Review

In the aftermath of the gunfight in the bar Rick along with Hershel and Glenn are pinned down by the arrival of more strangers who are looking for Dave and Tony, the two men Rick shot. Our boys are pinned down as a fire fight erupts and Glenn is sent to guard the backdoor. Rick decides Glenn should make for the car while Hershel covers him. Unfortunately a rooftop rifleman makes this plan go astray immediately, with Glenn ducking for cover behind a skip. Hershel guns down another of the strangers as things start to look desperate. With Walkers being attracted by the noise the surviving strangers decide to exit Dodge, however the rooftop rifleman slips and is impaled through his lower leg on a wrought iron fence post. With Walkers converging from all directions Rick takes drastic action to save the rifleman, who we learn is called Randall, which requires Hershel to conduct surgery later back at the farm.

Meanwhile Lori wakes to discover zombies have been attracted by the car accident, she narrowly avoids becoming lunch. Later Shane finds her and tells another lie to get her back to the farm. Beth Greene is still comatose and there's not a lot Hershel can do. Relationships start to unravel as Rick learns Shane doesn't have faith in his and Hershel's leadership and Glenn faces a moral dilemma. The question of what to do with the injured Randall is foremost in most peoples minds.

Besides dishing up plenty of action episode nine starts to move on the elephant in the room, Shane's changed nature after the whole Otis thing. While Daryl has separate himself from the group due to grief over Sophie Shane is doing his level best to antagonise people all the while believing his course of action is the only one available. Thus far he has Dale against him and with another lie to Lori she is also questioning his motives. Late in the episode Lori confides to Rick that Shane wants her back and believes the baby is his, she warns Rick that Shane is dangerous and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Surprisingly even head Shane cheerleader Andrea questions his decisions when he tries to explain himself to Lori after the pair return to the farm. With Randall being an issue, do they release him and then he brings back his group? - I think things may come to a head with Shane facing Rick and Hershel to determine what the survivors should do. While Shane certainly has got the job done it has come at a price.

Excellent episode that moves things along nicely as we enter the final third of the season.

The other major character development in the episode centered on Glenn and his hiding while under fire from the rooftop sniper. Glenn confides in Maggie that he was thinking about her and this forced him to save his own skin rather than risk his life as Rick and Hershel did. Clearly Glenn has a few issues to address, but needs to stay focused as the World is no longer safe. Can't you just feel the plot arcs that may be coming at us!

Director Bill Gierhart gets the episode underway in pretty spectacular fashion. Lori is unconscious in her car, which is lying on its side after the accident. A zombie is trying to push its head through the broken windshield gouging off its face as it gradually pushes through. Gierhart wrings every ounce of tension out of the scene that he can and even diehard anti-Lori viewers must have been on the edge of their seats. I actually don't get all the hate sent Lori's way, sure she can be painful and isn't overly equipped to survive long term but all her actions can be viewed as defensible from an Adult stand point. Anyways Gierhart shows how kick arse Lori can be when the chips are down. Great opening scene, for mine the best of the season thus far, unfortunately Gierhart doesn't have the time to repeat this tension as the action is coming fast and frenetic, only being punctuated here and there by character self reflection.

I've been somewhat remiss in not mentioning the score handed down by Bear McCreary all season. Besides the excellent theme music McCreary has been nailing it to the barn door during the season with a score that exactly matches the action we are seeing on our screens. If you want a crash course in how to compose a score then dial into what the composer delivers for The Walking Dead.

Seems the Producers are suddenly aware they are filming a zombie outing, the gore is back in a big way in this episode. While the season certainly hasn't been prudish in this department it has tended to take a back seat recently with gunshot wounds being about the worse thing on display. Director Gierhart doesn't shy away from the requirements giving us a couple of scenes that should come with a graphic violence warning. If squeamish then you might want to look away as the blood flies in all directions down the local township.

Triggerfinger suddenly got the season moving again in the right direction after apparently things were allowed to go rudderless for a while. We're reminded that zombies aren't fluffy kittens, tensions are raised within the group with the promise of a major confrontation looming, and the plot and character development is given a spit polish. Can't ask for more I was rocking out to this episode, required viewing friends and neighbours. While things have drifted at the farm I think in the final third of the season we'll start to see a lot of movement at the station and some well needed developments. Almost forgot to mention Beth is still comatose at episode end, this wasn't included in the graphic novels but I have a feeling something important is going to go down with Beth before too many more episodes. We need to talk about Randall, but I'm out of room!