The Walking Dead season 2 comes to a mid-season finale with its seventh episode "Pretty Much Dead Already," but how does it hold up to the comic book continuity? The skeletons come out of the barn as the group learns about the walkers Hershel keeps on his farm, Rick struggles to keep the peace, and the search for Sophia comes to a shocking conclusion. So what's next for The Walking Dead?
As AMC's incarnation weaves in and out of storylines from the books and adds its own original characters . and its own developments, we've compiled an in-depth guide for fans of the comic as well as AMC's The Walking Dead to enjoy. Check it out, and let us know your opinions of The Walking Dead's "Pretty Much Dead Already" in the comments below!
THE GROUP FINDS OUT ABOUT THE BARN
AMC: To the condemnation of Maggie and the urging of Dale, one morning during breakfast Glenn requests the group’s attention to inform them all of the walkers residing in Hershel’s barn, which stops them cold. Shane naturally wants to eliminate them all, while Rick insists they should respect Hershel by talking to him first.
THE COMICS: Comic Hershel made no secret of his views on zombies or storing them in his barn, freely telling Rick when the man asked if his group could stay in there. Rick was understandably shaken, but in the books it was Tyreese who first posed they respect Hershel’s views, being on his property and all.
GLENN AND MAGGIE’S TROUBLE IN PARADISE
AMC: Once again poor Glenn gets the cold shoulder from Maggie and winds up with literal egg on his face, having broken his promise to her to keep the barn a secret from the other survivors. Of course, they later kiss and make up, and we enjoy a shameless Portal plug!
THE COMICS: As we’ve mentioned before, comic Glenn and Maggie never struggled with their relationship this much, at least not in the beginning. They wouldn’t have any real fights until sometime later at the prison, but even then their fights were short-lived.
CARL AND SOPHIA, SITTIN’ IN A TREE
AMC: Doing homework overseen by his mother (Seriously? Homework in the zombie apocalypse?), Carl pauses to express how he doesn’t want to leave the farm without finding Sophia, and that she’d like it there.
THE COMICS: Carl and Sophia were also fairly close in the books, but being a bit younger were far more juvenile in their expressions of love, Carl recoiling from kisses but later agreeing to be her “boyfriend.”
After all, girls are icky.
SOME SERIOUS CARYL SHIPPING
AMC: What is this, relationship week? Once again we see a bond growing between Daryl and Carol over their desire to find Sophia, and Carol even admits they might never find the girl, preferring not to lose Daryl to the search as well.
THE COMICS: With Sophia safe and sound, the comic Carol was free to focus on her romantic pursuits, namely Tyreese. The two shared attraction instantly, and carried on quite a bit until their time at the prison.
DALE AND ANDREA (YES, MORE RELATIONSHIP DRAMA)
AMC: Though he never says it out loud, Dale clearly harbors some kind of feelings for Andrea, despondent over her relationship with Shane as the two share a chat in the RV over how far she’s come since the CDC.
THE COMICS: Things between the two moved much more quickly in the comics, already being an item by the time they reached Hershel’s farm. As you can see from the panel, conversations held between the two in the RV had a much happier tone.
HERSHEL THE WORKING MAN
AMC: Boning up on his bible studies, Hershel declines Rick’s offer to have the survivors contribute more by working on the farm, noting that they’re his fields to tend. Even so, we’ve seen the group pitch in before.
THE COMICS: Perhaps not as intent on getting the survivors off his property just yet, Hershel didn’t mind the group helping out around the farm. It’s also worth noting that while a spiritual man, comic Hershel wasn’t seen to be as explicitly religious, regularly reading the bible.
RICK’S FIRST WALKER
AMC: Though something of an older point, it’s worth noting that Rick mentions to Hershel his first time seeing a walker took place outside of the hospital he woke up in, just half a body snapping at him from the ground.
THE COMICS: Rick would indeed encounter the same “bicycle girl” zombie and later return to put it out of its misery, but his first walker encounter in the books took place in the hospital itself, having opened the cafeteria doors rather than flee from them as on TV.
HERSHEL’S ULTIMATUM
AMC: With the group having discovered the barn, Hershel bumps up his timetable for Rick and the others to leave the farm by the end of the week, while Rick insists (using some of Lori’s dialogue from the book) that he and the other survivors could help make a life, and survive together.
THE COMICS: Hershel was similarly wary of allowing Rick’s group to stay after Carl healed from his injuries, but took a much more dramatic approach to evicting the survivors, brandishing a gun to Rick. Of course, Hershel wasn’t in his right mind at the time, having lost three children in the barn accident days earlier.
