This week’s episode had the survivors literally pick up the pieces as they buried their dead, burned the undead and left the formerly safe quarry camp for the supposed safety of CDC headquarters. A pick-axe through a head multiple times and a gunshot were the “big” gore moments, the former intentionally shocking, the latter, a tense yet touching re-death. As for poor Jim, whose premonition last week predicted the aftermath of the zombie assault… well, he found himself in a rather unfortunate pickle that ended with him abandoned by the side of the road. This fate was his choice, by the way. Meanwhile Rick’s leadership skills came under question a few times during the episode, but it seems that the mental stress of the attack has left everyone either on edge or not quite thinking rationally…

Speaking of not thinking rationally, at CDC, things aren’t as safe as Rick wants to believe. The lone scientist living there and slowly going mad thanks to weeks of isolation underground and pure stress, botches an experiment (some sort of treatment for undead bites, perhaps?) and after his work is destroyed thanks to a too-precise security system, he’s at the end of his rope. That is, until he sees a few potential guinea pigs show up in the form of Rick and the camp survivors. Things are really going to get interesting next week, especially given that it’s the season finale. I’m still tempted to FINALLY pick up a few back issues or one of the graphic novels, but I probably won’t until the show runs its course (or at least until Season Two is over and done).

Hell, I absolutely WANT to read the comic, but I also don’t want to spoil knowing what will happen down the road. Based on the animated version of the first issue I caught on AMC (gotta love that Free On Demand and its special features), the show doesn’t follow every single panel in the comic to a T and in fact, adds some elements and changes others entirely. It’s all good, though (and definitely some of the best dramatic TV to date).

Score: A

Let’s just call this the “King’s Field Episode” for starters. As in From Software’s great RPG series, if you’ve formed a particular attachment to certain characters major or minor, well… you were probably picking your jaw up off of the floor at the rather shocking events in the last few minutes. Jim digging those holes at the beginning sort of clued me in, but I was thinking they’d stretch out his justifiably out of his mind bit for the last few episodes at least. I’m guessing that huge pack of camp-raiding zombies were royally pissed that they missed the fish fry. The overall intensity of the attack coupled with copious amounts of non-stop gore made this the toughest to watch of the series to date, but a second viewing had me riveted even though I knew what was coming.

As for the title and first half of the episode, initially, the critical eyebrow went up when the stereotypical gang-bangers (that seemed very out of place in a zombie-packed Atlanta – where the hell would they live?) rolled onto the scene, kidnapped Glen and sped off. Surprisingly, the gang thing actually worked excellently thanks to some excellent writing and a few amusing, tense and eventually emotional moments. Just be nice to your real-life grandparents, is all I’ll say. The family aspect was touching indeed, but a grandly designed Yin/Yang set-up job by Hickman, as viewers would be hit a few minutes later by the above mentioned camp scene. As for next week, things don’t seem to be getting any better for the survivors… but I’ll be back at 10PM sharp, glued to the tube to find out what’s next.

Score: A

The third episode picked up where the last left off and had some fine dramatic moments thanks to Rick’s reunion with his family, some surprising revelations and a bit of shocking violence (primarily among the survivors, although a lone zombie gets dispatched in a nicely gruesome scene). My question about the dropped bag of guns was indeed answered, but as the teaser for next week’s show revealed, getting those guns isn’t exactly going to go as planned. Hmmm… I wonder if that tank Rick camped out in all too briefly still has a working cannon (and if Rick STILL has that grenade he swiped from the dead soldier)?

Oh, Michael Rooker’s rooftop racist does am off-screen Scream and Scream Again number on himself (look it up, or think of the first SAW movie) but I’m betting real money that he’s not a total goner. His controversial character deserves a bit more than the extended cameo he’s gotten thus far, that’s for sure. Then again, how far can one go in a zombie-packed Atlanta with sunstroke, one working hand and a bloody stump? We shall see, i guess…

Score: B+

Well, despite a few bumps in the road, it just gets better and better. Great writing featuring some nicely fleshed out scenes (no pun intended), Michael Rooker was almost priceless (and a bit over the top, as usual) as the rooftop racist rifleman and some nicely tense moments make this a nice follow up to “Days Gone Bye.” There were a few issues I had with one character handling a gun with her bare hands around tainted undead intestines and just hwy Rooker’s character would lose it and draw attention to the “shoppers”, but hell, I can see someone snapping up there with a gun and a few hundred undead down below. I’ll have to also wonder why the hell Rick didn’t try to nab the bag of guns he dropped in the first episode, but hey – that’s TV for you. Even the girlfriend who absolutely freaks out over gore made it through most of the episode intact and she even watched the first episode (thank you AMC Free On Demand!) the next day and is I believe, hooked (although she won’t admit it quite yet).