PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ZOMBIES

AMC:  With Carl and Lori distracted feeding the chickens, Patricia sneaks off with a few in tow to a private shed, wherein she breaks their legs, places them in a burlap sack and heads off to the barn.  Once there, she empties the sack of crippled chickens directly into Hershel’s collection of zombies below, who ravenously feast!

THE COMICS:  We never hung around Hershel’s farm long enough to see if the farmer had taken to actually providing food for his barned collection of walkers, nor do we know if he believed the dead actually required any kind of sustenance.  On the other hand, The Governor made a regular habit of feeding his captive zombies over at Woodbury, claiming it made them more docile for used in his gladiator games.

GLENN THE SECRET KEEPER

AMC:  Once again we’ve seen Glenn burdened with secrets to keep from the other survivors of his group, first by Lori’s pregnancy and now trusted by Maggie not to reveal what lies in Hershel’s barn.  Glenn cracks under the pressure however, and spills both to Dale.

THE COMICS:  Glenn never had to worry about keeping the other survivors’ secrets, as Lori was the first to know of her pregnancy merely by sensing it, and Hershel freely told Rick and the others of his reasons for keeping walkers in the barn.

A GIRL’S GOTTA DEFEND HERSELF

AMC:  As Rick and Shane examine their map in the search for Sophia, Patricia and Beth ask to take part in their gun training session later that day.  Hershel reluctantly condoned their involvement, as Patricia mentions that with Otis gone, and his gun expertise with him, even the girls must learn to defend themselves.

THE COMICS:  In the books, it was actually Hershel’s idea to invite Patricia to train with Rick, adding that she’d feel better not relying on (a still-living) Otis for protection.  In spite of this, Patricia doesn’t actually appear at the comic gun range for unspecified reasons.

CARL GETS HIS GUN

AMC:  Carl asks Shane if he’d persuade Lori and Rick to allow the boy to participate in gun training as well, jumping the gun a bit (pun intended) by swiping a firearm and stashing it in his belt.  Shane immediately tells Rick and Lori, and Lori predictably balks at the idea of allowing Carl a gun.  She quickly comes around, however, as Rick convinces her the boy should learn guns even after his accident, and Shane offers his expert training services, having taught children even younger than Carl.  Lori accepts, but insists they’ll take the gun away should they hear any hint of improper use.

THE COMICS:  As far back as the first camp outside Atlanta, it was Rick who had the idea that all survivors should carry and train with firearms, including Carl.  Lori strongly objected, but Rick allayed her by telling all survivors that they should immediately report it if Carl so much as appeared to withdraw the weapon from its holster without danger present.  Lori quickly changed her tune after the camp attack that claimed Amy and Jim, as Carl’s proficiency with his firearm saved her life when she fumbled with her own.

GUN TRAINING ON THE FARM

AMC:  Under Shane’s licensed tutelage, he and Rick set up a line of cans and bottles atop one of Hershel’s fences for a makeshift target practice that Andrea, T-Dog, Carol, Jimmy, Patricia, Beth and even young Carl take part in.

THE COMICS:  Also with Hershel’s blessing, Rick (as Shane had died) set up a target practice somewhere on Hershel’s property, though with a different roster than AMC’s version.  Instead, Rick trained Glenn, Maggie, Tyreese, his daughter Julie and her boyfriend Chris, as well as Hershel’s children Lacey and Arnold, but the session was quickly broken up by Hershel, worried their bullets might hit a neighbor’s house.

Structurally, AMC’s training scene more closely resembles Rick and Shane’s training sessions with Andrea and the others at the original survivors’ camp.

ANDREA’S MARKSMANSHIP

AMC:  Andrea proves a natural talent with firearm marksmanship to the surprise of both Rick and Shane, effortlessly hitting her targets on the range.  Shane even suggests a heavier pistol, which she continues to perform well with.  Later, Andrea proves less effective with moving targets in high-pressure situations, but under Shane’s tutelage quickly regains her expert aim in time to avoid becoming zombie fodder.

THE COMICS:  Image comics Andrea also developed natural marksmanship right from the outset of her training under Rick and Shane, which continued to evolve over the course of the series and eventually led to Andrea taking up a sniper rifle as her weapon of choice.  Unlike her AMC counterpart, Andrea never had to struggle to recreate her precision in actual combat.

