# The Walking Dead; 2.12 "Better Angels" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502 "2012-03-12T00:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/81 "2012-03-12T14:54:04Z")
> [@theR](#): > > No. > > What’s so confusing? It certainly changes a lot, making it even more morbid and desperate. The point of the show is to see what happens to people and their motivations under those kinds of desperate conditions, no? I suppose confusing is a bad word choice. “Unprepared for that outcome” is closer to how I felt watching that. And yeah, sure, that’s what the show is about but geez…weren’t things already desperate enough without the knowledge of “insta-zombies”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/82 "2012-03-12T14:57:01Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Randall had the same situation. No zombie bites and reanimated immediately after dying. Don’t know but seems to me the virus is accelerating in some way. Seems that way. Before this episode, people who get bitten become sick with a high fever and other symptoms, then die from the disease (not their injuries) and then reanimate. Now, people die from injuries and then reanimate, implying that they already harbored the pathogen, whether it’s airborne or spread through freaky zombie sex or what have you. Either the writers saying that bites are somehow special or the pathogen is not acting the same way as it was before. And my money is still on the blood-borne infection angle, not the everybody’s got it no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/83 "2012-03-12T15:01:31Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > Seems that way. Before this episode, people who get bitten become sick with a high fever and other symptoms, then die from the disease (not their injuries) and then reanimate. Now, people die from injuries and then reanimate, implying that they already harbored the pathogen, whether it’s airborne or spread through freaky zombie sex or what have you. Either the writers saying that bites are somehow special or the pathogen is not acting the same way as it was before. > > And my money is still on the blood-borne infection angle, not the everybody’s got it no matter what. Bites appear to speed up the process - Randall was in the woods for ‘awhile’ (daylight to dark, but this is not consistent in this world) before being found as a zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/84 "2012-03-12T15:04:30Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I’m pretty sure the writers just forgot about them. TDog has had not a damn thing to do since he sustained what should have been a mortal wound (that was never really mentioned again) in the season premiere except for shoot a few barn zombies. The other kid, Jimmy, has had less than that to do, although we do see both of them wandering in the background every once in a while. In the last episode Jimmy was supposed to be watching Carl during the big what-to-do-with-Randall powwow (leaving one to wonder why he doesn’t get a vote) and he was hammering something in this one. You’d think they’d have had him pop in on the suicidal sister, since he’s supposed to be her boyfriend. Jimmy was present at the lake, feeding cattle while Dale tried to convince Hershel to side with him in the prisoner debate. Hershel keeps going “I don’t want to know,” and Jimmy’s slingin’ hay in the background. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/85 "2012-03-12T15:10:16Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > If people automatically reanimate after death, why have we seen cars full of dead people that apparently have stayed dead? 😕 In an interview, creator Robert Kirkman said that all the dead in cars were supposed to have head trauma if one looked closely enough (I did not). He also said that we will find out what was whispered in Rick’s ear in the finale, and that T-Dog was forgotten just because they had other stories they wanted to tell and he didn’t fit in, but he should be significant in the finale. No word on if he will be significant next season, though. 🆒 > [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > And my money is still on the blood-borne infection angle, not the everybody’s got it no matter what. You would lose your money. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/86 "2012-03-12T15:13:28Z")
Not cool, D\_Odds. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/87 "2012-03-12T15:14:43Z")
If indeed everyone is infected, does that mean Lori’s baby is infected as well? YIKES. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Baroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Billy\_Baroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Baroo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/88 "2012-03-12T15:16:47Z")
