"The Walking Dead" Episode 203: Ghoul School

"These damn Jaycees are relentless!"

If last week's The Walking Dead was too quiet for some viewers, this week's outing surely compensated with its non-stop zombie assault on Shane and Otis. School's out .... forever!

Let's start back at the farm, where little Carl is still fighting for his life. Hershel tells Rick and Lori that if Otis and Shane don't get back soon with the medical supplies, they're going to have two choices: Either watch Carl die from internal bleeding, or watch Carl die from the operation. Decisions, decisions!

Carl does momentarily regain consciousness, and as he's telling the story of the pretty deer in the forest, he stops in mid-sentence, his eyes glaze over, and his body goes limp. Rick and Lori look on in horror, but he's not dead, he's just catatonic, and about to have a seizure that leaves him flopping around on the bed.

After Carl stabilizes, Rick and Lori have an intense conversation about his future. Lori wonders if dying might be the best thing for him, as it will put an end to the nightmare he's living in, and he won't have to grow up watching everyone he loves being torn apart.

Rick disagrees because, 'The Deer!" Carl woke up, and the only thing he wanted to talk about was the beauty of the deer, which means Carl can still see the good in the world, and they have no right to deny him that opportunity. Sophia, on the other hand ...

Meanwhile, Dale and Andrea are becoming closer, and I think we're about two episodes away from grubby RV shagging.

Speaking of shagging, something may be happening between Maggie and Glenn, but I don't think it's going to go anywhere. I keep looking at Maggie and seeing "lunch."

Write your own Taxi Driver joke.

This episode really belonged to Shane, who brought the hotness and the moral dilemma (isn't that always the way?)

He and Otis find themselves trapped with soulless, vicious monsters who can't wait to tear them apart.

Yep, they're back in High School.

They make their way to the gym, and after seeking temporary refuge atop the bleachers, decide that Shane will try to escape from a small window about twenty feet off the ground, while Otis will head for the locker room, where the windows are more accommodating. As plans go ... it's doomed.

Sure enough, zombies are congregated near every escape route, and when they eventually meet back up, both are worse for wear, and almost out of ammo. Shane realizes that they can't limp faster than the zombies can shuffle, and they'll eventually catch up to them, so he sacrifices himself so Otis can make it back to the truck. Oh wait, I mean he sacrifices Otis so he can make it back to the truck.

He first apologizes to Otis, then shoots him in the leg. After Otis collapses into a screaming mess, Shane wrestles his backpack away from him, while Otis screams and grabs Shane by the hair, yanking out a patch. Shane manages to wrestle the Otis death grip away, and starts shambling off, as the zombie horde tears Otis apart. Somehow I don't think Shane's pre-apology counts for much.

When he returns with the medical equipment, he concocts a lie about what happened, and luckily, the medical supplies manage to stabilize Carl.

We end with Shane coming out of the shower, and shaving off his hair, either to hide the clump that's missing, or because getting rid of it symbolizes the shearing away of his humanity. Either/Or.

Anyone else get a Lord of the Flies vibe, with Rick as the reasonable Ralph, and Shane as the "anything to survive" Jack, who eventually becomes unhinged?

ZOMBIE BAIT:

"If it's any consolation, I loved you in Deadwood"

Okay, opinions about Shane's zombie offering. Was he right to sacrifice Otis in order to save Carl, or do you believe it was unnecessary, and Shane has just gone off the deep end?

ROTTING-BEEF CAKE:

Can a zombie overbite you?

CARNAGE SCORECARD::

ZOMBIES - 19 shot and re-deaded, hungry hanging zombie gets arrow in head.

HUMANS - Boy has seizure, man reluctantly eats sandwich, man has arm sewn, man is sacrificed and eaten, man shaves head while looking hot. Woman upchucks.

You can see highlights below. What did you think of Episode Three?