Girls of Geek TV Rewind: "The Walking Dead" - Season 2

Written by: John Edward Betancourt 

The time has come at last, after months of waiting, the living dead will take over our television screens once again as The Walking Dead returns for another season. 

But before we can settle in and enjoy an evening of guts, gore, action and drama, we here at Girls of Geek continue our zombie countdown by bringing you a recap of the Second Season. Make sure you swing back by here at the season premiere airs for our usual recap and breakdown of the best show on television. 

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Episode One:  "What Lies Ahead"
Following the events at the Centers for Disease Control the group takes a moment to regroup before deciding that Fort Benning is now their new destination as they abandon Atlanta for good.   But their journey comes to a halt when they discover a blockade of steel on the highway. 

It gives the survivors a chance to resupply from whatever they can find, before a massive herd of walkers passes through.  While many of the group manage to escape undetected, Andrea has to dispatch a stray walker and Sophia is chased into the woods by two more.  Rick dispatches the walkers that pursue her, but in the process loses Sophia.   The search for the little girl begins, but disaster strikes again when Carl is shot in the middle of the forest.  

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Episode Two:  "Bloodletting"
The man responsible for accidentally shooting Carl, Otis directs Rick to a farm owned by a man named Hershel to save Carl's life.   

Hershel is indeed able to help young Carl, to an extent.  The bullet has caused a fair amount of damage, and the supplies at the farm are not adequate enough for surgery. 

With Rick donating blood constantly to keep his son alive, the task falls to Shane and Otis to sneak into a local rescue station and bring home the equipment necessary for surgery.  The plan is to get in and get out as quickly as possible, but the walking dead discover the presence of food, and quickly trap Shane and Otis, leaving Carl's life in the balance.  

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Episode Three:  "Save the Last One" 
Time continues to run out for Carl as Otis and Shane now do their best to plan their escape from the rescue station.  As they do Hershel lets Rick and Lori know that they must operate soon, with or without the gear, the risk being that without the equipment, Carl's chances diminish.   As the parents decide, the hunt for Sophia continues, to no avail.  

Rick and Lori decide that the surgery must go on regardless, but seconds before it begins, Shane returns with the equipment but without Otis, who apparently gave his life to make sure that Shane returned with the proper equipment.

The surgery is a success and Carl will live, but Shane has lied to the group, it turns out that in order to make it back alive, he injured Otis and left him behind as food for the living dead. Giving Shane the moments he needed to survive, but changing him forever.  

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Episode Four:  "Cherokee Rose"
As Carl recovers, the group is able to relax for a short period of time, except for Daryl who decides that with Rick and Shane out of commission for a short time he must lead the charge in finding Sophia.  The act gives Carol the hope she desperately needs after Daryl finds minor clues to Sophia's survival.   

In need of medication to continue to heal the injured, Glenn and Maggie head into town for supplies, a simple run that allows for a romantic encounter between them.  This run however has bigger implications as since Gleen has been given an important task from Lori, one that puts him in a moral quandary as he must now keep it quiet that Lori asked for a pregnancy test.  To complicate matters further, Lori discovers that the test is positive.   

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Episode Five:  "Chupacabra"  
Tension begins to build on the farm as Hershel is displeased at the group's disregard for the rules he has set forth.  Tension also continues to grow within the group, as since Glenn knows now that Lori is pregnant and Shane is beginning to question the logic of a prolonged search for Sophia.  

But while others bicker, Daryl is steadfast is find Sophia and continues venturing out, at times on horseback.  During one sweep the horse is spooked, bucking Daryl and leaving him injured.  The daze from the pain leads Daryl to see hallucinations of his brother mocking him.  These "visions" ultimately save his life as he awakens in time to fend off roving walkers and escape.  But his return to the farm ends in disaster when Andrea mistakes him for a walker and nearly kills him.  

In order to relieve the tension, Lori and Carol prepare a dinner wherein Maggie and Glenn attempt to arrange another night of passion.  Maggie leaves the location of their rendezvous up to him but his suggestion leaves her in panic.   Glenn has chosen the barn and arrives before Maggie, only to discover it is full of walkers.    

