The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 6: Secrets
Ah, this was a much better episode. Still a lot of talking, and the barn o' zombies isn't addressed quite as much as I would like it to, but the focus on developing Glenn, Lori, Dale, Shane, Maggie and Andrea as characters are definitely welcome. The titular 'secrets' mostly revolve around Glenn keeping the two secrets that Lori is pregnant, and that the barn is filled with zombies, and eventually, well, breaks down in front of Dale. This led to Dale confronting both Lori and Hershel, and, well, Dale's the nicest person in the group to do that, really. Lori takes it well. Hershel takes it mostly well, but this does put a fair amount of friction between Glenn and his sex buddy Maggie.
Hershel apparently isn't trying to build anything sinister like a zombie community or an army to take the world or experiments or anything... he's just sequestering the members of his family and friends that got zombified because he views them as simply sick and be cured, comparing the zombie plague to schizophrenia. Um, okay, then, if you say so, buddy. The scene where one of his daughters snaps a bunch of chickens' legs and drops them into the barn is creepy as all hell.
Glenn and Maggie's interactions are pretty well-done, from Maggie giving Glenn the cold shoulder thanks to what she believes to be the right thing, to Maggie telling Glenn to not be such a doormat, to Glenn rescuing Maggie from the sudden jumpscare by Pharmacy Zombie, to Maggie just getting ultra-pissed at Lori... Glenn's own interactions with Lori are great, too, being a trustworthy friend who stands by Lori no matter her choices, and that nice platonic friendship hug is refreshing considering all the bullshit love triangle Lori's been stuck in for an entire season.
So why didn't Pharmacy Zombie attack Glenn and Maggie a couple episodes ago when they were having hot and presumably noisy sex? Or did Glenn really only last a minute and not give the zombie enough time to attack? Or did it just, um, watch?
Andrea, despite being a mouthy moody bitch for the majority of this season, and accidentally shooting Daryl after whining and being a gun nut last episode, finally manages to show some badassery. She gets some nice training scenes with Shane (who's one helluva jackass instructor), sulks off a bit, and then partners up with Shane to investigate a very creepy abandoned house, and then shows that she too can be an insane gun nut under pressure, shooting zombies left and right. And then in the car she goes all dick-grab and has sex with Shane. A far more enjoyable portrayal of the character than moody and inconsistent, that's for sure.
Dale also confronts Shane. Whether Dale is just cocky at the passiveness and receptiveness of Hershel and Lori respectively, I thought this bit was one of the greatest moments for both of them. Dale proves that Shane pointing a gun at Rick isn't forgotten, but at the same time Shane also points out that if he really is someone who would kill his best friend... what chance does someone like Dale have? Dale also suspects, I think, that Shane and Andrea did the nasty, and he's... protective?
And finally Lori tells Rick that she's pregnant, and while that scene ran on for a bit longer than it probably should, what with the dilemma between abortion pills and prenatal vitamins and whatnot, and Lori's long speech about bringing a child into a shitty-ass zombie apocalypse world, and Rick's idealism speech, it's still a pretty decent speech. Lori also breaks down about her secret affair with Shane, which Rick... already figures out (and Dale too, apparently).
A great moment for everyone who got character development, and actual justification for the characters just standing around and doing nothing. It's still a relatively weaker episode, though. Now freaking deal with the zombies in the barn!
No comments:
Post a Comment