“Merle Dixon’s clap was the best thing that ever happened to you.” – Maggie
As well done as the last five minutes of “Save The Last One” are, the 50 minutes that precede it are, to put it generously, pretty uneven.
That the group of survivors is split into two groups – the people at the farmhouse and the people at the camper — highlights the fact that The Walking Dead has still not figured out what it wants to do with many of its characters. Would anyone be particularly upset if Andrea (Laurie Holden) decided to put her money where her mouth is and commit suicide? She’s always whining about wanting to die and I find myself thinking, “Well, just do it already!” When Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) gives her gun back, I was kind of hoping she would seize the opportunity to say goodbye to this cruel, cruel, zombie-ridden world.
Don’t get me wrong, some of the “camper crew” are tolerable. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is pretty cool, in a backwoods bad-ass kind of way. T-Dog, played by the extremely unfortunately named IronE Singleton, is okay, I guess. But, again, the writers don’t give him a whole lot to do. That said, Glen did get off a pretty funny (at least by The Walking Dead standards) line last night about Daryl’s brother’s case of the clap. When I chuckled at this little bit of dialog between Glen and one of the women at the farmhouse, I realized that it was the only time I ever remember laughing at anything on this show. The Walking Dead is sorely lacking in comedic relief, which is a shame because zombie apocalypses are fertile ground for gallows humor.
Lingering thoughts on “Save The Last One”:
- The spy thriller Homeland on Showtime features a storyline in which a main character’s wife sleeps with his best friend after the main character is presumed to be dead. On the surface it’s very similar to the Rick/Lori/Shane love triangle that The Walking Dead touched on in the first season. However, on Homeland (which is by far a superior product), this commonly used plot device feels natural, organic, even fresh, while on The Walking Dead it comes across as more of a contrivance, something shoehorned into the greater story in order to up the dramatic ante. If nothing else, “Save The Last One” confirms (in my mind, at least) that Shane has emerged as the most interesting character on the show. I just worry that when the truth about his relationship with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) surfaces it will be handled clumsily and it will derail the positive momentum the character is building.
Some stats and info about The Walking Dead, “Save The Last One”
TV SHOW – The Walking Dead
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 3
AIRED ON – October 30th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – AMC
GENRE – Horror, Drama, Zombies, Thriller
CREATED BY – Frank Darabont
CAST – Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Christian Serratos, Josh McDermitt, Danai Guria, Seth Gilliam, Andrew Lincoln, Ross Marquand, Chandler Riggs
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.