So... no reactions to the new episode? I haven't watched it yet, but I'll do so tonight.

...I've got reactions alright.

Just kind of waiting for those of you who don't get to watch at the same time I do before I go running off at the mouth and ruining stuff for ya.

Yeah haven't gotten around to it yet... silly holidays and stuff getting in the way. Rewatched the first episode with some friends that came into town last night though.

Did I mention how much I the imagery of Grimes riding into Atlanta on a horse? It's just delightful...

M.

...one of the best panels in the graphic novels, IMO, and they captured it so well in the series, too...

As for some of my non-spoiler thoughts on this week's episode:

• As heartbreaking as the Andrea/Amy thing was in the trades, it's soooo much more beyond that in this episode... Thought I might actually cry.
  
  
• Wow, Carol! Let it out sister!
  
  
• Shane, you douchenozzle!!!
  
  
• Poor, poor, uber-crazy Jim.
  
  
• Daryl's hilarious!!!
  
  
• CDC?!?! Wildfire? What? I must not have read that one... Ooooh... is this a little insight into what started this whole mess? Hmmmmm...
  
  

Can't wait for next week!!! I gotta know what happens!

Eol almost cried. It's okay baby... it's just a TV show... Meri will give you a hug.

M.

Well, you remember what happened in the trades when Amy got bitten and such, right? And how quickly Andrea "did what needed to be done"?

It was a pretty hardcore thing for her to do in the comics, for sure, and, all things considered, she did it pretty quickly on the printed page... Not so on screen... she reflected... and waited... and did what she needed to do...

...and it was Amy's birthday!!!

That's one good thing about the TV show vs. the comics... you can draw things out longer.

Does she give her the mermaid necklace? No... wait don't tell me... I'll try to find out soon enough on my own.

M.

This episode had a pretty unusual pacing, but I liked it. The ending had me on the edge of my seat. It's one thing when the walkers are coming towards you, but something else when it's quiet and you're just waiting for them to come—especially when salvation is the press of a button away.

I must say Daryl is acting more reasonable than I thought he would. Of course, he's bound to reunite with Merle sooner or later and that will stir things up regardless.

Season finale this Sunday, right? Looking forward to it!

Finally caught the latest episode.

And yeah... I think I missed the volume with the CDC too... but should be interesting. Now I'm definatly waiting around with the rest of you to find out what happens next.

We watched all of the other episodes with friends in the past couple of days and they kept asking me what happens next and I finally just went... 'I don't know anymore'

Good episode.

I kept holding my breath when Shane and Rick were out in the woods.

M.

If it weren't for my cranky laptop, Scarab, I would have posted Monday like usual. Darn registry errors and my guru moved away!

Oh, yes the scene in the woods was certainly a "clutch the pearls" moment! I can only hope Shane does something to really redeem himself there. I wonder if Dale will let Rick in on what he witnessed?

As for Carol, with the lack of qualified therapists available, perhaps pulping the skull of her husband will suffice for now.

Still scratching my head as to why it took so blasted long for Theresa to turn after dying. I've never seen such a delay in the onset of Zombification in any other work. I mean, they were at the fish fry, the walkers attack, she gets bit during the firefight and she doesn't turn until after sunup?? Okay, just putting it out there, but this could provide a basis on which to justify someone hacking off their own limb soon after a bite and still not turn. Perhaps it was just for dramatic timing.

I like Glenn more each time I see him, especially after his insistence on burying their dead and not burning them with the walkers because "that's what people do."

So, how long has our drunken doctor at the CDC been alone? Maybe he's more cracked up than Jim ever was.

Handy hint: If Z-Day or some similar catastrophe ever does hit and you want some wheels, get a diesel vehicle. They're tougher, you can find fuel easier at gas stations, and you can even make field-expedient fuel from any fast food grease trap and common household chemicals.

Quick edit: When this releases on dvd, I want more transmissions from our kooky doctor! Also, does anyone know if next week's season finale is a one or two-hour event?

Yeah I wondered a bit at how long it took to turn, although considering what I know about how the comic's handle turning and such I guess I shouldn't be too overly surprised, it wasn't your typical zombie turning (they always like to throw some kind of twist in there now )

And I absolutly agree with you Pit, I Glenn, did in the books and still do now that he's on screen. Andrea and him are probably some of my favorites. I'm so glad they got Holden to play Andrea she's going to do a stellar job with it.

M.

From what I recall reading in the trades (and I think it may have been alluded to in the series once or twice, as well), Kirkman has this idea that the time it takes to turn in an individual thing. Some folks have turned in a matter of hours while others literally took days to completely "geek-out".

Jim and Amy are perfect example in this episode, actually... both were bitten within minutes of each other, right? Amy got major-munched as she came out of the RV, Jim got a little "what's this guy taste like" bite during the melee. However, Amy took just a few, sad hours to "come back from death" whereas Jim was still un-zombiefied (but obviously closing in fast) near the end of the episode. Not sure exactly what the variables might be in determining the speed at which one person might turn as compared to another (Does it happen faster when you've been bitten to death as opposed to just getting a little nibble? Perhaps, if you live through the initial bite, the immune system has something to do with slowing the progress... thus, if the initial bite(s) kill you and, thereby, stops your immune system from functioning, maybe it's easier for the virus (or whatever) to take hold? *shrugs*)

Ouch! That hurts...

But I'll be good and not reveal what I know... no spoilers for anyone wanting to read the books.

Lord only knows if the show is going to follow what they have going on in the later issues of the books.

M.

I can't help being reminded of the season finale of Lost where they opened the hatch when that door opened with the bright dramatic light.

Remember to push that button every so often, and sterilize (read: obliterate) your samples! I'm sure Daryl can score a new sample or two, more if he keeps reusing those crossbow bolts. *lightbulb!* Ewww, if Daryl was in a really bad mood, he could jab someone he didn't like with the business end of one of his icky bolt heads and "poof!" honest reason to off his victim!

...with the samples, Pit, is that the ones that Mr CDC obliterated is that apparently, they weren't gathered from Walkers... Remember him saying that all the newer samples were useless because they came from "necrotic dead flesh"? Kind of leads me to believe that the samples he was testing/experimenting with didn't come from a zombie at all but, rather, from some pre-zombification subject. (All kinds of implications in that one little statement, I suppose, but I kind of translated as "samples from the dead" aren't going to suffice and/or weren't the sort of samples he was working on in his little "Oh, crap!" scene...)