‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: “Better Angels”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 2 brings to life its twelfth episode of the season, as Shane takes it on himself to deal with both Randall (Michael Zegen) and his best friend Rick, while Glenn and Daryl make a frightening discovery just off the farm.

Last week’s ‘The Walking Dead’ “Judge, Jury, Executioner” saw Dale passionately pleading with the group to spare Randall's life, while Carl got into trouble going out on his own, and Dale paid the consequences, so what will the latest episode bring?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘The Walking Dead’ “Better Angels!”

It’s a solemn occasion as the group attends a funeral service for Dale, presided over by Rick, as he challenges the other members of the group to prove Dale wrong about their group being broken.  The man may have gotten under their skin, but they should all honor him with their solidarity.  Meanwhile, Lori, Shane, Daryl and T-Dog take their frustrations out on some local walkers.  Take that, already dead people.

The following day, Hershel and Rick coordinate moving everyone into Hershel’s actual house, given the increased danger the coming winter brings.  First and foremost, Rick orders Shane to swallow his decision that Randall be led off-site and released as planned, even tasking Andrea to keep an eye on Shane in his absence.  Meanwhile, Carl sullenly approaches Shane to explain his guilt in having caused Dale’s death, though Shane insists it wasn’t his fault.  Unconvinced, he relinquishes the pilfered pistol to be given back to Daryl, and insists he never wants to touch guns again.  Carl, its time we introduce you and your gun to a man named Chekhov.

Glenn rebuffs Maggie’s offer to put his things in her room, and so too does Hershel insist that the pregnant Lori take his bedroom, as during his drunken days he grew intimately acquainted with the couch anyway.  Grateful for Hershel’s kindness, Lori sees Shane working off on her own, and does her best to make peace with the man, apologizing for allowing their feelings to be confused, and thanking him for everything he did in saving her and Carl from Atlanta.  Shane insists that she needn’t thank him, but sees something of a new opportunity to win the conflicted Lori over.

In plotting out their mission, Daryl and Rick share a moment of bonding over their roles in Dale’s death, which Shane interrupts to bring what happened with Carl to Rick’s attention.  Shane insists Rick talk to his son, and grows dejected that Rick views taking Randall off the property as more important than his son.  Nearby, Andrea and Glenn work to get Dale’s RV started and closer to the house, bonding over the reassurance that Dale was proud of both of them, in spite of their confrontation in “Judge, Jury, Executioner.”  Boy, there sure is a lot of bonding this week!  Well, at least they got the RV running.

Taking Shane’s advice to heart, Rick shares a heart-to-heart with Carl over the fact that he won’t have the same kind of childhood as Rick, and needs to prepare for the possibility of people dying.  Carl reluctantly accepts the gun back, but what ho!  It’s all a ruse for Shane to get some alone time with Randall, Shane slowly losing his mind and debating shooting the captive man then and there.  Sometime later, T-Dog goes to retrieve Randall for release (joking about a certain “Governor” we’re all anticipating…), only to find Randall seemingly escaped!

Shane leads Randall into the woods, removing most of his bonds under the guise that he wants to leave his group, and join Randall’s “crazy, tough bunch of guys” group at their camp miles away.  However, once Randall has his guard down Shane swiftly snaps his neck, and bashes his own face into a tree to give the effect that Randall hit him first.  Observing first the group’s panicked reaction to Randall’s escape, Shane approaches claiming that Randall knocked him out, stole a gun and got away.  While Rick instructs everyone else to hide in the house, he, Shane, Glenn and Daryl head to the woods to begin searching for their scrawny fugitive.

Though Shane’s story seems to have a few holes, Darly and Glenn split off from Rick and Shane, as Daryl follows a trail that suggests that Shane followed Randall closely, and had some kind of scuffle with him.  Rick and Shane traipse quietly and ominously through the woods, when Glenn and Daryl encounter a zombifed Randall!  After a brief struggle that ends with a machete to the brain, Glenn and Daryl notice that Randall died of a broken neck, and has no visible bites that could explain his having become a walker.  Hmm…

Shane and Rick reach a clearing, where Rick finally confronts Shane for having led him out there to be murdered.  Shane insists that Rick and his family are weak, and that he’ll be able to fix things, if only Rick would raise his gun so Shane could shoot him down.  Rick refuses, insisting to Shane that they can still find a way back from this conflict , and moves to hand Shane his revolver, before stabbing him in the heart the moment he drops his guard.  Rick lies over his now-dead friend, screaming about how he forced him to do this, that ultimately Shane left him no choice.

Wrought with grief, Rick sits by Shane and experiences flashes of visceral walkers, before Carl makes his presence known.  Devastated, Rick attempts to calm Carl down, believing the boy to have raised his gun on his father.  Unbeknownst to Rick, Shane has awakened as a walker behind him, and nearly takes a bit out of his former friend before Carl squeezes off a single shot through Shane’s head.  Sayonara, Shane!

Unseen by either Rick or Carl, the shot drew the attention of just about every walker that happened to be walking through the woods at that moment, as they all slowly march toward the farm just over the hill.

Hot diggity dead, they finally did away with the wily Shane!  The immediate human threat might have temporarily abated, but what of the legion of walkers headed to the farm attracted by Carl's gunshot?  Were they napping during daylight target practice?  And will someone please make sure that Carl doesn’t get anyone else horribly murdered?  How does the news of people becoming walkers without bites tie in with a certain recently-cast season 3 villain?  We’ll find out soon enough!

Did you get your fill of zombie action?  What did you think about the episode? Join us next week for an all-new episode recap of ‘The Walking Dead’ season finale “Beside the Dying Fire” on AMC!