Firstly, my apologies for being a bit late on this review. I felt I needed to watch this one twice due to all the personal relationships being re-established in this episode.

I really enjoyed the opening scene with Merle talking about his war experiences. We knew as the audience that he had nobody to converse with and at times I almost felt like he was talking to the Cameraman but his dialogue went between  his ramblings and then realization of what a mess he was in with ease. Michael  =Rooker played this so well.  For me it was one of the pivotal scenes in this entire episode.

The show opened for everyone else with  the survivors at the base camp worrying about those survivors they had sent into the city for supplies. The return of Glenn not only provided a sense of relief but a momentary thought that maybe he was the only one who survived.  The arrival of the others  in the removal truck removed that thought entirely and the group were quickly embraced by the base camp set.

It was perhaps Rick’s emergence that created the biggest fuss (as it should have), when first Shane spied him and then his son and finally Lori. Im not sure if Shane was happy or concerned,  the family definetly did look happy though.  Due to the actions of Lori and Shane (which I decided last week not to go into until this week), at times I didn’t get a sense of Shane being entirely welcoming to Rick. Lori I found more difficult to read as her Southern accent seems to come and go.  Their brief sex scene in the previous episode was obviously positioned to make the most of their angst this week.

Glen’s ‘car’ which he had for a brief but fun ride was soon stripped for parts. You felt sad in a way for Glen, it was his link to a brief feeling of respite.  It was this scene that also brought us more of the new friendship between Glen and Rick. It is the first one we have really seen on the show (not mentioning the Morgan/Rick one), and even though they come from two totally different backgrounds… there is something there which makes them get along well.

Merle’s brother,  Daryl is as loud as Merle is .. but generally towards everyone as opposed to Merle’s more racist views. Daryl may well be as racist, but I just didn’t see the signs of it in this episode. He is a hunter ( he was out hunting a deer that a Zombie was feasting on), and is a dead eye with a Crossbow.

Daryl also does not take the news of his brother’s incarceration well. He lashes out, as expected and is subdued as expected.  Where Merle might have kept going, Daryl is appeased after Rick decides that he needs to go BACK to Atlanta.  I must admit, I didn’t see this coming. I know many have but I think that has a lot to do with spoilers. Rick just proves that even though someone is a racist, even though they put others at risk … at the end of the day they are still a human. Daryl of course supports the return , T-Dog wants to go back to get some sort of closure. It’s Glen who is asked to go because of his skills and knowledge of Atlanta. Lucky Glen! (and heres hoping that he might get his hands on another muscle car!)

Sure the reason  to go rescue Merle was there, for me though the idea that Morgan might drive into a trap was more of an incentive for Rick to get his guns and radio back. He’s a nice guy, and Morgan was his first link back to his hope.  Rick is doing the right thing in a time and place where the right thing isn’t necessarily the thing that gets done .

Interlaced through all of this plot advancement is our introduction to another family of survivors who seem somewhat separate to the others,  we get to see some time between Lori and Rick. We see Shane now the ‘bad guy’ because he didn’t do more to help Rick while Rick was in hospital. We see the women washing clothes by hand  and finally we see Lori confront Shane over their ‘encounters’. There is guilt a plenty in this confrontation. For me both sides were equally to blame, but it seems Shane is carrying the can for guilt in this episode.

Each of these small scenes gives us a little glimpse into these characters, yet neither is really long enough to let us know them better. That’s probably an issue with a 6 episode season. We are now 3 episodes in and we are still learning about the main characters, let alone the supporting ones.  With the removal of 4 of those characters back to Atlanta, we have that disconnect again.  It will be interesting to see how screen time is shared in episode 4.

I have left the discussion of the final scene to last. The group burst out onto the top level only to find Merles hand on the group and a bloody handcuff. I don’t know about you, but I saw this coming. Perhaps the original Saw ruined it for me, but as soon as you leave a bladed weapon around someone stuck somewhere in a handcuff, removal is bound to happen. Daryl was distraught and the episode ends.

Favourite Scene: Daryl with his crossbow kills a zombie in the ground floor office tower. I dub the Zombie , Skank Zombie. It’s a one shot kill, but the look on Daryl’s face shows that she is in his way. The Crossbow certainly does pack a punch!