Triggerfinger
Directed by Billy Gierhart
After crashing her car in the previous episode, Lori regains consciousness, only to discover that a walker heard the noise and is attempting to attack her through the driver's side window. Lori manages to stab it in the face and escape the vehicle, then kicks another walker to the ground before shooting it.
Meanwhile, the group at the farm realizes that Lori hasn't come back, and Shane heads out to find her. He discovers her walking towards the town where Rick and Glenn were headed, and in order to convince her to come back to the farm, lies that Rick has already returned. Upon arriving back at the farm, Lori discovers Shane's lie and confronts him, which leads to Shane inadvertantly revealing to the group that she's pregnant.
Rick, Hershel and Glenn are planning to leave the bar after killing Dave and Tony, only to find out that the latter two men's group are outside and are calling out for them. The ensuing discussion between Rick and the group outside results in a shootout. Rick orders Glenn and Hershel to go out the back door. Glenn is nearly shot by one of the Philadelphia group (Sean), but Hershel shoots and wounds Sean first, leaving him to be mauled. Realizing that walkers are quickly swarming the area, the Philadelphia group quickly moves to flee the area, although they leave one of their members, Randall, for dead after the latter impales his leg on a fence spike. Rick, Hershel and Glenn discover Randall and, with no time to amputate his leg and walkers closing in, Rick rips Randall's leg off of the spike before they escape.
At the farm, Carol discovers Daryl's collection of severed walker ears. Daryl spots her and confronts her about Sophia's death, claiming that the girl wasn't his responsibility. Daryl ends up walking off angrily, though not before Carol says she won't let him push her away. Meanwhile, Beth is still in shock over what happened during the barn massacre.
The next morning, the group gets ready to go after Rick, Hershel and Glenn, while Dale indicates to Andrea that Shane is dangerous. Suddenly, Rick and the others return with a blindfolded Randall in the backseat. The group mulls over what to do with the hostage, with Rick and Shane having wildly different ideas - Rick wants to patch him up and drop him off somewhere remote to fend for himself, while Shane thinks doing so will lead to others finding out where the farm is and compromising their safety.
Maggie and Glenn talk about what happened when Hershel saved the latter's life at the bar, and Glenn indicates that he froze up because of her saying "I love you" to him a short while before, being afraid to die because of how it would affect her, but pushes Maggie away when she tries to console him.
In their tent, Rick and Lori talk about recent events. Lori states that Shane thinks the baby is his, that he is very dangerous and that she believes he killed Otis. She states to Rick that unless he does something, Shane's actions will put the group in danger.
Tropes:
- Accidental Public Confession: Shane inadvertently reveals Lori's pregnancy to the entire group.
- Bound and Gagged: Randall, when Rick's group brings him back to the farm.
- Continuity Nod: Carol discovers Daryl's necklace of severed walker ears (from the episode "Chupacabra"), and confronts him about Sophia's death and his reckless actions.
- Determinator: Lori still tries to get to the town to look for Rick, Hershel and Glenn, despite having just been in a car crash (while pregnant) and being attacked by two walkers. Shane only gets her to return to camp by lying that Rick has already returned.
- Devoured by the Horde: When Rick, Glenn, and Hershel are attacked by a group from Philadelphia, Hershel wounds Sean and he gets mauled by a group of walkers that were attracted to the gunshots.
- Eaten Alive: Sean, nose-first.
- Gorn: Sean's face is shown being ripped apart by walkers as he lays screaming on the ground outside the bar.
- Improvised Weapon: When a walker attacks her as she escapes from her crashed vehicle, Lori beats it in the head with a hubcap before shooting it.
- That is after stabbing another walker in the eye with a screwdriver.
- Lady Macbeth: Lori hints to Rick in no uncertain terms that he will need to kill Shane because the latter is a threat to the group's safety.
- Left for Dead: A rare villainous example. Nate, the leader of the Philadelphia group, upon realizing that Randall has impaled his leg on a fence, leaves him behind to be walker chow, shortly after deciding to do the same to Sean after the latter is shot by Hershel and swarmed by walkers. Luckily, Rick, Hershel and Glenn rescue him.
- Red Shirt: Sean (a member of the "Philadelphia group") is shot in the chest and then eaten on-screen by a group of walkers seconds after he tries to shoot Glenn and Hershel.
- Take a Third Option: Upon learning that the only choices are to either amputate Randall's leg, Mercy Kill him, or leave him to be mauled by walkers, Rick just decides to lift the latter's leg off the fence it was impaled on and take him with them.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The "Philadelphia group" flees when the walkers attacking. The surviving members (including Nate, who left Randall behind) haven't been seen to date.
