On this week's installment of AMC's The Walking Dead, the entire group is finally reunited at Herschel's farm, where they're greeted by the happy news that Carl is doing well, though still recuperating from his traumatic shotgun wound and risky surger. And despite this little piece of good news, Otis' funeral obviously puts a bit of a damper on things, especially during Shane's stoic (and dishonest) retelling of his “heroic, self-sacrificing” death.
There’s little time to grieve though, as the group must immediately continue with their search for Sophia, as well as organize a trip to the nearby pharmacy for more supplies.
Unsurprisingly, the group still can’t find Sophia, though Daryl does manage to find some evidence of her hiding in a nearby abandoned farmhouse. Not sure what to make of this, he doesn’t let on, though in another heartwarming display of friendship, Daryl comforts Carol with a folk story about the Cherokee rose sitting on her table.
The other important and immediate issue is obtaining more supplies for the group. Glenn, who is an expert at supply-running, is once again put into a precarious position by being sent out. He doesn’t mind so much though, as his crush Maggie comes with him to get the antibiotics, as well as a discrete pregnancy test for Lori. This leads to an adorably awkward Glenn getting intimate with her in pharmacy (though she later brusquely tells him that it was a “one time thing” only).
This incredibly tense atmosphere isn’t helped any more by Herschel proclaiming his farm a gun-free zone and telling Rick that his group needs to leave as soon as Carl recovers. Themes of righteousness are also brought up when Rick and Herschel disagree over God and faith in this post-apocalyptic world, though it is a nice lead-up to later on in the episode when Rick begs Herschel to allow them to stay and Herschel to “consider” it.
Tension transforms into shock though with the gruesome discovery of a disfigured walker (referred to as a “swimmer”) contaminating all the water in one of the farm’s wells.
Desperate for a way to get the swimmer out the well, the group decides to use Glenn as live bait, lowering him into the well so that he can rope the zombie. However, Glenn almost becomes the watery walker’s next meal, when the water pump his rope is looped around comes out of the ground, almost lowering him down to the swimmer and forcing the entire group to come together and help pull him out at the very last minute.
Despite this minor set-back, though, the group tries again, which leads to one of the most stomach-churning scenes of the show, as they only manage to pull the upper half of the zombie out (with the other half ripping off and further contaminating the water with blood and guts) and bludgeon his head in.
The episode finally ends with Lori using her test and finding out (unsurprisingly) that she’s pregnant, raising many questions including who the father is. This is obvious foreshadowing of problems down the road with Shane, who has the potential to take violent and unprecedented action. Lori now has to figure out a way to tell Rick and not let this huge question mark wreak havoc upon the entire group.
Sigh. If only there was some way that they could solve this Maury-style…