Posted by Janie Logan Nov 29, 2010, 6:34 GMT
The survivors suffer more tragedy when their camp is attacked by zombies, so in "Wildfire" they set off to find answers. Photo courtesy of AMC.
In The Walking Dead, facing monsters is a reality, but the show is about more than just the struggle for survival, as the human characters must deal with their inner demons, too.
After Rick (Andrew Lincoln) reunited with his family in "Tell it to the Frogs," there was a sense of, where do we go from here? They couldn't stay on that hill outside Atlanta forever, as the end of "Vatos" made painfully clear.
Everyone was left reeling from the zombie attack and the loss of several of their own. They had spent the last month building this home for themselves, and now it's been destroyed.
Kneeling in silent shock beside Amy's body for hours, Andrea (Laurie Holden) found herself dwelling on her failings as a sister. Then Amy started to move--we knew what she had become, but it seemed as though Andrea was still trying to see her sister behind the vacant eyes. That is, until she brought the gun up to Amy's head and blew her brains out…
Nobody, however, was sad to see abusive husband Ed die. Carol had her cathartic moment when she took Daryl's pickaxe and swung it down into Ed's head. She took control like she had been unable to do during their marriage.
Another guy, Jim, was bitten by one of the zombies. Daryl was ready to shoot him right then, but Rick took a stand: "We don't kill the living." He recognizes that surviving in this new world is going to require some moral compromises (see: guts), but he also knows that they have to hold onto their humanity. It would be too late to save Jim, but Rick wanted to take everyone to find the Center for Disease Control to learn whatever information they could.
The sole survivor at the CDC, a doctor played by Noah Emmerich, was at the end of his rope. He had done medical testing on the zombie virus and been recording his findings on a video log. When an accident happened destroying the lab, he gave up hope. Rick and the others arrived, interrupting his plans to get drunk and shoot himself. Hopefully, the doctor will be able to shed sufficient light on how the world nearly ended (or as he describes it, how the "wildfire" spread) to leave us hooked after next week's finale, "TS-19."
Other thoughts on "Wildfire":
-For the other Lost fans out there, such a strong parallel between the CDC doctor and Desmond Hume in the Swan hatch!
-I'm now almost 97% positive I will read the Robert Kirkman series in the hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2--how do you fans of the comics feel about the show so far?
-Having Shane (Jon Bernthal) point the gun at Rick in the woods, even if only for a few seconds, was a risky move. Thus far, it's very difficult to sympathize with that character, but it feels like they want us to be conflicted between him and Rick as the heroic figures.
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