Last night's episode "Chupacabra" is titled so as a reference to zombie killin' machine Daryl claiming he once saw an actual chupacabra. Another character guffaws upon hearing this and asks, "Dude, did you really see a blood-sucking dog?" Dude, why not? You live in a world where flesh-eating monsters exist. A blood-sucking dog doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility. I guess for some people, seeing really is believing. Even in the world of The Walking Dead.
We'll get to Daryl in a minute since last night was undoubtedly his time to shine. For now let's start at the beginning flashback style. Shane, Lori and Carl are stranded with hundreds of others in a highway traffic jam from hell. Ed and Carol are there too. When Carl says that he's hungry, Carol offers some food, but Ed, of course, shuts that down. Oh, Ed, we so don't miss you.
Military helicopters fly overhead, so Lori and Shane decide to check it out only to find the city of Atlanta being fire-bombed. Shane breathes it all in and exclaims "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!" Ok, not really, but he should have.
Back in the present, Lori wakes to find Carol hanging laundry. Carol says she wants to make dinner for Hershel and his family to thank them for their hospitality. So no worries, folks, even in the apocalypse, we'll still have potlucks!
Meanwhile, Rick is still organizing search parties for Sophia. Seventeen-year-old Jimmy wants to help out, claiming it's ok with grandpa Hershel. Daryl says he's going to borrow a horse and scout the area from a ridge. Oh, in Daryl speak, "borrow" means "take without asking."
Glenn sits on the front porch, playing his guitar, as one does, when Maggie walks by. Are you ready for some awkward sexual tension?! Glenn matter-of-factly states they still have 11 condoms left. Maggie answers it will be 11 minutes of her life she won't get back. Burn! Remember, fellas, never tell the girl how many condoms are left. Also, never use condoms.
While patrolling the woods, Rick reminices with Shane about past sexual encounters they had in high school because they're bros and bros always talk about pussy. But things turn heavy, bro, when Shane questions why they're still looking for Sophia after 72 hours of her gone missing. "At that point, you're looking for a body," he points out.
Meanwhile, Daryl notices a doll lying at the bottom of a ravine and climbs down to retrieve it. It belongs to Sophia but she's nowhere to be found. Yes, another sign that proves nothing! Daryl moves on, but his horse is startled by a snake and bucks him off back into the ravine. Daryl takes quite a tumble but appears to be ok...until he notices one of his arrows lodged in his rib cage. Ain't no way he's gettin' out of this bucket of pickles.
Daryl picks himself up by his bootstraps and tries to climb back out of the ravine. He almost makes it too, but instead he stumbles and falls back to the bottom, this time knocking himself unconscious.
Back at the farm, Glenn inquires Lori about the pregnancy test. Without her uttering a word, he figures out two things: A) she's pregnant. B) she hasn't told Rick. Lori is an open book, apparently.
Rick goes over what Shane said with Lori. He wonders if he's holding onto a way of thinking that doesn't make sense anymore. Maybe he is spreading the group too thin. Lori assures him he's make the best decisions he can. She also doesn't tell him she's pregnant.
Beth interrupts to let Rick know Hershel wants to talk. Seems Daryl took his horse without permission. (What?! That's not the Daryl I know!) Also, Jimmy didn't have Hershel's blessing to join the search party. He doesn't say it but clearly Hershel blames Rick for these indiscretions, but it seems to me nobody likes talking to you, old man. Ever think of THAT?!
Back in the forest, Daryl has a vision of Merle. (We knew he'd be back, but not quite like this. Nice touch, writers.) The one-handed redneck spouts off some insults and racial slurs before basically chastising Daryl for falling in with the gang. Daryl then wakes up to find a walker gnawing at his boot.
He kills the walker, then in a feat too jaw-dropping to believe, pulls the arrow lodged in his side just in time to shoot and take out a SECOND walker. He then kills a squirrel, eats its raw insides, cuts off the walkers' ears and makes a necklace out of them. I'm not joking, he does that. He is Daryl, hear him roar.
Back at the farmhouse, Hershel confronts Maggie about getting close with the group. "They won't be around for long," he says, before adding, "What's going on with you and the Asian kid?" Maggie politely nods and leaves the room, like we all do when we feel our grandparents are about make a vaguely racist statement.
Speaking of that Asian kid, I mean Glenn, he's in the RV asking Dale for advice about women. ("Bro, what's with women, bro?") Lori is acting strangely and so is Maggie, and Glenn thinks it might be their periods syncing up (Let's be honest, that's probably it!) He then admits to banging the farmer's daughter, much to Dale's chagrin. Dale is definitely not a bro.
On the roof, Andrea, for some reason, sits guard with a rifle. She notices a figure off in the distance and believes it to be a walker. She sets the figure in her sights while Rick, Shane and T-Dog run towards it. They are shocked to find out the bloody, limping figure is Daryl. Andrea shoots anyway and grazes his head.
Side Rant: Where the fuck does Andrea go thinking she's all the sudden a marine sniper?! I'm surprised nobody chewed her out over this. This was a near-fatal mistake that probably should've gone punished. I'm not saying they should've beaten her or anything, but at least curse her out in front of everybody and take away the gun privileges. Enough to get the point across they can't afford dumb mistakes like that. But of course, this didn't happen.
Later, Hershel tends to Daryl's wounds. "It's a wonder you people have survived this long," he says. "Man, he can be a real dick", Rick thinks to himself.
Shane reiterates that they should call off the search. Rick argues that they found a doll, so obviously the search is on. When Shane makes his case to Lori, she argues calling off the search is the easy choice, not the hard one. "Exactly," said all of last night's viewers at the same time.
So the nice dinner that was planned is uncomfortably awkward since everybody realized they don't like everybody else too much. Maggie slips Glenn a note that reads: "Tonight. Where?" Glenn is smiling from ear to ear. He's about to get some, bro!
Later on, Maggie reads Glenn's response: Meet me at the barn. "Oh shit", her expression says. "What's in the barn?" we all think.
Glenn notices the barn doors are locked shut so he climbs in through the hayloft, only to discover a pack of walkers roaming around inside. Maggie shows up and tells him he wasn't supposed to see this. Glenn thinks "No kidding. Oh, hey, we still doing this?"
Kyle Waldrup is a contributing writer for Groove Sandwich. Follow him on Twitter here.
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