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Episode Six:  "Secrets"  
Glenn's burden about carrying two secrets begins to boil over when he accidentally reveals the walkers in the barn and Lori's baby to Dale.  But before these issues can come to the attention of the group, there is a bigger problem at hand; Hershel wants everyone off of the farm as soon as they are physically able.   

Rick does his best  to try and figure out a way to keep the group on the farm as Lori sends Glenn back into town for another supply run.   He brings back morning after pills for Lori as since she intends to terminate the pregnancy.  Rick discovers the empty wrappers and confronts Lori.  She reveals to him that she threw up the pills before opening up about two important secrets, her pregnancy, and her affair with Shane. 

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Episode Seven:  "Pretty Much Dead Already"
Glenn reveals to the group the threat that awaits them in the barn, leaving Rick as the middleman to calm down Shane, as since Shane is ready to wipe out every walker in the barn.   In an attempt to put the group in Hershel's good graces and keep them on the farm, Rick asks permission to clear the living dead from the farm.  

It turns out that Hershel has a belief that the walkers are nothing more than people with an incurable disease and that they should be treated as patients.  Rick does his best to go along with it, even going so far to help Hershel rescue walkers trapped in the mud.   While he is out, Shane confronts Lori about the pregnancy, claiming that he is the father.  Lori denies this, deeply upsetting Shane.  His anger is further pushed to the breaking point when Dale confronts Shane about his role in Otis' death.   

Everything comes to a head when Rick returns with the walkers in tow, and Shane snaps at the sight.  He immediately makes the decision to kill all the living dead in the barn, and opens it.  Faced with the walkers coming right for them, Rick's group guns them down.  When it seems the threat is over, one last walker emerges from the barn, Sophia.   Everyone is stunned and unable to react. Except for Rick, who puts down the creature that was once a little girl.  

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Episode Eight:  "Nebraska" 
In the aftermath of the shootout, Hershel demands that the group leave the farm immediately.  But not before the group bury the dead, including Sophia.   Rick of course wants to talk Hershel into letting them stay, but he may not get the chance, as since Hershel has gone missing.  

Rick, Glenn find Hershel drowning his sorrows in a bottle of booze at the local bar.  It takes some effort but Rick is able to persuade Hershel to return home, but not before a pair of men enter the bar. Rick is skeptical of the two men, who continue to do their best to get information from Rick regarding the farm.  The situation quickly deteriorates and Rick is left with no choice, but to kill the two men. 

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Episode Nine:  "Triggerfinger"
It turns that the two men Rick killed, were not alone.  Their friends have come looking for their comrades and it instantly leads to a shootout.   The noise attracts the living dead forcing the stand off to end, but not before Rick and his group must save the life of Randall who is badly injured in the firefight.  

Rick and Glenn bring Randall back to the farm, where Hershel brings him back to health.  But while they were gone, Dale has confronted Lori about Shane and his wild behavior.  She takes the talk to heart and reveals to Rick the suspicion that Shane may have killed Otis and that he may be a bigger danger to the group than they know.  

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Episode Ten:  "18 Miles Out" 
Rick and Shane have hit the road, with Randall in tow.  The plan is to take him eighteen miles out from the farm and turn him loose to fend for himself.  Along the way Rick confronts Shane about everything and at last gets the answers he needs.   But the brief moment of peace instantly degrades when they find a place to drop off Randall and he reveals to them that he knows Maggie and Hershel.  

With him potentially knowing the location of the farm, Rick and Shane argue over how to deal with Randall.  Shane believes that they should execute him, Rick wants to take him back.  This disagreement and all the tension that has built up from their struggle for leadership of the group, boils over and the two men break out into blows.  But their fight escalates into something terrifying when it gets the attention of walkers.  It actually gives Rick an opportunity to abandon Shane but he does everything he can to save his friend and Randall.  They manage to escape and Rick does his best one more time to talk sense into Shane.   Rick seems to believe he has finally reached him with this act, but it's obvious that Shane is simply biding his time.  

