Oldie but Goodie

Recapped by Angel Cohn · Aired 11-21-2010 · S01E04

In the city, Darryl collect's Merle's hand, and he and the boys try and track the one-handed wonder through the department store to no avail. So they decide to get the guns and then go looking for Merle. My sweet Glenn maps out a plan -- turns out his pizza-delivering skills have given him a good sense of street navigation. I'm betting he also played a heaping helping of Call of Duty. Glenn heads out on to the street to get the guns, while a guy named Miguel confronts Darryl. Then, out of nowhere, a car pulls up, and some guys try to grab the guns, but ultimately they just take my poor Glenn hostage. No!!!!

Rick and Darryl take Miguel to meet some guy named Guillermo who is in charge, but he wants more than an even one-for-one trade. He wants all the weapons. The boys go back to get the weapons, but Rick's not going to hand over the guns so easily, so they almost all end up killing each other, but a sweet little grandmother walks in and inadvertently puts a stop to it. She then leads them through a working old folks home that Guillermo and company run, and brings them to Glenn and the hordes of dogs that were supposedly eating his flesh. They're just some yappy little chiuahuas. So Rick gives Guillermo some weapons so he can keep the old people safe, and the boys head back to their van and find it's gone missing. That can only mean that Merle's taken it and headed back to Camp Terror, and he's probably all kinds of pissed off.

While the boys are facing off against gangs in Atlanta, Amy and Andrea are sitting around fishing and Jim is just digging. The Camp Terror residents decide to confront him, but he won't explain why he's digging or why he won't stop. So Shane has to tackle him, as Shane does, and then poor Jim ends up handcuffed under a tree talking about a dream that he had that involved He's the Sheriff. When everyone walks away, he advises Lori to keep Carl close and not let him out of her sight.

Andrea ransacks Dale's trailer for some wrapping paper for the mermaid necklace, since it's Amy's birthday. Love her priorities. Shane lets Jim free for the fish-fry. There is really something creepy about the way Jim stares at Carl. Ed's in the tent all bruised and he doesn't want to come outside for the fish-fry. Morales asks Dale about his watch, and while Dale spouts off Faulkner quotes, a bunch of walkers attack the camp. Their first stop is Ed in his tent (a deserved killing if I've ever seen one), then they take down Amy (yes!!!) who is coming back from a potty break, and some other nameless camp members fall victim. The men try and take the walkers down, Morales is surprisingly good with a bat. Just then, Rick, Darryl, Glen and T-Dog have finished their nice walk back to camp and put their newly retrieved weapons to good use. Andrea just cries as Amy sits and SLOWLY dies. Jim just quietly says that he remembers his dream… and why he dug the holes.

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This episode doesn't open on the chilling image of Merle's chopped off hand that we left off with last week. Instead, we see the beautiful, ocean-like water of the quarry with Amy and Andrea in a canoe with a little umbrella. It looks like Jane Austen instead of a zombie-infested Atlanta suburb. Anyway, the annoying sisters are fishing and Andrea doesn't understand why their dear old dad didn't teach her how to tie proper fishing knots. Then they talk about the different kinds of lures that their dad taught them, and how when dad fished with Andrea it was about catching food and with Amy it was about catching and releasing. Apparently the girls are 12 years apart, and their father realized they were very different people, so he taught them completely differently. This conversation is annoying and pointless, and stupid Amy is crying again. And now Andrea is crying. And they worry about scaring the fish, and wonder if Florida has less zombies. The fish aren't scared of the tears, as Amy gets a nibble.

Dale watches them from his RV perch. Seriously, I haven't seen so many shots of an RV since the good old days of Trapper John, M.D.. Dale's also able to see Jim digging giant holes.

We're back in Atlanta, up on the roof with the boys. Darryl points his crossbow at T-Dog, which prompts He's the Sheriff to turn his gun on Darryl. Their standoff is short-lived, and Darryl takes a bandana from T-Dog to wrap up Merle's hand, which he then puts in Glennn's backpack. Poor Glennn. Darryl thinks that his brother must have used a tourniquet, otherwise there would have been a much larger blood trail, and T-Dog picks up the tools. At least Dale will be happy.

Back at Camp Terror, Jim is still digging and Dale wants to know why. He's worried that Jim will get heatstroke, and offers him some water. Jim's not talking. Just digging.

In an office in the department store, the boys come across a walker, and then some dead walkers who look to have been taken out by Merle, one-handed at that. Darryl seems dutifully impressed by his brother's ingenuity.

The girls come back from their fishing expedition with dozens of fish, and everyone is quite happy. Amy does an annoying little dance. Amy agrees to teach Carl to fish, they ask Dale about his line reels, but he's more concerned about Jim.

Darryl keeps yelling through the building and Rick has to remind him that they are not alone. They pass a kitchen, where a very resourceful Merle has apparently cauterized his own chopped off hand. Then they find a broken window that apparently proves he took off out of the building. T-Dog wonders about his odds, but Darryl thinks that's not much better than being handcuffed to a roof. He wants to go after his brother, but Rick stops him. He wants them to keep it together, get the guns and then go hunting for Merle. Seems to me that Merle's doing just fine out on his own.

