2901

I never read the comic but that scene didn’t sit well with me either, too much disconnect between the “1950s small town” feel of the place (outside of the core group of creepers anyway) compared to people putting their kids on their shoulders to see the zombie thunderdome.

Re: formula, if they weren’t retarded they would have had the other women working on inducing lactation prior to the birth, just in case. I’m sure Glen would have been eager to help with Maggie.

2902

Agreed on that scene. In general the town hasn’t quite worked for me. It feels off in a first draft sort of way. There are some fine scenes, but it doesn’t quite work as a whole.

It may just need a couple more episodes to work out the vision.

2903

OK good, sounds like everybody else is as confused as I was after watching.

I started typing out the possible scenarious but they are just too long and winding. It doesn’t make sense unless Rick is ruled as crazy and his actions the result of madness. Which, of course, he probably is.

2904

I shall keep checking this thread for someone to tell me just what the heck happened…or maybe, let’s hope, this will be explained at least somewhat in the next episode.

2905

What seems to be the parts you don’t understand? We get constant clue as to the nature of the Gov - some might be easy to understand, some a little more oblique, but that their is a problem there i something Michonne has picked up on and Andrea doesn’t want to see. Andrea wants to feel safe and secure and not on the very edge of an awful death every second of every day.

Back at the Prison, Rick has gone off the deep end for the moment and found a zombie that ate his dead wife (digestive torpor!), leaving the bullet that penetrated her skull behind. Everyone else is pretty much trying to deal with the consequences of episode four.

2906

I meant that the Lori and Carol, uh stories I suppose, ended up being rather ambiguous. It seems to me that ambiguity could lead to some surprising activities later on in the season.

2907

I know there’s the whole third wall bit, but …
spoiler!

the actress who played Lori made it pretty clear that her time with the show was over. The actress who plays Carol, on the other hand, has not been heard from … hmm.

2908

I thought Rick was stabbing the dead zombie in the stomach to try and retrieve Lori’s wedding ring - but then no resolution which would have made that act make sense.

2909

Lori’s dead and eaten - not sure what’s ambiguous about that unless you didn’t quite realize that’s what happened (it confused more than a few people, so don’t feel badly).

Carol is probably on the phone, but we will see.

2910

So the zombies eat the bones and clothes and everything? But they spit out bullets? What a confusing way to present what you say the show was trying to present, and how utterly inconsistent with what we’ve seen so far in terms of how zombies feed. If this past episode was intended for us to draw conclusions, it’s presenting information poorly.

It’s also confusing that Carol was written off for dead because her headscarf fell off. You think she’s actually on the phone and that Rick isn’t hallucinating? Seriously? Or did you just punk me? I’m also disappointed with having Rick fall apart like that. He seems like the kind of guy who would keep it together for the sake of his son.

And don’t get me started on zombie rules pro wrestling. Ugh. Was this episode directed by Paul S. Anderson or a senescent George Romero?

-Tom
2911

Really have to agree. I understand the need for a sporting type event to keep people distracted and all that, but why would they spend the time and resources to build some complex chain and pulley system to keep zombies at bay like that? Seems like ridiculous overkill for people trying to survive.

2912

No. No. No.

Why isn’t a good game of baseball enough. Normality and everything.

2913

2914

Which is why I said he wasn’t the only one confused - I’m not the one who wrote it, so you are extremely confused if you are taking out your confusion on me. ;-)

It’s also confusing that Carol was written off for dead because her headscarf fell off. You think she’s actually on the phone and that Rick isn’t hallucinating? Seriously? Or did you just punk me? I’m also disappointed with having Rick fall apart like that. He seems like the kind of guy who would keep it together for the sake of his son.

My, you are in a feisty mood (okay, so maybe the episode was to blame). Is Carol dead? We don’t know. It’s a prison phone system - probably not an outside line, so an internal call. Rick delusional? Sure - could be, but also could be one of their group trying to get Rick’s attention, it doesn’t have to be Carol. It’s just my guess based on Carol going to turn the power off and possibly finding the phone master system in the same location.

Quick: minipoll time! The phone is ringing because:

A. Rick has gone off the deep end.
B. One of the group is ringing all the phones trying to find Rick.
C. Carol is trapped somewhere and is trolling for anyone to come rescue her.
D. Corsair knew Tom Chick would wander by and just punked his candy ass.
E. D above was a sad and feeble attempt to punk Tom.
F. It was just another one of those damn telemarketers. They don’t ever give up, even when zombiefied.
G. The Gov is calling to invite Rick’s group to the next edition of WWF (World Walker Federation) Smack-Down.
H. Michonne wants a date and heard that Rick is single.
I. Michonne is in the market for new zombie-porters and is inquiring if any are available. Wait - does that count as a telemarketing?
J. ET tried to phone home and got the wrong number.
K. That obnoxiously loud guy from The Talking Dead wants to know what the heck is up with zombies eating clothes, bones and all thing.
L. A zombie is punking Rick just for shitbonerz and grins.

2915

Why do you think they spit out bullets? Lori was shot in the head by a pistol at point blank range. The bullet went through and through her skull and stopped by hitting the floor (hence the flattened tip seen when Rick picks it off the floor).

2916

That was my takeaway as well. Carl shot Lori in the head, causing the bullet to pass through and impact the cement. Had Carl just shot the cement the bullet would have ricocheted off the cement and been lost. Rick discovers the scene, sees the impacted bullet and realizes what that means, but sees no body, only shreds of skin/bone and a large blood trail. That means walkers likely ate much of the body and possibly dragged the rest away, so Rick follows the blood trail, finds a bloated walker and pulls a Daryl, cutting it open looking for signs of Lori.

Keep in mind, nobody has told Rick WHERE this all happened. He went straight from seeing Carl, Maggie and Baby Asskicker emerge from a door sans Lori to crazytime. He assumes he’s in the right place given the physical evidence, but wants something more concrete to go on, hence he’s probably looking for anything in the bloated walker that he can trace back to Lori, such as clothing scraps, a ring, whatever. The rest of Lori was likely carted off by walkers, though they haven’t show much initiative to do that previously. They also haven’t shown any signs of being “full” previously either, such as the bloated walker did. That thing was practically in a food coma, which was new for walker behavior. On the other hand, we haven’t seen them post-meal thus far either.

As for the phone, guess we’ll have to tune in next week. My vote is on DOG.

2917

So this is a question that I have every time we get into the “zombies eat people” trope. How are there so many zombies if zombies eat people? Especially if they eat every scrap like is implied in the Lori case.

2918

Who is DOG?

Dog the Bounty Hunter? Clifford the Big Red Dog? T-Bag is dead so we know you aren’t referring to him.

I agree. I think it is a fake-out for those who read the comics… it will be Carol

2919

Once again: T-Bag was a character in Prison Break (oh hey, and we have a prison), Theodore Bagwell. T-Dog was the guy who just got eaten in The Walking Dead, Theordore Douglas.

2920

T-Bag.

T-Dog.