The Walking Dead S02E11 Review: Jiminy Cricket

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 11: Judge, Jury and Executioner

Well, there goes one of the main cast! Dale dies, and it's extremely sudden. Of course, this episode spends so much on Dale and the moral and ethical implications of whether to kill Randall or not. I felt that it went on for a fair bit too long -- not that I minded seeing Dale, but I really wished that he wasn't too preachy so the big heartfelt and tearful speech he gave at the end about how they had to hold on to their humanity would be more impactful instead of a regurgitation. 

I mean, yeah, that scene with Daryl was decent, showing two characters that seldom interacted, and Dale talking to Shane believing in the potential that even Shane can change his mind was well-acted, but those kinda were superfluous to the big 'gather everyone in the room' scene. Dale was great in that scene, though, and it gave people like Carol and Glenn something to do, expressing their opinions and whatnot. It's a great scene, and certainly stronger than all the talking scenes elsewhere in this episode.

That said, though, Dale's death was random, sudden, and shocking for it. Is the death impactful? Not really, it felt random and out of nowhere. Was it shocking? Was it realistic? Probably so. Dale going off in a huff and ending up getting attacked by a walker -- and Dale is nowhere as powerful physically as the likes of Rick, Shane, Daryl or even Glenn. And, well, it's definitely sad. Dale was basically in tears when he left the group, going all "this group is broken" to Daryl, echoing their earlier conversation, and basically losing faith with the people he trusted, like Rick and Glenn, to not only side with him, but actually do the decent thing. And he died thinking that his friends have fallen from their humanity, not ever getting the chance of knowing that, hey, they ended up not killing Randall, even if it's only because Carl nosed in.

And it's a shame, really, how it really felt like he was going to make it. He didn't get bitten, and it's not until the end when the zombie tears poor Dale's guts out. It's a horrifying way as he just lay there gasping in pain, barely coherent as Andrea and Rick are just shouting for help, how easily the nicest guy in the show ends up dying for... not good reason. It's not even Shane going crazy and gunning Dale down like I thought he would. Dale going off and dying isn't even the direct consequence of Rick making a wrong choice or whatever. It's just sudden, and brutal. I mean, yes, Carl didn't kill the river zombie and that was the one that jumped Dale, but... yeah, honestly Carl could've told the adults that, y'know, there's a fucking zombie in the supposedly safe farm area.

Worth mentioning that Daryl certainly has grown to be a team player, so the bit with hallucinatory Merle ends up not panning out that much. While interrogating Randall he referred to Rick, Glenn and Hershel as 'my boys', he obeys Rick's orders unquestioningly whether it's to kill Randall or to drag him back, and his parting words to Dale as he aims his gun at the poor man's head to mercy-kill Dale is just sad. Also he's absolutely enraged when he hears about the story from Randall that his group raped a bunch of kids in front of their father.

Carl goes around and acts like a stupid, unsupervised kid... which, while horribly irritating, was at least done in a realistic manner. He's been through a gigantic ordeal, and of course he's going to try to ape his parents. He wants to try to kill a zombie like daddy, which is why he stole a gun and goes around looking for a walker. Throwing rocks to antagonize it and nearly getting bitten is dumb, though. The moment you see a walker, you should just, y'know, shoot the fucker in the head. Jumping around and trying to see the prisoner for himself... Being utterly rude to Carol is realistic, though I'm surprised Carol didn't just slap the rude fuck. The conversation with Rick was a bit weak, though Carl showing up at the end to stop Rick from executing Randall was... somewhat decent, showing that there's still a sliver of humanity left in Rick, even if that sliver is only so that his son doesn't see it. 

Thing is, kids need to make mistakes to learn from them. And shoving them all at once -- Carl learning about guns, Randall, the zombie and watching Rick about to execute someone and cheering him on -- is certainly easier to stomach than to have Annoying Carl be a constant presence over several episodes. And the kid losing hope of a better afterlife and whatnot would be a decent parallel to Dale's preaching about losing humanity.

Though honestly with all the antics that he's done, and with Lori not doing much other than laundry and cooking -- as she points out last episode -- it's just bad parenting to let Carl wander off so far into the forest.

There were a couple of scenes that felt off, though. Daryl torturing Randall felt rather unnecessary, and it should've really been done early on last episode if you want it at all. And vilifying Randall's buddies by telling us that they raped a bunch of teenage girls in front of their father seems to be a cheap way to make us root for Shane killing Randall so these fuckers don't get anywhere near the female characters we know and love. Granted, the debate ends up being gray -- Randall could be productive (like Daryl!) or he could escape, he could be an asset if they ever run across the Rape Gang, or he could rat the farm out to the Rape Gang. And besides, if they keep him prisoner, how long will they do that for? What about resources? If they let him off, he's going to definitely wander off back to his old camp. All that stuff.

Overall, though, the main meat is still the debate over whether to kill Randall's life. It's certainly gripping, and filled with a lot of great ideas, though I suspect if this was on repeat, it would definitely be a weaker episode thanks to how repetitive Dale felt. Watching it merely once makes for a decent entry. Shame Dale, y'know, died, so we didn't really get more of him. Without the conscience of the group, though, how long will they stick together remains to be seen.