After Dale's untimely death, will things slow back down? Fuck no!
At Dale's funeral, Rick says that the best way to honor his memory is to "un-break" the group, to pull together. Shane, Andrea, Daryl and T-Dawg take out their anger on a group of walkers, butchering and beating them into a bloody pulp. Afterwards, the group make preparations to move into the house, setting up watch posts, patrols and stocking the house with provisions. Rick also announces that he wants to release Randall (Michael Zegen), much further away than they had originally planned. Shane isn't happy (surprise, surprise) asking if Rick knows that Dale's death and the Randall Problem are two separate things. Rick gives him a look that just screams "fuck off". Walking up to the house, Rick and Hershel ask Andrea to keep an eye on Shane for them. She's offended that the only thing people seem to know about her is that she's friends with Shane, but she agrees.
Carl, apparently racked with guilt, goes to Shane and hands him the gun he stole. Then he confesses to being responsible for Dale's death. I hate Carl, he's such a little shit. Rude, arrogant, cowardly and a dickhead all rolled into one tiny package. Inside the house, Maggie asks Glenn to move into her room but he acts all chivalrous, saying that he couldn't possibly do that with her dad in the house. She smiles, then stalks off. Outside, Shane is repairing a tower and Lori talks to him, thanking him for helping them get out of Atlanta and apologising for the way things worked out.
Rick and Daryl are making plans to take Randall far, far away and Shane comes over and tells him what Carl said to him. Rick says he will deal with it later but Shane tells him he needs to deal with it now. Over at the RV, Andrea is having trouble getting it started and Glenn fixes it, just like Dale taught him. Andrea tells Glenn that Dale was proud of him and they have a nice moment together. Over at the barn, Rick finds Carl. He gives him back the gun and has a heart-to-heart about how he needs to protect himself, that he is not responsible for Dale's death and how everyone will die. It's well done and shows how Carl's evolving as a character. I still don't like him though. Randall, bound and gagged in the shed is struggling against his bonds when Shane walks in and puts his gun to Randall's head. Then, he checks Randall's bonds and gets a different idea. Whatever it is, it can't be good...
Rick and Daryl are preparing to leave and T-Dawg goes to collect Randall. He unlocks the shed but finds it empty, with no sign of anyone. Cut to the woods, where Shane is leading Randall away at gunpoint. He tells him that he's sick of the group and he wants to join up with Randall's people. He's obviously full of shit but Randall buys it. They keep moving until Shane pushes Randall just out of shot. There's a shout, a snapping sound and Shane comes back into shot, walking away and then smashing his head into a tree, giving himself a bloody nose. Back at the house, everyone is panicking. Shane emerges from the woods after hiding his gun and tells them that Randall escaped and gave him the slip when he was following him, making up some crap about being attacked by him. Shane and Rick go one way, Glenn and Daryl another. As darkness falls, Rick questions Shane's story. He knows what really happened and Shane knows it. Daryl and Glenn find Shane and Randall's tracks, then the tree Shane left blood on, then Randall, who is now a walker. They dispatch him and are once again unable to find a bite mark on his body, with Glenn observing that Randall died from a broken neck. IT'S AIRBORNE, PEOPLE! AAAARRRRGH!!! Wake up! Rick and Shane emerge from the woods and continue their discussion about what really happened. Shane pulls his gun and Rick refuses to pull his. It's like a Mexican standoff, but not quite. Shane goads Rick again, telling him that he's a bad leader, a bad husband and a bad father. One of them isn't going to live past the end of the episode but that's not the twist. We knew it would come to this but there are two more "oh shit!" moments coming yet!
Holy fucking shit! Two major character deaths in two weeks and a setup for what looks to be an amazing finale. I can't wait for the next episode but at the same time I know they're going to tease us and leave us on another hu-fucking-mongous cliffhanger! The first half of the episode is very much a tribute to Dale and it's very nicely done, especially the montage of the walker bludgeoning over Rick's speech at Dale's funeral. Rick and Shane's final confrontation is everything I expected it to be and so much more. The two twists are fantastic and I'm salivating at the prospect of what's to come. Carl, despite my loathing of him, has evolved as a character as I said earlier. His encounter with the walker in the previous episode and his actions in this episode show that he has found some inner strength and that he's no longer this naive child. He's still annoying though. Another fantastic episode.
9 out of 10.
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