Rick Grimes-just trying to fumble his way through it

We know now that Daryl is not invincible, lets accept the fact that Rick is not omniscient.  If he was, he would have known that Shane’s favorite song was Naughty by Nature’s O.P.P and Lori’s favorite song was Creep by TLC.  Or maybe he did since he’s not totally surprised by the fact that they had an affair while he was happily dwelling in Comaville.

Rick is thrust into a situation that he is ill prepared to handle and he knows it.  For that matter no one is prepared to handle it completely.  Some are better prepared like Daryl but that’s it.  Rick is doing the best that he can and adapting to the situation as needed.

Rick is not making wrong decisions by any stretch of the imagination, he is making the right decisions but circumstances are making those decisions turn out wrong.  The only thing Rick does wrong is letting other people make him second guess himself.

Going back to Atlanta to get Merle and the guns was the right decision, walkers attacked the camp while he was gone.  But Rick was right what they needed was more guns.  The survivors in camp were getting their asses eaten until Rick, T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl showed up and start popping off caps in walker brains.

The CDC was the right place to go.  It is the CDC that does research into disease and has the mission of containing the spread of an epidemic, not the US Army.  Any hope of a cure would have been found in a place like the CDC.  It was not Rick’s fault that Jenner spent too much time listening to Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill.

Not telling a group that is hanging on to hope by a thread that they were all infected was also the right thing since the group would probably have suffered a rash of opting out.  A lot more of them would have stayed with Jenner and Jacqui.

I’m sure that Rick has thought about what unfolded those final couple of days on the farm.  And he is second guessing himself over what he did in not following his first instinct to kill Randall.  He allowed himself to be swayed from a decision by Dale’s pleading and in the end the group still upheld the first decision he had made.  The only difference is that Dale and Shane are now dead.

I think that is where the it’s not a democracy speech came from.  Had he just executed Randall when he dediced to the first time then maybe Dale, Shane, Patricia and Jimmy would still be alive.  Maybe those walkers in the woods would not have heard the gunshot when Carl put Shane down.  Maybe they would all still be on the farm and fairly ‘safe’.

Either way no more ‘I want to hear what the group has to say about this or that.’  There are too many people with too many opinions and some of those opinions (like Dale’s) are not conductive to the group’s safety and continued survival.  He doesn’t need to hear people’s opinions anymore he needs to do what is in their best interests, whether they like it or not.  That doesn’t mean he’s not going to listen to some people, He has been depending on Daryl for a while and listening to him.  I’m sure he will be listening to Hershel too if only because Hershel is older and perhaps ‘wiser’.  What he will not listen to is people whining, moaning, complaining and criticizing every move he makes to keep them safe.

Hey Lady Luck! Just let Carol die!

How any one person can be as lucky as Carol is beyond me.  And yes she is overwhelmingly blessed with good luck.  Maybe that’s why Sophia had to die, to balance out the wheel of fortune.  By all rights Carol should be D-E-A-D now but she is still here.  Her entire existence is nothing more than one lucky moment after another.

Lucky moment #1-A group of enablers

This group has done nothing but enable Carol in her helplessness and victimhood.  For her, having been abused is a crutch that allows her to dodge any responsibility.  The group doesn’t demand anything more from her.  They don’t make her stand on her own two feet.  What was she doing during gun training?  Cleaning the RV? Cooking squirrels for dinner?  Everyone in that group needs to be able to defend themselves but Carol gets excused.  Dale finally says something during the Randall discussion and Rick shuts him down.  Daryl is beginning to show some impatience with her too by the end of the season finale.  I’m just surprised it took Daryl this long, since he really is a survivor of abuse and survivors while they empathize with other victims do not enable other victims to remain victims.

Lucky moment #2-Shane steps in

Shane needed to take out his frustration from Lori’s put down on someone and Ed was a convenient target.  Ed was about to beat her like a government mule and she avoided that whupping because Shane ended up beating Ed like a government mule.  What does she do?  She runs to Ed crying and comforting him when he got exactly what was coming to him.

