"Everybody evacuated to Atlanta....and then died horribly because the population density is like 20 times what it is out in the sticks that's how diseases work"
It's not like it's a typical disease or something. Bear in mind that you can't prevent the spread of most infections with BULLETS.
That said, even if Rick DID assume Atlanta had fallen (which he must certainly have done by the time he saw the desolation on the roads), he would have still gone there to look for his wife and son. (Yeah, it's a hell of a coincidence that they happen to be among a couple of dozen survivors out of a population of 5.4 million plus refugees, and that he just happens to run into their group as soon as he enters the city. But any interesting work of fiction is, at some point, going to rely on that sort of highly improbable scenario.) It's central to his character that he'd never abandon them even if the odds were impossible.
Starting to like the wife a bit more, looks like Shane told her her husband was dead because he hoped it was true and wanted her for himself. The friend I'm watching it with doesn't like Shane (we had a discussion, she considers him a "bad guy") but I don't overly mind him myself.
See, I thought the ep finally made Shane a sympathetic character at the EXPENSE of making Lori even more unpleasant than she'd been up to that point. Interesting to hear a different take.
Anyway. The first zombie-lite episode (what were there, 6?). I thought it worked very well. The zombies are the backdrop but it's not a story ABOUT zombies; that's been clear from the comic almost since the beginning and the show handled it admirably.
Minor spoilers, both of this episode and recent issues of the comic, follow; I don't think they're severe enough for a spoilertag but figure they're enough for a little advance warning.
The wife-beater part of the plot was interesting; the comic just now used that thread, 70-some-odd issues in and it played out very similarly but had some notable tonal differences. In the comic it was a "holy shit this guy has come totally unhinged" moment. Here, well, it was kinda the same -- but I think you root for Shane a little more here, feel a little more like he did what had to be done. It also feels different simply because it happens so early -- the character delivering the beatdown in the comic was somebody well-established and it was more shocking; here, Shane's not that well-established a character and it's not as much of a surprise coming from him.
Anyhow, another solid episode. And I think Dale is my favorite character.
