User Reviews

From a person who has watched an average of five hours of television a day since I was six years old, I will simply say this . . .

I saw the cliffhanger of Commander Riker giving Lieutenant Worf the order to fire on a "Borg assimilated" Jean-Luc Picard.

I saw the cliffhanger of Agent Moulder aiming his weapon at his alien-altered mother as she screams and shrieks at Moulder to shoot her before "The Conspiracy" overtakes them.

And . . . Just when I thought this show was a pretty good drama that happened to have zombies in it, I saw what was left of Sophia come out of that barn . . . only to have Rick bring a final order to an episode of chaos.

This is one of the greatest television episodes I have ever seen.

Period.

"Shane that's enough!" - Rick "You know what Rick, that is enough." Shane kills the zombie in front of Hershel.

Wow - what an ending. "Pretty Much Dead Already" has it's moments of greatness in this episode that come mainly in the final fifteen minutes. The confrontation between Dale and Shane was, yet again, strong and fierce. Even as Dale tries to defend his reasoning for taking the guns, Shane stops him and says, "Dale just shut up and give me the guns." Even after Dale pulls a gun on Shane, he is not able to pull the trigger. It is then that we know that Shane is fit for this apocalyptic world by slowly turning into a psychopath.

Another powerful scene was between Lori and Shane after Rick's informs his deputy that Lori is pregnant. The whole discussion about whether the baby was Rick's or Shane's was great specifically when Lori tells Shane that the baby, if his, will never be his but will be Rick's.

Finally the ending is where "The Walking Dead" really shines. The show is really powerful during sad moments that make you feel sorry for the character's and their decisions. The pilot of the series really showed this with the half-bodied zombie being killed by an apologetic Rick. That was great. In this episode, Rick kills Sophia who comes out of the barn. It was emotional, tragic and powerful. But even before the big shocker, Shane kept on shooting a zombie that Hershel was bringing to the barn. He shot it in the stomach, chest, heart and lung before killing it. Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane, was absolutely amazing in this scene. He shows his anger and frustration by torturing the zombie with bullets and Hershel with the truth. As Shane and the group killed all the zombies in the barn, Hershel watched and realized that these "sick people" are not sick but dead and dangerous.

The episode isn't without it's problems though. The lame joke with Maggie and Glenn with the "rotten egg" in the hat was . . . . really stupid. The writers were trying to be funny but it failed miserably. The scene with Shane saying that Rick isn't cut out for this world was sort of pushed in my opinion. While I do get that the show is trying to show that Rick and Shane are beginning to split apart, Shane saying that Rick isn't cut out for this world wasn't as thought out as I wish it was. Instead of saying it to Lori, Shane should have said it to Rick himself to make it a more powerful scene. Also wouldn't Maggie or anyone say that they have a little zombie girl in the barn after they have been searching for her the past couple of weeks? Come on, they put couldn't put the two together?

Saying that "Pretty Much Dead Already" is good is an understatement. The mid-season finale truly shine as probably the best episode so far in Season 2. While I think the episode "Cherokee Rose" with Shane killing Otis is pretty damn good, "Pretty Much Dead Already" might surpass it. In the end, I can't wait until February to see the final episodes unravel. 10/10

I thought this show was full of fun, killing zombies, survival horror, twists and turns etc.

But this episode just gave a heart attack to me. When Sophia comes out as a zombie, i literally grabbed my heart for the whole 5 minutes. A chill shiver went down my spine as she approaches the survivors. Oh man! the moment Sophia takes the last step towards Rick, their eyes meet. In the eyes of Rick, you see sadness engulfed.. and in the eyes of Sophia, you see what is left of humanity. Then Rick with the sadness in his eyes, pulls the trigger!

When everyone call them "walkers", Herschel cannot agree since his loved ones are part of them. Every viewer thinks they are dead bodies until they saw Sophia as a walker! The most emotional things i have ever seen on a television show! Hats off!