Lucky moment #3-Walkers have Ed Sushi for dinner

Walkers killed Ed gutting him like a deer.  In the aftermath of the attack on the camp when Daryl is about to introduce Ed’s skull to a pickaxe, Carol says she wanted to do it.  A lot of people saw this as some show of strength on Carol’s part.  It wasn’t.  It was simply a case of Ed being ‘helpless’ and Carol being able to hit him back without fear of reprisal.  Had Ed so much as twitched she would have dropped that pickaxe and ran off screaming like the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.  This was nothing more than her wanting to make him hurt in return even though he couldn’t feel a thing.  It takes no strength or courage to ‘kill’ a ‘dead’ man.

Lucky moment #4 Carol is either a kleptomaniac or her memory is totally gone

When Jenner locks them all in the computer room so they can all opt out together (Whether they want to or not), Carol adds her pleas to Rick’s convincing Jenner to open the door and give them a chance to live.  Please remember Carol asked for that chance too.  When they get topside and can’t break the windows Carol reaches into that old lady purse and pulls out a grenade, Rick’s grenade.  “Oh by the way, I found this while I was doing your dirty laundry.”  How do you forget you have a live grenade in your purse?  It’s not like forgetting that pack of Wrigley’s Doublemint gum that’s been floating around in there for the past 5 years.

Lucky moment #5-Rick goes after her child

Carol has just lost her husband all she has left is her child. She was pleading for her child’s life to Jenner.  Come on let’s be real any mother with an iota of maternal instinct is going to protect her child( unless she sees that child as a burden or didn’t want it to begin with).  Mothers are hard wired to protect their children, human and animal mothers have this in common.   A mother will risk herself to protect her child.  She did not make any effort to go after Sophia or protect Sophia but she has no problem pointing the finger at someone else who did.

Lucky moment #6 Daryl holds her back

When Sophia comes stumbling out of the barn, Daryl holds her back.  He sits with her while the grave is being dug.  He does everything possible to support her and her reaction is to sit on her butt in the RV and not even attend her own child’s funeral.  When Dale dies there is this moment when we see Daryl looking at Carol during Dale’s funeral.  It’s funny how many romantics read “Daryl loves Carol” into that look.  That was not a look of affection it was more a look of contemplation.  What I saw was Daryl thinking that Carol couldn’t be bothered to attend a funeral honoring the child that came from her own womb, but a week later she’s standing out there honoring Dale.  If anything I think Daryl is finding less to like about her as time goes on.

Lucky moment #7-Andrea saves her ass

This moment really points out how lucky Carol really is.  At the CDC Andrea is in a much worse head space than Carol.  Andrea is suicidal, she is feeling victimized.  Dale ‘forces’ Andrea to choose to live and then Andrea herself makes the choice to do more than exist as a victim waiting for the inevitable.  Andrea makes the choice to learn to take care of herself.  Carol was asking to live.  You know that old saying, be careful what you wish for you just might get it?  Carol got it, but she doesn’t seem to want it.  She’s not making any efforts to get stronger, learn to protect herself or even make herself less of a burden to everyone else.  That board swing of hers wasn’t even a half-assed attempt.  Andrea has to come to her rescue and when Andrea has a walker on her back all Carol can do is scream.  Remember those gun lessons they didn’t force Carol to participate in?  That is what you get for enabling a victim people.

Lucky moment #8 Daryl saves her ass (Again)

Just minutes after Andrea saves her, Carol is completely alone.  She had to see Andrea go down under that walker too, and T-Dog with Beth and Lori realizes that if they are going to get off the farm they have to do it now and leaves.  Maybe even Lady Luck is getting a bit tired of Carol because Carol ends up in a do or die situation.  No one to protect her or save her now.  Carol is completely dependent on Carol and what does she do? She stumbles around crying and screaming for help.  She makes no effort to help herself.  I guess Lady Luck didn’t realize that Daryl is a closet pyromaniac because he’s sitting there watching that barn fire like he’s at a drive-in movie.  So he just happens to be close enough to hear screams.  Daryl being Daryl knows that someone from his group is in trouble and goes back, saving Carol for the second time in a matter of minutes.

