Walking Dead Recap S2E10: 18 Miles Out

Shane runs from zombies. Rick narrowly escapes a few more. Randall edges towards a knife. Looks like the guys are back at the school, and it’s just as unpleasant. The one thing I don’t understand is why don’t they clear places out of zombies. Seriously. Kill them once, be done with it. Rather than hiding inside of a school bus ala Shane, why not sit on top and start stabbing them with a good sturdy stick?

And we go back before the high school. Shane and Rick park at a cross road, Rick wants a little chat. Shane tells him they don’t need to, but Rick isn’t talking about Randall. He wants to talk about Otis. He’s still giving Shane the benefit of the doubt, desperately wanting to think the best of him. Rick tells Shane he isn’t the good guy anymore, and that Shane isn’t going to be dangerous anymore. Rick is a good guy, he’s thoughtful, he makes it clear that he will keep his family, and that Shane does not Lori. Rick tries to make Shane come to an understanding, but he’s not quite ready for that, still trying to justify all of his actions. The guys check on Randall, whose been riding in his truck, poor boy is likely going to be deaf when he gets out with how loud they have the music.

Maggie and Lori talk about Glen, and Lori tries to ease her mind.

Rick and Shane continue on their trip, and talk strategy. Rick hopes the cold slows the walkers, but Shane is only kind of listening to him, as he watches a zombie in a field.

Beth is up, and she asks Lori how she can be pregnant. Lori tries to not let the girl get to her, as she delivers her a meal.

Rick looks for a good place to release their prisioner. And they end up not at the high school, but at an abandoned city works building. They plan to get some supplies and leave the boy. They see a single zombie and Rick lures him in, before shanking him with his knife. The place seems mostly quiet, deserted, but we know sooner or later that will no longer be the case, as the guys pass the school bus we saw at the beginning. Shane check out the bus, and finds no signs of life, or unlife.

Shane looks over the bodies of the two walkers they killed, but he doesn’t see the usual bites, or really any signs of how they were infected, but there are tell-tell signs that there were walkers, and they assume most of the scratches and infection sites are hidden beneath clothes. Dun dun dun, this is going to get crazy.

Beth hasn’t touched her plate when Lori returns, she’s just crying, and Lori offers her comfort. Beth is feeling hopeless, and Lori’s kind words give her come hope, or so she thinks. Lori takes away her meal, when she realizes that Beth stole a knife. Lori quickly takes the knife from her.

Rick and Shane release their captive. Randall makes his case, pleads with them not to leave him behind. He reveals that he went to school with Maggie, and so they can’t let the kid go. Even if he isn’t like the guys he was with, he knows too much. They need to either accept him or kill him. Shane fires off a shot at Randall, but Rick saves him at the last second. Rick decides they need to think about what to do with Randall, and Shane questions Ricks judgment yet again.  The two get into a little scuffle, and Randall inches towards Rick’s knife. Neither are pulling the punches, and although Shane looks like he’s doing a little better, Rick isn’t out. Shane’s upper hand isn’t kept for long, and before Shane can do anymore damage, a real threat appears, and we’re back to the beginning of the episode. As walkers come pouring out of the building that Shane broke the window of. Rick covers himself with the zombie he just killed, and Shane makes a run for it.

Maggie has a little talk with Beth about her new suicidal tendency. If she kills herself, it doesn't just affect her, but the people she loves will feel the pain long after she's gone.

Randal tries to cut his bond as he’s spotted by a walker. He manages to free himself before demolishing her.

Beth wails and fights with Maggie, and Lori and Andrea can only sit and wait. Andrea tells Lori it was wrong of her to take the knife from Beth, that it wasn’t her decision. Andrea tells her that she needs to find her own way. Lori tells her that she was showing her that she cares, but Andrea says that there are only so many options in front of the girl and if she wants to kill herself no one should stop her. What she needs to do is stop projecting. Beth needs help, and true she needs a reason to live, but enabling her to take her life while she’s overcome with grief is not the answer. And Lori finally says what no one else has, that although Andrea thinks she’s helping by being one of the boys she isn’t one, and she hasn’t been any help. Andrea tells Lori how self centered she is, and what her rant really comes down to is Andrea’s petty jealousy about Shane. Give me a freaking break. There’s plenty to not love about Lori, but I am so tired of Andrea’s constant pity party.

Rick scrambles, looking for a weapon, and he finds one just as one zombie closes in on him, but that zombie brought friends, and the bodies pile upon Rick’s chest. Thankfully, the zombies are the brightest bunch, they may eat brains, but they don’t got them, and Rick is able to take care of his attackers. Piled three deep, he finds a knife, and pushes himself free.

Maggie tries talking to Beth, since the yelling didn’t work. Beth has plenty of reasons to leave, but all she can focus on is all that has been loss. Beth tells Maggie that they should do it together, that they should do it while they have a choice, rather than when everything is destroyed.

Shane makes it to the bus, as the zombies to get at him. He uses the fresh blood trick Rick showed him, and kills one.

Andrea comes to relieve Maggie on Beth watch. May day, may day this is a bad idea. I don’t trust Andrea as far as I can throw her, and I surely couldn’t lift the girl. But Maggie, lets her talk her into talking a walk and getting fresh air. Andrea sits with Beth, and she waits for her to yell, to say something. Andrea tells her that “the pain doesn’t go away, you just make room for it,” and then she leaves her.

Rick intercepts Randall as he tries to make an escape. Randall tries to talk Rick into leaving Shane, and he does, as Shane watches still trapped inside the bus. I just don’t think Rick left him, that’s so unlike Rick, and if he did, he better make sure that Shane is indeed dead.

Maggie comes back to find Beth’s door locked, and there’s crying. Lori and Maggie pry the door open, and find Beth with her wrist cut. Beth is crying over her wrists, and seems for the minute remorseful.

Rick leads Randall back to the guards they killed at the beginning, and arms up. See I knew he wasn’t leaving Shane behind. Rick is good, and that’s what going to get him killed eventually, he has too much honor.

Shane continues to kill the zombies one by one, which is great plan, until he loses his knife. Rick and Randall drive in guns blazing and save Shane. Shane doesn’t look nearly as thankful as he should, and I’m sure he’s going to spin this whole thing to make Rick out to be the bad guy.

Andrea thinks that she did the girl some good, but Maggie makes it clear that she is no longer welcome in the house. Lori sort of sides with Andrea, but she doesn’t try too hard to change Maggie’s mind.  

Rick sticks Randall back in the trunk, and he and Shane are left with the decision of whether or not to kill Randall again. And Rick plans on making that decision after he’s had time to think about it. Once again Rick makes it clear to Shane that if he plans on staying he needs to understand his place, and Shane’s place is not that of the Alpha. Shane has a big decision to make, one that there will be no going back on this time. It’s all or nothing, and as much as I love and loathe Shane at times, I’m afraid he’s not going to be able to live by Rick’s rules. But knowing Shane, he’ll go out with a bang, and cause some carnage on the way.