The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 10 recap

The cure for Oscar hangover? A new episode of The Walking Dead.

Oh look, zombies! I feel like we haven’t seen zombies in forever. Stupid AMC brass and their whole “hey, let’s do a zombie show with fewer zombies, to save money, even though the ad rates on said zombie show are the highest on our network”. Rick, Stupid Shane, and some tied-up person are beset by the zombie horde.

Wait, I’m confused. Now Rick and Stupid Shane are standing in the middle of the road, talking. Oh my god, go back to the zombies. PLEASE, GO BACK TO THE ZOMBIES.

Stupid Shane on why he killed Otis the Fat Cannibal: “He had no reason being here.” Um, how about his friends and family who loved him? How about he was helping you? Who put Stupid Shane in charge of who gets to live and die? Otis was a fat cannibal, which was problematic, but what gives Shane the right to decide he’s done being alive?

Remember how awesome it was when we got to see Stupid Shane in the hospital, during the panic of the outbreak, trying to save Rick and ultimately leaving him behind? Well this time they opt to have Stupid Shane telling us about “a couple weird stories on the news”. ARGH.

The tied-up person is the kid from the fence. They’re taking him at least 18 miles from the farm to give him a chance at surviving on his own. Like pirates used to do!

Maggie and Horrible Lori bond in the kitchen. Someone should tell Maggie that we don’t call her “Horrible Lori” for nothing. Probably don’t want to put too much stock in any advice she gives.

Rick points out the advantages of killing zombies with knives vs. guns. This is why the bow and arrow is my weapon of choice in a zombie situation. Silent, reusable ammunition. Rick also hopes that the winter will freeze and/or slow down the zombies, providing some relief. According to World War Z, yes.

There’s something in the field, right? I’m not just seeing that?

Yes. Zombie.

The comatose girl is awake! What a dumbass plot point.

Rick proves his alpha status by tempting a zombie with his own blood and killing it with his knife.

This is what I love about this show. Rick and Stupid Shane are at what looks like an abandoned camp. There are burned bodies, and the detritus of life left quickly. But no explanations, no real story for what happened. We’re left to infer. I love these scenes. Also love that the zombies Rick and Stupid Shane killed have no obvious bite marks. Rick assumes scratches are enough to cause infection. Except, um, hasn’t everyone in this show been in close-combat situations with a zombie before? They’ve all probably been scratched?

OH MY GOD. Are we really going through this whole “this is so pointless” BS again? Didn’t we spend the whole first half of the season on this?

The useless comatose girl is suicidal. Shocker.

The kid from the fence knew Maggie before. This is a problem. Also, Rick left the guy tied up but gave him a knife. This is exceptionally cold-blooded, coming from Rick.

Finally, some action. Rick and Stupid Shane throwing down over whether or not to keep the kid alive until Rick can decide what to do with him. Stupid Shane throws a big-ass wrench at Rick. Which, of course, wakes up a zombie. Oh I see—the scene from the beginning was “now” and everything after was “earlier that day”.

In the fight between Horrible Lori and Crazy Andrea, who do you side with?

Well that was the zombie kill of the week.

This suicide conversation is still happening. I have no idea why.

Stupid Shane has a 300 thing going on inside a bus.

DO NOT LEAVE THE SUICIDAL GIRL ALONE WITH CRAZY ANDREA.

Oh don’t look so surprised, Shane, you were just lecturing Rick about being more willing to leave people behind to die. You just tried to beat his brains in—are you so shocked he’s leaving you now?

I hope this girl kills herself. Just so we can be done with this stupid storyline that we’ve already gone through three times before. Nope, it’s just a little “look at me” cut. (I promise I’d be a lot more sympathetic if we hadn’t already gone through this exact plot before.)

Ugh. Rick. Such a Boy Scout. Of course he goes back to save Stupid Shane after seeing the two dead zombie deputies, symbolic of the fate that could have befallen him and Shane.

Oh man—THAT’S a helluva of a zombie kill! No episode with two awesome take downs can ever suck too much.

The difference between Rick and Stupid Shane is not that Rick is unwilling to cross the lines Shane crosses, it’s that Rick will only do so with consideration, and feeling the weight of those choices. Shane just runs around like a chicken with his head cut off.

Oh look, the zombie in the field again. SYMBOL.

Status check:
Officer Rick: Attempting to get Stupid Shane back in line.
Horrible Lori: Better or worse than Crazy Andrea, depending on POV.
Stupid Shane: Openly trying to murder Rick to his face.
Crazy Andrea: Better or worse than Horrible Lori, depending on POV.
Randall (injured kid): Probably going to get killed.

Worst thing seen/heard this week: The redundant storytelling of that suicide plot.
Zombie kill of the week: Tie! Rick through the zombie head with the gun AND Randall double-tapping with the car.