The episode opens with Shane, Lori, Carol and Carl stuck on the highway. Shane discovers that they have stopped broadcasting about the refugee center. They watch as helicopters fly over Atlanta and drop napalm on the streets. This scene really struck me because what it represents, was the U.S. government giving up on its people. Most Americans have no idea what it is to live in a war zone, and if the walkers didn't make the situation real to them, then watching the napalm fall most certainly did. Everything that they had hoped, believed, built and dreamed was lost in that one moment.
When Lori wakes up, Carol is doing laundry, and she suggests to Lori that if everyone pitches in, that maybe they can get together and cook dinner for Hershel and his family. Carol tells Lori that since she's Rick's wife that makes her their unofficial first lady. Isn't it enough that the men are struggling to be alpha dog without asserting hierarchy amongst the women?
Darryl decides to go to a higer area to see the entirety of the search grid. Dale brings up the chupacabra and when they tease him about seeing blood sucking monsters, Dale asks them if they believe in dead people walking around. Apparently, Dale saw a chupacabra on a hunting trip.
Glenn is playing with guitar, when Maggie walks up and he tells her that he still has eleven condoms. Maggie responds by telling him that she sees eleven minutes of her life, that she doesn't know if she will get back. He tells her to think about it, but she says that she doesn't even know if she like him. I have to say that at this point, I really like Maggie. She feels no guilt or shame about what they did and firmly
Rick tries to engage Shane and brings up girls he used to date. He says that the only way to get him talking, is to talk about the girls he slept with in high school, and of course, Shane who should be dead, immediately starts bragging to Rick, about all of the women that he slept with. Finally, Shane looks at Rick and says, "we shouldn't be talking abou this stuff. That life is gone, and so is everyone in it. It's hard enough accepting what happened without digging up the past. Tell you nostalgia, its like a drug, it keeps you from seing things the way they are". Shane asks him why they are searching for a girl that is most likely dead. He tells him that after 72 hours you're looking for a body. "Sophia only matters to the degree in which she don't drag the rest of us down", he says. Is anyone at all surprised that Shane would see Sophia as disposable, considering what he did to Otis? I think I was particularly disgusted with him that he tried to blame Rick for Otis' death, by claiming that he was lost because they stopped to look for Sophia. Rick tells him that he failed Sophia. "I think she's still alive and I'm not going to write her off".
Riding along, Darryl shoots a squirrel climbing a tree. This serves as yet another reminder of how good he is in the outdoors. He gets off his horse when he sees a doll floating in the river, but when he calls for Sophia, no one responds. Darryl continues to ride along until his horse gets startled by a snake. He gets thrown and ends up pierced with his own arrow. Darryl struggles out of the water and ties off the wound. He starts to hear noises in the bushes, but when he reaches behind him, he realizes that he does not have his crossbow and so he digs through the water to find it. He slowly begins to climb back up the mountain and you can see that each step is torture.
Glenn confronts Lori, and she tells him rightfully, that it is none of his business. When Glenn notices that Rick and Shane are on their way back, Lori tells him that he cannot tell anyone. Rick tells Lori that Shane wants to stop the search. Lori is actually supportive and says that he is making the best decisions that he can, with the information that he has, and that she does not see soft in that. I suppose, Shane who should be dead is actually getting to Rick. I don't get why he cannot see that Shane has an agenda.
Trying to climb further up the mountain, Darryl falls again.
Hershel confronts Rick, and tells him that one of his horses was taken without his permission, and Rick promises to speak to Darryl. Hershel then asks if they took Jimmy out, and wants to know if he thought he had his consent. Hershel tells him that Jimmy is 17, and that he is responsible for him. He goes on to say that these things need to be cleared with him. Rick tells him that they need to work on their communication. Hershel says, "I'll control my people, you control yours". It is clear that Hershel is very much into controlling his environment.
When Darryl opens his eyes, he sees his brother, "why don't you pull that arrow out dummy you could bind that wound better", Merle says. "Your the one that's screwed from the looks of it, you're going to die out here little brother". He tells him that Sophia is missing, but his brother points out that he isn't looking for him anymore. He tells him that he is nothing but redneck trash to the group, and that "one of these days, they're going to scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit. They ain't your kin". Merle tells him to shoot Rick in the face, and that nobody is going to care about him except him. Of course it turns out that Darryl was hallucinating. and the person he was talking to was a Walker. When another walker comes out the woods, he pulls the arrow from his body and shoots it in the head. I have to say that this was an awesome scene.
Darryl wakes up and he says, "that the son of a bitch was right". He then proceeds to cut the ears off the walkers that he killed, string them on a shoelace and tie them around his neck. He then hallucinates Merle again, who taunts Darryl until he makes it to the top of the hill.
