The Walking Dead S1E5 (11/28/10)

For not having that much zombie-action - and yes, I confess to being on the side of the zombie-action proponents vs. the survivor-tales camp - I thought this was a good episode.

The remaining survivors clean up camp in the aftermath of last night's walker onslaught.  The zombies get pickaxes through the brainpan and then tossed on a bonfire; the pre-zombie dead humans get pickaxes through the brainpan and then buried.  There is some dissent that all the bodies should be burned, just in case, but Glenn is adamant that their people get treated with dignity, and Lori points out that burying their dead gives the living a chance to mourn. 

One person who is in full-on mourn mode is Andrea, crouched motionless over her dead sister's body.  The other survivors are getting antsy, knowing that dead Amy is a zombie time bomb just waiting to wake up and start chomping.  But when Rick tries to take Amy's body, Andrea shoves her gun - safety off this time - in his face and tells him to back the hell off.  The survivors give the sisters some space.  And when Amy jerks back to zombie life, Andrea strokes her face, tells her little sister that she loves her and puts a bullet in her poor dead brain.

Another issue is that Jim - he of the grave-digging dream - got bitten during the zombie fight.  Darryl thinks they need to pickaxe him ASAP but Rick thinks they need to try to save him.  Rick suggests that they go to the CDC, thinking that if anyone could have survived this zombie apocalypse and possibly have any sort of treatment, it would be there.  Shane thinks they should go to Fort Benning instead: even though it's farther away, the military base should be well-defended.  There is quite a bit of tension between the group's two alpha males but in the end Shane caves and they head out for the CDC.  Rick leaves a note and a map for Morgan and his son: he's been trying to reach them on the walkie-talkie to warn them away from Atlanta but hasn't heard anything.

En route to the CDC, Jim gets worse and worse, finally asking the group to just leave him at the side of the road.  There is some discussion as to whether they should kill him so he doesn't zombify, but Lori points out that they should honor the dying man's wish and in the end they put him in the shade, say their goodbyes and leave him there.

Meanwhile, there is a lone survivor deep in the basement levels of the CDC ... and he's going a little nuts, being down there for 194 days.  He's been running tests on zombie tissue but a lab accident destroys the freshest specimens and he starts to despair, his taped log sounding more and more despondent.  One night, halfway through a bottle, he announces that he might blow his brains out the next day - he's undecided.  First, though, he's gonna get drunk.

Topside, the survivors have arrived at the CDC.  The grounds are littered with rotting, fly-infested bodies.  They pick their way through, only to find the CDC closed off behind blast doors.  Everyone starts to panic: they have no food, hardly any gasoline, it's nearly dark and the walkers are starting to stir.  From inside, the lab guy mutters for them to go away.  As Shane tries to drag Rick back to the vehicles, Rick sees movement from a CCTV camera.  He starts screaming, begging to be let in, saying that they'll die if they're not let in.  Finally, just as everyone is reaching meltdown, a blast door rolls up, flooding the ragged band of survivors with light.  Looks like they'll be inside for the night at least.

One nagging question: where the frack is Merle?

Previously on The Walking Dead / next time on The Walking Dead