” Not Everyone Gets To Live”
So, Rick is still looking at himself in the rearview mirror, contemplating his decision to excommunicate Carol. Wait!! Where did these dogs come from?! So, I guess this virus isn’t zoonotic. Interesting.
Cell Block D is quickly becoming a morgue rather than an infirmary. If it wasn’t for Hershel, this place would never have made it this far. He’s keeping people alive and disposing of them in the most humane way possible. Between “Spaghetti Tuesday”, telling Glenn to shut up, asking creepy Lizzy to read Tom Sawyer and killing walkers out of the sight of the others, Herhsel is the ONLY thing keeping this bunch together. He even tells little white lies to Maggie about Glenn’s health in order to keep her a little bit calm. Hershel believes that they all just need to hold it together and they’ll make it. His faith is carrying a lot of lives on it’s shoulders. It seems as though there might be quite a bit to the quote, “A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.”
While Maggie is (the only one) killing the walkers at the fence, Rick returns to the prison. First words out of Maggie’s mouth? “Where’s Carol?” After explaining his reasoning, Maggie agrees with his decision, but doubts she would have been able to follow through. Rick then drops this golden nugget of wisdom: “Don’t doubt yourself; we don’t get to anymore.”
I found the conversation between Rick and Hershel to be very reassuring. We keep following the lead of these two men and sometimes it’s hard not to question their decisions. This exchange reminded us why they’re so easy to trust. Rick reminds Hershel that everyone sees him keep going “even after all of the choices have been taken away” and Hershel relieves Rick of his guilt over never really seeing their current, bleak reality by explaining that we all need to take a break. The fact that they both believe that , collectively,they will all get past this thing simply illustrates the true heart of these two men. Rick and Hershsel are good people who have stepped up to a responsibility that most would not want. When there are decisions to be made, they make the right one; the right decision isn’t always the easiest or most popular decision. (Goodbye Carol, try not to set too many people on fire.)
This honorable nature is put into action when, pardon the expression, but the shit hits the fan! Walkers inside the prison and outside the prison:it’s anarchy! Hershel is willing to sacrifice himself on multiple occasions, in order for other people to save themselves. When he goes after the walker to get the breathing mask and then yells at Maggie not to shoot , because the mask will save Glenn, well, my heart swelled just like The Grinch on Christmas. Rick FINALLY sees the kind of man that Carl has grown into. Little Carl took that automatic weapon and they both destroyed that horde of walkers! It was so lovely to see the recognition on Rick’s face that Carl is not a little kid:he was never really afforded that luxury in life.
Our group has survived yet another attack on their safety, but wait a minute? Is that The Governor I see?! Well, I can’t wait to see the inevitable face off between Rick, Daryl and The Governor. Where will Daryl lay his loyalty when he finds out what Rick did to Carol? Daryl has been a member of the Ricktatorship since day one, but this could be the thing that pits him against Rick. As much as I complain about Lizzy I think she might be on to something. She doesn’t seem to fear the walkers in the same way that everyone else does; she talks to them as if they are dogs and it seemed as though Hank was listening to her very well. When Lizzy swirled Glenn’s blood and mucus around with her boot, I was, initially, put off by it, but now I can’t help but wonder if she’s looking at this virus in a different way. Maybe she is seeing something the rest of us aren’t.
There are only a few episodes left before the mid season finale: I’m sure there will be a lot of talking about Carol next episode for the haters to complain about and then it will be action on top of action, leaving us with a cliffhanger. After this episode, I find myself even more invested in these characters and their survival and cannot wait to see where all of this is taking us.