by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
The Walking Dead takes things in an interesting direction in this week’s installment, “Judge, Jury, Executioner”. There are some major developments for characters and story lines (yes, they are still on the damn farm) but this episode takes us back to the quality that we had come to expect from early episodes of the series.
Official Episode Synopsis: Rick sides with Shane on an important decision, causing Dale to worry that the group is losing its humanity. Carl’s actions have unintended consequences on the group.
Read on…Beware of Spoilers!!!
The survivors are still debating over what to do with Randall, the member of the other group of survivors who had taken shots at Rick, Glen, and Hershel during “Triggerfinger”. Rick and Shane have determined that having this new guy around will eventually cause problems for the group (and they are probably right), but Dale continues to be the optimist and fights to sway the group to allow him to live. Most of the group have finally come to accept the “survival of the fittest” mentality, but Dale is convinced that if they move forward with this execution, they would be giving up the only thing that makes life worth living.
Meanwhile, Carl gets a lot of screen time as he sneaks into the shed where they are holding Randall, and debates on whether or not he is trustworthy. Shane catches him in this action, and chastises with “stop trying to get yourself killed Carl”. Being a kid, Carl decides to ignore the adults and take matters into his own hands by sneaking away and stealing a gun. Heading out into the forest surrounding the farm, Carl stumbles onto a zombie who has gotten himself trapped in the mud. Instead of just killing it and walking away, Carl’s youthful curiosity gets the best of him and he decides to get up close and personal with the trapped zombie.
Surprise!
Zombies like brains…and Carl has brains (supposedly…except when he is throwing rocks at zombies)…and the zombie gets free and goes after Carl!
Shoot the zombie Carl! Shoot it!
Oh wait.
You dropped your gun?
Oh it’s ok. Don’t worry about that single zombie. I am sure that he won’t cause any trouble later. The show is about zombies (plural) and the odds of one single zombie doing anything significant is extremely unlikely.
So back at the farm, the group assembles for the final decision about Randall, and Dale puts out one final plea. While everyone is concerned about the safety of the group, they are ignoring the fact that they are about to execute a human being (not many of them alive these days). While he does manage to get through to some members of the group, Rick and Shane ultimately make the final decision to take Randall out back and put him down like Old Yeller. Carl (now back after having his own adventure earlier in the episode) catches his dad about to execute the unarmed man, and Rick has a change of heart (due to his son’s encouragement of the execution).
Meanwhile the following events happen:
Dale walks off on his own…into the middle of an open field…by himself…in the middle of the night…only to find….
OMG IT’S THAT ONE ZOMBIE FROM EARLIER!??!?!?!?!
RUN DALE RUN!
BANG BANG BANG!
Everybody else goes, “Where’s Dale?”
Oh no. The only zombie in the entire episode got Dale…and ripped his guts out.
Carl realizes it is the same zombie that he antagonized earlier. (Insert Scooby Doo “Ruh Roh”).
As Dale lies on the ground, with hits guts pouring out, Rick and the others are left to make a very big decision.
As you can tell, there are some pretty big developments in this episode…more so than we have had for quite some time. The overall debate on morality takes up a majority of the installment, but it provides for some fantastic dialogue between characters. Learning where people stand during a zombie apocalypse is important, and while most will do whatever it takes to stay alive, others are not quite willing to give up all hope. Dale’s untimely demise will surely catch many viewers off guard, as his fate is very different than that in the original comic. I think that by removing Dale, they have removed the moral compass from the show, which will allow them to push the survivors that much harder in terms of what they are willing to do to stay alive. I think that it will also give some great moments of self reflection as they ask themselves “What Would Dale Do?”. I will however miss the character, as Jeffrey DeMunn did a stellar job in his portrayal of the fan-favorite Dale. This also just goes to show again that NO ONE IS SAFE!
My one frustration with this entire episode is that there was only one zombie. Just one. I know that they wanted to make a point of duality with Dale being the one to die after fighting for the group to retain it’s humanity…but seriously. This show is about zombies, and for the majority of this season (with the exception of a few episodes) the number of walking dead have been extremely limited. The show is interesting when there is a major threat to the group, whether it comes from outside or from within. We need to see these characters growing (in one direction or another) and this episode shows that they can still accomplish that…but it’s at the expense of cheap storytelling. Re-read the scene description above (it really is not an exaggeration). This group has been together long enough to know not to go out alone, and yet Dale just wanders off on his own and then is attacked by a zombie. I just felt like that was way too easy and out of character. To be fair, I loved the fact that Carl provoked the zombie earlier, and that ultimately Dale’s death was his fault, BUT STILL, too easy of a death.
Even with this one criticism, “Judge, Jury, Executioner” proves to be one of the best episodes of the season, and will definitely be one that fans will love.
ComicsOnline gives The Walking Dead – “Judge, Jury, Executioner” 4.5 strategically placed zombies out of 5.
