Stupid, stupid Lori.
Rick is going full-awesome right now.Here we are, folks! Back again and better than ever! Well, not quite. After almost three months of waiting, The Walking Dead is finally back with it's eight episode of the season, "Nebraska." For the most part, this was par for the course for the season, with only a few high moments that suggest things could be looking up for the show. Let's dive right in.
We picked up right where last episode left off, with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) still holding his smoking gun after shooting Sophia (Madison Lintz, who was mysteriously still credited this week). Naturall, Hershel (Scott Wilson) and his people are more than a little peeved at Shane (Jon Bernthal), and Hershel wants them gone. Thankfully, this episode didn't deteriorate into a soap opera of boot-licking, where everyone tries to make good so they can stay. Instead, each side went their separate ways for the most part.
Having the characters split apart revealed the biggest issues with the show right now, most of which I have already pointed out, but need repeating. For once, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) was put in his place more often than he was allowed to speak. I am just tired of this character. His supposed morality that he shoves down everyone's throat is exhausting, because he seems to be the only person that doesn't realize the world they are living in. Darryl (Norman Reedus) has been glaringly inconsistent this season. They writers need to decide if he is going to be nice to people, such as trying to hide Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride) from the sight of her dead, zombified daughter, or if he is going to sulk in the corner and not care about anyone.
And then there's Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies). Stupid, stupid Lori. If someone can answer this, please do: Why, mere moments after Rick and Glenn (Steven Yuen) leave to find Hershel, does she feel like she needs to run off after them, alone. Not only that, but she was already mad at Rick about leaving Carl (Chandler Riggs), so then she goes and does the same thing? I. Hate. This. Character. She had a moment, one, singular moment in an earlier episode where she started to act like a human being. That's all gone now, as she pretty much ruined everything in a whopping five minutes.
Alright, I'm done with her. My frustrations with the show right now stem from the ratio of great characters (Rick, Shane, Glenn, Hershel, and I'll even throw Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in there) to terrible characters (everyone else). Take, for instance, the final fifteen minutes of the episode. The writers focus solely on Rick, Glenn, and Hershel in the bar. We've got Hershel having the best turn his character has had since we met him, and I am excited to watch him every week now. Add to that the outstanding Michael Raymond-James (Terriers), and you've got one of the tensest, and most successful scenes of the series to date. That's all it takes: four good characters, without the annoying ones to eliminate all momentum every five minutes.
I couldn't be happier that next week's episode is going to continue things in the bar. It's nice to see Rick actually doing something, and it'll be interesting to see what happens when Shane has no one to hold him back at camp. We do need to lose some of the dead weight, though, by the end of the season.
Do you like some characters I hate? Do you hate some I like? What would you like to see happen from here? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading!