Walking Dead - Judge Jury Executioner Review

This episode started off with a bang with Darryl beating the absolute holy hell out of the captive Russell. Russell plays the victim here and for a little bit I actually believe it, until he begins to tell Darryl about his group of 30 men, with heavy artillery, that have pretty much gone Atilla the Hun on every other group of survivors they have come in contact with regards their overall rapey-ness and pillaging. I thought this opening was both odd, and fitting in ways. Odd in the way that it seems that Darryl is just going in to take out his redneck aggression on a fellow one-legged redneck, but fitting because Darryl is slowly, but surely, going bat-shit insane. This was evident in a previous episode where he hallucinates and imagines Merle talking to him. (Another point I'll get into in a bit).

What you see next, is Carl disobeying his Dad/Step dad/uncle-cousin Shane, by going into the barn where Russell is held. Call it what you want, I call it "being a pre-pubescent little shithead." Look, we've all been there. you probably were a little asshole, I was a little asshole, and some might say, that I still am. Russell then begins to manipulate Carl in order to get free, which any prisoner would do. At this point, my thoughts were to kill Russell, burn and bury him. (It was a mistake bringing him back anyways). After being pulled from the barn and scolded by Shane, Carl then runs off and tells Carol that her daughter isn't in heaven and its stupid to believe that she is. (again, little asshole). This opens up what is the "the more you know" moment of the episode where Rick is telling Carl to Listen, and not speak. Which, falls on deaf ears, obviously.

The main conflict in this episode is the conflict between Rick and the rest of the group who want to eliminate Russell and Dale who wants to spare Russell and test him. Dale has told people of the group individually, that the group is "broken" in past episodes. In my opinion, Dale is the last shred of sanity in the group. He is the last bastion of the way that things were before the walkers took over. This is not only shown through his personality, but also through the age of the character. I think it is even prevalent in the way he travels. The RV is the last reminder of the creature comforts of a home before whatever it was turned the world to shit.

With Carl running off after his episode in the barn, he is wandering around the woods, being a little prick, where he comes across a walker in the woods. The series hasn't really had any walkers get close to the farm, since the Barn Incident. The walker is stuck in the mud by a creek, and instead of running, Carl hangs around to throw rocks at it. Most kids I know, poked a stick at dead things that weren't moving. But, hey, the times they are a changing. In the most unsurprising scene out of TV since Whitey Houston's death announcement, the walker gets loose, and Carl gets away, and neglects to tell anyone.

the climax of the episode is the town hall between Dale and the rest of the group about the impending execution of Russell. (Just do it. Seriously. The group has enough problems taking care of their own, just kill him). Anyways, they ultimately decide to kill Russell and Dale sulks off into a field, Where he runs into a cow that has been mangled by a walker. Lo and behold, its the walker that our little shithead Carl ran into in the woods. Whelp, Dale holds him off for long enough to have everyone see his guts ripped out. To do the merciful act, Darryl ends up shooting Dale to put him out of his misery.

The end of this episode brings the group to what I think will be a crossroads where splinters within will become fractures. I think that not only will you see a full on walker attack on the farm, but you are going to see a war with the group that Russell was previously associated with. My gut wants to tell me that with the stories that Russell was telling to Darryl, you shouldn't be surprised if you see one handed Merle in the very least in the other group, or in my mind, in a leadership role of some sorts. With two episodes left this season, they have two hours to bring him back into the fray.

Overall, this episode didn't do a lot in terms of story progression, however with the killing off of a main character, it does speed up the story line for future episodes remaining in the season.

overall - B

Ted