THE WALKING DEAD: 2.05 You Weren’t Supposed To See This — REVIEW

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

We review the overarching story developments, and extract the good and the bad from The Walking Dead​ 2.05 — “Chupacabra”.

“CHUPACABRA” EPISODE RE-TITLE:

“YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO SEE THIS”

OVERARCHING STORY DEVELOPMENTS — What We Learned

• Into the psychology of Daryl we went, as his M.I.A. brother Merle was M.I.A no more, albeit briefly.

• Much better from Carol, who brings Daryl a plate of her homemade special for putting life and limb on the line for bringing back Sophia’s doll, who Caz probably thinks IS Sophia. Both have suffered abuse at one time or another and their growing connection is an interesting one, although I hope it doesn’t spill into the realm of romance — please no!

• Rick‘s leadership skills are further put to the test; conflicted over whether to continue the search for Sophia (more about moral code than it is about Sophia), or go with the ‘survival of the fittest’ ethos bellowed by Shane.

• Lori reinforces Rick’s leadership status, but doesn’t tell him or Shane about her bun in the oven. Glenn gets all judgemental and confused. He didn’t sign up for this and just wants to have sex with Maggie.

• There’s more to the ever multiplying Greene Crew than meets the eye, as Glenn stumbles the Barn O’ Horrors. He wants to have sex, but THIS is ridiculous.

• Hershel makes it clear he doesn’t want Maggie involved with Glenn, but Maggie is a grown woman..who passes naughty notes under the dinner table.

• After nearly killing Daryl with her trigger-happy finger, Andrea kind of forgives Dale for saving her life back at the CDC. How kind of her to forgive him when she needs allies after almost killing our best vermin killer.

As for what clicked and what didn’t..

THE GOOD

• I enjoyed the different narrative techniques employed to resurface the past. We had the classic flashback to the early days of the apocalypse, Rick and Shane reminiscing about their glory years, and Daryl’s Merle hallucination. Each well crafted, giving us varying degrees of plot and character information, even the Rick/Shane conversation led to some useful character nuggets.

• This was really Daryl’s episode. The Merle hallucination was interesting, providing extra insight into his abusive past and the hold his brother still has over him. It was encouraging to see Daryl use that weakness as a strength to overcome his pain and escape the wilderness. I like the idea that two-hands Merle is in Daryl’s head on some level; a negative force he has to constantly overcome. I also appreciate that Merle’s return was seeded in the previous episode with the Cherokee Rose discussion.

• The Barn..THE BARN! A plot element that should engage the story in some useful directions. I mean, it makes Hershel infinitely more interesting (and creepy) and presents the farm as less of the sanctuary it first appeared. I just hope Glenn and Maggie aren’t so darn desensitized that they still did the deed.

THE BAD

• While I enjoyed Daryl Vs The Wild, I don’t think it quite captured the sense of ‘epic transformation’ the episode was reaching for. It would have worked better if his predicament spilled into another episode so we could really live the process with him. Instead it was almost open and shut faster than a barn door, an excuse to bring Merle back rather than having a real bearing on story or character. If the impact of this experience follows-through then it wont be so bad, but we’ll have to wait and see,

• Zombie Daryl. Really? An excuse to have Andrea shoot Daryl, which heightened the drama, but was a touch contrived given the whole ‘I’m a zombie now’ walk. If they’re going to pull the trigger, at least let it have consequences that matter. Not that I particularly want another ‘Carl’ ordeal, but the show needs real consequences otherwise scenes like this lack real substance. I will give them props for being consistent with Andrea’s growing gun obsession though.

• The Barn..THE BARN! My big problem with this device is that it’s built on a contrivance too hard to swallow. Why would Maggie ask Glenn where he wants to put one of those 11 condoms to good use when she knows that he’d likely to choose the soft, comfy confines of the barn? The zombie reveal should lead to some interesting developments but it could have worked much better if my Contrivance Detector wasn’t doing over-time.

SURVIVOR NOTES

• While I don’t mind Lori keeping the pregnancy beans relatively sealed right now, I think she went about reinforcing Rick’s better nature, in part, because she knows that she might be in a jam when it comes to the whole bun in the oven pressure cooker. If Rick discovers that the baby could be Shane’s, Lori might need Rick’s nature to ‘do the right thing’ by her and the child.

• While Shane’s an immoral SOB, he makes some solid points worth considering, even if they only serve to glue Rick to his moral code, it will have served that purpose and perhaps make him a better leader for it.

• It’s strange to see the Rickster without his sheriff uniform and cowboy hat.

• What are the chances of either Sophia and/or Otis being one of the walkers in the Barn O’ Horrors? The latter is probably unlikely given the way he went out and the logistics, but Sophia? Can we lock Carol and Lori in there too?

• The final shot of the barn door was a great image to go out on. Glenn’s note-to-self: When the barn’s a shaking, don’t come love-making.

ONGOING MYSTERIES

• What caused the apocalypse?

• What did Jenner whisper to Rick?

• Where is Sophia?

• Who is the father of Lori’s baybee?

• Will Hallucinating Merle return?

• Where is The Real Merle Dixon?

• Why do the Greene’s have a barn full-o-zombies?

Rating: 8/10 Seriable Stars

Follow @Seriable

Tagged as: chupacabra, reviews, The Walking Dead