Back for more? Thanks for joining us here for The Walking Dead on Comic Booked as I continue my reviews of every episode of every season right up to Season Five launching in October. This installment will be reviewing The Walking Dead Season Two Episode Two where we all hope to find out if Carl is going to be okay. Keep your fingers crossed.
Season Two: Episode Two – Bloodletting
At first, we get a little background on the issues between Lori and Rick back before the world changed. We get the picture of Rick as the strong, steady, peacemaker, but that is what Lori really seems to rail against. They have been having some issues and she just wants him to explode at her, but cannot handle when he handles the stressful situations with his unnatural calm. Shane shows up to tell Lori that Rick has been shot and is in surgery. He blames himself for what happened, but Lori tells him that he doesn’t have to do that. They are all standing in front of the school waiting for Carl to end his school day, and Lori goes to him to tell him the news. The tears on Carl’s face are a clear indication of the love that he has for his father.
Jump to the now and we catch up to Rick racing across a field with his son in his arms. Following close behind is Shane and some new person we haven’t met yet, Otis. He tells Rick to run to the house and ask for Herschel and that he will help Carl. Upon entering the yard, we meet Maggie Green, Herschel Green, and Patricia, who is Otis’ wife. We also get a glimpse of Jimmy and Beth Green. Herschel immediately places Carl on the bed and starts to work on him. He gets Ricks name and asks him to give them some room so they can work.
When Shane gets there, Rick and Shane go back in. Herschel asks about blood types and Rick says they have the same, so Herschel asks him to hang around because he will need to give blood. Otis is very sorry. He explains he was hunting and the bullet went through the deer and hit Carl. The problem is that the bullet broke into pieces, making the problem worse than it should have been.
Back in the woods, Lori is concerned. Having heard the single gunshot and knowing that Rick would not have shot a walker, she wants to go see what happened. In the end, Daryl tells everyone that they need to keep looking for Sophia, Carol’s daughter, and head back to the highway. Andrea says that they are all hoping and praying for Sophia, “for what it’s worth.” Daryl says, “it’s a waste of time, all the hoping and praying”. He knows they will find the girl and she will be alright. “Am I the only one zen around here?”
On the highway, T-Dog is feeling a little rough after slicing his arm on that car door last episode. Dale believes that he has an infection, but T-Dog only laughs. Everything that is going on, the dead walking and all, and “Theodore Douglas gets done in by a cut on his arm.” Dale says, “Yeah, that would be stupid.” They are now rededicated to the search for some medication to help him out. The final scene, of the child’s car seat covered in blood and gore, is a startling shock back to the reality of their situation.
Herschel continues to work on Carl, but he is in need of blood. Carl is awake now and scream and wiggling. As Shane holds him down and Herschel digs in the wound for the first of six pieces of the bullet, Rick is frantic, but begins the process of providing blood for his son’s survival.
Rick is torn between his need to lead the group, the desire to rush to tell Lori what has happened, and his desperation to be there for his son. Shane gives him a pep talk, letting him know that Lori was there for him during his time in the hospital and Rick has to stay here for Carl. Shane agrees to take care of finding Lori.
Herschel delivers the bad news that, while Carl is stable for now, the other five fragments are deeper and he needs to get them out. Also, Herschel is pretty sure there is internal bleeding. This means that he will need to do surgery and they will need more supplies than what they have. Otis and Shane decide to head to town to the school where there was a FEMA shelter. Otis is going to go because he was a volunteer EMT, he will know what items they need.
Dale and T-Dog have had no real success. Dale was gift shopping. A guitar for Glenn and a few other things. All T-Dog found was cigarettes and ibuprofen. T-Dog is running a high fever and is waxing poetic about how this is all pointless and how, because they are the old guy and the token black man, they are the weakest members, or at least perceived that way.
The rest of the group is still traipsing through the woods looking for any sign of Sophia. Andrea, tired and not quite alert, wanders from the group and is attacked by a walker. She tries to fight back, screaming all the way, but trips. Suddenly, a galloping horse enters the scene and the rider expertly wields a ball bat to take out the walker. Enter Maggie Green, she takes Lori and tells the rest how to find the farm.
Rick and Herschel have a discussion about the farm and family. Herschel shows himself to be a man of faith, speaking of how he believes that they can just hold on here on the farm that has been in his family for 160 years until there is a cure for this epidemic. Rick is not so sure, having been at the CDC and heard Jenner’s tales of the work they did. Herschel still holds out hope.
Maggie arrives with Lori and there is another tearful episode. Rick and Lori will be strong together to help Carl in any way they can. Rick continues to give blood, but now he has Lori there to help take care of him, too. Orange juice and rest for Rick. Lori takes this time to question Herschel about his credentials and we find out that he was a vet… but not a combat medic, a veterinarian. This does not sit well with Lori, but Rick makes a lot of sense saying, “We don’t have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon.” Lori accuses Herschel of being completely in over his head and he responds with “Ma’am, aren’t we all?”
Shane and Otis are approaching the school, hoping for some sort of break… but, no. Lots of walkers and, of course, it is getting dark. On the highway, the group is trying to decide how to deal with all the news they have heard. They need to wait to set something up for Sophia, but they also need to get T-Dog some help. Daryl to the rescue again. His brother was a drug dealer, so he happened to find Merle’s stash. Included in that are some much needed Oxycycline, because “Merle got the Clap on occasion”.
One of the key items that many people recognized in this episode has just appeared. There has been much speculation about the blue crystal meth in the bottom of the baggie that is Merle’s stash. Could this be the very same “Blue Sky” that a certain Heisenberg was responsible for creating and distributing on Breaking Bad? It would not be surprising that two AMC shows would have some crossover material. After all, we have already seen Walter’s son’s Mustang, the one that Glenn hotwired and drove out of Atlanta.
Shane and Otis grab some road flares from the trunk of the police cruiser and use the light to attract the walkers away from the emergency trailer. The ruse works and they make it there safely. They find what they need, but the return trip is not so easy. They end up locked in behind a metal gate in an entryway with a horde of walkers pressing in on them. Will they survive? Will they get back to Herschel in time to save little Carl? Find out in the next installment of The Walking Dead on Comic Booked.
this was one of many “transition” episodes, simply getting us from point a to point b. one of many reasons i prefer to watch the dvds all in one or two sittings.