"The Walking Dead:" Big Truckin' Surprises

At first this episode, titled “Home,” was kind of slow, but the last fifteen minutes are ones that you don’t want to miss if you’ve DVR’d to watch later. For those who can’t watch right away, the following is a VERY detailed recap of all the major events of the episode. Be warned: HUGE SPOILERS LIE AHEAD!
At the prison, Rick is standing guard and watching, presumably for the governor. He looks through binoculars and hallucinates seeing Lori in a white dress in the prison yard. She is standing by the graves they dug. When he gets to the graves, she is gone. He looks around and rubs his eyes tiredly, then he spots her again, this time just outside the fence. He runs past Michonne and unlock the fences, seeking out his lost love.
Finally they come face to face. She touches his face. Michonne watches Rick, who is alone, and touching thin air, with a puzzled look on her face.
At Woodbury, the guards are looking out. The governor goes to see Andrea, and tells her that her speech to the town’s people was exactly what they needed to hear. She asks about the prison, and he tells her there’s no plan for retaliation, because it won’t get them anything. She tells them she needs to go see them. And then he tells her that she is the leader the town needs. He tells her he really believed he kept his daughter alive long enough, Milton would find a cure. “These people need you,” he tells her. “We need you.” He leaves her looking uncertain.
Daryl and Merle are in the woods hunting. Daryl is trying to convince Merle that they should go to the prison. Merle tells him they’re all dead already anyway, so what’s the point? He tells his younger brother that the governor is probably throwing a party in his new digs.
Glenn has determined there’s another breach in the prison. Glenn suggests they sneak back into Woodbury and kill the governor. “I’ll do it myself,” he tells Michonne, who nods in agreement with his plan. Hershel tries to talk him out of it, pointing out that last time the governor was unprepared and Oscar died, and he and Maggie were almost executed and Daryl was captured. “We can’t stay here,” Hershel says. “We can’t run,” Glenn responds, and begins setting up battle plans to defend the prison.
The governor tells Milton he’s been invaluable, and asks him if he intends to stay. “Leaving’s never crossed my mind,” he assures the man. The governor is glad to hear that, and confides he’s not sure that Andrea is someone they can trust. He asks Milton to keep tabs on her for him, to which Milton agrees.
Andrea asks the guards where Martinez is, and asks if they saw him leave. Karen tells her they don’t know anything. Andrea runs down the street to catch Milton. She asks where the governor is, and says he’s out on a run. “A run meaning what, specifically?” she asks. He continues to be vague with his answers. She shakes her head in disgust.
“Running is not an option,” Glenn reiterates. The others are in favor of leaving. Glenn says he’ll take Maggie in the car and check out the other side of the prison. Hershel asks if Glenn’s sure she’s up to that.
Maggie is lying down on a bed when Glenn approaches. He tells her they need to find out how the walkers are getting into the tombs. When she’s silent, he tells her they need to talk about it. She asks if she does or he does. He describes what the governor did, and he asks if the governor raped her. She says no. “Do you feel better?” she asks. “I had a choice, either I take off my shirt or he takes off your hand. I had just listened to Merle beat the shit out of you in the other room. What could I do?” He apologizes. She shoves him away and tells him he got his answer, now, “Go away.”
Carol and Axel are reinforcing the fences, and he tells her he is scared of guns, and that he robbed a gas station with a toy water gun, that he never even took out. He describes the police finding his brother’s .38 the day after the robbery and charged him with armed robbery. She shows him how to load the gun and shoot.
Daryl and Merle are still in the woods. “I lost my hand, but you lost your sense of direction,” Merle tells him. They hear a baby screaming, though Merle insists it’s a wild animal. Sure enough, they see some people trapped on a bridge over the river, surrounded by walkers. Merle yells at them to jump and laughs, while Daryl runs off toward the bridge, Merle taunting him the whole time.