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Episode Eleven:  "Judge, Jury and Executioner" 
The debate has begun at the farm.  Do they execute Randall, or do they let him go?   As the options are laid out on the table, Carl heads out into the woods, despite his mother's instructions.   Along the way he discovers a walker trapped in the mud, toying with it until it frees one leg momentarily.  

It is a good enough scare to get Carl home, where the decision has been made, Randall is to die.  Dale protests the decision in incredible fashion, pointing out that what this group truly needs to survive, is its humanity.  He wants no part of this and leaves, and when Carl encourages his father to finish Randall off, Rick has a change of heart.   

But before Dale can hear the good news, the walker that Carl left behind has at last freed himself and falls upon Dale.  He fights valiantly, but his effort is all for naught when the walker manages to eviscerate Dale.  The group arrives in time to say their goodbyes, before putting him out of his misery.  

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Episode Twelve:  "Better Angels"
The threat of more walkers arriving on the farm has become apparent as more of them appear on the property, putting plans in motion to get everyone into the house.  In an effort to uphold the memory of Dale and his ideals Rick decides that Randall is to be released after all.

It is a plan that Shane does not agree with, and he betrays Rick by taking Randall into the woods and murdering him in cold blood.  In order to cover his tracks he hides his weapon and makes it appear that Randall got the jump on him and managed to escape.   With nothing to show them otherwise, Rick believes Shane and enlists Glenn and Daryl to join them on a search for the missing Randall.   

The two search parties split up.  Daryl and Glenn discover Randall has turned into a walker, yet they do not find any bites on his body, something unheard of.  Meanwhile Shane has lured Rick far from the farm, and Rick has figured it out that Shane plans to murder him.   He does his best to talk some sense into his old friend and for a moment Shane relents, giving Rick just enough time to kill him.  As Shane takes his final breath, Rick points that he was left with no choice, that Shane made all of this happen.   

Ready to return back to the farm house, Carl stumbles upon the scene and as Rick tries to explain, raises a gun.  Stunned, Rick tries to talk sense into Carl, but has no idea that behind him, Shane has returned from death and is making his way toward father and son.  Carl makes amends for letting one walker slip through his hands and puts down Shane.   But the gunshot has attracted the attention of a massive herd, and they are now headed toward the farm.  

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Episode Thirteen:  "Beside the Dying Fire"
The worst case scenario has come at last.  A massive herd, one that has been picking up one stray walker after another, has found the farm and there is no way to fight them off.   But Hershel has no plans of leaving home, and instantly goes on the defense.  

The group does their best to buy Hershel time before getting out themselves, but even a simple escape proves tricky.  The group is split apart as the living dead swarm the farm, and in the confusion Andrea is left behind and the survivors are clueless as to the fate of anyone in the group.   Eventually a majority of the group manages to come together, meeting at the location where they had hoped Sophia would have returned to so long ago.   Andrea however, is left to her own devices, low on ammo and energy until a mysterious sword-wielding hooded stranger with two walker slaves manages to save her life.  

The rest of the group does not manage to make it far before fuel runs low and they do their best to find a place to camp.   It is here that Rick expresses his desire to find a place they can fortify and he also reveals to Lori what happened to Shane, a confession that appears to disgust her, despite her own involvement in the matter.   Rick also reveals to the group why Randall and Shane returned from death without being bitten, before the CDC was turned into ashes Doctor Jenner let Rick know that everyone is infected, and upon death will return to life.   

This revelation damages Rick's credibility with the group,  and as they continue to question him, Rick at last snaps.  He points out all that he has done for the group, and that those who no longer wish to stay are free to go, but if they stay he is in charge and will make all the decisions.   The group says nothing.  As they prepare to get some sleep, it is revealed that in the distance the fortified facility that Rick wishes to find is nearly within his grasp.  For bathed in the moonlight is the distinct outline of a prison.  

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