"The Walking Dead" Episode 205: "People In Hell Want Slurpees"

"You think an Atomic Wedgie was bad, wait til you feel my Zombie Toe Nibbler!" (All pics - Gene Page/AMC)

This week's The Walking Dead focuses on Daryl, who's become the most fascinating character this season.

But first we get one of the best scenes of the series, as a flashback shows Shane and Lori trying to escape the initial Zombie Apocalypse, and becoming trapped in gridlock. They see military helicopters overhead, and walk through the forest until they see the helicopters napalming Atlanta. As Shane holds Lori close, it's likely this is where their relationship went from, "We'll help each other survive this," to "Rick who?"

Last week we saw Daryl run across a possible clue to the whereabouts of Sophia, as he discovered a small cubbyhole just large enough to house a small girl. He decides to venture out on horseback this time, and comes across the most concrete evidence yet that Sophia wasn't just a mass hallucination - her ratty old doll.

Unfortunately, he also runs across a snake, which causes his horse to buck, sending him falling down a ravine ... and impales him on one of his arrows. Hearing rustling in the bushes, he frantically struggles to find his crossbow and starts climbing back up the ravine, but with his strength sapped, he loses consciousness and falls back into creek below.

He opens his eyes to a familiar face. It's his brother Merle, who's looking haggard, who we last saw handcuffed to a pipe in the first season. Merle starts berating Daryl for being weak, and for abandoning him, and for trying to fit in with, "Pansy-asses, niggers, and democrats." Oh Merle.

After some more brotherly pep talk, Daryl starts to come to, and the vision of Merle is replaced with reality ... a zombie trying to gnaw on his foot. Daryl snaps back to life, dispatches the zombie, and puts an arrow through another one's skull. He climbs the ravine, and heads back to the farm ...after a meal of raw squirrel and a zombie ear necklace craft session.

Daryl caps off his very bad day by approaching the farm shuffling and shambling (not a good idea), and being mistaken for a zombie. As Shane, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog approach and realize who it is, Andrea picks that moment to play Annie D'oh!-kley.

For once, Andrea's incompetence is a good thing, as her bullet just grazes Daryl's ear. He's okay, but his Merle fever dream may have changed him, and not for the better.

Andrea's nincompoopness underscores one of the show's weaknesses. While the men are valiant hunters, gatherers, and badasses, the women are fretful mothers or dingbats, whose roles seem to consist of hanging up laundry, being torn between two lovers (feeling like a fool), or being zombie bait. From next week's preview, it appears that Andrea may be working to change that.

Meanwhile, things at the farm are (as expected) not as they appear. Hershel remains extremely distrustful of the survivors, and we finally find out why.

"When she mentioned 'Barn Swallows,' I was hoping it was a euphemism, but not like this!"

Glenn wants to arrange another "pharmacy trip" with Maggie, and at the dinner table she slips him a note that says, "Tonight. Where?" Glenn scribbles a response, but before she can look at it, Hershel shoots her a disapproving look. She reads it later, and when she sees that Glenn wrote, "The barn hayloft," she freaks out and runs outside.

She's too late, however, as Glenn climbs into the hayloft, and discovers the farm secret. Zombies ... corralled in the barn. Maggie catches up and tells him, "You weren't supposed to see this."

Hmm ... so why do you think Hershel is keeping zombies around? Does he think he keep them til there's a cure? So he can change them back? Does he think he can ... pray the zombie away?

ROTTING-BEEF CAKE:

"Fame! We're gonna rot forever!"

REAL BEEF CAKE:

"Just rest. My mighty abs will protect you from harm. "

CARNAGE SCORECARD::

ZOMBIES - Stupid zombie tries to eat boot, is staked through head. Zombie receives arrow in skull. Ears sliced off. Zombies imprisoned in wacko's barn.

HUMANS - Man hallucinates asshat, eats raw squirrel. Woman shoots fan favorite, man's sex hopes are dashed, man's abs and nipples are featured prominently.

Below you can see highlights. What did you think of Episode Five?