By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Thoughts on The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 2: “Sick”

- I’m sorry, but that Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick is awkward and irritating. I wish he was in this show so Rick could chop off his leg…or possibly his head.

- Obviously one of the big themes this season, at least at this point, has to do with Rick’s humanity, and whether the inhumane things he’s had to do to people, combined with the pressure of being the group leader and the heartache over what happened with Lori, has made him into something worse than what he was. Obviously an emotionally stable person wouldn’t hack into someone’s head with a machete without flinching, or leave a (relatively) innocent man to be devoured by zombies. The idea that Rick could emerge from everything he’s been through as someone who can still feel love and compassion is the very embodiment of the hope-against-hope mentality that keeps readers invested in The Walking Dead.

- ZOMBIE PANTIES???? Oh c’mon, guys. That’s a brand of gross out horror I’m not sure we’re ready for…

- I loved when Axel (the bearded prisoner) sees the dead prisoners on the ground, and says: “…they were good men.” That one line calls a lot of things into question in terms of what rules from the old world still apply to this new one. If the old system is dead, are there any rules from it that still apply? If there’s no government, then can you still be labeled a convict? In the case of Tomas, the prisoner who brutally (yet beautifully) bashed his comrad’s head in, and attempted to kill Rick by shoving a walker on him, the rule seemed to be: If you prove trustworthy, you stay alive. That seems to be a degree or two away from: If you’re a good person, you stay alive. But who is really qualified to judge who is good or bad? Especially if he does it with a friggin’ machete!!

- I thought “Sick” was a particularly strong episode for Lauren Cohan, a.k.a. Maggie. Her one-on-one scenes with Herschel, Beth and Glenn were all very strong. I’ve never quite grasped how some actors are able to simply bring themselves to tears at will like she does here. But her emotion in the scene where she’s at Herschel’s bedside was the highlight of the episode, for my money.

- Herschel officially wins the “scariest wake up of all time” award for this episode.

- The Beth character feels redundant to me. At this point, the only good argument I can make to keep her is to make her an innocent romantic interest for Carl, much like Sophia is in the comics. But she seems a little old for that. So what’s she still doing here?

- Why did the very pregnant Lori help lift Herschel on to the bed? She’s very active for a pregnant lady.

- Is it just me or was there a dark humor to the scene where the prisoners are trying to take the zombies out with punches to the gut?

- Oh, c’mon! Everybody lay off Carl! For crying out loud, he e found medical supplies for the man with a freshly amputated leg! If he’d gone wandering off for the sake of wandering, that’s another story. But he did a good thing. Leave him alone.

Front page image from thewalkingdeadnewsfeed.com. Images 2 and 3 from amctv.com. Image 4 from seat42f.com.
Check out last week’s episode.
For more of The Walking Dead, check out Primary Ignition‘s reviews of Season One and Season Two. 
For a look at Image’s best selling The Walking Dead comic book, check out No Way Out, We Find Ourselves, A Larger World, and The Walking Dead #100.
Follow Primary Ignition on Twitter at @PrimaryIgnition.
Like Primary Ignition on Facebook at Facebook.com/PrimaryIgnition.