After the “This program contains violent content which may be too intense for some viewers” warning, we open with Daryl enthusiastically beating the living hell out of a bloody Randall, lol. And kicking him, stomping him, and digging a knife into his leg wound. Sorry, but I cheer Daryl on through all of it. First of all, I don’t trust Randall as far as I can throw him, and second, Daryl really needs to release some of that pent-up Sophia aggression. Anyway, he gets Randall to reveal that he’s with a group of about 30 people and that they are very well armed. Then Randall, for reasons known only to him, feels the need to share that once several of the guys came across a father and his teenage daughters, and they gang-raped the girls and made the father watch. Omg. :( But, Randall hastily assures Daryl, he didn’t participate, and he’s not like that. (Yeah right.) Daryl gets in a few more blows (with my blessing), then reports back to the group. 
That’s all Rick needs to hear. He says Randall will be killed. Dale is adamantly steadfastly and unwaveringly opposed, begs Rick to give him a day to talk to everybody. Rick gives him til sundown. Dale finds Andrea, asks her to keep watch over Randall, appeals to her judicious nature, since she’s an attorney. She agrees. 
Shane ambles up to her as she keeps guard and proposes a cockamamie plan to wrest control from Rick and Doc. It sounds really stupid. Anyway, while they chat, Carl sneaks into the barn to see Randall. Randall begs Carl to help him, promises Carl that Randall and his friends will take good care of Carl and his parents. As Randall is pleading, Carl keeps inching closer to him. NO, CARL. Randall may be chained up, but you always stay well out of grabbing, kicking, reaching, and spitting distance. Oh—and see? Randall totally lunges for Carl! Nothing happens cuz he’s securely chained, but RANDALL IS EVIL. Mark my words, Anyway, Shane bursts in, shoves a gun in Randall’s face. Andrea talks him down. Shane drags Carl outside. Carl’s all, “Don’t tell my parents.” Shane’s all, “Quit trying to get yourself killed.” Yeah, Carl. Jeez.
Dale approaches Daryl. Daryl’s annoyed to see him, says he moved from camp to get away from everybody, and he doesn’t care about Randall. Dale insists Daryl does care because he’s a decent man. And so is Rick. Shane, not so much. “Why’s that?” Daryl asks. “Because he killed Otis?” Dale looks shocked that Daryl knows this; Daryl explains that he quickly put two and two together based on Shane’s lame ass Otis-died-so-I-could live story and on the fact that Shane had Otis’s gun … and Rick didn’t figure it out because he didn’t want to. (Gosh. Interesting. I kind of want to dedicate an entire recap to “Did Rick Know?”)
Lori finds Rick in the barn hanging a noose. (Wait—time out. Time the hell out. HANGING A NOOSE? Haaaaaaaaaaa ha ha ha hahaaaaaha ha ha ha ha! I shouldn’t be laughing, since I’m black, but lololololLOLOLOLOLlol rofl waffle! 
What the crap? Why the hell is he going to hang Randall? Just shoot him in the damn head! Is Rick in the KKK?) Lori asks Rick to talk to Doc about letting everybody stay in the farmhouse; the nights are starting to get cold. Then she asks, “Is that really the best way to do this? String him up?” 
(Thank you, Lori!) Rick says he doesn’t know, asks her if she supports he decision; she says yes, if he thinks it’s best, then wants to know what happened between him and Shane. Rick says Shane won’t be a problem anymore. (Yeah right.) Carol finds Carl sitting beside Sophia’s grave, tells him that they’ll see Sophia again one day in heaven. Carl says believing in heaven is stupid and stomps off. Carl tells Rick and Lori that Carl mouthed off to her. Rick lectures him about thinking before he talks. 
Dale next approaches Doc to discuss Saving Private Randall. Doc and his peeps’ve got their hands full repairing a hole in the fence and catching the cattle that escaped through it, but Doc takes a few minutes to make it clear to Dale that he’s leaving the matter to Rick. “I want [Randall] away from my girls. I don’t care how,” he says. Oh so very agreed, Doc! Next up: Shane, who is surprisingly way less of a jerk about it than I was expecting. Shane says if the group decides to let Randall live, he’ll say nary a word. But of course, Shane probably knows that’s not the way it’s going to go. 