Lucky moment number #9-Daryl doesn’t shoot her

The absolute worst thing anyone can do in a situation where people have to depend on each other for their very survival from moment to moment, is to admit that they are unreliable.  Carol makes it a point to admit to Daryl that she is a burden.   So she owns up to this fact.  Logically speaking if you want to survive in a situation like this you get rid of the dead weight, Daryl doesn’t but he also lets her know that she is getting on his nerves with the snapped “What do you want?” The next time the SHTF, is Daryl or any one of the group going to go out of their way to save a self-proclaimed burden?

Lucky moment #10-Rick didn’t just send her packing (Along with the rest of the ingrates)

Democracy is dead.  All hail the Ricktatorship (backed by the Darylocracy).  Fair warning to Carol and anyone else, shape up or ship out.  No more discussion.  I sincerely hope that they now let Carol be responsible for Carol and all stop carrying her.  It’s past time; if she can’t fight for her own life, she doesn’t deserve to have anyone else risk their own on her behalf.

Carol has had too many chances Lady Luck, just step back and let nature take it’s course.

Andrea’s redemption

Andrea has made some mistakes no doubt, but with season two she has redeemed herself as a vital and necessary member of the group.  She is probably the best suited to defend the group next to Daryl.

At the end of season one, Andrea was at a low point and ready to end it all at the CDC.  Did she really want to end it all?  I doubt that; if she had really wanted to die, then Dale could not have made a difference in her decision.  Dale simply gave her an excuse to live, another option which she took.  She says Dale took her choice away but she certainly fought for her life in the RV killing a walker with a screwdriver.

She applies herself in gun training, but has a problem with moving targets.  When Shane stands down and leaves it to her to defend herself from the oncoming walkers, she does it.  And she proves that she is willing to do what is necessary to protect the group when she shoots Daryl.    Luckily she is not a great shot at this point, but a good shot.

And when the farm is overrun she really shows what she is made of.  Unlike someone else who shall remain nameless, Andrea fights for her life with every thing she has and when everything she has is gone, she digs deep and finds a hidden reserve to fight on until it is just physically impossible for her body to do anything else.  When she runs out of bullets, she uses whatever is at hand.  This is a woman who wants to live.

Andrea is determined not to be a victim and takes responsibility for that decision.  She is not sitting around waiting for someone else to defend her, she is defending herself and the group that she is a part of.  She understands that she has to do her part and be responsible for herself.

I’m sure she thinks it is a blessing to have a Daryl around willing to save everyone’s ass just like everyone else, but he’s not Superman.   Daryl has his own ass to protect too.  Andrea understands that you survive by being able to watch your own ass, you can’t depend on someone coming to your rescue when they may very well be in a fight for their own life when you need their help.  Andrea has to depend on Andrea if she wants to survive.  And she has proven that she can do just that.

A proper RIP to those we lost

We had several losses this season and they deserve a proper goodbye.   So allow me to take this moment to properly say goodbye (Or good riddance).

Sophia

Sophia, Sophia.  There is a reason that children should listen to adults and you learned that the hard way.  Too bad your little friend Carl isn’t learning from your mistake.  But your whole plight was necessary.  You made Rick step up and realize that someone had to take charge, and for a moment you gave Daryl hope and the chance to prove he wasn’t just another Merle.  It was hard to watch you come out of that barn, but your appearance showed everyone just how precarious life is.  It’s a ZA.  Sh*t happens.

Dale

Dale the voice of reason you weren’t exactly wrong in your beliefs, you just couldn’t adapt to the situation anymore than your nemesis, Shane.  You said that you couldn’t believe anyone wanted to live in a world of survival of the fittest and you are right.  No one wants to but if you are going to survive that’s what you have to do.   You just couldn’t grasp that there’s a time to be humane and a time to survive.  Part of growing up is realizing that things are the way they are and you may not like it, but you deal with it.

Randall, Dave and Slim Tony

For too long there was no human threat represented.  Okay I know we met a street gang called the Vatos, but the Vatos were no more threatening than the Atlanta survivor group.  Shane was the closest thing we had to the human predator that will not only rise in a situation like this but thrive by victimizing others.  Dave and Tony gave us a hint of the threat and then Randall confirmed it during his little man to man with Daryl.