Hershel gets upset, because Lori and Carol are cooking dinner, and so he asks Maggie "what's going on with the Asian boy". Why bother to learn his name when he can just call Glenn the Asian boy. He feels that Ricks people are getting to comfortable. Hershel tells her not to get close to them, and that they're not going to be around forever. To her credit, Maggie does remind Hershel that she is a grown woman but he just ignores this.
On top of the camper, Andrea is standing guard with a gun. Dale asks her, "what's up with the Annie Oakley routine?" Andrea says that she doesn't want to do laundry anymore. In the the trailer Glenn and Dale sit down for a man to man chat. Glenn tells him that all the women are acting really weird. He says that he read somewhere that when a lot of women are altogether that their cycles line up and they get all crazy. Really? Menstruation cause mental instability? How about not knowing whether you are going to live or die from one day to the next? What about losing all of your family? What about the end of the world as you know it? Nope, getting your fucking period will do you in every time ladies. Dale says, "I'm going to advise you to keep that theory to yourself." At this point I really felt let down by Dale's response. He could have pointed out that Glenn was being a sexist but instead simply suggests that he does not repeat what his question. Dale asks him who is being mean to him, and Glenn tells him that he and Maggie had sex. Dale is of course concerned how Hershel would feel about this and Glenn points out that Maggie is 22. He asks Glenn what he was thinking and Glenn tells him, "I was thinking that I might be dead tomorrow."
Right, so though Maggie is a grown woman, she cannot consent to sex, because it might have hurt her daddies fee fees and therefore Glenn should have shown more self restraint. In just a brief few minutes what I learned from this scene is that women are slaves to their biology and ultimately, our sexuality is still under the purview of our fathers until he gives permission. What the flying fuck?
Andrea starts to scream walker and then says, "bet that I can shoot him". Shane then says that he can handle this, but Rick tells him that Hershel says he wants to deal with walkers. The person that they think is a walker is of course Darryl. Dale tries to tell her not to, but Andrea tells him to back off. Rick points the gun at Darryl, and he says "that's the third time you've pointed a gun at me, are you going to pull the trigger or what". Andrea pulls the trigger and shoots Darryl which by anyone's standards is an amazing shot. Hershel comes out of the house asking what the hell went on.
Thankfully, Darryl was just grazed by the bullet. Patching Darryl up, Hershel tells him that they call horse Nellie as in nervous Nellie and if they had asked they could have told him that the horse would have thrown him. He is basically implying that this is his land and he knows it best and that Rick and his people need to respect this.
Shane uses Darryl's shooting to justify his desire to stop searching for Sophia. Lori says that he keeps telling her about the hard the call, and Shane says that he will do whatever it takes to keep her and Carl safe. She tells him that they aren't his problem anymore, or his excuse. Well it seems that the reason that Shane is questioning Rick's judgement is not about serious doubt about his leadership, but his desire to supplant him. I am glad that Lori called him on it but really this storyline should not exist because Shane should be dead already.
On the porch, Dale approaches Andrea and tells her not to be too hard on herself, because they've all wanted to shoot Darryl.
Alone at Carl's bedside, Lori is crying until Carol comes to tell her that dinner is ready. At the table, everyone eats with no conversation. Was I the only one who laughed at the very obvious kids table? Dale interrupts to ask if anyone knows how to play guitar. Hershel tells them that Otis did and that he was very good. Underneath the table, Maggie slips him a note that says, Tonight where? The note does not go unnoticed by either Hershel or Dale. Clearly, Hershel still disapproves of the relationship, and of course, Dale disapproves because Hershel has not given his go ahead.
Carol brings Darryl some dinner, and she kisses him on cheek. She tells him that he did more for her little girl today, than her own daddy ever did in his whole life. She tells him that he is every bit as good as Rick. Once again, I think they are trying to re-purpose Darryl as an all around good guy. He is valiantly searching for Sophia, and that scene between him and Merle was meant to show that he is different from his brother. No matter what Darryl does, he is a racist and I resent what the writers are attempting to do with his character.
In the kitchen, Maggie opens the note and see that Glenn suggested the barn. When he approaches it, he finds that it's locked, and so he starts climbing up the side, as she rushes across the farm desperate to stop him. When Dale gets inside, he smells something disgusting and when he looks down, he sees that the barn is filled with walkers. Maggie stops him and says that he wasn't supposed to see this. Those who have read the comics were not at all surprised to find out that Hershel is housing walkers in the barn, and so for me the ending was quite anti-climactic
