I will start by saying I enjoyed this episode, but I enjoy most Walking Dead episodes. Maybe the series set the bar too high last year with the explosive tense filled takeover of the prison. This year was not as exciting. Maybe it was not supposed to be. The group has grown, started routines and settled into a somewhat normal existence. I, personally, just wanted more of a running start for the season.
The good aspect of the episode was the set up for the next few episodes. The pig being sick and then dying from a disease, I assume a form of the flu, WARNING SWINE FLU OUTBREAK!!!, was an indicator of how living in close quarters with no modern medicine can be just as deadly as living with walkers.
The next few episodes, I assume, will deal with the flu outbreak and how to contain it, and possibly having to leave the prison. They may even play this as the walker disease becoming airborne, though not sure how many people could survive in the world with it becoming and airborne virus. Only a few individuals are immune possibly?
The zombie kills at Big Lots were great. Though the raining zombies seemed forced. To me it seemed they said, look at our cool idea about falling zombies. The world they have created is scary enough without resorting to gimmicks. The guy knocking over the liquor and making a big racket could have triggered a zombie horde to storm back into the store, and would have had the same effect as the falling zombies. Others probably feel differently, but to each his own.
The Rick story-line was a complete waste. We did not need a whole episode with a random person trying to kill him to know Rick was not crazy anymore. They could have done this by him going on the raid, or staying at the prison and interacting with Carl and the Baby. This part of the episode seemed forced to me as well, they where stretching to come up with some clever way to show Rick was normal again. This was not necessary, just show Rick acting normal and we will know he is not seeing ghosts. Though at one point I did think they where going to have the women turn into a Walker, and Rick just imagine her saying "help me." Then he would have a mad scramble to use his gun and kill her, and fight his way back to the prison. Rick is still crazy would have been an interesting story to pursue, instead of Rick is normal.
The falling zombies and Rick story-line where stretched aspects, but the other parts of the episode were solid. The side story with Beth losing a boyfriend, and saying she doesn't cry anymore when lost was nice to see. If she is going to be in the show they actually need to grow her character. Though she may die in the next episode the way the show goes through cast members. Carol and Daryl maybe possibly dating... I think just about everyone wants to see this. Carol characters growth has been amazing, to go from relying on everyone to a strong independent women is one of the best arcs of the show. The community growing and becoming setting into a routine was nice to see, to know how much they gained, just to be lost all over again.