We haven’t seen the immediate aftermath of AMC The Walking Dead’s barn incident, so this scene (or one like it) may very well still take place!
CONGRATULATIONS, SHANE!
AMC: When Shane struggles to understand why Rick would insist they stay on the farm given the barn full of walkers, Rick reveals Lori’s pregnancy, which Shane knows might be his. Rick never mentions that he’s aware of his former partner's affair with his wife, though Shane later tries to reason with Lori that he should have a hand in the child’s life.
THE COMICS: Nope! Deadzo. Carl put a bullet through Shane’s neck before he ever learned of Lori’s pregnancy, but generally Rick and Lori believed baby Judith was likely his.
MAGGIE SPEAKS UP ABOUT EVICTING THE GROUP
AMC: Having overheard his conversation with Rick, Maggie attempts to dissuade Hershel from forcing the group to leave the farm, quoting the bible and words of her late mother and insisting that her father was acting in his own interest, not hers.
THE COMICS: Even after her father walked in on her and Glenn sleeping together, Maggie never once (that we saw) went against her father in his wishes for the survivors to leave the farm. She did speak to Hershel about allowing Glenn to stay, but the only person to really question Hershel’s behavior was Otis, worried how the man might have shot Rick dead with less restraint.
SHANE WISHES RICK WERE DEAD
AMC: In a moment alone with Lori, Shane explains that he pities Rick for having survived his coma, given he doesn’t believe his former partner has the resolve to make the harder choices in this post-apocalyptic landscape. He also points out how often Rick’s behavior seems to put the group in danger, particularly Lori and Carl.
THE COMICS: Comic Shane also believed that Rick wasn’t meant to come out of his coma, though he was also brandishing a gun and out of his mind with his unrequited love for Lori at the time. Conversely, Rick and Shane’s attitudes were reversed, Rick insisting that Shane was the one putting everyone in danger by staying at the Atlanta campsite.
CARL STANDS UP TO SHANE
AMC: Pulling the man aside, Carl stands up to Shane by dismissing his plan to abandon the search for Sophia as bullshit. Not wanting to offend his little friend, Shane agrees that they’ll stay on the farm and do what needs to be done.
THE COMICS: Heh. It’s good to note that AMC The Walking Dead’s Carl feels comfortable enough to challenge Shane, given what happened when he stood up to him in the comics. Foreshadowing, perhaps? Plus, who doesn't love making children swear? In the books, Carl chastised his mother for using such foul language.
ZOMBIE WRANGLING
AMC: Sensing an opportunity to bring Rick around to his way of thinking on the walkers, Hershel enlists Rick's help in fishing a few trapped zombies out of a sinkhole and leading them to the barn using animal control ketch poles to keep a safe distance.
THE COMICS: Comic Rick also helped Hershel in wrangling a stray walker toward the barn, but comic Hershel had a much more hands-on approach to restraining zombies to guide them in. Granted, comic Hershel was a slightly younger, fitter man and the walkers less dangerously mobile, but he also may have just been acting quickly to deal with the one that wandered onto the property.
SHANE VS. DALE
AMC: Taking the proactive chance to hide the dangerous Shane’s guns out in the swamp, Dale finds himself unable to finish the job when Shane quickly catches up to him. Rather than shoot Shane, Dale observes that he’d rather not be taken down along with the world gone to hell around them, like Shane.
THE COMICS: Their argument recalls a similar position of Dale’s, and The Walking Dead books at large, in that people find themselves changing to survive in the new post-apocalyptic landscape. Dale himself was more than willing to confront people, Rick included, on their more troubling behavior, but it’s of interest to note that when Rick posed a “you kill, you die” rule to deal with Thomas over at the prison, Dale readily went along with it.
SHANE CRAZY
AMC: Already frazzled by Rick’s decisions, Dale’s attempts to hide his guns and the barn full of walkers, Shane completely snaps at the sight of Rick and Hershel leading more onto the barn. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he reminds the group how things need to be in the new order, and pumps rounds into Hershel’s walkers to prove his point.
THE COMICS: Comic Shane was prone to terrifying emotional outbursts as well, though in that case about Rick’s return and Lori not returning his affections anymore. Still, AMC Shane’s outburst feels right at home with the character from the books, and thankfully didn’t end with a bullet through his neck!
HOW THE BARN GETS OPENED
AMC: Still in a rage from Rick and Hershel’s efforts to store the dead rather than put them down, Shane takes it on himself to remove the barn’s locks and release the captive walkers into the open to be gunned down.