Jim's still plugging away at his holes in the ground, when the Camp Terror residents confront him. Shane's at the lead, because of course. He may not volunteer to do anything remotely dangerous, but he sure does love bossing people around and sticking his nose into their business. Shane wants to know why Jim is digging, and Jim doesn't think he's hurting anyone, so it shouldn't matter. Lori says that he's scaring the kids, but Jim just wants everyone to leave him alone. [To be fair, Dale's the one who told the kids about it, and Lori's the one who brought them to watch Jim dig, so it's their fault. Jim was digging pretty far from camp. - Zach] Shane wants Jim to take a break and says he'll help him, but he wants Jim's shovel. Jim wonders if he'll punch his face like he did with Ed. Thank you Jim, for calling Shane out on his overly aggressive manner. You are my new hero. I love you almost as Glennn, even if you do give off a creepy, possibly pedophile-esque vibe some of the time. Amy tries to explain that Ed was out of control, but Jim points at Carol and says that's their marriage, and Shane is not the boss of the world. If they find a printing press, you know Shane's putting that on a T-shirt. Jim won't hand over the shovel, so Shane wrestles him to the ground and handcuffs him. Shane insists that no one is going to hurt him (then why not just let him dig?), but Jim says that's a lie he used to tell his wife and kids, before he watched them get eaten by zombies while he ran away. Sad.

Glennn has a plan to get the guns that he's drawn on the ground. He plans on moving quickly around the building. He's going to go with Darryl to the alleyway, and Rick and T-Dog are going to be stationed two blocks away. His plan is surprisingly thorough, so Darryl wants to know what Glennn did in his life. Well, Glennn delivered pizzas, but I've got a hunch that he also played a lot of Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, because that kind of strategy doesn't just come overnight. Though I suppose being able to get from place to place in 30 minutes or less did play some part.

Out in the alley, Darryl tells Glennn "you've got some balls for a Chinaman." He's Korean, but Darryl does raise an excellent point. My brave little baby Glennn dives around sacks and avoids zombies, grabs the weapons, and even Rick's hat, before heading back to the alley, where Darryl's been joined by Miguel, a young kid. Darryl holds the crossbow to his head and starts giving him the grand inquisition about Merle. The kid knows nothing about Merle, but he keeps shouting, which is bound to attract walkers, and while Darryl is distracted, a car pulls up, and two guys, Jorge and Felipe, jump him and start kicking him. Rick and T-Dog hear the commotion from a block or so away and start running, but they aren't fast enough, as little Glennn gets kidnapped, though Jorge and Felipe leave the guns and Miguel behind (since Darryl does manage to get one arrow shot off into Felipe's derriere). The noise has attracted some walkers, so Rick grabs the guns and his hat and they run to safety.

Jim sits tied to a tree when Shane approaches offering some water. He's still handcuffed, so Shane has to serve it to him and pour some on his head. Jim stares at Carl and Lori, who are playing with Carol and Sophia, and he asks Shane how long he'll keep him tied up. He apologizes for scaring the kids, and Lori just chalks it up to sunstroke. Dale asks why he was digging, he says that he had a reason, but he doesn't remember it, just that he had a dream about it and that Rick was in it and Carl was worried. Jim says that Carl needn't be worried, since He's the Sheriff is tough as nails. Shane takes the kids to go clean fish, and Jim tells Lori that she should never let he son out of her sight.

Miguel refuses to give up any information and makes Darryl angry making fun of the "hick" name Merle. So Darryl throws Merle's hand at him and says that's what happened to the last guy who crossed him, and then he threatens to chop off Miguel's feet. we know, they're outside of a warehouse waiting to meet the boss man Guillermo. Darryl and Rick walk Miguel to the door, while T-Dog stays perched on the roof, sniper-style. "G" strolls out, and they have a calm discussion about arrows in asses and feet chopping and how he doesn't want to do an even trade, Miguel for Glennn. He wants the weapons, too. Then Rick reveals that T-Dog is on the roof, so G's people shouldn't shoot everything up, but then they see Glennn up on the edge of the roof with his mouth duct taped. No! Not Glennn! Anyone but Glennn! Guillermo tells him to come back with the guns, and Miguel and everyone will walk away.

Back in the office, Darryl doesn't think that they should give up the guns for one kid, as guns are very valuable. Plus, how do they know Guillermo will keep his word? Rick says that he owes Glennn his life, so he won't walk away, but he may not hand the guns over. Rick tells Darryl and T-Dog they can head out, but they refuse, and they all weapon up and head back to the warehouse with Miguel being held at gunpoint. This time they are taken inside the warehouse, where we see just how many men are part of G's crew. When Rick refuses to hand over the guns willingly, G says he's going to take Glennn, chop him to pieces and feed him to a nasty bunch of dogs. Oh, just like the pigs on Deadwood! Handy. I would have threatened to just throw his body to the walkers, since they're right outside, but I guess that would draw unwanted attention.