Shane

Boy did you go off the deep end!  Yes there were extenuating circumstances namely Lori and her manipulation, but you didn’t have to fall for it.  If you had just put a lid on your own ego she wouldn’t have manipulated you the way she did.   Your jealousy didn’t help either.  You were jealous of Rick because he had Lori.  You were jealous of Daryl because Rick began to put more trust in him but once again, you were your own worst enemy.  Do you really think Rick would have turned to depending on Daryl if you hadn’t let him down.  When you let Rick down you were practically shoving Daryl into your place.  If you had been a true ‘wingman’, there would have been no reason for Daryl to step up and put Dale out of his misery, you would have done it.  When Sophia came out of that barn Rick wouldn’t have had to put her down, you would have done it.  You just couldn’t let go of that ‘tin star’ mentality.

The Farm

The calm before the storm.  Everyone needs to rest and gather their strength before battle and the farm gave us the’ environment to do just that.   Unfortunately many came to see the farm as safety.  It was nice while it lasted and it gave us a chance to separate the wheat from the chaff and shed a few weak elements.  It gave some people the chance to grow stronger and more confident. It gave people a chance to grow closer and find their place in the group and with each other, but sooner or later it had to end.

(POS)Piece of Sh*t, the RV

How did POS last as long as it did being everyone knew what a POS it was and made no effort to correct this?  We knew in the quarry camp.  The radiator hose was held together with duct tape then.  On the way to the CDC what happens? The hose blows! Just in time to ditch Jim on the side of the road.  And with all of the preparations made to leave Atlanta after the CDC blew up, why didn’t someone think about the radiator hose?  You were in Atlanta.  There had to be an AutoZone, Pep Boys, Western Auto that you passed by on the way out of town.  Instead of fixing the obvious problem with POS you drive out of Atlanta and then act surprised when POS blows again just in time to lose Sophia?  Well that burden was left on the farm.   Goodbye and good riddance!

We don’t need another zero

Yay! Shane is history I’m so glad! Wait a minute…I really liked hating on Shane, now who do I focus my ire on?  Time to determine the next survivor to hate on and this time it’s a woman.

Andrea? No not Andrea, she kind of redeemed herself by standing with Dale.  Dale had a point but chose the wrong moment to make that point.  If human society is going to survive, they are going to have to hold on to what they can of their humanity (Just understand there’s a time to be human and a time to survive).  And with Shane out of the picture that influence is also gone.

Lori? She’s a manipulative bitch, but with Shane out of the picture her manipulative days are behind her, I don’t see Olive Oyl manipulating Daryl Dixon.  He’s pretty smart and he sees through BS pretty clearly so he would see through her plotting with no problem.

 

There’s another reason I won’t Hate on Lori or Andrea, when push comes to shove they will both fight to survive.  They have put down walkers before.  Unlike the new target of my hatin’,  the weakest link is (insert drumroll here)…Carol!

The appendix of the Atlanta survivors.  She’s there but she serves no identifiable function other than being a maid and she could very easily be the cause of death for the people in the group.  She is WEAK!!!

Carol is so weak she makes a limp noodle look strong in comparison.  And the past few episodes she is not only weak herself, she wants company in being weak.   She doesn’t want to take part in making decisions that directly impact her survival (Randall discussion), and she doesn’t want anyone else taking actions that impact her survival (Daryl’s interrogation of Randall and later the guys search for Randall).

A lot of people on Walking Dead forums want to see a Carol/Daryl romance, that’s one idea I hope gets nixed if any of the writers attempt it.  If that happens everyone can kiss their rear ends goodbye.  Daryl has grown up a lot and become one of the key leaders in the group; that’s baggage he doesn’t need, and it wouldn’t end well.   She would either make him as weak as she is with her judgmental attitude or she would push him into becoming another Ed just to hang on to his balls.  She’s already looked at him like a dog that crapped on the carpet after he interrogated Randall.  Nope don’t even go there.

Carol has another issue, she won’t fight back.  When walkers attack she is going to stand there cowering and waiting for someone to come save her.  She’s conditioned to be a victim from years of abuse at Ed’s hands.  And her many weaknesses shows that she still has a victim’s mentality.  How many times are people going to come to her rescue before they die because she is to weak to do what everyone in that group has done-kill a walker?  Even Carl, a little kid has a walker kill under his belt now and he’s what 10 years old?

The best thing the group can do where Carol is concerned is to let her become Zombie take out.  It would save them all a lot of grief in the long run.