Warning: Spoilers! Simply put this is one of the best things I've ever seen on television. The end scene grips you right from the get go and it never lets go. Shane is just brilliant I'm this scene, shooting the walker to show Hershel that it's not alive a particular highlight. But when Sophia walks out of the barn your emotions are thrown all over the place and suddenly you don't look at them as dead and it's brilliantly done. I was literally shocked and am not ashamed to admit I had tears rolling down my face. I just hope the rest of the series lives up to this, a hard task as I rate it as one of the best moments I've seen on TV.

Sophia being dead/a walker is no surprise. It's amazing how anyone thought she stood a chance of surviving for so long without either being eaten or turned into one. It might seem cold, but it was to be expected. I never felt anything for her before, I surely didn't start now either. Ah well. Let's see what happens next.

The Walking Dead is starting to fall into the typical mini-series/series trap: there has to be a villain in the group, there is an annoying person the audience wants to see fail, the storyline takes a turn for the worse. The Andrea character is long past her time to die. She is annoying and dreadful and not well written. Shane turning to the dark side is TV garbage. First off, he is now more of a danger to the community than the dead are--so it is time for Rick to walk up to him and blow his head clean off. In a series of dark times, the writers would be better off finding new ways to engage the audience rather than the formulatic writings that are repetitious of every single show on television.

Man do I love the writing in this season. The growing conflict between Shane and Rick is masterfully done. This episode was a counting time bomb till the very last scene. And what a scene that was. Shane shouting on the top of his lungs and opening the barn like a lunatic, them shooting all the walkers and the cherry on top, the reveal of Sophia. This episode is one of the best in my opinion.

Wow!

Mid Season finale of Season 2 caught me off guard. This ranks with the best moments of the entire Living Dead Mythos that George Romero began with 67's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

It also debates why the original Ghoul Maestro's scare meter kinda loses it after the brilliant DAWN OF THE DEAD.

Why discuss Romero's films on a review for this episode of WALKING DEAD? Because it further emphasizes Frank Durabant's attraction to the graphic novels that first and foremost; it's character, character, character that must dominate the drama, to elevate the horror and the tragedy, that will ultimately carry the most impact.

I love DAY OF THE DEAD. But I didn't like it as much at the theater in 1985. The reason was the zombie character 'Bub'. Even though actor Howard Sherman's excellent portrayal of Bub may arguably stand proudly along side Boris Karloff's performance of the Frankenstein Monster, the bottom line is this:

I don't want to understand the social development of zombies.

I want to be scared of zombies! I want to be horrified by them! I want to s#*t my pants at the thought I could be ripped apart and eaten by them. And I want to be justifiably sickened and saddened when a living character is turned into one of...THEM.

That's It !!!

Beginning with DAY', continuing with LAND, and ending with SURVIVAL; Romero stayed committed with character; but lost it with the Zombies; that peaked with LAND'S unbelievable, roaring ghoul leader: Big Daddy.

WALKING DEAD returns the mythos back to Romero's orgins where it should have remained all along. For an AMC TV series; of course there's going to be slow spots as the story unravels. But that only makes the segments such as the barn door incident; and what emerges forth; having a gut punching impact, that stays with the viewer, long after the episode ends.

Nicely edited, with music swelling to an appropriate sadness, this mid season episode ends on a powerful high note. February can't come soon enough.

No spoilers ahead.

This was perfect. Shocking. With so many hard moral decisions to make that its hard to keep track or pick sides as everything unrolls in a fast pace.

We are forced to be in the shoes of both sides of the dilemma in an brutal fashion, with an amazing and surprising finale.

There are no obivious stereotypical villains, as may strike at first, just great situations created by the writers, that put the characters into taking extreme measures, and then facing their own mistakes or misjudgements as reality hit them hard in the face.

Great acting too, by almost all cast.

I hope that the rest of the season can keep this quality, but I seriously doubt it.

Walkers are dangerous but Hershel doesn't know he have lived outside that world. Even if they are considered humans gone crazy people they really aren't like Jenner said about the part of the brain that makes you human is dead. Shane had gone mad and now is being honest with what he think. He wants to protect the ones he care for but by the incorrect means. You could debate that in that era there isn't incorrect means. And so he free up the walkers instead of killing them upside and rejects everything the hoster thinks. Only taking action, the world of the strongest. Sophia appears but now as a walker, neglecting all effort Daryl put into saving the girl.