THE COMICS: In the books the barn doors flew open by accident, when a zombie leaning on the doors knocked over Hershel in his efforts to throw another one in. By the time Arnold rushed in to save his stunned father, the situation was already out of hand and the walkers overwhelmed the group.
HERSHEL DURING THE ATTACK
AMC: Wordlessly stunned by Shane gunning down his zombified neighbor, Hershel looks on incredulously during the outbreak of his barn as the survivors gun down all of the walkers (including Sophia) in shocked silence.
THE COMICS: Not only did Hershel attempt to plead with his zombified son Shawn to stop attacking his brother Arnold, Hershel also directly participated in the fray by taking Maggie’s gun and putting down Shawn, Lacey, and others. He then attempted to turn the gun on himself, but Rick stopped him before he could do the deed.
However, we haven’t yet seen the immediate aftermath of AMC The Walking Dead’s “Pretty Much Dead Already,” so there’s no telling what TV Hershel will do with his grief until February. Bummer!
FLAWLESS VICTORY!
AMC: When the shooting stops and the dust settles, the survivors remain completely unscathed by the outbreak at the barn, the walkers felled by a thorough line of fire from Shane, Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog and Andrea. No living casualties, unless of course, you count poor Sophia.
THE COMICS: Not so lucky. The comic outbreak at Hershel’s barn claimed the lives of Hershel’s eldest (living) children Arnold and Lacey, as well as forcing the man to put down his zombified son Shawn.
Then again, AMC The Walking Dead’s Hershel technically did lose Lacey, Shawn and his wife Annette in the incident, though they had already been among the dead ones in the barn.
ZOMBIE SOPHIA
AMC: Thus endeth the search for Sophia. Perhaps we’ll never know the circumstances of her death, undeath, or how she came to end up in Hershel’s barn without him knowing (or speaking up about it if he did), but zombie Sophia has been safely put to rest by Rick’s revolver. Bring on the crazed-with-grief Carol!
THE COMICS: Sophia’s death marks one of the biggest departures of AMC’s The Walking Dead to date, her comic counterpart having lived well past the barn, prison, and her mother’s suicide, still living as of issue 91.
Then again, we shouldn’t be too surprised. We all know how growing child actors prove problematic for TV shows, the increasingly tall Madison Lintz’s TV Sophia already being a full six years older than her comic counterpart. Not only that, but we’ve seen the AMC series’ tendency to kill off characters who never amount to much in the books, first with Otis.
Pour one out for Sophia, and be thankful for one hell of a mid-season finale for The Walking Dead. Bring on the February mid-season premiere!
What did you think of The Walking Dead season 2 episode seven, "Pretty Much Dead Already?" Did we miss anything else from the comics you might have caught?
Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check back from now until February 12th for our in-depth comic-to-TV comparison of episode 8, "Nebraska," the second half of The Walking Dead season 2, and other coverage of this and your other favorite shows!
Want even more Walking Dead? Be sure to check out our in-depth-comparisons of the first six episodes right here!
The Walking Dead 2.01 - "What Lies Ahead" Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.02 - "Bloodletting" Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.03 - "Save the Last One" Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.04 - "Cherokee Rose" Comic-to-TV Comparison
Dude, I think you miss one important part to compare here. When the survivors gang up and form the firing line in front of the barn, that's similar to what is happening in the prison arc. Remember the infamous scene of prison arc right before Rick killed Dexter the prisoner? The one that the survivors were almost overwhelmed by the herd coming from A-block? Basically this TV episode combines the barn zombie assault and the A-block zombie assault.
Now, I wonder whether they're really going to Fort Benning after this, or follow the comicbook plot and end up at the prison. I really can't wait to watch what we'll have on February!
Interesting point! For my purposes, I thought it more apt to compare the way disposing of Hershel's barn walkers differed from the more chaotic comic version, than to draw comparisons to their technique at the prison, but you might be right!
We know Gale Ann Hurd and Robert Kirkman (and previously Frank Darabont) DO want to incorporate the prison into the show, so maybe we'll see the A-block sweep incorporated as well! Maybe they find the prison on the way to Fort Benning!
As long as they can capture the pure terror that comes out of that arc, I'm ok if they change things (although I don't know how they're going to do something similar to the two girls getting their heads cut off, that seems to graphic, unless they do something with herschel's younger daughter and her friend).
Amc Hershel said that Otis used to wrangle up the zombies and put them in the barn. Otis left with shane and died before a missing girl was even mentioned. Hershel didn’t know she was in the barn.