The Walking Dead Season 2, Episode 4: Cherokee Rose

Looks like it's back to more character building after last week's action-oriented episode. We only got one zombie this week, but it was a memorable, waterlogged and disgusting one.

The show seems to be paralleling the comic fairly closely again after veering away from it at the end of last season. Herschel's farm and the Glen and Maggie storylines were both prominent parts of the comic.

Spoilers!

• Dear Walking Dead:

  Please resolve the Sophia storyline. Soon.

  Signed,
  The World

• I'm glad Shane only wore those overalls for a minute or two during the episode. They, combined with his newly shorn head, made him look like a halfwit inbred hillbilly.

• Herschel's barn finally makes an appearance. Keep an eye on it, as it'll become important in the next couple of episodes.

• Herschel wants Rick and his crew to leave as soon as Carl is well enough to travel. Knowing how things turn out in the comic, that's probably a good idea for both sides.

• Darryl finds a cabin in the woods, complete with signs of life. Was Sophia recently there?

• Regarding the zombie in the well: the gang doesn't want to shoot it because they fear the resulting blood and brains will contaminate the water. What about the fact that a bloated dead guy has been splashing around in the well for weeks? That doesn't count as contamination? I know there's no way I'd drink anything that came out of that well ever again.

• Glen and Maggie finally hook up, complete with dialog straight out of the comic. I liked Glen's bragging on the way to the pharmacy, contrasted to his inept shyness as Maggie declares her desire to jump his bones.

• Carl finally gets his sheriff hat! He's been wearing it in the comic for years. Very cool to finally see him wearing it on the show.

• Darryl shows there's more to him that meets the eye as he gives the grieving Carol a Cherokee Rose. I'm sure his heart was in the right place, but I'm not sure that the accompanying story– that the flowers grow where the tears of grieving Native American mothers fell– is going to make Carol feel any better.

• Lori is pregnant, which comes as no surprise if you're a fan of the comic. So does Rick already know? I was sure that at the end of last season that that's what Dr. Jenner of the CDC whispered into Rick's ear. Again the question remains; whose baby is it? Rick's or Shane's?

• Was that Merle in the trailer for next week's episode? Sure looked like him. If it was indeed him, I'm betting he shows up in a flashback. It seems unlikely that he'd be taking the same route as Rick and company and hook up with them again.