Wednesday 28 September 2016

The Walking Dead- Season 2, Episode 2: Bloodletting

"Am I the only one zen around here?"

This episode deals with the awful aftermath of a traumatic event, as Rick, Shane and their new acquaintances- mainly Maggie, Herschel (fortunately and conveniently a medic) and guilt-ridden shooter Otis- struggle chaotically to save Carl's life while, elsewhere, the rest of the gang continue their increasingly desperate search for Sophia; suffer the little children indeed. Only Daryl is calm and quietly optimistic, and he should know.

It's brace to introduce new cast members under such conditions, perhaps, but this helps to flesh out Herschel as a calming and authoritative presence at a time when Rick is unable to be those things.

There's a nice contrast at the start, with a flashback of Carl having to be told about Rick's shooting being contrasted with the reverse. It's clear that the lad may not live although, you know, this is a television drama and we all know the tropes.

Meanwhile, T-Bone is injured from last episode, and we're reminded that he could die without antibiotics, a diminishing resource as the trappings of civilisation continue to slip away. Carl can only be saved if a perilous journey is undertaken to take medical supplies from under the noses of loads of zombies; this falls to Shane and a conscience-stricken Otis.

Maggie manages to find the tribe and have everyone (aside from Sophia, of course, and both Dale and T-Bone at the motorhome) arrive at the house, meaning that keeping track of the characters becomes a fair bit easier for the writer. We get a nice chat between Herschel and Rick- Herschel is confident that the zombie outbreak is just a big disease and will eventually come to an end- and an interesting revelation: he's a vet, not a doctor!

We end this typically superb episode with Shane and Otis seemingly under siege...

No comments:

Post a Comment