I will say this, “Triggerfinger” is an episode about friends. After taking off on her own to go find Rick, Glen, and Hershel, Lori not only manages to hit the only zombie on a very open road, but also flipped the car. This newest installment opens with Lori’s fate following the crash, and reveals that she is not alone…because the zombie that she hit had friends (insert musical sting here).

 

Rick and the guys survive their run in with some fellow human beings (they were from Jersey so I am actually being really nice), only to find that the guys that they had just killed in self defense also… had friends. Rick, in a moment of complete stupidity, decides to just yell out to the angry group that “they drew on us!!!”. Now, this moment really bothered me more than Lori’s amazing lack of common sense in the previous episode. Rick is a trained officer of the law. One would assume that Rick has dealt with many situations regarding how to talk to an angry or upset individual. Instead of saying, “Guys I’m sorry, your friends came at us and tried to kill us,” he just yells this statement. Can anyone guess what happened next? Oh yeah, the people from Jersey (again assuming the rest of the group was also from Jersey), got mad and started shooting. With guns blazing, Rick and the boys try to make an escape from the bar and head for the car. While dodging both zombies and angry humans, Glen has a small panic attack and freezes up. Rick gets him to snap out of it and they make a run for it, only to watch as one of their attackers jumps from a roof…and doesn’t quite make it. His fellow survivor leaves him behind, and being the good guys, Rick and Hershel take the injured survivor with them on their trip back to the farm. 

 

So what is going on back at the farm? Shane learns that Lori had taken off on her own and had yet to return, so he decides to go off after her. Luckily for Lori, he finds her pretty easily as she is walking out in the open, on the road (in the opposite direction) by herself. Lori, still determined to find Rick, tells Shane that they have to go the town, but Shane tells her that Rick is already back (but he wasn’t). The two head back and of course, Lori is pissed to find that Rick wasn’t back yet. Shane uses the excuse that he was concerned about the baby (which Carl didn’t know about yet) and that he is going to do whatever it takes to protect Lori and the baby (because he is convinced the baby is his).

 

Hey look, Rick is back! Everyone is happy…except for Shane. Shane is pissed that they brought the other survivor back, but Rick tells him the plan is to let him heal and then send him on his way. But what happens if the guy finds his friends and brings them back to the farm? No don’t worry…that can’t happen…(FORESHADOWING POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT).

 

Lori gets to have a one on one with Rick, where she informs Rick that Shane is going batshit insane, and that he believes the baby is his and Rick cannot protect them (FORESHADOWING POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT).

 

Now let’s remember, Season 1 was only 6 episodes long, and we had such well planned, intriguing plot twists with some character defining moments. Here we are now, 9 episodes into the 13 episode long season, and just now are we starting to see some action. The current season has been overflowing with slow movements (not just from zombies) and a very significant lack of action…These characters have to leave the farm. It is killing the pacing of the show. While this episode does imply a possible outcome that would set that scenario into motion, who knows if it will happen anytime soon (my bet is the season finale). While this episode was definitely a step in the right direction, I fear that it might be too little too late in terms of making up for the pacing of Season 2.

 

ComicsOnline gives The Walking Dead – “Triggerfinger” 4 out of 5 moments of foreshadowing.