 

Rank and leadership are two different things

A lot of people equate rank with being a leader, after my time in the army I can tell you that they are two different things.  You can hold rank but have absolutely no leadership skills while the lowest ranking Private can rally people to follow them.  It’s because leadership takes skill.  A lot of leaders hold their position not on their own but because they understand the need to have a  ‘power behind the throne’.  Those who did not develop tunnel vision with the Shane/Rick power struggle in the past couple of episodes have been watching exactly this type of dynamic develop between Rick and Daryl.

Let’s be real here, neither Rick nor Shane is qualified to lead anyone in a situation where survival is minute to minute.  They don’t have the experience or the skills needed, Daryl does.  While there still may be a few modern conveniences around, this is a primitive world and things are only going to get worse; at this point you need someone who can not only survive, but keep the people around them alive too.

However one thing that has survived intact is bias.  We’ve seen that more than once.  As a result, a dynamic has evolved in which Rick holds the rank but Daryl is the power behind the throne.  It’s a truly symbiotic relationship.

Rick

Rick as a law enforcement officer is the face of authority (Shane was als0).  Cops are given a certain ‘power’ over our lives.  They represent law and order.  When things go to hell we look to find some stability.   Rick is the very image of stability to these people.  He is an acceptable representation of a leader and very strong on diplomacy and politics, but when it comes to keeping people alive he has about as much chance as a snowball in hell and he knows it.

Rick shows the qualities of a good leader in that he realizes there are times when you step back and follow someone else.  This is what Shane could never learn.  When you are not the best person to be out front, you get the hell out of the way and let the best person take the lead.  We have seen Rick get out of the way more than once and with different people, usually Daryl and Glenn.

Rick has developed into an excellent figurehead.  He knows his weaknesses and will delegate others when needed.  He shows this tendency from day one when he turns to Glenn to lead Merle’s rescue party into Atlanta.  In Season one he would reason with Shane to get Shane’s backing on decisions he would make.  Not always the right decisions, but at this point many right decisions will still turn out wrong.  In Season two he has more and more often turned to Daryl who has proven to be the dependable right hand that he needs.

Daryl

Daryl is the farthest thing from a leader any ‘genteel’ person wants to see.  That bias I spoke of before is in full play here.  Daryl knows what he is capable of and keeps the welfare of the group in mind, even when he’s off sulking.   He knows what needs to be done and will do it without hesitation, but he also knows his weaknesses.

Diplomacy and tact are not Daryl’s strong points.  He’s blunt to the point of being offensive at times.  He also knows that he is not what these people see as a leader, he’s the ‘other token’ (T-Dog is the token Black and Daryl is the token Redneck).  Not too many people go out of their way to communicate with, trust or respect Daryl unless they want something (a la Lori’s ‘Daryl go get my husband’ demand).  Pretty much just Carol,  Dale (just before his death), and Rick.

Rick trusts Daryl’s counsel.  When Daryl points out that they can scavenge through the cars on the highway while waiting for the RV to be fixed, Rick doesn’t argue he sets people to scavenging.  When they are searching for Sophia Rick doesn’t question Daryl’s actions, he backs them.  When they need information from Randall Rick gives the task to Daryl.  None of this is lost on Daryl.  Rick may be the ‘leader’ but he recognizes Daryl’s value and treats him as an important and valued member of the group.

This changing dynamic in leadership is clear to Shane who calls Daryl Rick’s new ‘wingman’.   In it’s traditional meaning a wingman’s role was to support and protect the lead pilot in a formation.  It’s a position of great trust, you can’t hold that position if you are going to constantly challenge every decision that is made.   When Dale was injured and Rick couldn’t pull the trigger; Shane didn’t step up, Daryl did.  Shane didn’t fill his responsibility as Rick’s wingman.  Shane is wrong in his comment, Rick didn’t make Daryl his new wingman.  Shane gave the position to Daryl by failing to shoulder the responsibility that rightfully belonged to him as Rick’s wingman.

