The Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 2: Sick
We continue on with the second episode of season three, where a new problem arises for Rick and his buddies. The group is basically divided into two separate groups -- Rick, T-Dog and Daryl goes with this bunch of shifty prisoners they liberated in order to help them take a part of the prison so they don't have to live together, while the rest of the cast deal with the apparently dying Hershel.
The prisoners are... easily the weakest part of the episode, I feel. Apparently they were trapped in the prison cafeteria for like nearly a year, and yet they come out of it mostly confused and barely realize the sheer magnitude of what's going on. They're also pretty flat and interchangeable, other than obvious-jackass leader Thomas who antagonizes Rick throughout the episode before trying to shove a walker and get Rick killed in a scruffle, a decision that gets him a machete through the face. The other one who's got any sort of personality is the big yet gentle black dude, who gets himself brutally murdered by Thomas at the slightest hint of infection. Apparently another one of the prisoners is dumb enough to run out into a field full of walkers and died, whereas two of the nicer prisoners end up surviving to live in the part of the prison they just took over.
Mostly, well, it's just to show just how no-funny-business Rick has became. He kills Thomas very smoothly with no hesitation the moment he realizes that Thomas is going to be a problem, but the most cold-blooded thing was definitely shutting the door and letting that other prisoner, Thomas's buddy, die and get devoured by the zombies in the field.
The episode had some pretty hilarious action scenes, especially when the five prisoners went all prison riot on the walkers, causing an absolutely hilarious expression shot of Rick, T-Dog and Daryl looking at each other with obvious 'man, fucking amateurs' expressions on their faces.
The Hershel subplot was definitely the weaker one out of the two big plot. Maggie's speech to him is touching, that's for sure, but so many characters note how impractical it is to have Hershel around. He's going to be a burden, another mouth to feed (even if they have cartloads of canned food now) and they note that he can't even walk when most of the time, they are running. But in-between Carl apparently clearing out the infirmary off-screen to get some medicine (much to Carol's chagrin) and the jumpscare when Lori tries to give Hershel CPR and he convulses to life. It's honestly a bit of an obvious filler and could've been parred down a bit.
I love the morbid scene of Carol using a walker to practice doing a C-section on. That was deliciously morbid and fucked up... and she's being watched by... someone.
Oh, and there's the bit between Rick and Lori at the end where they're apparently trying very hard to make up after the whole nonsense of last episode. Well, whatever. Lori really hasn't been likable since the series started, if she could stay in the 'inoffensive' category I'd be fine with it.
Overall, though, while still a huge improvement over the nonsense farm business from season two, the pacing is still godawfully slow, and the introduction of random characters with unmemorable personalities doesn't really help out that much.
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