> [@theR](#): > > Yes it can. Rick kept having flashes of a walker going berserk and whatnot while he looked at Shane’s dead body. My impression was the flashes were occurring in Shane’s brain as he reanimated. We saw repeated shots of his face and his eye trembling. I’m glad the intermezzo is over. Finale should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/89 "2012-03-12T15:18:18Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > If indeed everyone is infected, does that mean Lori’s baby is infected as well? YIKES. Wow, talk about potential! The baby could be stillborn and reanimate immediately and eat Lori! Wait, it wouldn’t have any teeth. Hmmm, how to get around that? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/90 "2012-03-12T15:26:40Z")
I saw the gnashing zombie teeth as what was going on in the dead Shane’s brain as he reanimated. The way they showed him as they flashed the zombies makes me think it was going on in his head, not Rick’s. At first I thought it was his dying thoughts, but then he got back up so I figured the reanimation process was causing it, like it’s a memory kicked off by the zombie brain activity or the growing desire to get up and eat something. Either way I thought is was Shane’s hell instead of Rick’s. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/91 "2012-03-12T15:37:32Z")
> [@Billy\_Baroo](#): > > My impression was the flashes were occurring in Shane’s brain as he reanimated. We saw repeated shots of his face and his eye trembling. > > I’m glad the intermezzo is over. Finale should be fun. Could be. I hadn’t thought of that. Either way, I think Rick knew but was struggling with what came next. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/92 "2012-03-12T15:49:19Z")
When did Carl get Darryl’s gun back? He dropped it in the last episode at the creek and ran away without picking it up, right? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/93 "2012-03-12T15:56:08Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > When did Carl get Darryl’s gun back? He dropped it in the last episode at the creek and ran away without picking it up, right? I’d presume he went back and looked for it. Even he realizes it’s valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/94 "2012-03-12T16:00:01Z")
I still think Jenner’s whisper to Rick back at the CDC was about the fact that everyone is infected. It looked to me like Rick was waiting for Shane to reanimate (so he could see for himself that it’s true), but got distracted when Carl showed up. That whole scene was poorly directed or edited though. Obviously it was done the way it was just to make us think Carl was going to shoot Rick. Compared to what happened in the comics, I was really disappointed that Carl shot the zombified Shane instead of the still-living Shane. That was probably THE big event in the early comic issues. It really lessens the impact by having him kill a walker rather than a living person. I thought the opening scene was laughably bad, with the intercuts between Rick giving Dale’s eulogy and the Mod Squad slaughtering a group of walkers. I know what they were going for there, but it just felt totally gratuitous. By which I mean, even more gratuitous than most of the other gratuitous zombie killings. 🙂 Can’t wait for next week’s zombie horde! ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/95 "2012-03-12T16:08:19Z")
\I thought the opening scene was laughably bad, with the intercuts between Rick giving Dale’s eulogy and the Mod Squad slaughtering a group of walkers. \ I thought that the group had splintered at that point, and those four were going off to seek their fortunes - Shane and Andrea are easy to see leaving as they’ve talked about it, I could see Daryl going along, and T-Dog is such a non-entity to this point that, well, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/96 "2012-03-12T16:09:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Not cool, D\_Odds. The only possible spoiler is that T-Dog figures into the next episode. What is your problem? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/97 "2012-03-12T16:16:21Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > The only possible spoiler is that T-Dog figures into the next episode. What is your problem? He’s upset because you’re clearly being racist! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/98 "2012-03-12T16:17:09Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > The repeated showing of Randall’s bloody wrists feels like a deliberate clue. Open wounds+infected dirt from the barn floor=case of zombitis The repeated showing of Randall’s bloody wrists was just to show us that he was close to being able to slip out of his handcuffs, with the blood acting as a lubricant. Shane noticed it shortly before he took him out of the shed. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/99 "2012-03-12T16:43:40Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > The only possible spoiler is that T-Dog figures into the next episode. What is your problem? Furious Marmot has a theory about the infection. You said “You would lose your money.” Is that based on outside knowledge or isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502/100 "2012-03-12T16:54:36Z")
Re the dead folks in their cars – maybe they couldn’t figure out how to get out. The Walkers at the school didn’t leave the building until Shane broke the window. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-12-better-angels-open-spoilers/615502.md?page=6)