Ultimatum Time
Rick and Shane are going to leave Randall 18 miles out, but Rick stops sooner to talk to Shane. Shane explains what he did to Otis. Rick tells him that while he understands what happened between him and Lori, but that was it. He says Shane doesn't love Lori, and he needs to accept the way things are not if they're going to move on. Rick is going to stay alive to protect his family—Lori, Carl, his baby. Shane tells him Lori and Carl kept him alive after the world went to hell.
As they continue driving, Rick says they need to start using their knives more. It'll be quieter and save ammunition. They also need to start stocking up for the winter, which could help them as well. Perhaps the cold will take care of some walkers for them. Shane watches a walker in the field. Rick finally stops when he reaches county buildings, and when they see a walker, he stops Shane from shooting. Instead, he cuts his finger to lure the walker over and stabs it in the head. Once inside the fence, they find burned bodies and an empty bus. Shane notices the dead walkers haven't been bitten, so it must've been scratches.
When Lori checks on Beth after bringing her food, she hasn't eaten anything. Beth thinks it's all pointless, and Lori tries to convince her to stay strong for those still alive who love her. However, she did take a knife from the tray, and Lori forces her to hand it over. She tells Andrea to go get Maggie.
Rick and Shane are ready to leave Randall where he is, with a knife lying on the ground some distance away, but then he says he knew Maggie. That means he knows where the farm is. Shane wants to shoot him, but Rick pushes him aside as he fires and kicks the gun aside. He wants to take a night to think with Randall locked up in the barn. Shane doesn't think Rick can keep them safe, and that's when the fight turns physical. Meanwhile, Randall does the smart thing and crawls towards the knife.
Shane pulls a motorcycle down on Rick and goes after the gun he kicked away. Rick stops him as he aims for Randall and gets the upper-hand. However, Shane throws a wrench at him, and when Rick ducks, it breaks a window and alerts the walkers inside. Rick kills the first one out and uses it to cover himself as Shane runs from the rest.
Walkers and Hopeless
Maggie has found out that Beth plans to kill herself and tries to convince her not to by bringing up what it would do to Hershel. Beth doesn't care. Randall has freed his legs in time to stand as a walker goes after him and gets his arms in front of himself in time to stab the walker. Lori and Andrea listen as Maggie and Beth yell and fall on different sides of the argument. Andrea thinks Lori should've let Beth keep the knife and find her own reasons to live, while Lori's had enough of Andrea not helping out like the other women have since she thinks the men have everything else under control. Andrea points out that everyone has faced losses, except for Lori it seems. Rick and Carl have both seemingly come back from the dead and now she has a baby on the way.
Rick gets to his gun and shoots a walker approaching. It falls on top of him, and he shoots a second walker. He ends up at the bottom of the pile and shoots a third one through the head of the first. Maggie's still trying to convince Beth to stay alive, but now Beth has a new idea: for them to help each other and do it together. She wants to die that night with Maggie beside her.
Now on the bus, Shane uses his blood to lure a walker close enough to stab in the head. Andrea checks on Maggie and suggests she let her sit with Beth while she gets air. Once Maggie's gone, Andrea tells Beth the pain doesn't go away, "you just make room for it" and leaves. Uh-oh. Rick catches up with Randall, who first asks to be let go then suggests they just leave Shane. Rick grabs him and leaves as Shane watches from the bus.
Maggie returns to find the bedroom empty and Beth locked in the bathroom. Lori gets the door open, and they find the mirror broken and Beth's wrist bleeding. Rick hasn't left Shane and instead has gone for the guns from the dead walkers. Shane loses his knife when he stabs another walker in the head, and that's when help comes. Randall's driving as Rick's hanging out the passenger side, shooting the walkers. Shane goes out the back of the bus and jumps in the car.
When Andrea hears that Beth didn't cut deep, she tells Maggie that means she wants to live. Aggie doesn't want to hear it and tells her not to come into the house again. Lori does point out to Maggie that Beth has made the choice to live.
Rick and Shane are back where they started: Randall in the trunk. Rick's going to take a night to think before killing someone. He makes it clear that Lori's his wife, Carl's his son, and the baby's his child. If Shane's staying with them, he has to follow Rick's lead and trust him. On the drive back, Shane sees that same walker, still in the field.
What did you think of The Walking Dead season 2 episode 10 "18 Miles Out"?
© Meredith Jacobs 2012
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Episode starts with Daryl beating the shit out of Randall in a shed. Randall reveals that their group has about 30 people, including women and children, and that he doesn't know where they're staying since they're always on the move. He also says that they're heavily armed and tells a story about how they once found a guy with two young daughters while out scavenging and proceeded to rape the girls, letting their father live so he could watch. Daryl beats him even harder. Cue theme music.
Daryl leaves the shed and reveals to the others what he found out. Based on that knowledge, Rick decides that they must kill Randall. Only Dale argues against it and asks Rick for one day to talk to everybody and convince them to let Randall live. He gets no support from Daryl, Hershel, Shane or even Glenn. Then there's this big discussion about whether to go through with it. Dale vehemently objects, telling everyone that this is murder and means forever giving up hope for a civilized society. In the end, only Andrea sides with Dale. Majority rules, so Randall is to be executed.
There's also a moment between Hershel and Glenn at one point where the old man gives Glenn his father's watch along with his blessing to Glenn's relationship with his daughter.
Meanwhile, Carl sneaks into the shed to look at Randall who begs Carl to help him escape. Shane finds Carl there and drags him out, telling him to stop trying to get himself killed. Carl then immediately goes and calls Carol an idiot for believing that Sophia is in heaven. Rick asks him to apologize and start thinking before opening his mouth. Carl then steals Daryl's gun, finds a walker stuck in a swamp and tries to shoot it. Before he can do that, the walker breaks free and attempts to grab Carl, who freaks out and runs away.
At nightfall, Rick takes Randall to the barn and prepares to shoot him, but Carl comes in to watch. Rick can't kill Randall in front of his son, so he decides to hold Randall in custody for now. Near the woods, Dale finds a mutilated cow and is attacked by the same walker from before, who freed itself from the swamp to follow Carl. Dale doesn't get bit, but the walker tears open his guts before it's killed by Daryl. Dale's wounds are too grave and Daryl performs a mercy killing by shooting him in the head. End episode.
Next episode: Shane snaps. He gets stabbed by Rick then comes back to life, only to be shot by Carl.
Suffice it to say that they leave the farm behind for good halfway through the season finale. There will be some more casualties, rest assured.