Someone dangerous may be loose near the farm; Rick, Shane, Daryl and Glenn keep the group safe.
Plot Summary[]
After giving Dale a funeral, the group begins patrolling the perimeter for more walkers. Carl comes to Shane with the information that he had been the one that had lead the walker to the farm. Shane tells Rick to talk to Carl. Rick puts aside the issue of freeing Randall and talks to his son; he tells Carl that it was not his fault that Dale died. Meanwhile, Shane frees Randall and leads him into the forest where he breaks his neck. He comes back to the farm where he tells everyone that Randall had overpowered him and stolen his weapon. Rick, Daryl and Glenn believe Shane's story and accompany him into the woods.Once in the woods, they split up into pairs.Glenn and Daryl follow Randall's trail while Shane and Rick head into a different direction.
A walker attacks Glenn and Daryl while they search. On closer examination, they discover that the walker is Randall. Things become even more perplexed they discover that Randall had been killed by a broken neck and not a walker bite. Meanwhile, Rick figures out that Shane's story was nothing than a way for him to lure Rick out into the open so Shane could kill him. Rick decides to give Shane his weapon as a gesture of good faith so that they would both put down their weapons. When Rick closes the distance between him and Shane, he quickly stabs him with with his knife. Carl is shocked by what he sees. He points his gun at Rick, but then shoots Shane who had become a walker. The gun sound alerts a horde of walkers nearby.
Trivia[]
- At Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con in 2014, Jon Bernthal revealed an alternate take on Shane's death. During the scene where Rick and Shane are at a stand off, Rick throws away his gun and states that he cannot kill his friend. Shane continues to taunt Rick as he draws closer. Shane rushes Rick and forces his friend to stab him. Shane dies and reanimates. Having thrown his gun, Rick uses Shane's gun to shoot him, but it is empty. Carl then saves his father by shooting Shane. Bernthal explained that Shane had lured Rick out into the woods to force Rick to shoot him in order to make him "man enough" to raise his child.
- Last appearance of Shane Walsh.
- Last Appearance of Randall.
- This episode marks the first time that a human had turned into a walker without a bite onscreen.
- In comics, Tyreese's daughter, Julie, was the one who alerted the group to the idea that humans can still turn even if they are not bitten.
- Originally, Shane was supposed to die at the end of the first season. However, once a second season was confirmed, show runner Frank Darabont, decided postpone Shane's death until the end of the season.
- Originally, Robert Kirkman wanted another major death in the episode. It was explained by Glen Mazzara that they wanted Hershel to get killed by Randall while he was escaping. However, they wanted to see the dramatic possibilities in the next episode by having Hershel live.