Review

Following the barnyard massacre the dead are either being buried or burned. Things prove slightly too much for Beth Greene who does the chick swooning thing and goes into some sort of catatonic state. Mind you I guess none of us would have handled our Moms coming back to life and trying to rip out our throats really. Hershel, the resident medical expert, is needed but he has gone missing. Rick and Glenn realise the farmer has hit the booze again and is in the local town tavern, off they go to bring him back. Hershel is having something of an epiphany and is pretty despondent but Rick points out the facts of life after the apocalypse. Two strangers arrive at the tavern and the group dynamic is disrupted with a fire fight, harkening back to those old Westerns for mine, outstanding!

Meanwhile back at the farm Dale and Shane continue their antagonism with Dale confiding in Andrea that he believes Shane killed Otis. While we of course know this I'm wondering how exactly Dale managed to connect the dots. Oh and Lori decides she needs to go into town to pick up Herschel and the boys even though that's why Rick and Glenn headed in. Naturally Lori needs a map, and natural she tries reading it in a moving car, hello auto accident as she hits a zombie. Next episode being set up nicely folks, though at the expense of the current episode for mine.

There are a few things to talk about with Nebraska and I'm going to begin by focusing on the continued evolution of the Glenn character. He's shocked when Maggie confesses she is in love with him, which may explain why he freezes as the tavern gun fight erupts. Okay Rick had it covered but his wing man for sure didn't have his back. Glenn has been pretty courageous up to now in everything he has faced, so maybe it's the thought of violence to other living people that causes him to go limp wristed as the whip comes down. Whatever the explanation Rick is going to find it difficult allowing Glenn to back him up from here on in, and with Shane going psycho that leaves Daryl or Andrea.

An episode that raises the stakes while being a bridge outing, how does that work?

Clearly there is going to be a confrontation between Dale and Shane at some stage as we've spent a few episodes with the plot moving in that direction. Dale, in an arguably week script point, thinks Shane killed Otis and is now telling other members of the group of his suspicions. Shane for his part seems to be becoming more and more unhinged as things progress; he has seemingly just thrown away any thoughts of thinking things through and acts in a blind rage, the barn being a pretty good example. The worse thing about Shane, he is justifying his actions and is adamant he is doing what needs to be done as opposed to Rick or Dale. Whether or not he is justified in his belief is moot, as he is taking action without thinking through the consequences. Am I seeing shades of Ben versus Cooper, Night of the Living Dead, in Dale versus Shane? If so both characters are doomed as internal conflicts tend to get people killed in zombie outings.

While I'm not about to say that Clark Johnson is the best Director we have had thus in far in almost two seasons of The Walking Dead, I was nevertheless impressed by how he kicked of this episode. We start with a close up of Rick from the POV of dead Sophia and gradually the camera pulls back highlighting the dazed look in Rick's eyes. Johnson holds the scene for a vital few minutes in dead silence as the survivors take stock of the carnage that has gone down, and the shock realisation I think everyone has that Rick's group has finally crossed an invisible line. Hershel later wants Rick and his team off the farm, but is sidetracked by his descent into alcohol and the epiphany this sends his way as Rick explains the basic facts of death having always been present. Anyways it's an important scene as it underlines Hershel's farm is a false Eden, the reality of the apocalypse is going to rear up and bite everyone on the arse if they don't take Carl's advice and have a cup of cement.

Beth Greene has been one of those minor characters you expect to end up on the wrong side of a zombie attack but in this episode steps up somewhat. I liked the fact that the season now has some new characters to play with, beyond Maggie and Hershel, and hope Beth continues to be all hail and healthy through the rest of the season. Notably a few others are still in the background, expecting a bit of a culling by season's end. If we're still more or less following the epic graphic novel then hold onto your panties it's going to get awesome from here.

What Nebraska also throws on the table, and what has been missing for quite some time from the series, is the feeling that the zombies aren't the only dangers in the new world order. Two strangers enter the picture and Rick is immediately on high alert. Interestingly Hershel picks up on Rick's vibe but Glenn is blissfully unaware. Anyways nice to see The Walking Dead return to one of Romero's themes, it isn't the zombies that are going to cause you the most problems. Can we expect to see increased human activity or was this scene a one off to highlight that Rick and his crew are on their own?

Nebraska was an episode that seemed to be hanging between story arcs for mine. We finally have some movement on Hershel realising the situation is real but also have a couple of cliff hangers that won't get resolved till the next episode. I was reasonably happy with what I watch while thinking this wasn't the best episode of the season. If you have been gearing up all season then this episode is required viewing, otherwise cherry pick and give it a miss. Slight disappointment to be honest, the episode didn't have the moral dilemma or all out action of previous episodes.