"The Walking Dead" and Slaying an Inner Cain: A Television Review ("Chupacabra")

Director: Guy Ferland.

Writer: David Leslie Johnson, Robert Kirkman and Frank Darabont.

Burn Atlanta, burn! Epis. 5 of Season 2 begins with a bang as "The Walking Dead" uses a flashback to incorporate some action in the narrative. As well, Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) turns up in one of Daryl's (Norman Reedus) vision and Glenn (Steven Yeun) finds Herschel's zombie farm. There seemed to be a little more energy in "Chupacabra" than previous episodes despite four plus showingss being dedicated to Sophia's search and rescue. Overall, this episode seemed like a good blend of action and drama.

Sophia's (Madison Lintz) search progresses as Daryl finds her stuffed toy, but there is no sign of the girl. Unfortunately, a rattlesnake shows up at the wrong time and soon Daryl is falling down a hill not once but twice. Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have an understandable falling out over the girl as Shane wants to move on to Ft. Benning. Hurrah, the main plot line of getting to Ft. Benning is finally mentioned the first time in three episodes. Other developments include Andrea (Laurie Holden) showing that she should never have been gun and that Dale (Jeffery DeMunn) was right. Daryl gets to be Andrea's target dummy. Also, Glenn enters Herschel's barn only to find a horde of zombies waiting for him. This is the reason that Herschel wanted these new survivors off his land pronto!

There were a few more dramatic elements including Glenn's fascination with Maggie (Lauren Cohan), but the crux of the past few episodes has been focused on Sophia and previously on Carl. Just when will this plotline be wrapped up? There seems to be no end in sight as Sophia drops one clue per episode to her potential whereabouts. This critic is guessing her final outcome is tragic or at least should be seeing as she is wandering about in a zombie apocalypse. A rescue or reunion could dampen the believability of the show.

One important element in this show was Merle's return and fist appearance in Seas. 2. This zombie fan expected Merle to return soon; hopefully, this character returns in physical form to pose a more physical threat to the survivors. The zombies are just not up to the job of creating too much tension on their own. With Merle's politically inappropriate views on race, religion, politics and class, this character is sure to upset some viewers if he later becomes a regular character.

This episode seemed to be more satisfying than "Cherokee Rose," with Epis. 4 spinning its wheels more than the showing here. At least in this episode, Shane is reminding other characters of the path ahead. As well, there were some decent action scenes involving Dixon and some confrontation between the Dixon brothers that might hint at a coming subplot involving Merle and the group at large. The destruction of Atlanta in a flashback also showed that the visual effects team is still working hard at their computer terminals and the sequence at Herschel's barn promises a further confrontation between Rick, Herschel and both groups. Just when the undead show up en masse to wreak havoc - nobody knows.

Overall: 7 out of 10 (interesting directing techniques from Ferland e.g. a camera rolling down a cliff, some excitement, more drama and another great cliffhanger ending).

"The Walking Dead" at the AMC:

Epis. 5 at the AMC

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