Though I knew was was likely going to happen to Amy early on in this series, her being attacked in this episode still came as a bit of a shock. Not shocking in the sense of I was surprised that it happened, but that it caught me by surprise. The sheer graphic gore both visually and audibly was cringe-worthy. You could sense the terror going through the camp, especially being underarmed and having darkness work against them. It was a short but intense scene that I can tell you spells what to expect many times throughout this series.
I’m glad that it seems the series will be following along in how sudden and shocking it is when bad things happen to main characters. No one is safe. I don’t necessarily mean in the death and dying way, because lots of bad things can happen that don’t mean meeting one’s maker. I think seeing how things went down in this episode will keep newcomers on their toes.
Oh, and there’s always the red shirts, as I said last week. So long, Ed.
As far as the group that Rick and co. met up with back in Atlanta, I had no idea where that was going, because it was TV-only. I really wasn’t feeling the childish street bravado going on at first. Even with the situation going on around them, they’re going to play around with whose turf it is? Thankfully things were cleared up very quickly, and it all made a lot more sense. It didn’t take long to figure out that Rick was going to give them most or all of the guns from the bag.
I’m very glad that instead of having Merle sneak up on the camp without anyone hearing the van approach, we got the sudden zombie attack. If nobody had heard the van approach, I would’ve been pretty pissed off. It does seem that the writers are trying to cover most bases in explaining the choices made, like Merle possibly not sawing through the handcuff because the saw was too dull; I guess that could explain not sawing through the bolt as well.
One last thing. As the girls were on the boat in the beginning of the episode, it suddenly occurred to me that the safest spot to be during a zombie outbreak would be on a boat; or a ship; or an island. I mean, zombies can’t swim, can they? And if they can, and you’re out at sea, you can see them coming from far off. Just sayin’.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 21, 2010 @ 23:22 EST5EDT
The word on Twitter is that Merle brought the zombies to the camp. I’m not sure how that works, but thats just what I heard. I doubt its true though.
The way the showdown with the gang was going I was expecting the show to kill of the remaining non-canon characters in a blaze of bullets. Thank God that old grandma walked in when she did. Maybe Rick and Co. can travel to another small town and raid a police locker to make up for the weapons they lost.
Did you catch that this episode was written by Robert Kirkman? Not a surprise, it felt like a microcosm of the entire comic series. Shocking deaths, lots of gore, suspicious meetings with new people, tense stand offs, and the heart breaking reality of what an awful situation everyone is in. Everyone is just trying to do their best to survive.
. . . . .
I dug this episode.
In many ways, it was akin to the premiere where there was surprise after surprise after surprise.
First off, however: I’m glad we got the aside we did about Merle and a plausible reason his hand was the unfortunate loser to the hacksaw rather than the support or the cuffs. Though, one would think it a bit tough to saw through your own hand – let alone bone – rather than attempt metal. The dude is truly a nut case.
Just as I was mesmerized by the premiere episode with Rick’s bewilderment of the new world around him … Morgan Jones’ touching inability to off his undead wife … Rick’s cliffhanger ending, this episode was chock-full of tidbits and shockers.
The end sequence was gruesome and left me with a dropped jaw. Loved how the episode wrapped up with Jim’s revelations about the holes. Loved more how it was written by Kirkman.
I could go on … but I have just one burning question for everyone:
Anyone else notice the sound effect for Lost’s Smoke Monster is the background noise in the camp?
Hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm …
I felt that somehow Merle led the zombies to the camp also, something in the feverish way they suddenly attacked in such great numbers, like a pack of wolves all riled up.
This episode really hooked me from the start, with the bittersweet musings on the boat, all the way to the dream revealed at the close.
I hope it is a sign that the series has really found it’s feet and there writers are beginning to develop some strong core storylines to play out. I don’t think I could watch a whole season of bickering rednecks running away from zombies.