Walking Dead Recap S2E3: Save the Last One

Shane shaves his head, well looks like someone made it out of the high school, but as he looks at himself in the mirror, he’s definitely a changed man. What did you do Shane?

Lori and Rick talk about good old times, Shane pulling legendary pranks, as Shane and Otis run the halls of the high school desperate to escape the zombie hordes. The zombies are relentless, and when the school becomes a maze with no exit. Shane may have gotten away with a lot in high school, and he may get out this time, but it’s not going to be pretty.

Rick keeps his strength up for Carl and Lori’s sake.

Carol cries in her sleep, catching Daryl’s attention. Andrea relentlessly fiddles with her gun, ignoring her cries. Poor Daryl, the poor guy can’t catch a break inside, so he goes looking for Sophia, Andrea joins him though Dale protests.

Shane plans to climb out of one of the tiny windows in the gym, Otis won’t fit, and he plans around it. He will draw the zombies away, and make a break for the locker room, where the windows are bigger. Shane doesn’t like the idea, but it’s the best one the;ve got. Otis stumbles down, and narrowly makes his escape with Shane’s assistance. Shane makes a break for the window, and only a few walkers see him. He easily dispatches a pair of them, but the drop to safety is way down there. Otis wasn’t lying about the height, and hardly anything to break his fall. As he prepares to make the leap, a zombie grabs him, and after killing him, falls to the ground below, injuring himself. He hears Otis fire off a few shots, and its time to hobble off.

Glen and T-Dog find their way to Hershel’s. Blood on the stoop is an ominous sign, but Maggie is there to welcome them. She’s wary of T-Dog’s wound, but he assures her it isn’t a bite. They go inside to join the others sitting at Carl’s bedside. Carl is getting worse, and time is running out. They need to operate soon whether or not Shane and Otis return.

Andrea questions if they’ll find Sophia, but Daryl has faith. He survived longer out in the woods when he was a kid, and was no worse for the wear. Sophia is lucky to have a guy like Daryl on her side, even if she’s likely a goner. Yeah, I don’t forsee her coming back. That’s just a little too much happy.

Lori ponders the world they live in, and if the world should have children in it. The hopelessness in her voice worries Rick, but it’s all they have. Lori’s future looks bleak, and she sees his impending death as a blessing. Rick wonders what changed, since Jenner gave them the easy way out, and she was the one that begged to keep going on. Rick doesn’t accept that, giving up is never better, but Lori’s sudden conviction fills him with doubt.

Shane hides from the walkers, but he can’t for long, and when he’s forced to use his gun, it draws them towards him. He’s all but surrounded, a flimsy fence keeping more from reaching him, as he struggles to reload. Waiting for the perfect shot, Otis shows up just in time and they kill the three zombies between them, using the final rifle rounds.

Rick and Lori sit in silence, when Carl’s sudden coughing brings them into his room. He’s scared, and Rick introduces him to Hershel. Carl is in a lot of pain, but he starts to tell Lori about the deer, when he has a sudden seizure. They watch in horror, unable to do anything but watch. Carl needs another transfusion, and Rick is going to give it to him even if it kills him.

Shane and Otis pause to catch their breath, but they only get a second of peace before the zombies interrupt.

Dale’s watch is interrupted by Carol, unable to sleep while Daryl and Andrea search for Sophia.

Daryl and Andrea end up at a tent, and they find a zombie in the trees. Some dummy had the brilliant idea to kill himself, but unlike the other tent they found this guy didn’t shoot himself, instead he hung himself, and since he had been bitten, he turned into a zombie. Other zombies ate the flesh from his legs, and Daryl plans to leave it where they found him, but Andrea trades the zombie’s death for a question. Does she want to live? She’s unsure, and Daryl feels it’s a waste on both accounts.

Carol tells Dale not to worry about Andrea. Daryl will protect her, but Dale only hears if something happens.

T-Dog gets his arm stitched by Patricia, and Glen awkwardly talks about Merle’s case of clap. But Merle’s bad luck may have saved T-dog’s life. Maggie sneaks up on Glen as he prays outside. She questions his prayers, which are all for his friends, and the two contemplate God’s existence and plans. For the guy who just had his first prayer interrupted, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Maggie gives Glen some good advice.

Dale walks the car congested streets, looking for a sign of Andrea. There’s being concerned and then there’s doing as Dale, whose definitely starting to step over some lines.

Rick rehashes the beautiful moment that ended with the bullet in Carl’s chest, and Rick uses the fact that Carl even in the pain he was in tried to share that beautiful moment with the Stag with Lori. Even though the world is harsh and ugly, there’s still beauty, and that is worth living for.

Shane and Otis are pushed to the point of exhaustion, and the truck is still a ways out. Shane is ready to throw in the towel, but Otis isn’t ready to give up on him. He urges him ahead. They’re running low on all ammo.

Hershel’s diagnosis is bleak. Time is up, a choice must be made, and Rick leaves that choice up to Lori. She chooses life, and they prep Carl for surgery under the worse possible circumstances. And just before Hershel makes the cut, Shane returns with everything, everything except Otis, he didn’t make it. Hershel and Maggie take the news well. Rick is thankful for Shane’s return, but Shane is really shaken. Shane tells him that Otis sacrificed himself to save Shane. Rick understands, Otis wanted to make things right.

Carol is heartbroken again when they return without Sophia. Dale is so happy to see Andrea, that he’s ready to right his wrong. He gives her back her gun, and apologizes for taking away her choice to die on her terms. Things aren’t fixed, but it’s a step towards mending. Andrea is in a dark place, and she’s not ready for forgiveness yet, but she’s trying.

Losing Otis is a big blow for Maggie. She’s lost so many people in her life, and she confides in Glen her losses.

Hershel brings good news to Rick. Carl made it through surgery, and he’s stable. And with the good news, there’s still bad to be delivered. Rick goes to help break the devastating news to Patricia. She takes the news badly, and its more than Lori or Shane can handle seeing. Lori tells Shane to stay as he sits and looks over her and Carl, but he doesn’t. Maggie gives Shane a change of clothes, Otis’s and he goes to the shower, where the episode started. He looks over himself, taking in the bumps and bruises, and finds a good bald patch on his head.

And then we’re taken back to the getaway. Low on ammo, Shane and Otis run. They take a few final shots, with the zombies closing in.

Shane looks for something, hair clippers.

Each man is down to his last bullet, they’re energy all but gone too. Shane tells him he’s sorry, Otis doesn’t understand, and then Shane shoots him in the leg. Of course he does, he’s been teetering between good and bad since the show started. Shane is much like the rest of this world. Just when you think it’s all starting to look up, it turns around and kicks you in the teeth out of no where. Otis doesn’t go down without a fight, willing to take Shane down with him, but Shane is relentless in his attack, and manages to get away with Otis’s pack, but not before Otis is able to rip that patch of hair from Shane’s head, a small unworthy consolation when his life is the price. Poor Otis, he wouldn’t give up on Shane, when he should have, and look what it earned him. Nice guys become zombie crunch, and the dirtbad gets to pretend to be a hero.

We get a look of a whole new Shane, one who had been tottering on the edge of madness for so long, and has finally fallen over it.