HERSHEL’S FAMILY AND VIEWS ON THE DEAD

AMC:  Having learned from Glenn, Dale seeks out Hershel to talk about the zombies being kept in the barn, which Hershel insists are still people, despite the dangers they might pose.  Partly his views are shaped by the fact that his wife and stepson are among the dead ones shambling in the barn, who he believes to be “sick” rather than undead monsters.  Curiously, Dale makes no mention of the actual scientific data he and the group learned from Dr. Jenner at the CDC only a few short weeks prior.

THE COMICS:  Rick was originally the one to confront Hershel about the zombies being kept in the barn, which Hershel similarly insisted were still people, but rather than assume them to be sick he insisted that no one, including any of the survivors had any real idea about their affliction.  For all they knew, the zombies might heal up and come back to life the very next day, and Hershel didn’t want blood on his hands if indeed the condition were reversible.

Additionally, it was Hershel’s eldest son Shawn that he couldn’t bring himself to kill and kept in the barn, rather than AMC’s wife and stepson.  In the comics, Hershel’s wife had already died some six years prior.

HERSHEL IRONICALLY PREDICTS LORI'S DAUGHTER

AMC:  After Carl succeeds in his gun training, Hershel cracks a joke to the newly (and secretly) pregnant Lori about being glad she doesn’t have a daughter, which itself creates problems much more complicated than wanting to shoot guns.

THE COMICS:  Fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony, as Lori’s child  would indeed turn out to be a girl, young baby Judith!  That’s not actually Lori in the image mind you, but rather a doctor from Woodbury who delivered the baby.

LORI’S VIEWS ON LEAVING THE FARM

AMC:  After learning in conversation with Hershel that he expects the survivors group to move on from the farm, Lori rushes to talk to Rick about how to handle the situation.  Lori remains adamant they stay given the security, food and available medical care, but rather than let Lori plead their case to Hershel, Rick insists they give the rigid farmer some space and that Rick himself will protect their family no matter what.

THE COMICS:  We didn’t actually see the moment she learned Hershel wanted the group off the farm, but comic Lori sure didn’t hesitate to give the farmer a piece of her mind, and he nearly backhanded her for the trouble!  Of course, comic Hershel was understandably somewhat more distraught to begin with, having lost two of his children days prior, and focusing on the availability of food for his own remaining family. 

SHANE AND ANDREA’S PRIVATE TRAINING

AMC:  Following up on her training and marksmanship, Andrea goes for a private "advanced" training session under Shane and fails to hit a moving target he sets up.  In his drill instructor-like pressure, Shane makes an inappropriate reference to Andrea’s deceased sister Amy, which quickly ends the session.

THE COMICS:  Andrea never undertook any additional training, not that we saw anyway, and Shane only ever spoke kindly of Amy, remembering her at her funeral as someone who always lightened the mood, and whom he’d miss.

DALE’S CHAT WITH LORI

AMC:  Observing her nausea, Dale approaches Lori to reveal his knowledge of her pregnancy, and comfort her in her concerns for the child’s future.  While she also confirms his suspicion about her affair with Shane, she insists confidently that the baby belongs to Rick no matter what.

THE COMICS:  As we mentioned last week, comic Dale proved far less sensitive and understanding than his AMC counterpart in his pregnancy conversation with Lori, insisting that no matter what happened with Shane or who the baby’s actual father was, she should hide the truth from Rick at all costs to avoid damaging the leadership of the group. 

LACEY AND SHAWN

A few weeks ago we mentioned that AMC Hershel Greene’s family differed greatly from the comics, as AMC opted not to include Hershel’s children Arnold, Lacey, Billy, or the young twins Rachel and Susie, replacing them with Maggie’s younger sister Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy.  AMC’s Hershel also mentioned in “Bloodletting” that he lost his wife to the zombies, rather than her comic fate of simply having died years earlier.

In “Secrets,” Maggie objects to Glenn referring to the barn’s dead as “Walkers,” instead preferring to remember them by their names, including  Mom, Lacey and Shawn!  Shawn was Hershel’s eldest son in the comics, and had already died before Rick’s group arrived, his reanimated body among those in the barn.  Lacey on the other hand was killed along with her brother Arnold when Hershel lost control of the barn, Arnold himself actually bitten by the zombified Shawn.

AMC’S Shawn may prove to be the “stepson” Hershel refers to rather than his own biological child, but prior to “Secrets” no one ever made reference to Lacey, or her relationship to the family. 

A “HOUSING DEVELOPMENT,” YOU SAY???

As Rick, Shane and Jimmy plot the continued search for Sophia, Jimmy makes mention of a nearby housing development the young girl could have hidden in, which Shane and Andrea later search, and narrowly escape from.