Daryl takes out several walkers on the bridge, helping save the people’s lives. The baby is screaming in a woman’s arms in a van that is surrounded by walkers, including one that is inside. Daryl grabs hold of him, and drags him out, beheading him.  Merle joins him on the bridge and shoots one of the walkers after his brother, though he offers no assistance in killing the walkers attacking the people on the bridge. Merle opens the SUV and points his gun at the Hispanic man, but Daryl tells him to back off. Merle is going through the SUV supplies when Daryl rounds the vehicle, pointing his bow at his brother, telling the others to get in the car and get the hell out of there. Merle glares at him as the people drive away.
Merle tells him those people owed them for saving their lives. Daryl turns and tells him that they didn’t owe him anything. Merle accuses him of turning his back on him, and Daryl tells him he’s a simple minded piece of shit. They exchanged heated words about Rick, and Merle reminds him the two of them were planning to “rob that camp blind.” Daryl says that never actually happened. Merle knocks him down, and Daryl’s shirt comes off, revealing deep scars on his back. Merle tells him he’s sorry, that he didn’t know. Daryl said yeah, he did the same thing to me that he did to you. Then he heads toward the camp, telling Merle that, “I may be the one who’s walking away. But you’re the one who’s leaving. Again.”
Hershel follows Glenn outside the prison toward the vehicle to make sure he’s not going back to Woodbury. “I can’t just sit on my hands.” He tells Glenn he knew Glenn did everything he could to help Maggie, and that Glenn’s rage is going to get him killed. “With Daryl gone, and Rick wandering crazy town, I’m the next in charge.” Hershel asks what he’s proving. Glenn gets into the truck and drives away.
Beth carries Judith into Maggie’s cell and asks her to help feed the baby so she can make Hershel something to eat. Maggie takes the child wordlessly from her sister and gives Judith her bottle. Beth instructs her how to do it right to avoid the baby getting gas. Then Beth reaches out and covers Maggie’s hand with her own.
Rick is out in the woods outside the prison and hears someone calling his name. It’s Hershel on the other side of the fence. Rick walks toward him. “You know I wouldn’t have hobbled all the way down here if it wasn’t important. Are you coming back soon?” He tells Rick that Glenn is on the warpath, that he’s reckless, and they need Rick. He asks Rick what he’s doing out there. Rick says he’s been doing “stuff” out there. He admits he doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to need. Hershel asks if there’s anything he can help him with, and when Rick doesn’t answer, he starts to head away. Rick says he saw something. That he saw Lori, and that he’s still seeing her. He says he knows it’s not really her, but there has to be a reason. “Was it her on the phone?” Hershel asks. “Yeah,” he admits. “Shane, too. And the town.” Hershel asks if Rick sees them now, and says he’s looking for them. Rick says no, he’s waiting. “There’s an answer. I know it doesn’t make sense. I think in time it’ll make sense.” He tells Rick to come inside, because it’s not safe out there. Rick says he can’t, and walks away.
Axel and Carol are outside talking again, about Rick being stressed out. He says he did well in prison because things were more simple. “Didn’t you miss your brother?” Carol asks. Axel says no, he had a real money problem–he wouldn’t lend Axle any. Before he can say anything else, his head explodes as a shot rings out. Everyone whirls around, and the camera pans in on a high-powered being lowered. The governor has arrived.
Shots are being fired rapidly and Carol takes cover under Axel’s body while the others drive for cover wherever they can find it. There is a rapid exchange of gunfire from both parties, though Axel appears to be the only fatality. Maggie brings out larger weapons and draws fire so Carol can take better cover. There’s the sound of a vehicle approaching, and it batters right through all the fences around the prison. They release a truck full of walkers inside the prison yard. Daryl shows back up just in time to save Rick’s life by stabbing a walker through the head, while Glenn rescues Hershel by driving through the yard with his truck.
Walkers are swarming into the crashed prison gates, drawn by the noise of the gunfire. The camera focuses in on Rick’s face. He is seething in anger as the screen fades to black.
Did you watch tonight’s episode? What did you think? Comment below, or follow me at @WalkinDeadAngie on Twitter! I want to hear your reactions!
“The Walking Dead” (2010)
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Laurie Holden
Creator: Frank Darabont