’ve gone ballistic about Dale, since I heard he wasn’t supposed to die at all, or not for a long time. And then there’s the uncertainty. I know I have some fandoms where I would’ve wanted to change things when they get turned into a show or movie, but then there are some fandoms where I feel secure about the plot–might be even a major factor for why I love it in the first place, so if they change it, I’d probably hate it.

    I also think that people should be able to take something as seriously as they want, or not. It’s a preference thing. Sometimes, taking something seriously is even enjoyable. Just a thought.

  • http://www.facebook.com/1shewolf JoAnna Luffman

    Yeah, I see it as everyone that’s not already a zombie is a carrier – Typhoid Maries, to tie-in with an article earlier on this site. I was expecting this, and I’ve not read the comics ( didn’t want to spoil the show after I knew it was coming). 

    I like they had the father-son moment of bonding over killing. The look in Carl’s eye during the lead-up showed he is going to be capable of killing. Having him shoot to protect someone shows he actually learned something from Dale’s death. 

    Lori…. well, I’m blaming it on writers not getting pregnancy hormone mood swings right. There was no need to have that talk with Shane, unless it was a very ham-fisted attempt at trying to turn him from a dark path. All it did was lead to suicide by cop. I think that was the intention – not that Shane was going to kill Rick, but that he wanted Rick to kill him.

    Lastly, the flashes of zombie during Shane’s death – anyone thinking hivemind zombies? That would make them a lot scarier.

  • Anonymous

    I find that hard to believe when they all turned to attention and started moving after the gun shot.  There didn’t seem to be any other reason for them to be heading that way

  • Anonymous

    Jill’s take on each episode is pointless.  They’re not recreating the hit-and-miss comic book, they’re interpreting it.  Her devotion to the source material is a little too fangirl even for this website.  Utterly without any redeeming qualities. 

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    Well thanks for reading them all! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dan-Brooks/1021351814 Dan Brooks

    Great points. No argument here. I suppose my feeling is, adapting anything to film is tricky – Watchmen in particular struck me as being afraid of angering the fans with changes. And what it changed – the ending, notably – I really liked.

    With Walking Dead, I’m sure it would work if they followed the comic exactly. But that’s mainly because in many ways, they’re NOT that different. When they diverge from the comic, with things like Shane not dying right away, Dale getting killed when he did, etc., I’m not angry. I’m excited to see where this alternate telling of a story rooted in the Walking Dead mythos will go. It’s something the probably comes down to personal preference – I’ve never been one to feel ownership and personal offense when stories or characters I love are changed. (Except in the case of the Star Wars Special Editions, I suppose, but even then, I don’t care that much.)

    We have the comic. Why be precious about it? It will always be there for us.

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