The first half of the episode is non-stop action as a herd of Walkers, having been following a helicopter, are distracted by Carl's gunshot, and follow the sound to a clearing where Rick and Carl are returning to the farmhouse after Shane's death and transition into a Walker.
Daryl and Glenn return to the house and tell the others that Randall had turned into a Walker, despite the fact he was killed by having his neck snapped, and not bitten or scratched by another Walker. They soon spot the herd of Walkers approaching the farm and decide to use their vehicles to try and lead the Walkers away, despite how large the herd is. Lori goes into her 'I won't leave without my child!' spiel. Calm down, Carol, we only had to listen to this for three quarters of the second season after all.
Meanwhile, surmising that they won't make it to the farm, Rick and Carl hide inside the barn, and Rick douses the ground in gasoline. Rick hands Carl a lighter and sends him up to the hayloft before opening the doors. As Walkers pour in, Rick hurries up the ladder and Carl drops the lighter. The barn bursts into flames.
With Daryl on his motorcycle, Jimmy in Dale's RV, Andrea and T-Dog in Otis's truck, and Glenn and Maggie in Shane's SUV the group drives towards the walkers starting to mill at the fence surrounding the barn. They drive past continuously, shooting as many as they can. Noticing the fire, Daryl sends Jimmy with the RV to pick up whoever starting it, believing it to be either Rick or Shane. Rick and Carl jump on the RVs rooftop as walkers surround the vehicle. The walkers break inside and tear Jimmy apart, while Rick and Carl run. So begins the culling of unnecessary secondary characters introduced this season.
Back at the farm the others realise there is too many Walkers and that they must run, Lori is persistent to stay and find Carl, but Carol convince her to leave with her, Beth and Patricia. Hershel, who is shooting from the front of the farm, doesn't hear the women screaming for him, and continue culling the oncoming walkers. As they run, walkers grab Patricia and rip into her throat, Beth is stunned, and Lori must pull her away. Up ahead, Carol, too, has become surrounded by walkers. Andrea and T-Dog arrive in Otis's truck and Lori and Beth hop in, while Andrea hops out too help Carol. Andrea shoots two of the walkers surrounding Carol dead before a third walker attacks her from behind. She spins around and fires. From Otis's truck, Lori, Beth and T-Dog see the walker fall on Andrea. Walkers swarm the truck and T-Dog drives away, while Carol has vanished.
Elsewhere, Glenn and Maggie find their car surrounded too, and are forced to leave the farm. Back at the house, Hershel continues to fend off walkers (so what do you know, he doesn't die). Rick arrives and convinces him it's time to leave. Along with Carl, they escape in Hershel's SUV. Andrea, unhurt, tries to flag Rick down as he drives away, but he doesn't notice her. She flees on foot with the bag of guns. Daryl rescues Carol on his motorcycle, and they ride away. The barn continues to burn and eventually collapses as the RV is destroyed.
Other then some continuity issues with the logistics of everyone location, there were several instances in which characters would be directly next to each other, and two second later be separated by the farm, these scenes were fast-paced and enthralling entertainment.
I was a little disappointed that having the group separated into smaller groups didn't last a bit longer. I always love it when television shows change the dynamics between the characters. For example, I would have loved to see more of just Lori, Beth and T-Dog travelling in Otis's pickup together, but alas it was not to be. That being said, kudos has to be given to the logic of all of these characters, they never discussed where they should meet if something happened, but they were all smart enough to return to the highway where they left supplies for Sophia earlier that season. Accept for poor Andrea, who has been running all night from walkers, and is now out of ammunition. A walker topples her, but before it can bite her its head is sliced off. As the walker's body slumps over, Andrea sees standing before her a hooded stranger wielding a samurai sword and two jaw less and armless walkers chained at the neck with shackles.
Later, the other survivors caravan down a country road. Hershel's SUV runs out of gas. Rick declares they'll camp by the road and scavenge in the morning, but the others doubt him. From here, there are revelations abound, mostly because Rick seems to have gone off the deep end and just can't keep his mouth shut. He reveals that Jenner told him they are all infected with the walker virus, so when they die, they will come back. The others are furious at him for keeping it a secret. And Rick reveals that he was doing what he thought was best for them, which including killing Shane. Carol and Maggie express they are eager to leave the group, and rick tells them they're most welcome to try and get by by themselves and to see how'd they do. No one leaves and he tells them the group isn't a democracy anymore. In the distance, a large structure looms; a prison.
While there's plenty of plot threads to keep audiences eagerly awaiting next season, including the hooded figure and the prison, it's the character development I'm most excited about. Rick's transition from reluctant hero to ruthless dictator has been a swift one, and we are yet to see the full repercussions. It will be interesting to see what he is willing to do, if he will further transgress into a Shane like character, and even more interesting how the group of survivors will react to his new leadership strategy.
Rating: 4/5
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