The tone of the scene is well-crafted (the slow conversation builds a tension unlike anything from this season’s first half) and it devolves in an instant into a shootout where Rick dispatches both strangers, giving one a double tap to the head for good measure. In a slow boil, the two try to invite themselves into the shelter of the farm, politely at first, then firmly. When they discuss places they wish they could go, Nebraska - a place with a low population and lots of guns - tops the list of flyover states. The episode’s title, ostensibly, comes out of the conversation between Rick, Glenn and our two mysterious Yankees. ( MORE: See the 25 Best Horror Movies of All-TIME)įor those answers, we’ll have to wait until next week, because something is going down in this saloon. Is she alive? Did she lose the baby? Will this ignite another months-long manhunt? Then in the most obvious piece of action yet, Laurie smashes into an errant zombie and flips the car. In the meantime, Laurie decides to go after Rick, and the second we see her walk out of the house, map and pistol in hand, we know this is a terrible decision. Something’s not quite right about these two, but it’s going to be a minute before we find out what. Fort Benning has been overrun (there goes that plan!), and much of the country is littered with zombies. These are the first new humans we’ve seen in a while, and they come bearing bad news. Then seemingly out of nowhere, two new fellas show up - stragglers from the northeast who’ve wandered into town. As Hershel belts back shot after shot of whiskey in a long scene intercut with smaller developments at the farm, Rick tries to tell him there is still a chance for humanity. We learn that Carl’s survival after a gunshot wound was the miracle that convinced Hershel there was hope the gruesome massacre of his zombie wife destroyed his faith. The saloon where they find Hershel (and it is a saloon nice job production designers) is the setting for much of the episode’s emotional action. And so, Rick and Glenn embark on the dangerous mission of bringing him home. Carol deals with her grief by wandering in the woods while Hershel seeks out his old watering hole, where Maggie explains he “pretty much lived” before he gave up drinking. One by one, most of those who had loved ones in the barn come to the realization that their family members had been dead long before bullets passed through their zombie brains. But “Nebraska” gives us plenty to chew on, and sets a nice direction for the next part of the story. Other than an underwhelming car crash that pretty much everyone saw coming and a small saloon shootout, that’s about all the action that took place in the episode. ![]() Last night’s mid-season premiere picked up a split second after that finale’s cut to black and the pace (kind of) picked up as well, with Andrea finishing off a not-quite-so-dead zombie with a scythe swing to the skull. The season culminated in a massacre where the group collectively blew the zombie horde away and Rick popped monster Sophia in the head. As it turns out, she had been transformed into a walker and was being held in a barn with dozens of other zombies. In case the months off have clouded your memory, we spent much of last season lamenting the show’s languid pace as our weary refugees settled on a farm and searched endlessly for missing Sophia. In an interview with New York, Glen Mazzara, the showrunner who replaced Frank Darabont, promised to pick up the pace, saying his plan “is to accelerate and then figure out more story.” But the title, and even much of the episode, belies a shift that could satisfy fans and fanatics alike. It’s a gamble – they have to thread a tight needle, continuing character development and picking up the dismal pace that plagued the first half of Dead’s sophomore season, and “Nebraska” doesn’t exactly denote urgency. Of all the flyover states The Walking Dead’s writers could have chosen as the title of this season’s second half opener, “Nebraska” is the most penetrating. ![]() Follow that great void, my soul be hurled…there’s just a meanness in this world.” - Bruce Springsteen, “Nebraska”
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