It’s Halloween Eve (or All Hallows Eve Eve if you prefer). Shane and large new farmer guy are rushing to bring back medical supplies from the school, Carl is in critical condition, and the little girl is still missing.
Well. Well well well. I was thinking that Shane is a terrible person, sacrificing Otis then lying about it, but then I realized that what he did basically saved Carl’s life, and Otis’ people have a lie that makes them feel better about Otis’ death - you could argue that he made a hard choice that paid off. My jury is still out about Shane - he has a questionable morality, but I’m not willing to call him a complete bad guy yet. Shall I propose the nickname Ambiguously Evil Shane? 
ETA: This may have been my favourite episode so far - the stupid was dialled way back and the people trying to live in a zombie apocalypse was dialled way up, the way I like it.
Liked it. Much less emo angst, more darkness. Much more.
After this ep., I’m less convinced that Shane truly, thoroughly checked Rick at the hospital before bugging out with Lori and Carl.
Daryl is stealing the show.
At first, I thought Shane was shaving his head because there was a bite mark on his scalp.
They need to find the damn kid already.
The series finally seems to be returning to the basic story-arc that the early part of season 1 set up, but never followed through on - idealistic Rick vs. mercenary Shane. Both men have strong emotional ties to Lori & Carl, and to leadership over the band of survivors. I like the idea that as their situation worsens, they gradually become more extreme in their outlooks. Sooner or later they are going to have a showdown.
Finally, an episode in which I didn’t want to bitch-slap Lori. Her speech about how maybe it’d be better to let Carl just die than to save him just so he can live in a world over-run by zombies? For once that didn’t seem like a contrived bit of soccer mom-ism, but a genuine moral dilemma that a parent might wrestle with.
Three episodes and that damn little girl is STILL missing? Sure, the little group would be concerned about her, but I as a viewer simply haven’t enough invested in her character to be fretting over her fate for four episodes. This storyline better be going somewhere.
It’s good to see that the behind-the-scenes shake-up of the writing staff didn’t end up completely capsizing this show, but actually got it back on track. Keep it up!
But I still have some gripes alas -
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The cliffhanger from the last episode was a fakeout! Ep. 2 ends with Shane & the fat guy (whasisname?) unable to get inside the school, and trapped in a tiny gap between the doors & the gate. This ep. starts with both men booking through the school hallways! I was ready to do an Annie Wilkes and demand my money back!
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How many weeks have gone by since the zombies overwhelmed the world? Yet the placid farmhouse still has sliced white bread sandwiches, and electric lamps going in every room. Where are they getting the juice for the lights??
Mediocre until the final few minutes when we get the reveal that Shane used Otis as Purina Zombie Chow
However, on a side note, am I the only one who really hates that stupid smarmy prat host of “The Talking Dead”? if anyone deserves to be fed to the Zombies it’s that annoying prat
Farms commonly have generators. They should have referenced this.
And bread is really easy to make, electricity or no.
That Carol is so annoying, I hope they’re saving her for some purpose besides whining her ugly ass off. I hope they find that kid because that’s getting annoying, too. Come on, already!
Zombie treadmills? (Which would be a perpetual motion machine. apparently.)
And this, of course, leads to a bit of a hijack regarding zombies.
Given the abilities of zombies to continue toward their prey with arms or legs missing (or being cut in two), would a quadriplegic who was turned into a zombie be able to walk? Or would there eventually be a horde of zombies on HoverRounds, propelling the wheelchair forward by blowing in a straw (I realize that a HoverRound user wouldn’t necessarily be using a straw to propel himself, zombie or not)? And zombies on Segways? Or on chairlifts to go between floors of a residence?
These are the kinds of thoughts that kept me from getting into the really good schools.
Totally.
What kid? (Yeah, I know which kid - I’ve already forgotten she existed, I’m so uninterested in her and her plight.)
Is it just me, or was anyone else thinking of that old joke, “When going hiking, you don’t have to run faster than the bears; you just have to run faster than your buddy”? 
You don’t like The Nerdist, Chris Hardwick?!? I love that guy!
Yeah, I think they’re dragging this out too long too. Even considering that each week for us covers about half a day in their world, I still think this is taking too long.
Shane didn’t just make a hard choice he deliberately murdered a good man in order to save his own skin.
He isn’t ambiguously evil he’s just not cartoon evil. I’m willing to cut him a lot of slack for telling Lori that Rick was dead. Shane was over his head at the hospital dealing with zombies and the military all at once. He even attempted to get Rick out of the hospital but realized that he just couldn’t do it on his own and I think he truly believed his friend was dead. I’m unwilling to cut him any slack for murdering Otis.
I loved how Otis reappeared at the end by taking a shot that was directly in line with Shane. Didn’t he learn his lesson?
Or he realized that they could both die, and then Carl would die too, or one of them could die to save the other and then Carl would have a chance at living. He didn’t debate it with Otis; he just took action. Maybe his action should have been to shoot himself in the leg and give Otis a chance, but that would have been a hell of a hard thing to do, and frankly, he is the better choice for someone to stay alive in the world they live in.
Or he’s just a shit.
Murdering Otis saved Carl, but it was just trading one group’s loved one for the other’s. The farm family wouldn’t consider it worthwhile, but at least they get to remember Otis as a hero.
I don’t know how badly calibrated my TV might have been, but I still couldn’t see what was going on after I turned out the lights. Daryl and Andrea were wandering in the woods when I finally stopped and cranked the brightness and discovered there was a tent there. I know it is night without electricity, but action scenes get pretty jumbled when you can’t really see much more than faces and darkness.
I’m still bored and frustrated by the pace, but I have some hopes for next week based on…
Glenn’s questions in the kitchen about who they have lost is probably setup for what they will find in the barn
Are you arguing that Shane’s actions were justified? I can’t tell.
They’re justified-ish, actually. Otis kept talking about “making it right”, referring to the fact that he shot Carl. One has to assume that Otis would have been willing to give his live for Carl’s. Shane just didn’t have the luxury of hashing all that out with him. I mean, if Otis had chosen his own life over Carl’s, we would all be discussing what a shit Otis was, right?
Hmm, was there a reason that Otis couldn’t run away from the Zombies? Or was he just staying behind to help Shane? In that case, Shane is definitely evil. But if not, then the alternative is that both die, and then I think it’s acceptable to take the shot.
Otis was old and not in shape, that was shown multiple times over.
that was a great ending, very chilling to see what really played out.