Rick and Daryl together provide the group a strong and stable leadership.  Rick is the one with the political and diplomatic skills.  Rick is the one that can defuse tempers and reason with the members of the group and any outsiders they encounter.  Rick can spend his time playing politics secure in the knowledge what what needs to be done will be done without a lot of drama.  Daryl is the power behind the throne, the one with the knowledge to keep people alive and the ability to pull the trigger to protect the group.  Unlike Shane, Daryl is perfectly content in the support role.   Daryl can fully concentrate on doing what he needs to do for the good of the group, without dealing with all the politics.

 

 

Good Riddance Shane!

Finally the moment I had been waiting for, Shane dies.  And he dies because of his own delusions.  Shane had to know he wasn’t going to fool anyone.  Or maybe he thought he had.

It was obvious to all including Shane that Rick no longer trusts him implicitly.  The trust that once belonged to Shane is being transferred to Daryl.  Shane realizes this when he refers to Daryl as Rick’s ‘wingman’.  Rick even says in a roundabout way that Shane was the thing that went wrong first time around trying to release Randall by announcing that he and Daryl will cut Randall loose.

Rick realizes that there is now a growing tension there between Shane and Daryl.   Daryl suddenly needs a bathroom break when Shane pulls up, and Shane had already remarked on Daryl’s new ‘trusted’ status.  Rick understands that Shane and Daryl alone together is a bad situation.  Although Shane tries to engineer this, I think Rick suspects Daryl might just suffer a case of  ‘hero syndrome’ a la Otis.  When this doesn’t work Shane moves on to Plan B, being releasing Randall and killing him.

If anyone is still laboring under the misconception that Shane is ‘protecting’ the group this episode should have cleared it up.  By releasing Randall (and claiming that Randall is armed) Shane deliberately sets up a situation that puts 4 men at risk.  There is no  way that this can be ignored, someone has to go after Randall.

Unfortunately for Shane this little set up is is pretty obviously a set up.  Daryl proves once again that the dumb redneck has more than two braincells constantly at war with each other.  Daryl doesn’t believe for a minute that Randall got the drop on Shane and makes sure that the other guys know that.   Even more suspect; why wouldn’t Shane want the group’s tracker to track Randall, that would be the quickest way to locate him and eliminate the threat.

And Daryl doesn’t spend too much time wandering around in the dark with no clue as he goes back to ‘square one’ as Glenn calls it and does what he does best read the trail.   Thank goodness for that.  Daryl and Glenn know that Shane lied about how long he tracked Randall, also that Randall and Shane were walking together before they got into a scuffle.

When Randall comes back as a walker, Randall seems to have it in for Daryl and Glenn get’s the chance to play badass for once saving Daryl.  Daryl checks the body and realizes that Randall died of a broken neck, not a bite.

And Rick is not as clueless as it seemed he was, he knows that Shane has evil intentions.   I understand also that Rick doesn’t want to believe that Shane would put a knife in his back.  Rick gives Shane every opportunity to change his mind but when that doesn’t happen, Rick does take care of business by putting a knife in Shane’s heart.

Shane can rest easy knowing he was the reason for  a bit of father/son bonding between the Grimes men as Carl follows in dad’s footsteps and kills Walker Shane by blowing his brains out.   Shane also managed to in death do what he has always done, endanger the group by not thinking through his actions.

 

Just a few lolz to relieve the tension

You know mentioning the words ‘cotton’ and ‘picking’ in the same sentence around T-Dog would earn you a smackdown!

Somebody give this kid some chores!

The morning commute can be a real bitch!

Always negotiate first!

 

Call CPS and btw, hell has frozen over

So last night a shocker as we lost a core member of the group, Dale.  With everything that was going on and Dale’s opposition of it all, in a way Dale got his wish by dying at the end of the episode.  He didn’t want to live in a world that boiled down to survival of the fittest.

Before we get to Dale, let’s talk about Carl and the unbelievably lax parenting by both Rick and Lori.  It’s the middle of a Zombie apocalypse, Sophia has just been found as a zombie and Carl has almost died of a gunshot wound, yet these two let this child wander around unsupervised?  There is no way as a parent I would let my child out of my sight even if he hadn’t just recovered from being shot.  Too bad there aren’t a few child welfare workers around to remind them of the concept of parental responsibility.

The Worst Parents of the Apocalypse award goes to Lori and Rick!

