After Dale's death in the episode before, the writers decided to give us a double-whammy and kill off Shane in episode twleve. Well, technically they killed him twice because Carl finally manned-up and shot Walker Shane in the head. I think at this point I should say that I've never read any of the comics the TV series is based on and have no idea what the future holds for the series or what's going to happen next...
The episode opens not on the farm but in the streets of a city where some walkers are tearing a dead animal to pieces. A helicopter flies overhead, drawing their attention and leading an increasingly larger group into the countryside. As they mill around the forest, Carl's gunshot rings through the air and they are drawn to the farm.
As Carl and Rick walk back to the house, Carl asks his father what happened. Rick casts around for something to say when FUCKING HUNDREDS of walkers emerge from the gloom. Unable to reach the house, they make a break for the barn. Back at the house, the others have seen the oncoming walkers and tool up. Shit's gonna go down! As Rick and Carl barricade the barn and pour petrol everywhere Hershel says that he will die to protect his farm and half the group pile into vehicles. As the barn erupts into flames, walkers start getting their brains blown out. Lori panics, not knowing where Rick or Carl are and Carol tries to comfort her. Never fear, Lori, here comes help in the form of... errr... Jimmy (James Allen McCun). If you don't remember who he is, don't worry, hardly anyone does. He's Beth's boyfriend and a sign of just how anonymous he is is that even when Beth falls ill and later contemplates suicide he got probably 30 seconds of screen time over five episodes. He drives the RV to the back of the barn, Rick and Carl hop on and walkers break through the doors and devour the anonymous Jimmy.
Hershel stands his ground at the front of the house and Lori, Carol, Beth and Otis' widow Patricia (Jane McNeill), who has been just as anonymous as Jimmy, make a break for it from the back of the house. Patricia is grabbed by a walker and devoured. Carol is separated from the other two but Andrea and T-Dog come to their aid. Lori and Beth jump in T-Dog's truck and Andrea saves Carol, a walker collapsing on her in the process. Glenn and Maggie, their car surrounded by walkers, are forced to abandon the farm. Hershel, resolutely shooting walkers from the front of his house, is rescued by Rick. As they and Carl pile into a car, they miss Andrea, who grabs a bag of weapons and runs for her life. Finally, Daryl rescues Carol and the two ride his motorbike away from the farm.
On the road, each group agonises over what to do next. Glenn takes over driving the car from Maggie and finally tells her that he loves her. Rick, Carl and Hershel reach the freeway and decide to wait for the others. T-Dog, driving in the opposite direction, refuses to turn the truck around until Lori threatens to jump out. As Rick and Hershel debate what to do next, Lori, Beth, T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn, Carol and Daryl arrive in convoy. As they head off together, Andrea is running through the woods, killing walkers as she goes.
Forced to pull over because of a lack of fuel, the group sets up camp and Rick says that there must be somewhere out there they can fortify and make safe for them to live in. At Daryl's prompting, Rick reveals that he killed Shane and then he tells them what Dr. Jenner told him: the virus is inside all of them, dormant until they die. Rick walks off and Lori goes after him, initially sympathetic until Rick reveals that he killed Shane before he turned. Back in the woods, Andrea is about to be eaten by a walker when it's suddenly decapitated by a katana-wielding hooded figure who leads two armless walkers on chains. The mysterious figure looms above Andrea and we cut back to the group. A fire is burning and Carol and Maggie try to talk the group into leaving but Daryl and Hershel dismiss them. When they hear something in the woods around them, panic starts to set in until Rick asserts his dominance, explaining how everything he's done, including killing his best friend, was to keep the group safe. Finally, he offers anyone who doesn't like things the chance to leave and asserts "this isn't a democracy any more". The camera pans up to reveal the group are camped barely a few hundred yards from a prison. Anyone who has read Max Brooks' seminal work The Zombie Survival Guide will know that prisons are amongst the safest places to hole up.
Well, that was certainly the right way to wrap up the second series! A massive battle with the walkers has certainly been coming and not only does it not disappoint but it was well worth the wait! Blood, brains, gore, limbs wrenched from sockets and walkers bursting into flames means that the first half of the episode is amongst the best humans vs zombies battles I've ever seen! Jimmy and Patricia obviously bit the dust but it was nice to see Hershel survive. I thought they were setting him up to sacrifice himself but I was delighted when Rick rescued him. Rick and Lori look like they will have even more problems next season than they did this, with Shane coming between them even more now that he's dead. Finally, just who the fuck is that hooded character? According to releases put out just after the episode airs, she is "fan favourite" Michonne and she will be played by Danai Gurira. Like I said, I've never read the comics so that means fuck all to me. Either way, she looks pretty cool. No idea why she has a pair of armless walkers as pets though...
A fantastic end to a fantastic second series. Long live The Walking Dead and here's to an equally brilliant third series!
9 out of 10.
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