'The Walking Dead' - Nebraska

The previous episode aired in December and ended with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) shooting zombie Sophia (Madison Lintz) in the head. This episode picks up just moments later.

Beth (Emily Kinney) runs to her the body of her walker mother and uncovers it. Not quite dead, the walker grabs at Beth and tries to bite her. The others rush to her aid, and Andrea (Laurie Holden) drives a scythe through the walker's skull.

Hershel (Scott Wilson) and his family head back toward the house, with Shane (Jon Bernthal) following them, accusing them of knowing Sophia was in the barn all along. Hershel tells them he didn't; then he turns on the group and tells Rick the he wants Shane off his farm.

Rick turns on Shane and tells him he was handling things. Shane calls Rick deluded, saying he had them searching the woods for a girl everyone knew was dead. Shane walks away and we see from Rick's face that he is beginning to doubt himself.

Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride) goes to the RV, with Daryl (Norman Reedus) following her. They sit there in silence. The decision is made to bury Sophia, as well as Hershel's wife and child. All the other walkers are to be burned.

Shane goes to get a truck to move the dead walkers away from the house to be burned. He sees Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) standing a distance away, just watching him. He confronts Dale, saying he solved the situation in the barn, and he saved Carl (Chandler Riggs), not Rick. He tells Dale he's only good for fixing the RV. Shane drives off, with Dale not having said a word.

The graves having been done, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) goes to get Carol for the service. Carol sees no reason to go. She feels that creature wasn't her daughter. Her daughter died a long time ago. Daryl exits the RV and walks away with obvious hurt on his face.

After a solemn, silent graveside moment, everyone separates. Andrea, Shane and T-Dog (IronE Singleton) attend to the burning. Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) have a discussion in the house. She needs to know that if his group leaves the farm, is he going with them. He says he hasn't thought about it. While this is going on, Beth collapses.

Believing she is in shock, they look for Hershel and he is no where to be found. They do see that he found his alcohol flask while packing his wife's things. Maggie reveals that he was a drinker before she was born. Rick and Glenn decide to head to the bar in town to find Hershel.

Lori has words with Rick. She tells him earlier Carl told her he would have shot Sophia himself. She says Carl needs his father here, not rushing off solving problems for everyone else. Rick tells her it is not just everyone's problem, but that they need Hershel for the baby.

Before they leave, Rick sees Glenn having a conversation with Maggie. Glen reveals on the drive that Maggie told him she loves him. Glenn did not say it back and can't believe it. He feels they barely know each other. Rick tells him when they return he should say it back and enjoy it while it lasts. There is too much of that sort of thing in the world now.

Lori talks with Dale. He expresses how dangerous Shane is. She admits he is a hothead, but not dangerous. Dale reveals his theory that Shane killed Otis. She is shocked and doesn't believe. Dale tells her Shane practically admitted it to him. She walks away from him stunned.

They arrive at the bar, and Hershel is buried deep in both the bottle and his grief. When Rick tells him of Beth, he says what can he do. He has lost all hope.

Back at the farm, Beth is burning up from fever, and her heart is racing. Lori asks Andrea to watch Carl. She goes to see Daryl, who is at a structure on the edge of the farm. She asks him to go get Rick and Hershel.

He tells her no, and when she asks why he is being so selfish he snaps at her. He says he was out looking for Sophia every day. He took an arrow and a bullet looking for the girl, and he is done searching for people. Lori walks away in a huff.

When next we see Lori, she is getting into a car. It appears she is going to get Rick herself. While driving and checking the map, she hits a walker on the road. The walker goes down, and Lori rolls her car, leaving it on its side.

Rick continues to try and get Hershel to come around. He tells Hershel that as leaders they have to live for their people, despite whether they believe in hope or not. Hershel turns his glass over and they stand to leave. Then two men enter the bar.

Our new arrivals are Dave (Michael Raymond-James) and Tony (Aaron Munoz). They have been traveling south from Philadelphia. They begin being friendly, but then show a large interest in where they are staying. Their demeanor is not one of an ally, and the cop in Rick reads this. Through conversation, Dave deduces they are staying on a nearby farm.

Dave reveals they have friends who aren't doing well. He wants to come to the farm and pool resources. Rick tells him the farm is at capacity and that isn't happening.

Tony reveals their intent when frustrated, saying he should just shoot them all in the head and take the farm. Dave and Tony maneuver themselves around Rick. Dave goes for his gun, and Rick kills Dave and shoots Tony. He then puts a bullet in Tony's head. He looks down on the corpse, and Hershel stands beside him.

At the farm, they have set the corpses ablaze, watching them burn.

I like how the burning is symbolic. Like the end of one problem on the farm. And the people at the farm don't know it yet, but the worst is yet to come.

With the exception of any scene containing Lori, this was a pretty solid episode. And any complaints about how slow the first half of the season was have totally evaporated now. It looks like we have plenty of action coming.

Points of Interest

1. The Nebraska reverence is regarding the stories Davey has heard from people about safe havens.

2. Beth didn't appear to be bitten. I wonder if we are about to learn that scratches turn a person as well.

3. Daryl refers to Lori as Olive Oyl. This is in reference to the girlfriend of Popeye the Sailor from comics and cartoons. Olive is a very, very thin woman.

What Worked

The conversation in the bar was gold. Rick getting a rise out of Hershel by basically saying as leaders we have to fake hope to keep the others going. It really seemed to resonate with him.

And I loved the cat and mouse conversation between Rick and Davey. It was obvious what Davey and Tony wanted, but the real drama in the scene was wondering what Rick was going to do about it. And he didn't disappoint.

What Didn't Work

When Beth runs to her zombie mother, the zombie is lying silent and still on the ground, and only lunges when it is uncovered completely. I know this was supposed to be for dramatic effect, but from what we have seen so far, walkers don't get stunned, and it should have been moving or making noise all along. Bad work people.

I have to wonder if someone on the staff dislikes Sarah Wayne Callies. They write her character as being so stupid and useless.

Lori has issues with Rick leaving to bring Hershel back because her son needs his father around, and not running around putting himself in danger. Then what does she do? She gets in a car to go get Rick and Hershel and bring them both back. What about Carl losing two parents?

The roads are empty, with only walkers wandering them, and Lori manages to hit one, then proceeds to roll her car. It's unlikely the walker she hit damaged its brain, so it's probably crawling after her. I almost want to cheer it on.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

"The Walking Dead" stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs. "Nebraska" was written by Evan T. Reilly, and was directed by Clark Johnson.

"The Walking Dead" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.