Look, we understand: There's only so much time in one's TV-viewing life. It's
OK, we forgive you. You slogged through the entire first season of "The Walking Dead," only
to get sidetracked by "Revenge" and "Homeland," and
overlooked Season 2. Problem is, you want badly to rejoin the fray when Season 3
premieres this Sunday, Oct. 14, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, but you have no time or
inclination to surf through the previous umpteen episodes On Demand. What's a
zombie lover to do?
Fortunately for you, we are fully prepared to divulge 13 hours' worth of
spoilers and essential intel from the horror-drama's previous installment in one
concise gallery of guts, gore and gossip. So without further delay, and just in
time for the big "Walking Dead" return, here are nine things you should
know from Season 2 in order to feel caught up and ready for more carnage.
Shane is very dead
Super-dead. In fact, he died twice: once at the hands of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), who'd grown wearier
of his old buddy's envy and stubbornness and was forced to protect himself when
Shane lured him into an open field with murderous intentions. And then poor
little Carl (more on him later), Rick's son and Shane's BFF, had to pull the
trigger when Shane got reanimated as a walker and came lurching once again after
his former partner. Innocence lost in father and son, blood on both their hands,
and the shocking but unavoidable semi-mercy killing of a "Walking Dead" regular.
All in an episode's work.
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You become a zombie no matter how you die
One other important piece of information gleaned from Shane's (Jon Bernthal) tragic but necessary
demise: Survivors needn't be thrashed by zombies in order to become one. Rick
and Co. might have figured this out sooner, but since Dale and Sophia were
turned by walkers (yep, that also happened) and others perished in the CDC
implosion, there was no way to know or assume the virus had mutated and possibly
gone airborne -- until, that is, Shane erected himself despite mortal stab
wounds and commenced stalking Rick. It was a serious "oh, snap" moment, both on
account of the scene's blunt brutality and our protagonists' subsequent epiphany
that in this post-epidemic world, there's no such thing as a dignified death.
Enter Michonne
Fans of the original "Walking Dead" comic book couldn't be more thrilled
about the additions of two major game-changers: ass-kicking heroine Michonne and
the villainous Governor. The latter will first rear his head in the coming
weeks, but in the Season 2 finale, we got a shocking introduction to Michonne,
who will be played going forward by Danai Gurira. When we first eye this
mysterious new terminator, she's a hooded figure who saves Andrea's hide from
certain mutilation, armed with a katana and dragging along the shackled,
limbless corpses of trophy victims. It will be fascinating to uncover more about
Michonne's background and discover just what her intentions are and how she can
help compensate for the loss of Shane's muscular know-how.
Glenn and Maggie, sitting in a tree
If you're cooped up on a strange old man's homestead, the least you can hope
for is to shack up with the proverbial farmer's daughter. Lucky Glenn. When the
survivors first take up residence on the property of recovering
alcoholic/veterinarian Hershel (Scott Wilson), Glenn (Steven Yuen) generally serves two
purposes: worming in and out of tiny spaces on behalf of the group and standing
watch over the RV with Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn). But when he and
Maggie (new series regular Lauren Cohan) meet and identify with
each other's loneliness, suddenly Glenn's getting nookie in the aisles of
abandoned pharmacy stores and feeling like an empowered superhero. Should be fun
watching the two of them kick ass side by side out in the mean streets of
Georgia.
T-Dog's still waiting for a story
Glenn might be having a grand old time, but what about poor T-Dog (IronE Singleton)? One would have to
think that, given constant viewer scrutiny of his underserved character, the
writers would outline significant changes for him in Season 3. Or, for that
matter, anything significant. It seems as if T is always either battling injury
or sitting more or less idly by while Rick and the others make crucial decisions
about their collective fates. Give him some backstory, or maybe a love
connection. With so few of the original crew remaining, it's conspicuous at best
that T-Dog still pays such a superfluous role.
She's having a baby
Oh, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies). First, Rick's
emotionally volatile wife shares a bed with Shane in the immediate wake of her
husband's presumed death. Then, upon his return, she rejects Shane at every
turn, alienating him from Carl (Chandler Riggs) and setting him off
into a jealous rage that eventually results in his death and Rick's growing
rage. Amid all this, Lori discovers she's with child, hides it from Rick,
saddles Glenn with the dirty work of getting her pregnancy tests and, at one
deliriously misguided moment, drives off to find Rick (who's been missing for
some time) and gets in an accident that could have endangered her baby. So, with
blood ostensibly on everyone's hands -- even older brother Carl after he took
down zombie Shane -- this kid's got even less probability of turning out
functional than when the end of civilization was its primary obstacle.
You left out that moral compass Dale was munched by zombies, the rise of Darryl as bad-**** zombie slayer and Rick's right-hand man and the fact that Lori is the Worst Mom Ever. By the end of season 2 fans were rooting for the car crash to have killed her gestating child so it would zombie eat her from the inside out. Tie a leash to Carl since you certainly suck at keeping an eye on him Lori.
This article forgot to mention that Dale died because Carl didn't tell anyone that he saw a walker in the woods near the farm. Another reason to be annoyed with Carl.