While no explicit name is given to the “housing development” clearly overrun with walkers, might it be “Wiltshire Estates,” a gated community the comic survivors visited, and nearly died escaping  before being brought to Hershel’s farm?  AMC’s Shane and Andrea only searched one of the many houses, so you can bet dollars to doughnuts we’ll be going back there to find out!

LORI’S CHOICE

AMC:  With Glenn aware of her pregnancy, Lori asks him to retrieve a few more items from the drugstore in town, including morning after pills, which she takes in a handful before immediately deciding to puke them up!  Aware of the difficult decision before her, Glenn also opted to bring back prenatal vitamins should she decide to keep the baby.

THE COMICS:  Lori of course questioned how she and Rick would handle a pregnancy in a post-apocalyptic landscape, but never once thought to or even attempt aborting the baby.  Strangely, comic Lori never thought to raid any drug stores that might help her, either!  Duh.

GLENN AND MAGGIE GET EVEN CLOSER

AMC:  Still rattled by her zombie encounter at the pharmacy and angry over Lori’s apparent choice to abort her pregnancy, Maggie passionately kisses Glenn in a moment alone and insists he shouldn’t continue risking his life for other members of the group.  Having already lost the people she cares most about in the world, she couldn’t bear losing him too.

THE COMICS:  Like we mentioned last week, that Maggie tossed out the L-word pretty quickly in the comics, even if AMC’s version didn’t technically say it here.   However, in the books it was Glenn who decided not to leave the farm with the other survivors, telling Rick he’d found love with Maggie, and didn’t want to risk his life on dangerous supply missions anymore. 

SHANE AND ANDREA!  SHANDREA!!!

AMC:  Perhaps with adrenaline still pumping from the escape, and won over by Shane’s lack of babying her (or those pecs, because good LORD), Andrea makes the decision to…ahem, “go for it,” as she and Shane stop the car to hit that right then and there!  Beep indeed, car.

THE COMICS:  Gross!  Er, well…Shane and Andrea might have developed an interest in one another if he’d, you know, lived past the Atlanta campsite, but Carl put an end to comic Shane’s life before we could ever see any real interaction between he and Andrea.  Comic Andrea was also a few years younger, but that didn’t stop her from skewing even older than Shane by hooking up with Dale the moment they got to Wiltshire Estates!

Girl sure loves that post-apocalyptic ass.

SHANE AND DALE

AMC:  Understandably incensed by Shane and Andrea’s less than subtle behavior upon returning to camp, Dale angrily insists that the low down dirty Shane should follow through on his plans to leave the group.  Not only does Dale also question Shane’s explanation of how Otis died, but he even brings up the moment he caught Shane training his gun on Rick back in season one’s “Wildfire!”  As Dale lobbies accusations at him, Shane subtly threatens him back by implying he regards Dale’s life even less than his best friend Rick’s.

THE COMICS:  The two never came into direct conflict in the books, but Dale distrusted Shane from the beginning, planting suspicions in Rick’s head about Shane’s relationship with his wife, or observing Shane’s increasingly troubling behavior as he and Rick gathered firewood for a cookout. 

RICK AND LORI’S REVELATIONS

AMC:  Finding her discarded morning-after pill packaging, Rick realizes Lori’s pregnancy and seeks out his wife to confirm the news, arguing over how they should have handled this revelation.  Lori even confesses to her affair with Shane, a bombshell Rick calmly accepts under the pretense that she believed him to be dead!  But judging by the way she reacted to the question, might Shane and Lori’s affair have actually begun before Rick’s shooting?

THE COMICS:  We’ve already told you that the comic book Lori made sure Rick was the first to know of her pregnancy after herself by telling him out and out, and never once tried or thought to abort the baby.  What’s more of a departure made by AMC’s The Walking Dead is that comic Lori never explicitly confirmed her one-time tryst with Shane to Rick.  Despite all evidence admittedly pointing to it, Rick could never bear to hear the actual words confirming the truth, declining several attempts from both Dale and Lori herself.

What did you think of The Walking Dead season 2 episode six, "Secrets?" Did we miss anything else from the comics you might have caught? 

Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check back next week for our in-depth comic-to-TV comparison of episode seven, the ominously-named, "Pretty Much Dead Already"!

Want even more Walking Dead?  Be sure to check out our in-depth-comparisons of the first five 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

The Walking Dead 2.05 - "Chupacabra" Comic-to-TV Comparison