 

Carl is running around snooping in Daryl’s private belongings and stealing Daryl’s gun, taunting walkers in the swamp which leads to him losing Daryl’s gun and also leads to the walker freeing himself and showing up on the farm later.  Thanks a lot Carl, may you have nightmares for the next six months for being such a brat.  And tell your mom and dad that if they had been doing their job as parents, none of that would have happened.

Finally someone takes the time to ‘question’ Randall and it’s not Shane or Rick the two cops, it’s Daryl who is finally over his ‘time of the month’. Thank goodness, it was getting old.  Daryl lets the group know exactly what kind of people Randall has been hanging with.  It is pretty clear to everyone that Randall has to go.  The picture Daryl paints is pretty straight forward, “If they roll through here, our boys will be dead and our women will wish they were.”  There is no other option, Randall is too big of a risk to live and everyone gets it except Dale.  Even Glenn understands that the group has to protect themselves.  I’m sure that none of those who understood looked forward to it but there is no legal system now, it’s wild west justice.  You do what you have to do to protect the homestead.

And yes I must say that hell has officially frozen over.  As much As I hate to admit it, I actually agree with Shane on something!  As Dale asks that they give Randall a chance to prove himself, Shane points out that even if Randall turns out to be nice and helpful, there will always be the chance that it is just an act to get them to lower their guard.  It is nice to think that we could hold onto being civilized but there is no civilization left, only groups of humans doing what they have to to survive.

And Carl hasn’t yet done enough damage for one day, now the little snot wants to watch the execution too!  Rick stop talking and start going upside this kid’s head.  Your child is a thief, disrespectful, and he’s is a liar by omission.  Because he knows he has done wrong.  Had he mentioned that there had been a walker in the swamp that was now loose around the farm maybe Dale would still be alive.  God forbid Daryl needs his gun because Carl stole it and lost it.  Who else has to die because Carl needs a good old fashioned whipping?

Camp Rick vs Camp Shane

Yesterday I mentioned the fact that AMC has a real opportunity with the walking dead to play up the tensions between the surviviors.  There is a definite split in leadership going on.  There is very clearly two camps on the farm, Camp Rick and Camp Shane.  This could be built into a mini-war among the survivors and I thought about how the division might play out.

Camp Rick

Let’s face it, Rick  has a leg up here.  Lori and Carl are automatically going to be in his camp because they are his family and Lori has made it plain that she will support her husband even if she doesn’t necessarily agree with him.  She also realizes that Shane is dangerous.  Dale is also clearly in Rick’s camp he realized the danger Shane posed before anyone else did.  Hershel may own the farm but Rick’s diplomatic handling of Hershel will put Hershel and all of his people in Rick’s camp.   Glenn is also in Rick’s camp we see a lot more of Glenn interacting with Rick than Shane.

Camp Shane 

Shane is manipulative yes.  He spends a lot of time trying to convince people that he is the best thing since the invention of the wheel but he is also reckless and confrontational.  But he has his supporters Like Andrea.  Shane is Andrea’s Svengali, he can do no wrong in her eyes.   Andrea’s thought processes are very much like Shane’s, she’s not as reckless as he is but she also believes in using a gun to handle every crisis. T-Dog is also in Shane’s camp.  T-Dog believes that Shane’s actions at the barn were the right one.

The Dark Horse-Daryl 

Yes Daryl is the dark horse here.   If he gets his head out of his rear end he could be the spoiler in the fight.  Carol is firmly in his corner and he has no problems with pulling the trigger but unlike Shane he won’t be aiming at your leg when he does.  He’s also much more intelligent than Shane.  He doesn’t go looking for confrontation, but back him in a corner and you will get it.  He puts the needs of the group first.  Daryl will assess a situation before pulling the trigger and if it is not a threat, he leaves it be.  Remember the walker hanging in the tree?  Daryl could also pull T-Dog from Shane’s camp since it was Daryl that saved T-Dog’s life and Daryl who gave T-Dog the antibiotics.  The key is that Daryl can work with Rick without the constant confrontation, Daryl can’t work with Shane in this way.  Sooner or later one of them would be dead and as much as I hate to say it, it would probably be Daryl.  Not because Shane is better than Daryl but because Shane has proven he will shoot someone without warning if it benefits him.