In the farmhouse, Glenn drops by to ask Doc how Beth is doing. Doc says she’s in good spirits, then does something really sweet. He gives Glenn a watch that belonged to Doc’s grandfather and says, “No man is good enough for your little girl—until one is.” AWWWWWWW! No lie, I got a little misty-eyed. We’ve come a very long way from Doc referring to Glenn as “the Asian boy.” Oooooh, this calls for a celebrity-style coupling of Maggie’s and Glenn’s names! Glenngie. No. Magglenn. No. Glagglie. Megglie. Um, never mind.
Carl is wandering around, comes across Daryl’s (Merle’s) motorcycle. He finds a gun in the saddlebag thingy and, probably looking for some squirrels to shoot, heads off into the woods … where he finds a way more satisfying target: a skinny, shirtless zomb. He starts to run away, then realizes it’s stuck in the mud. Carl decides to have some fun. (And I know we were all yelling the tv, but honestly. This is so what a kid his age would do!) First, he just watches it. Then he throws rocks at it. 
Observation: his aim isn’t that great. Then, he runs around it, teasing it. At last, he pulls out the pilfered gun to shoot it—but repeats the same dumb thing he did with Randall and inches closer and closer. Suddenly, the zomb yanks a leg free and, just like Randall, lunges for him. It knocks the gun out of his hand and knocks him down. I scream. Fortunately, its other leg is still stuck; Carl manages to kick its groping hands away and get free. He runs back to the farmhouse. 
It’s sundown. Time for the Meeting to Determine What to Do. I’ll summarize the proceedings: Everybody except Dale wants Randall dead. Well, at first, but then Dale manages to convince Andrea. However, they are outnumbered. Dale, with tears in his eyes—Seriously. That was some great acting. I felt really sorry for him.—says he won’t be a party to it and leaves. Daryl, Rick, and Shane march a bound Randall into the barn. Shane blindfolds him, Daryl makes him get on his knees, Rick pulls out his gun. (Oh, thank god they’re not hanging him!) Rick’s taking aim as Randall pleads for his life. 
Then Carl enters. DAMMIT, CARL. “Do it, Dad,” he says eagerly. Rick lowers his gun and tells Daryl to take Randall away, to the supreme annoyance of Shane. Rick announces to everyone that Randall will be kept alive, for now. Rick later tells Lori that he just couldn’t do it, not while Carl was watching. “It’s ok,” she assures him. (I’m cool with Rick not being a monster who kills people as his young son watches. Maybe Doc’s got some poison on the farm somewhere they can lace Randall’s food with later.)
As Dale walks along, he comes across a gutted cow in the field—and the zomb that’s eating it. AAARRRRGGGHHH! It knocks him down as he yells in terror; he drops his rifle and can’t get to it as he struggles to hold the snapping zomb at bay. Hearing his yells, the others come running, but they don’t get to him before the zomb tears Dale’s stomach open like it did the cow’s. :( :( :( 
Daryl tackles the zomb and knifes it through the skull. (Nice.) Carl recognizes it: the skinny, shirtless zomb he left partially stuck in the mud. He runs to Lori, crying. Doc takes one quick look at Dale’s mangled midsection and says nothing can be done. :( :( :( Dale’s lying there, gurgling and suffering; the decision is made to put him out of his misery. Rick pulls out his gun, but then guess who takes it to mercifully deliver the kill shot? Mr. I Don’t Care About Y’all Daryl. “Sorry, brother,” he says, and, BOOM! :( :( :( THIS IS YOUR FAULT, CARL. Ok, it isn’t really, but if he’d just shot the damn zomb instead of playing with it, Dale’d be alive. Then again, if Doc had done a better job of keeping his cattle corralled, that would’ve helped too. Heh.
RIP, Dale Horvath. *moment of silence*
No comments:
Post a Comment