The Walking Dead "Better Angels"

   This episode could be dedicated to Dale's character. With all the references to him and mentions. It all begins at the funeral service for him with Rick speaking of Dale and his good conscience and how they all should try to keep his forgiving spirit alive. ( I felt it would have been more appropriate to have Andrea speak but they just showed Rick giving out his speech.) The show jump cut in the opening sequence to the group of Shane, Daryl, Andrea, and T-Dog all securing the perimeter of the farm and slaying off walkers. You can say this scene was dedicated to Dale also with how angry and upset the group was. With the anger with which they dispatched the walkers. Most impressive: Andrea slaying a walker by pitchfork.

"Better Angels" was one of the better episodes of the season, if not the BEST one so far. This was where everything that has happened before is affecting everyone and everything. This one was written by Evan T. Reilly and Glen Mazzara, the new showrunner. Strong writing that made the characters not seem stupid, but vulnerable and sentimental.

It had Carl confessing to father figure Shane that he had to do with Dale's death. It had the even stronger response by Shane back. Not your fault, take the gun. It showed how good Shane could really be with Carl and that he really cared. He attacked the guilt that Carl had and offered him a way to defend himself without seeming like a bad guy. Not at all! At one point, he does the right thing in telling Rick about Carl and his situation. And tells Rick that he needs to be a father to the kid. That being more important than Randall.

It had Lori being as sympathetic as she has been during the entire season. She told Shane how she felt and that she needed to thank him for everything he did. This doesn't vindicate Lori but humanized her. Perhaps the death of Dale has a lot to do with this. But she told him everything that she should have a long time ago. Because he did care about them and he wasn't the villain trying to sleep with the hero's wife. He was doing his part in a world that is overrun by walkers. Too late she said it perhaps but it was finally all said. Though that may caused Shane's epic breakdown in the second half of the episode.

Andrea continues to become more of a favorite to me. In her scene with Glenn and the rv, as heavy handed as it was, it was very effective in conveying what Dale meant to them.

Everyone on the show had a few lines and something to do. Even T-Dog! Well, except for Beth. Most of her scenes have been lying down and not in a good way. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Better Angels" was directed by Guy Ferland who is  a television journeyman director who has worked on anything and everything. He didn't go for many trick shots but decided to shoot for "Breaking Bad" type cinematography in several shots. The climactic showdown between Rick and Shane was beautifully shot. Done slowly, allowing both expressive actors time to shine under a clear sky and bright moon. Even that last chilling (chilling!) scene where a herd of walkers are headed towards the farm was directed well.

Shane. Damn, I'm missing his character already. In the comic book series, he was just villainous but in this series, he was kind of a "tweener". He did everything that was needed to survive but was mentally breaking down. Whether it was because of love or just the desperation of this world, but he was losing it. His final scene with Rick was incredible. Leading up to it, Rick and Shane searched for Randall. A man that Shane had let loose and then killed out by the trees. Rick at a certain point, KNEW something was wrong. And Andrew Lincoln just killed it by showing how smart Rick was at that point. He knew it was coming down to a confrontation with Shane away from everyone else. And Jon Bernthal killed his scenes by being alternately scary-psycho and heartbreaking. Then came the scene that delivered on all it's promise. The accusations, the pleading, and everything that Shane DID NOT say when he was confronted by Rick at the crossroads episodes ago came flooding out.

And Rick killed him by stabbing. Were his real intentions to kill Rick? Or was he committing suicide in a way? Or leaving Rick with the tough decision of having to kill someone close to him, forcing his hand and leaving behind the legacy of Rick now graduating into the man that Shane said he had to be? Wow! Certainly, Shane could have killed him but the more I ponder the scene, the more it looks like after what Lori said to him and everything else going on, that he wanted to die! Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps he was just mentally breaking down and was willing to do whatever he needed to to feel better. And what the hell was that going on his head before he became Zombie Shane?

Through his eyes, we could see his mind filled with blood, gore, teeth and biting sounds. Then he turned. He wasn't bitten. Randall wasn't bitten. Those guards of a couple of episodes ago weren't either. Is this how people die in this world now? Their heads filled with images of walker sustenance? Then raising up from the dead to feed on live beings, whether animals or people? What turned everyone into walkers after death must be a disease. It's already in the air! How much do you want to bet that what Dr. Edwin Jenner whispered into Rick's ear was that everyone is infected already and destined to become walkers? That they are practically the walking dead already?

Thoughts?