Rick doesn't back down, he just raises his shotgun higher. Felipe's grandmother comes wandering into the middle of this burgeoning gunfight, saying that someone needs their medicine and Felipe needs to come help. Abuela also tells He's the Sheriff that Felipe is a good boy who had some trouble, but not to take him to jail. When Rick explains they are looking for Glennn, Abuela leads them outside and into another building. It's a nursing home that looks pretty active. Well, as active as a nursing home can be. Actually, if these people were moving, I'd think they were walkers. Thankfully, they are mostly sedentary. Rick looks around and then finds Felipe helping an old man with an asthma attack, and Glennn looking on. T-Dog says they were worried he was being eaten by dogs. Just then a few yippy little Chihuahuas pipe up. Yeah, they look positively ferocious.

Rick pulls G aside and tells him, basically, that he's an idiot who nearly got everyone killed. True. G says that when the staff took off, he and Felipe stayed and have been defending the building in any way they can. More men keep coming to check on their grandparents and just stay. They are basically just fending off people plundering for food and medical supplies. He says that the world is the same, the weak get taken. So the Vatos (his crew) work on cars and dream of getting the old folks out of the city and everyone stays busy. Rick is inspired by this story and gives G some of his weapons.

The boys walk back towards their truck, discussing how many weapons he gave up and how, apparently, this trip to Atlanta was just to get his hat back. [And the walkie-talkie, which they haven't really mentioned. - Z] Very productive, if you ask me, He's the Sheriff looks about 50 times better with it on. And he might not get sunstroke like Jim. But the van appears to be missing. Darryl blames Merle and says that if he made it back to camp, it isn't going to be pretty at all. Now, at this point, the boys could have hotwired any of the vehicles that are sitting around. Rick does have that skill in his arsenal, but instead they opt to walk back out of the city and up the mountain. This is a bizarre choice to me, but maybe they needed the exercise?

In the RV, Andrea is rooting around looking for wrapping paper for the necklace she looted. It's Amy's birthday the day, and she wants to give it to her. Morales has built up the rocks around the fire, so it can be a little bigger and they don't all have to freeze to death. Shane and Carl come to free Jim, who is totally understanding about being tied to a tree. They invite him to the fish-fry. Carol and Sophia try and get Ed to go to the fish-fry, but he doesn't want anything to do with people. We see that his face is all kinds of shades of red and yellow and his one eye is totally red and bloodshot. It's really gross. Nicely done, makeup department. [I actually think there were some computer effects in there, too. They went all-out. - Z] He wants Sophia to stay with him, but Carol whisks her away. Ed belligerently tells them that they don't need to bother him for the rest of the night. That shouldn't be a problem.

Rick and the guys do some light jogging back to camp -- again, those cars were just sitting there. While everyone else enjoys the fish-fry, Morales asks Dale about his watch, and wonders why he bothers winding it every day. Dale smiles and says it is important to keep track of time. [Uh, yeah. Don't you to want to know how many hours of daylight you have left, or how long you have left on your guard shift? - Z] He starts quoting Faulkner, and everyone quietly listens, until Amy says that he's so weird. Amy, shut up. Then she gets up to go pee, and complains that Andrea watches her every move. Well, that's possibly because she's annoying and childish all the time and clearly can't go more than five minutes without breaking down into tears, so someone needs to keep an eye on her.

By Angel Cohn

Ed's in his tent when he hears someone at the door; he complains that he wanted to be left alone, but when he unzips the tent, there's several zombies who decide to make him their dinner. Amy walks out of the RV complaining about a lack of toilet paper, and she gets bitten by a walker. Yay! Random zombie, I also love you. The whole camp gets overrun, some other nameless camp members get eaten, and there's a lot of shooting happening. Rick and the others hear the shots and pick up the pace. Andrea just sits and cries over a dying Amy, while everyone else tries to protect the kids and fend off the zombies with limited tools. Thankfully the cavalry shows up, in the form of Rick, Darryl, Glennn and T-Dog and their newly retrieved weapons. They quickly dispense of the walkers, and Carl quickly runs to his father's arms. Everyone looks shell-shocked, and Andrea's still crying while Amy takes her last gasps of breath. Lori gives her patented bug-eyed look. Seriously, get another facial expression. Jim looks on and just quietly whispers, "I remember my dream now. Why I dug the holes." Oooh, chills.

By Angel Cohn

They totally compensated for the lack of zombies last week with a whole host of them this time, and I like that they are really bringing the danger to the camp since those people seem so clueless with their fishing and their frog-catching. But while this show knows how to give stunning last shows or moments that will take your breath away, often some of the mess in the middle seems boring. Perhaps it is the stilted acting of many of these cast members. I can only hope that more of the characters I hate follow in Amy's footsteps and get eaten by zombies.

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