The Walking Dead: Sick Review

I... I actually don't have a joke for this.

Spoilers for the episode.

So, the episode picks up right where the last one left off: Hershel is dying, and there's other people in the prison. Other people that our heroes(?) are gonna have to deal with. So, as some tend to Hershel, Rick, Daryll, and T-Dog help the other prisoners whose names escape clear out their own cell block. What could possible go wrong?

This was another great episode, so chalk another point up for season 3. The main plot of dealing with the new prisoners was cool, and, when the prisoners use prison riot tactics to try and take out a walker, complete with stabbing it in the chest multiple times, hilarious. Yeah, I just used the word hilarious when talking about TWD. I don't think it'd be too controversial to say TWD's ever been the funniest show, but this seen made me laugh, especially when Rick and Co. looked at the prisoners and poorly resisted the urge to say "can you believe these newbs."

 After that it gets back to the usual tone, getting really intense and dark, and of course, bloody, and you enjoy every second of it, right up to the point where Rick offs the prisoners leader for side-swiping him into a walker. Yeah, you read that right. Rule #1 of Rick Grimes these days: Shane is dead, it's staying that way. It really says a lot about how much Rick has changed: a year ago, he wouldn't have even considered that. How far we've come, though maybe a little too far when he let one of the other, completely harmless prisoners, experience death by walker. By episode end, there's two prisoners left, inhabiting a new cell block. Hopefully something good, or at least interesting, will come of them.

The B-plot with Hershel was good too, leading to some great emotional moments with Maggie and Beth (who apparently the writers have decided not to kill given that she's actually being given stuff to do. Or they could just be making us care about her enough to make us cry when she dies), and everyone else a little bit too, though Carrol seems more concerned about the fact that if Hershel dies, she becomes the group doctor. And for those of you wondering why they'd send there only doctor into the walker hunt in the first place, they deal with that when Maggie sobs a very simple "we shouldn't have let him come". Granted, there was a really cheap jump scare moment where you thought Hershel was walker-ifying(-inizing?). See, that's the kind of thing you'd think these writers would be above.

Beyond that, a few good character moments, like Lori addressing the fact that she's a contradicting, annoying person and a terrible mother ("we'll find Carl a safe place to do... whatever it is he does these days."). It's gonna be a long way before anyone actually starts liking Lori, but we're getting there. Rick putting his hand on her shoulder, even though he still won't look at her, is progress to. And Carrol deciding to practice surgery on a walker, both interesting and really gross. And the end twist, that was cool too.

Episode flaws: the prisoners weren't the most believable characters (they were locked in a cafeteria for ten months an NO ONE thought that whatever's happening might be big), and the complete lack of Michonne and Andrea (fortunately, next week is all them and the governor).

Final Rating: 90%