The Walking Dead 208 "Nebraska"
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"Rick and the others try to restore order
in the aftermath of a terrible discovery. Hershel takes up an
old habit and disappears, Rick and Glenn must follow him into
town." We pick right up were we left off, with the gang standing over
the zombie slaughter outside the barn, the emotional toll just
as high, Herschel mourning his undead family and the impact of
finding Sophia turned a walker, still in the air. The aftermath is intense and Shane is still raging, as Herschel
claims he didn't know Sophia was in the barn. As far as the soap opera criticsim goes for this season, sure, some of this is character development and exposition, and I'm all for that in a quality series, but that can be accomplished at an efficient pace as seen in season 1, and at this point, in this season we have strayed too much into meandering and plotting introspection and redundant melodramatic dialouge to justify it. It really needs to be distilled more and mixed with the big pay off moments (like the final scene of "Save the Last One", the final scene of "Pretty Much Dead Already", and the final scene of this episode. Hey, do we see a pattern?) One of Herschel's crew, Beth, who was tackled by a undisposed zombie during the aftermath, falls ill with a fever. Hmmm. The group talks about "maybe she's in shock?" Ummm. Yeah, maybe a more obvious notion should pop into your minds after all you have experienced. Someone who just had direct contact with a walker suddenly turns sick and gets a high fever and you don't even think to check her for scratches, bites, or speak of this elephant in the room? They have a funeral for the dead, and Hershel, who now sees he was holding onto something that wasn't there falls off the wagon, dissapearing into town for his old watering hole. Rick and Glen are sent to get him back, setting up the really only eventful bit of the episode. They find him in the bar drinking, and have a talk. Back at the farm, Beth's condition has worsened. Lori asks Daryl to go after Rick and Hershel, but he snaps, "I'm done lookin' for people." So Lori does the only sensible thing Lori can think of and storms off in a car to go to town on her own, without telling anyone. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, yeah, distracted by staring at a map she hits a walker crossing the road and flips her car into a ditch. But we get a nice classic badass Walking Dead nugget in the end (haven't we seen this formula before this season, just cut out the exposition by half and speed up the pacing and throw in more action and these great dramatic tension scenes we only get once in a while.) While chatting in the bar, and apparently hashing things out, Rick, Herschel, and Glen are approached by two walkers...of the living variety. Tony and Dave, two street-wise survirvors from Philadelphia tell them that Fort Benning is over-run and as they have a drink and talk a great stand-off of sizing each other up brews. Dave explains they've heard rumors of trains bringing people to Nebraska, which has a small, heavily armed population. But, Dave jokes, "There's a reason they call them flyover states." Dave then begins probing Rick and Hershel about where they're
living, deducing they have a secluded farmhouse. It gets real when Dave tells Rick that Rick is right, they don't know each other, but being survivors they probably had to do some stuff to get where they are, just as Rick had to do some bad stuff to be alive. It's a threat spoken with a street-wise smile. Tensions rise further as Dave insists Rick lead them to the farm. "That's not gonna happen," Rick says. Tony threatens to shoot Rick and take the farm, but Dave diffuses the tension, offering to pour another drink. Tony moves in behind Rick as Dave tries to reason with him. "We can't stay out there," Dave says. "What do you suggest we do?" You can see the obvious set-up as they place Rick in between them, his back to Tony. "I hear Nebraska is nice," Rick replies, and Dave quickly goes for his gun from behind the bar. Bang. Bang. It's Grime-time! Colt Python wins every time. This ending was classic Walking Dead, with tension and great
use of music, and dramatic cuts from the bar scene back to the
burning of the zombies back at the bar scene. Please, more of
this.
NITPICKS: - Really Lori? Just going to jump in a car and speed into town
like that. What could possibly go wrong? QUOTABLE:
Nebraska gets its name from the archaic Otoe, or the Omaha],
meaning "flat water", after the Platte River that flows
through the state. Fort Benning is a self-sustaining military community, which supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projection platform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forces by air, rail, and highway. Fort Benning home of the United States Army Armor School, United States Army Infantry School, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Brigade - 3rd Infantry Division, the 13th CSSB, and many other additional tenant units. Since 1918, Fort Benning, Ga, has served as the Home of the Infantry. http://www.benning.army.mil/ Burning the dead is a common practice in many religions and cultures including Hindu, Sikh, Viking, and Roman. In Viking culture it was common to burn the dead and offerings in a funeral pyre. "Thus he (Odin) established by law that all dead men should be burned, and their belongings laid with them upon the pile, and the ashes be cast into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, every one will come to Valhalla with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone; which custom remained long after Odin's time." Interestingly enough, during the Bubonic Plauge that swept through
Europe in the 14 century, an event very analogous to a zombie
outbreak, burning was not initially considered a primary disposal
method. It was thought at the time that it was spread through
the air and breath, so bodies were buried and people carried flowers
to "freshen" the air. This was popularized in the very
dark but popular children's nursery rhyme:
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Daryl:
Your bitch went window shopping. You want him? Go fetch him yourself,
Olive Oil."
